Hey Nath,
Today I took a bus heading South from Hollywood.
I was traveling to Compton: the suburb of Los Angeles most notorious for poverty and crime.
My mission was to get the down low on gang activity.
After one hour, I got off the bus to catch another heading east.
While waiting, I chatted with the lady on the corner of the street.
She was getting $10/hr to wear a statue of liberty costume and hold a sign reading, "It's Tax Time."
I told her I wanted to know about gangs in Compton and she said I was crazy, but wished me luck all the same.
I asked if I could take her picture, and she said, "Let's get one of us together."
There was a man standing a few yards away.
She called out, "My nigga! Take our picture!"
I spotted a T-shirt shop just before entering Compton.
I got off the bus to begin my second mission: buy some cool clothes.
It's good to have two missions going on at once.
If the danger of one mission is stressing you out, you can take a break from it and work on the other.
If you fail at one, you can pretend it never existed and call yourself a success for accomplishing the other.
I tried on a t-shirt with a big portrait of Eazy-E, but it didn't look very good.
I was the only one in the store so it was easy to start a conversation with the clerk.
He'd never been in a gang.
He used to buy and sell old cars.
He said that if I was looking for gangsters, I should try the law courts, because that's where the cops drop them off.
I thanked him and bought some sunglasses.
He said if I was ever back in town to stop by, and also,
"Stay on the left side of this street, there's some knuckleheads down there on the right."
Even though I stayed on the left, I met some knuckleheads right by the "Entering Compton" sign.
One had his hand stuck to his crotch and the other had an afro in the shape of Mickey mouse ears.
Luckily, they didn't seem to notice me.
But when I got near the law courts, I didn't see any gangsters.
I was on the lookout for blue or red bandannas hanging out of pockets or tied backwards around a head.
Blue is the colour of Crips
Red is colour of Bloods.
Crips and Bloods are rivals, and the two main gangs in Los Angeles.
I probably could have looked harder or asked around,
but seeing real live knuckleheads made me anxious enough that I decided to go shopping.
I bought a pair of Tupac sneakers and a striped shirt at a discount store.
Wearing my new Tupac shoes I went to get some Chinese food.
A young black man saw my shoes and slowly shook his head at me.
I sadly ate my green beans and chicken wondering how I'd managed to fail both missions.
But as I left the restaurant a lady asked me if I had registered to vote.
I said I was Canadian and asked her who she was voting for.
She said Hillary.
I asked her why.
She said because she's a woman.
I told her about my mission.
She said, "Hey everybody, this guy here is a reporter from Canada doing a story on Bloods and Crips."
Then she asked me again if I had registered to vote.
Somehow the lady's spirit re-energized me.
I headed back to the Law Courts searching for gangsters.
I approached a group of four young blacks sitting by a bench.
They looked at me suspiciously.
I said, "Hi, my name's Alex. I'm from Canada."
One guy got up and walked away with the two females.
I took his seat.
"I'm doing a story on Bloods and Crips," I said to the remaining guy.
He said, "Are you the feds?"
I said, "What?"
He stood up.
"ARE YOU THE FEDS?"
"No, I'm a tourist."
They all walked away from me.
I overheard one of the females say, "If he follows us..." her voice trailed off.
Part of me was disappointed for having such a weak interview.
But part of me was amused by scaring away four gangsters.
Anyway, it was getting late, so I headed for the train back to Hollywood.
As I took my time I was approached at an intersection by a young black man.
He asked if I was looking for something.
His name was Cohen and he became a Crip when he was fourteen.
CRIP used to be political: California Revolutionaries In Progress.
Now it was just a group to be a part of.
It used to mean something to be a Crip.
You'd probably been to prison a couple of times.
You were supporting a wife and kids.
Now it was just a bunch of fatherless kids how like to walk around with their dicks in their hands.
Bloods and Crips aren't that active these days.
Latino gangs are taking over Los Angeles.
After a while of chatting, Cohen said he had to get going.
He got up off the curb we'd been sitting on, and asked me, "Where'd you cop those shoes?"
