5.4. The guardian angels
Peer group action in big cities
The initiators of the project were
young men and women in England who contacted the Guardian
Angels organisation in New York City, where the movement
was founded in 1979. People involved as founder members
were in England: Dave Edmonds, Tom Hibberd and Colin Hatcher;
and from New York: Collins Pompey, Sebastian Metz, Robert
Powell and Guardian Angels Founder Curtis Sliwa. I (Colin
Hatcher) was one of the people from London who contacted
the NYC group, and I was also one of the first members to
join in January 1989 when the project was set up in London.
The start
Throughout 1988 the streets of London
like many large towns and cities were becoming more and
more violent. Young people (men and women) were getting
involved in street fighting. The major problem was racial
hatred and intolerance. So there were racially segregated
street gangs of Black youth, White youth and Asian Youth.
Particularly dangerous were the large street gangs of white
football hooligans and racists who were involved in some
terrible acts of violence during that year. They cruised
the underground on Saturday nights, looking for trouble,
they usually found it.
Another development during 1988 was the
emergence of "Steamer" gangs, where a group of
10 or more youngsters, armed with knives, boarded underground
trains and, between stops, would rob ("mug") all
the passengers. Because the robberies needed to be carried
out very quickly any resistance from victims was met with
extreme violence. The targets for these gangs were often
young men and women of the same age group. These were teenage
gangs robbing and attacking teenage victims.
Violence against women was not a new thing
in 1988 but was certainly increasing, especially on public
transport systems, most notably on the Tube, where the lack
of security made it a paradise for rapists, flashers and
gropers. Increasingly women, especially teenage women were
becoming reluctant to travel alone at night.
Growing unemployment, lack of opportunity
and boredom drew many kids into violent lifestyles and criminal
behaviour during this time. For many kids, crime was the
only way to make money. The role models for a growing number
of youth (symbolised by money, success, status) were the
drug dealers and gangsters on the street corner. And many
youngsters aspired to that lifestyle. A whole climate of
intolerance, hatred and violence was growing. And also indifference.
Passengers on trains sat and watched while gangs beat up
victims, and no-one did anything.
But many young people were distressed by
what was happening on the streets of London. They were unhappy
with the situation, with the way kids were divided and with
the way that fear and hatred and violence were making Saturday
nights more and more dangerous.
London is like every other big city. On
Saturday nights many go out on the town and have a good
time. Then everyone tries to get home, not everyone makes
it home. Some end up in jail and some end up in hospital.
And the most dangerous age to be (the most at risk) are
young men and women between the ages of 16 and 25. Myself
and my friends had all suffered this violence - street fighting,
racial violence, muggings or sexual attacks.
So we were looking for some way to do something.
You know how it is. Most people watch TV or read the newspapers,
and say "Oh how terrible the world is!" but they
don't DO anything. We wanted to DO something to make our
city safe and to unite the youth, especially against racial
hatred and violence. Since the youth are the future.
So having known about the Guardian Angels
for a long time and admiring the way they had brought the
youth together in New York City we contacted them and asked
if they would come to England and teach us how to be Guardian
Angels too.
They said yes, the instructors came to
England from New York and set up a training programme.
Target group
The project started in January 1989
based in Kings Cross, London - an area notorious for violence,
drugs, prostitution and a place where young kids who ran
away from home often ended up. The other place where we
trained was Leytonestone in East London, very near to West
Ham United football ground, an area with a large minority
Asian population and a lot of racial violence.
The target group of the project was the
youth of the city - all of them! We aimed to bring together
young men and women of all races, all religions, all cultures
and subcultures (i.e. skinheads and B-boys or Hip
Hoppers), all abilities and all political opinions (racists
of other people with hatred and intolerance were not welcomed)
many people came down and changed their views through contact
with our group.
We reached the youth of the city in a very
direct way. The Guardian Angels basically walk the streets
and travel the trains and we help people get home safely.
When we run our "safety patrols" as we call them,
we wear an identifying uniform, which consists of a red
beret and a white T-shirt with the symbol of our organisation
printed on it in red (we call it our "colours").
Apart from the red beret and the T-shirt, everybody can
dress however they want, and express themselves through
the way they look. This meant that wherever we walked in
London, young men and women saw us and wanted to talk with
us. When we walk the streets we make it our business to
talk to everyone we meet. And we also carry information
leaflets about our group, which invite everyone to join
us and participate.
In addition to talking with youth on the
streets, in the most dangerous and violent areas, we also
received media coverage from TV, radio and newspapers. Since
our initiative was the first time anyone had tried this
in England. Some people said "This won't work in
England - it's an American thing" but the New York
City Angels reassured us - "This is a universal
idea addressing a universal problem" they pointed
out to us. After all, they observed: when crack cocaine
and its associated American style gang violence came to
England, no-one said "This won't work here because
this is England."
