Annotation & Reflection on Angels' Town

 Reflection:

I found Cintron's discussion of the "logic of violence" and the "logic of trust" to be an accurate reflection of what (little) I know of the mentality and worldview of gang members and, by extension, ostracized or marginalized members of society.  The logic that the world is a harsh place and one can only survive by defending one's honor and the honor of one's gang or family or group or community makes sense, and also reflects many "cultural narratives" wherein vengeance stories are common.  (Think of movies like Die Hard, Taken, and pretty much any Western film ever made-- they are all archetypal revenge tales and have influenced the cultural mentalities of both Americans and Mexicans.)

In fact, Cintron mentions that Valerio, the teenage boy he interviewed, employs images and narratives of tough cars, Marines, and successful baseball players to "feel strong"-- these are all examples of the machismo, or macho, identities which many Latino males (as well as males from other groups) construct for themselves to create places of respect for themselves in a system where they are not automatically granted respect.  The old man, Don Angel, used a macho style of discourse when he talks mexicano, and this "character" also works to set up the interesting contrast between the viejito (Old World Mexican, folk ways) and chero lifestyle and ideologies versus the ideologies of the Latino gangs, who listen to hip-hop and rap music and are thoroughly invested in the "modern" and creating power and respect for themselves in the New World of the US and Angel Town.

I like Cintron's positioning of the gangs as an example of "socioeconomic outsiders" asserting their rights to create themselves, and how he does now write about them in either a strictly negative or positive sense.  He doesn't dwell on their involvement with the drug trade or crimes, but focuses more on the mentality of the gang members, the systems of meaning behind their symbols, language, and perceptions of themselves and their communities where they "rule". One thing I found really fascinating was the repetition of the language which the gang members used to name themselves and their gangs...there is an obsession with royalty and social structure and constant references to gangs as "nations" and "language of nationhood".  Yet, at the same time gangs would seem to be forces of anarchy in that they oppose institutions of government and another easily observable theme in their language of discourse is what Cintron calls a "theme of madness" or insanity.  Gangs, then, are a form of very organized anarchy.  Cintron positions them as socioeconomic outsiders asserting their rights to create themselves and claim positions of power and respect through discourses of identity and the logic of violence and machismo which demands respect.