Last week, we did a feature about Cholas, and this week we would like to follow it up with a feature about Cholo Culture. I know the history of Latino gangs in California goes back generations, and is a part of the social fabric of certain parts of the state. On a personal level, I always remember riding in the car with my mom, checking out all of the different hoods and the ever-changing grafitti I would see on the walls. Big block letters or Old English gang text would mark the territory with names like HARPY’S, PLAYBOY GANGSTERS, 18th Street, VENICE 13, FOGTOWN, Florencia 13 and too many others to name. In Venice, we were punx that also adopted certain ways of dressing from our local hoods, but more important than that, we brought gangland style grafitti into the SoCal punk aesthetic. In the 90’s, a British photographer named Robert Yager spent time with the PBS aka PLAYBOY GANGSTERS set, where they allowed him to document their lives like no one had before. In Yager’s photos, you can see the good and the bad of the crazy thing that they called life. I guess if I could turn back the hands of time, I would like to go back to the time when Latino gangs called their own shots instead of having to take orders from the Mexican Mafia, the reason being that back in the day, the gangs were more interracial and Mexican gangs did not have the green light to kill Blacks on right. Peep these photos by Robert Yager and the gang members themselves. As the song says, there is a thin line between love and hate. In closing, contrary to what popular culture would have us believe, the biggest gang in L.A. is the L.A.P.D., and they benefit the most from having Brown at war with Black.
First day in Playboys neighborhood. January 1992. Muerto poses with a challenging “Mad Dog” stare, while Midget flashes a Playboys Gang hand sign in the background.
Jumping In to the Playboys Gang. Initiation by way of a beating, while someone counts up to thirteen. The initiate is expected to fight back against at least three members. This is a joyous rite of passage.
Snuffy irons his shirt in his bedroom. Tiny gets a tattoo from Sinbad.
Members of the Crazy Riders Gang around one of their member’s ’48 Chevy Fleetline. Their neighborhood is in the McArthur Park district of Los Angeles, just west of Downtown LA. 1995 Oakie, shown in the foreground is a very charismatic figure.
Making a ‘primo’. A mixture of broken-up crack-cocaine and marijuana.
Members of the Playboys Gang flash their hand signs and some guns in the back yard of an abandoned house they controlled.
A riot broke out in Downtown LA during Fiesta Broadway. Here police, including some on bicycle duty, beat a gang member before they arrested him.
Oakie from Crazy Riders displays the tattoos on his back. He had been shot and moves around in a wheel-chair.
Chava (not in any gang) shows his nephew how to fire a ball-bearing gun. The gun uses compressed air and lets out a big bang to which Anthony gasps. 1994
Louie was pulled over by police for jay-walking. He had his tattooes checked for their gang files and he was issued a ticket.
Laffey took his son, Anthony, to Disneyland. Here he shows him Roger Rabbit in Toontown. Rabbits are the predominant symbol of the Playboys Gang.
A Gang member waits on a rooftop with a Tech-9. He’s waiting for rivals to appear from a possible three different directions. Such rooftop shooters are known as snipers.
Muñeco was shot in the neck and became a quadriplegic. Here we was visited by friends in hospital. He spent two years on life supporting machines before he eventually died.
BooBoo’s eye. Showing PBS for the Playboys Gang and CBS for her clique within the gang: Crystal Bunnies. 2000
BooBoo receives free lazer treatment to remove her most visible tattoss. 1998
Squeezebox shoots up heroin in the Rosedale Cemetery, Los Angeles, where some of his homies are buried.
Lil’ Ricky learns to swim at Castaic Lake, Aug 99.
Nes Álvarez
December 2, 2015 at 9:04 am
Jkarlos Llamas guacha loco!
Jkarlos Llamas
December 2, 2015 at 9:28 am
Muchas imagenes de esas yo las tenia en una revista ke se llama o llamaba VIBE ,era un reportaje de los PlayBoys P.B.S. 13 , de ay es mi carnal Henry el ke canta ,pero el de los 80s principios
Ryan Lopez
December 2, 2015 at 9:02 am
Deedee Cat Christina Liebling
Rick Christie
December 2, 2015 at 5:36 am
Chucky Brown
Chucky Brown
December 2, 2015 at 5:38 am
Fucking awesome!
Rick Christie
December 2, 2015 at 5:44 am
Some amazing photos!
Sexy And Inked
December 2, 2015 at 1:07 am
<3 Hey Guys.The Body Is A Temple.Let's Decorate It's Walls.If You Like,Please Push The Thumb Up (Y) <3