Main content of the project
The purpose of the Guardian Angels
in every city where we work is twofold. Firstly it is our
aim to prevent violent street crime by being a visual and
if necessary physical deterrent. This means that when we
are out on the streets, if we see violence, we will go in
between the people fighting and we will try to stop the
violence. We put our own bodies between the criminals and
the victims. The group is anti-violence and carries no weapons.
But we will get physical if we have to. The streets are
tough and so are we. But we follow the laws of self-defence
in whatever country we work.
We are activists, protecting the United
Nations Declaration on Human Rights 1977, especially article
3 which states that: "All people have the right
to life, liberty and security of person".
Our second, and equally important aim is
to provide real life walking talking role models for young
people. By showing them members of their own peer group
who come from the same backgrounds and have the same problems,
but who are solving them in a constructive and non violent
way. The aim is to attract young people away from violence
into positive activities. And we make this activity exciting!
'In this world a few good guys stay
good and a few bad guys stay bad'. But the vast majority
are caught in the middle, and make choices, especially during
teenage years. Many young people could go either way depending
on what is available. The Guardian Angels was established
for these kind of people - it was set up BY these kind of
people. Many of our members are ex gang members and trouble-makers,
who have found a positive expression for their energy.
Curtis Sliwa the founder of the group in
New York City found a way to create a group with all the
attractions of a gang - "colours", a look, a language,
an attitude - but without the negative.
New members of the group train for three
months before graduation. During this time they are given
the opportunity to learn some really effective urban survival
skills everything is free.
In addition new members walk out on the
streets straight away and start learning how to communicate,
to protect and to help other people. The sense of empowerment
is great. We believe that young people join gangs for love
and respect, friendship and status, and especially in order
to feel powerful. We have been successful in the Guardian
Angels in providing that powerful feeling to young men and
women who have previously only experienced it in criminal
activities.
Guardian Angels hang out on the streets
and squares, and we look cool - and we are seen by youth
as positive role models. Young men and women want to be
like us. And we look just like them, so people see us and
think "I could be like that!", because it's not
just males, or just Black guys, or just big strong guys.
Young people are attracted by the way we look, by our sense
of purpose, and because they can see that we are having
a good time. The sense of danger and risk which accompanies
the group is also attractive to youth. We are like real
life comic book superheroes and superheroines. The martial
arts features strongly in our training programme and in
our philosophy.
Description of a training session:
I will here briefly describe a typical
training session, and a typical safety patrol on a Saturday
night:
Training
A group of 20 or so young people
have met in an upstairs room of a youth centre in Kings
Cross, London. The group is multiracial The chief instructor
today is, surprisingly, a young Indian women, who goes by
the street name "Judge". The other instructors
are a stocky Black guy who calls himself "Mr X"
and a white guy called "Gabriel". The training
group consists of a mixture of experienced Guardian Angels
and relatively new trainees. New and inexperienced people
are straightaway partnered up with the more experienced
ones. Most of the trainees are wearing Guardian Angel T-shirts
and red berets. The experienced graduates wear a shirt that
reads "Guardian Angels Safety Patrol". Trainees
who have been on patrol but have not yet graduated, wear
a T-shirt that reads "I Support the Guardian Angels".
Judge introduces herself and welcomes the
2 new people. And this a feature of the whole training -
despite the intensity and physical violence of a lot of
the training, the Angels certainly look after each other
very well. The class begins with a close quarter combat
drill called "Sticky Elbows Defensive Wall Drill".
This long title describes a simple drill which gets everyone
warm and develops close range sensitivity. It also teaches
everyone to protect their head from attack.
Next in the class come wrestling and grappling
work. Partners fight on the ground, trying to hold each
other down. After the combat section comes role-playing.
Some of the experienced angels take off their berets and
T-shirts, and become the bad guys, or "mutants"
as the angels call them. A "patrol" is picked
of 6 angels who leave the room. Then as they enter the room
as if on patrol, they are presented with a problem to solve
- it could be two people fighting, it could be an encounter
with a gang, or it could be a man harassing a woman. Whatever
it is the patrol tries to deal with it - calming the situation
down, and using minimum force, and providing first aid if
necessary.
"Angels train in first aid" says
Judge. "Now to a lot of people first aid is not cool
- macho guys think it's something that weak people do, or
sexist guys say it's for girls. In the Angels first aid
is cool, just like the medics in a war in the army are cool
- they are heroes. And so are we. And then later when you
use it on the street and it works, and everyone is thanking
you - especially if you save a life, which we have done
many times - the feeling is incredible. You're high for
days."
