Poetry | Poesia
Soto Street
A poetic memory
In memory of sixteen-year-old Gabriela Martinez, who was shot while watching a telenovela in her East L.A. home in 1998.
Ain’t no flowers anymore. They’re all being used for burying the young.
Tepeyac’s roses are gone. Mr. Lieu’s snapdragons too. Mrs. Gilbert’s garden has been stripped bare.
They’ve all been picked for prettying the graves making the farewells beautiful.
No more color cheering up the sidewalks. No more little bits chasing down the twilight. Only tiny orbs ducking in the curtains —
disappearing into the brown-stained madness.
Gabriela was not in a gang. Nobody in her family was. It didn’t matter. Not when you live and sleep in a city where gang violence has taken over the streets. Troublingly, the Los Angeles Police Department estimates that nearly half of gang violence victims have no affiliation whatsoever with any form of gang involvement.
The bullet wasn’t meant for Gabriela, it was meant for someone else, a fellow gang member.
Gang-related assaults exhibit unprecedented levels of brutality, as members increasingly equip themselves with semi and fully-automatic assault rifles. In their quest for enhanced prestige, gang members are even willing to target law enforcement officers.
The issue of street gangs in Los Angeles has been further exacerbated by the inflow of illegal narcotics.
Drive-by shooting occurs when someone fires a gun from a vehicle at another vehicle, a person, a structure, or a stationary object and often involve multiple suspects and victims. The use of a vehicle allows the shooter to approach the target discreetly and speed away.
It’s quick. It’s fast. It leads to stray bullets.
The nature of a drive-by shooting, with a shooter firing from a moving vehicle at a moving target, often leads to random, inaccurate shots that injure unintended victims or damage property.
Gabriela is one less angel in the city.
In Los Angeles where drive-by shootings are prevalent, they are often part of an ongoing series of conflicts between rival street gangs. Reprisals and counterattacks contribute to a cycle of violence, leading to individuals being involved as perpetrators, victims, and witnesses.
Witnesses may provide limited information due to the chaotic and intimidating nature of these shootings, which occur predominantly at night in neighborhoods where gangs exert influence and residents may distrust the police.
In case you’re reading this in a peaceful city other than America, 48.9% of the violent crime in America was gang-related last year. Gang-related shootings often stem from rivalries, territorial disputes, group loyalty, social status, retaliation, or perceived disrespect. Drug-related conflicts may also trigger drive-by shootings as a means of revenge and status elevation.
Just another day in the city of angels minus one — Gabriela.
As the city grapples with this pervasive issue, it is crucial to continue to address the root causes of gang involvement, provide support and opportunities for at-risk youth, and implement effective measures to prevent and respond to drive-by shootings.
By fostering a safer environment, promoting community engagement, and implementing targeted interventions, we can work towards ending the cycle of violence and ensuring that innocent lives like Gabriela’s are no longer lost to the senseless tragedies of gang-related drive-by shootings.
It’s easier said than done.
Sources:
Hutson HR, Anglin D, Pratts MJ Jr. Adolescents and children injured or killed in drive-by shootings in Los Angeles. N Engl J Med. 1994 Feb 3;330(5):324–7. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199402033300506. PMID: 8277953.