A History Of Violence: I Can Transform Ya.

"A Gang Gives a Name to Students' Fear: Decepticons
By DON TERRY
Published: March 1, 1989


A loosely organized street gang with fewer than 60 members and a name inspired by a cartoon has taken on near-mythical status among high school students in New York City, the police and school officials say.

The gang is called the Decepticons. Its members are said to lurk outside of city high schools - generally in Manhattan -mugging homeward-bound students and taking anything from their shoes to their earrings. Rumors have spread that they are about to ''invade'' schools. Frightened parents have kept their children home on the days of the supposed invasion.

Five Decepticons were arrested on assault charges last year and gang members were charged in 43 robberies, mostly involving thefts of clothing and jewelry, the police say. But the impact of the gang on students' psyches goes far beyond the group's reality, the authorities say. The fear of the 'Decepts' - as they are called in in teen-age shorthand - reflects a growing sense of dread that many students feel about street violence, the police and school officials say.

''Everybody's heard of the Decepticons,'' one boy said as he hurried away from a reporter outside Park West High School on Manhattan's West Side. ''They're everywhere. No. Don't use my name. They're vicious.''

So powerful is the gang's hold on the imagination of the students that they often use ''Decepts'' as a catch-all name for groups of teen-agers who commit random violence and vandalism. Giving Fear a Label"

Read The Full Article Here: NYTimes.Com

CHRIS LIVE AKA SHAKER SAYS: And a legendary New York City street gang was born.

Before Y.O.U. today I would like to present a 1989 New York Times article dedicated to the brethren that took me in.

Thanks to the miracles of modern internet technology, such consequential documentation need not be restricted to "shushy" libraries filled with binders of brittle yellowing newspaper pages and storage cabinets overflowing with heaps of microfiche film. No, in 2010, search engines can power us down the information highway. This afternoon, rather then dredge up some "I-have-to-post-something-for-the-sake-of-posting-something" bullshit, I decided to park up on memory lane and invite Y.O.U. to share a bit of my past.

Now, to be perfectly clear, in 1989 I was a good 5 years away from repping that purple flag on the corner of Franklin Avenue and Union Street in Brooklyn U.S.A., but, this box cutter carved slice of Old New York still hits oh so close to home.

I am proud to have come of age during a time when only thorough niggas could keep their jewelry. For teenagers, guns were few and if Y.O.U. were too scared to throw them "dickbeaters", Y.O.U. pretty much needed to stay the fuck @ home ... lol. Over time, the new realities of money and drugs would change us all - some for the better, however, most for the worse. I was just a baby trying to be a man ... whatever that meant as viewed through my skewed prism of inner city machismo aggression.

The Decepticons played a significant role in the genesis of this particular nemesis. This is me. "What's the flava!?" Y.O.U. already know!