Sometimes the patrol screws up the role-play
- and things go wrong. "But that's the whole point
of training" Judge points out. "You learn by mistakes,
and this is a safe environment in which to learn".
"You need to draw the line earlier"
Judge points out, and she leads the class into a whole
series of training drills called appropriately "Drawing
the Line, or DTL", which teach Angels when to stop
negotiating and when to start fighting, and what to do in
between. "It's the mutants' choice" Judge
observes. "We don't want to fight, but if we are
pushed too far, than the Angel will take the mutant down".
All around us "mutants" are "Crossing
the Line" and are being wrestled down to the ground
by "Angels". The techniques are streetstyle -
hair pulling for example is permitted, and everyone has
to watch out for the mutants' teeth. "On the street
there are no rules" comments Mr X. "In a street
fight people will bite each other, gouge, kick, scratch
- do anything to win. Angels are prepared for anything.
The streets are rough and so are we - but we have hearts
of gold. We use minimum force to prevent an attack continuing.
But don't be fooled - we are peacemakers - not pacifists.
You can see why the training is so popular.
Even small members can take the bad guys down and out. Judge
says one of the main purposes of the training is to create
and develop what the Angels call "Warrior Spirit".
Training finishes with knuckle push-up
- more warrior spirit training, according to Judge, and
then the group "raps". Everyone introduces themselves,
comments on the training and asks any questions they might
have.
"Every angel has an angel name
- a street name" Judge answers. "It's part
of our tradition that every member chooses a "tag".
Your street name is like an alter ego. You put it on with
your colours. In your day to day life you may not have so
much courage, but when you put on your colours to patrol,
you become an Angel, and the name comes with that. Our members
get inspiration from it. It's all part of our culture".
Patrolling
I meet the patrol at their HQ in
a dark side street of Kings Cross. It's 1930 hrs. HQ is
a basement office, decorated with Angel photos and articles.
The patrol group is multiracial and there are men and women
present. The average age is about 18 years old. "We
dress for combat, comfort and style, in that order"
explains Michael "Mr X" Quinn, one of the patrol
leaders for tonight. I ask about the uniform - "The
uniform is just the red beret and the T-shirt - we call
that the colours" Mr X answers. Apart from that people
can dress how ever they want. We encourage diversity in
our group - it develops tolerance."
There are 18 Guardian Angels present. Mr
X calls us all to order and the room becomes silent and
expectant. Mr X calls the patrols aloud, indicating which
angel is assigned to which patrol. Each patrol has a name.
Tonight London will see "Justice Machine"
(led by Dominie "Judge" Kitaj).
Before we leave everyone is searched out
of the HQ. I ask Mr X why. "We are checking each
other to make sure that no-one is carrying weapons or drugs"
he explains. "Out on the situations Guardian Angels
rely on our own bodies and each other for protection."
The patrols split up. "Justice Machine"
heads for the subway, heading for a dangerous area in east
London called Stratford, where there was a recent rape on
the station platform. The station manager there is a great
supporter of the angels. "Rapture" walks into
the downtown area of London's West End, where there are
a lot of clubs and a lot of people. They will be patrolling
an area where a local gang sell crack and other drugs to
the tourists.
'Department of Correction' heads up to
the area around Kings Cross station. 2 months ago a 15 year
old white boy was stabbed and killed by a gang of 6 Asian
boys - some of the killers were 13 years old. "The
racial hatred and violence has been going on for a long
time" explains Judge. "The murder happened right
on our doorstep. This is our neighbourhood and we want to
do something about it."
The angels walk down Drummond Street, a
street full of Asian shops and restaurants. Half way down
the streets there is a big posse of Asian boys, just hanging
out, bored, with nothing to do. Most of the youth clubs
in this area are closed because there is no money available
to pay staff to run them. The Asian youth are also nervous.
Everyone is still waiting for the inevitable revenge attacks
by the local White street gangs. Here in Drummond Street
Asians are relatively safe.
The Angels stop to chat, shake hands and
distribute information leaflets. They are respected by the
Asian boys, who have a lot to say about the situation. The
Angels move away from the Asian area and cross into the
White gang's turf. The Asian posse said that they were too
scared to walk these streets, but the Angels seem to be
able to walk anywhere. I ask Judge why.
