The graffiti on the building behind them is theirs. So is the broken beer bottle glass on the piece of dirt front yard. They're listening to rap tunes blaring out of an enormous boom box radio. They punch each other in the shoulder and laugh at jokes only they understand. The PBGs are open for business. If you've got $100, drive by and they'll sell you a gram of cocaine. Count on it; they're never out. That's why they're festooned with gold chains as thick as ship's rope. It's always this way on Corning Street. It's this way on lots of streets in Los Angeles.

Gangs flourish in Los Angeles, the current "gang capital of the U.S.," in spite of increased community and police efforts. This city has 750 gangs, and there are distinctions among them, but the similarities outnumber the differences. They're powerful, they've got money, they control turf, most sell drugs, and they kill to protect all of it. A background check on the ever growing Crips can lead one to thinking one word; fear. The Crips began as a predominately all male black and Hisp

So now you may be asking yourself, why do the Crips dress the way they do with hardly any variety in their clothing? The reason is quite simple; to let people and other gangs such as the Bloods (whose dress code is dominantly red) know who they are and to be afraid of them. They have their own rules, and their own culture, and they're obsessed with the symbols that identify both. It' s all specialized, right down to the pants they wear. They want society to easily identify them as the strongest and most terrifying gang in the country, and to allow fellow Crips to be able to identify them as well. Gang membership offers kids status, acceptance, and self esteem they haven't found elsewhere. In poorer communities, a breakdown of family and community structures may leave kids more prone to gang recruitment. Financial gain is a powerful motive for gang involvement, especially for poverty-stricken youths with poor education and lack of access to decent jobs. They can make more than $2,000 a night. Some of it goes for AK 47s on the black market, at $100 each. But usually the money goes for jewelry. The vast sums of money available through the drug trade have increased the size of gangs, both by recruitment and long term members.

Looking at the Crips, you will find that there are both male and female members. However, female gang members are slaves. A female may often have group sex with male members but is never considered a girlfriend. Gang members can spend her money, but won't buy her anything. Female Crips are often very violent as a way to prove themselves to their male counterparts. The blues and styles of dress often mirror their male counterparts. The female plays a very important part in being not only a Crip but in any gang, in which they are asked to be mules (carry drugs or weapons) for male gang members because they are less likely to be searched by male police officers. A non-gang woman is treated as a lady, her cigarettes are lighted, and her doors opened. Usually the women date the members because they

Some common words found in the essay are:
Cadillacs Impalas, LA Crips, Blue Baseball, Angeles California, Female Crips, Los Angeles, Malt Liquor, Irving Spergel, British Knights, Swap Meet, los angeles, drug trade, corning street, gang crips, color blue, identify gang, male counterparts, gold chains,
Approximate Word count = 1366
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)