The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about gangs and gangsters in The Bahamas

“...scary stuff...”
By Felix F. Bethel
Rough Cut
jonesbahamas


"Most of the youth gangs will mess with you just because they see you walking by yourself and you might have something on you that they want: watch, chain, shoes…" Pastor Carlos Reid.

Next year this time, I might be dead; long gone – and thereafter on sweet way to oblivion; and so today I must now pray: Lord God Almighty – maker of heaven and earth - deliver me now from the snares of the Evil One; and in Your mercy show me the way to paradise.

As I pray for you, - my brothers and sisters – so I implore that, you also pray for me; and since I have within me an ever rising fountain of tears for my beloved Bahamas, my prayers today are also for Pastor Carlos Reid, a beautiful brother who brings us so much scary news from the bleeding heart of the whirlwind.

I am told that, “Pastor Reid is certified in gang prevention and intervention skills by the National Gang and Crime Research Centre of the United States of America.”

While I am told this stuff about Reid, I know it for a fact that, Halloween is on its scary way to the Bahamas.

I am really scared.

Pastor Reid tells us all that, “Bahamian gangs are not constituted in the same way as American gangs, or Jamaican gangs. Pastor Reid said American gangs are "more organized crime gangs", and Jamaican gangs are "political gangs".

“Organized crime gangs are often underground organizations that run the entire community, including housing projects, businesses and politicians.

"It doesn't mean we don't have gangs. We basically have youth gangs. The problem is, America started off just as we did and we don't want to get where America is," said Pastor Reid.

"We are seeing the formation of these groups really to protect themselves. To be honest, in the Bahamas, just being by yourself is a risk.

This is a scary thought.

But seriously now, to hear this brother speak about peace in the streets, the curative power of basketball and about the gang phenomenon, you know that you are in the presence of a certified and surely expert, Gangologist.

The man tells me that, “The Blue Hills’ playing fields is known as the "killing fields", according to Pastor Reid, who said, "every day there is a fight going on out there".

"Let us look at Government High School. When you have to walk through Yellow Elder, where the Hornets are, if you are a Rebellion they know and you are getting it," said Pastor Reid.

“Once a student lives in a certain area, they are automatically assumed to be in a "particular clique". A GHS student said there was a fight in school yesterday because of gangs. The fight was sparked because a student from the Grove "trespassed" in Rebellion territory.

As Reid notes, "Now think about this. If you know someone wants to chap you up and kill you, do you really think you can focus on your school work? The only thing you are thinking about is: how am I going to get out of here after school?"

{Well, gadjammit! If I had such certified intelligence driven information, I would demand that my idiot parents go to school in my stead.

{But yet, that is how a fool like me would react to the specter of gun and gang-violence at school. What a calamity for us all when information like the scary stuff being peddled by this pastor and others becomes the commonsense of people who should know better.}

But not to worry, Reid is all over this story concerning gangs; since he is –after all- an expert. As the newspaper reports, “Having had intimate knowledge of the how the groups operate, Reid said the war is far from over.”Soon we're going to see violence all over the place, because no one wants to take 'the last'. If you attack someone belonging to my gang, then I'm going to take my vengeance out on someone in your gang. That's just the way it is," Reid said.

“Asked why there were so many school boys joining gangs, Reid explained that the students crave to feel like they are a part of something. He added that it is hard not to get involved in a gang because one of the alternatives is to become a target of the gangs.

"They have to protect themselves," he said.

According to him, there are about 50 youth gangs in the Bahamas with the "Rebellions" who have about 14 different sections representing the largest group...”

Mommy, Mommy, I am now scared, scared-scared; this stuff is really scary. Indeed, some of this stuff is so scary that, I now feel obliged – in a very public kind of way – to send out kudos to Pastor Carlos Reid for the yeoman’s work he has been doing in this beloved land of conch slop, pomp, pageantry and on occasion, some of the purest bull the law would allow.

My congratulations go out to this brother for the fine work he has been doing in “alerting” the nation to the rot that is within; with particular reference to what he cites as revealed fact; this being the extent to which Bahamian society is riddled with gangs and gangsters.

My thanks come in floods and torrents to the good pastor for his wisdom and insight when he tells me, the Commissioner of Police, Ellison Greenslade, Marvin Dames, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Missouri Sherman-Peter, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, her minister, the Hon. Orville Alton “Tommy” Turnquest, the Rt. Hon. Hubert Alexander Ingraham, the Rt. Hon. Perry Gladstone Christie – their party members, the Bahamian people and billions of other people around the world, what gang violence is all about in the Bahamas.

As the good pastor learnedly affirms, “…"A lot of the killings we have seen this year are retaliation killings. When someone gets killed, you are not just getting rid of that person, because that person is attached to an immediate family and an extended family, the gang. The mentality is, when you kill one of us, in most cases we have to take one of your own," said Pastor Reid.

Pastor Reid also said that, "Almost every community has a feud going on with a different community. We have not properly addressed the issue of gangs. We have allowed situations to breed, and a lot of the people in the position to make a difference don't have a clue about what is going on," he said.

Pastor Reid also said that, Poinciana Drive is still known as "the Gaza Strip", according to Pastor Reid. It is the meeting ground of four different gang territories (Gun Dogs, Pond Boys, Rebellions and Nike Boys), and four different schools (CC Sweeting, HO Nash, TA Thompson and CR Walker).

Now hear this, “Pastor Carlos Reid is set to release an updated gang list this week, a document produced by the community-based non-profit Youth against Violence, which he leads. The list details the schools and communities that are "contaminated" with gangs.

Evidently, Cynthia “Mother” Pratt agrees with Pastor Carlos Reid. Mother reports that, “Ridgeland Park and the Grove are two communities featured on the list. They are said to have gangs that are involved in "wars" and "cross rivalry."

Allegedly and therefore allegedly - according to the word printed in the newspaper, Mother claims that, both communities are engaged in an endless spree of retaliations that are affecting the community.

And so, pretty please, are you not scared now that you KNOW the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth; the gangsters are here.

But clearly, while you might be scared stiff; I am pretty certain that Pastor Reid is today smiling his very scary-way straight to the bank.

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