"Firstly" she answers,
"we are multiracial. That means that in an area
of racial tension, we are a calming influence simply by
our physical presence. The other reason is that street gangs
know that we are neutral in any conflict. We try not to
take sides. We are against violence, but we are not "against"
particular people. If we see an Asian gang beating up a
white boy we'll do the same thing as if we see a white gang
beating up an Asian boy. We'll stop the violence. And they
all know it. Another reason that we are respected is that
everyone knows that we carry no weapons. And the last reason
youth look up to us is that we're not getting paid for this
- we're volunteers. People respect that commitment."
Outside a pub the patrol meets a posse
of white boys. They, like the Asian boys, are hanging out
and are bored. They are also just waiting for something
to happen. Again the angels shake hands and "rap"
(as they call it).
"You know" says Judge
to 2 of the boys, "You're saying exactly the same
things to me as some Asian guys over in Drummond Street.
They think that you started it, and you think that they
started it. They hate the cops and think the cops side with
you, and you hate the cops and think the cops side with
the Asians. You're sitting out here bored, and they're sitting
out over there just as bored. Why don't you guys get together
and have a party?" A police van rolls by. The police
don't walk the streets here. They patrol in riot vehicles.
They aren't very popular among the youth. "See those
guys over there" says Falcon, pointing to some
rough looking young guys. "We arrested them a few
weeks ago. They were beating up and robbing a 65 year old
man. There was a fight. We won. We arrested them and called
the Police".
The night remains tense but calm. "That's
a good night for us" says Falcon. "A good
night for the Guardian Angels is when nothing happens."
We return to base, and meet up with the other patrols. Everybody
is excited as they take off their colours and wind down.
As we leave for home the sun is rising. I ask Judge one
last question. Why do they do it, since it is all volunteer
work, and none of them are paid?
"Well, we all believe that everybody
has the right to go out and have a good time on a Saturday
night without being threatened, attacked or mugged, and
believe that every person has a responsibility to protect
that right, not just to say it, but to do something to make
it happen. We want to make our city a safer place to live
in. Many of us have been attacked on the streets, and when
it happened there was no-one there who would help us. We
don't want what happened to us to happen to anyone else."
The best and worst moments of the project
The main successes and failures
The main success of our group has
been to not only set up in London, but to expand across
Europe. To date we have 2 groups in England (London and
Manchester), 3 groups in Sweden (Stockholm, Malmo and Gothenburg),
and 2 groups in Germany (Berlin and Hamburg). In Berlin
especially the group has played an important role in countering
the neo Nazi movement among young white guys, bringing together
White Germans, Turkish youth, Africans, German Jews and
other minorities into one group. We have also visited Amsterdam,
Paris, Milan, Copenhagen, Liverpool and Moscow. In 1995
we will hopefully be setting up groups in Milan, Copenhagen
and Moscow.
The main failure of the group is that we
are still small when compared to the population of 16-25
year olds in our cities. We are always seeking new ways
to grow. Also, expansion needs money, and we have constant
difficulty in paying phone bills, buying new T-shirts etc.
I think the best moment in the history
of our project has been the graduation day of 50 Guardian
Angels in Berlin in June 1993. Because there are such problems
in Berlin of racial hatred and violence we felt the group's
work was so important there.
I can think of 2 worst moments:
Firstly I remember in 1991 trying to save
a man's life, he had had a heart attack at a station, and
I was doing CPR (resuscitation), he died.
The second worst moment came in Malmo,
Sweden where we were patrolling during the European Football
riots, I think it was in Summer 1992. Our patrols saw and
were caught up in such terrible violence that night, although
we saved a lot of people there was very little we could
do to stop the violence. There were several hundred football
hooligans on the loose with weapons, and the police had
pulled out of the area. Many of our members there were patrolling
for the first time. It was a nasty baptism of fire.
Training for the work
Training is not only given to new
members we encourage all members to train to become leaders.
Leadership and good life skills are important to the group.
The results and the impact of the project
We know we have changed the face
of many of Europe's cities. We have offered youth a chance
to do something positive. To date we have probably had several
thousand young people training with us, working to stop
the violence in the cities. The groups not only patrol the
streets we have speaking engagements in schools and youth
centres where we talk realistically about violence. We offer
free self-defence courses for women, and offer 'street smart'
courses for young kids (6 to 14 year olds). Finally we are
involved in food distribution for homeless people.
We know we have made a difference.
For further information contact:
The Alliance of Guardian Angels
Website in English of the main
organisations worldwide:
http://www.guardianangels.org
You can not fight racism or any other injustices
without have a dream of a better world. The group may like
to reflect on their own dreams for a better world. If so,
look at the activity, "Dreams"
in the all different all equal education pack
The guardian angels fought for rights on their own streets.
If you would like to find out about some other activists
who have fought for human rights, then try the activity,
"Fighters
for rights" in Compass. |