Invasion of the gangsta babies: the FAQ

I wrote an article a few days ago about an anti-gang campaign taking place in Sudbury.  Within 24 hours, my site traffic quadrupled and I received a great deal of feedback.  But it wasn’t my article that hit a nerve, it was the comments left by Norman Beauvais, who worked on the organizing committee for this campaign.  These comments were alarming coming from someone who not only worked on a committee affiliated with the police but also sat on a committee to prevent violence against women.  Read them here:  http://julielaurin.com/?p=820

But here’s what irks me the most about this entire situation: no one from the police or from any of the agencies involved has even bothered to release a statement to disconnect themselves from this guy.  And by saying nothing, they’re allowing him to speak for them.  By saying nothing about the poster, they’re approving of its use and they’re allowing it to represent them.

Here are a few recurring questions that have come up through the feedback I’ve received from this article:

Julie, why do you care about all of this? You live in Ottawa and this is happening in Sudbury!

Actually, this is a provincial campaign.  Sudbury was merely one of a few dozen cities (including Ottawa) who received provincial dollars to run this campaign until June 2010.  So, it affects every Ontarian because their tax dollars are being spent on racist advertising.  But even if this had been funded with municipal dollars and even if I wasn’t from that area, I’d still care about it because I believe in public responsibility as well as our responsibility to hold leaders responsible and accountable when they do things that aren’t in our best interest or serve to marginalize a group of people in the hopes that no one will notice.

I should also point out that though this is a provincial campaign, I have not been able to find any instances of this poster being used by the other communities that are part of this initiative.  As far as I know, it’s only Sudbury that is using the poster.  Please feel free to message me directly or use a comment if you know of other cities that are using this poster as promotion for the anti-street gang campaign.  Otherwise, I’m led to believe that Sudburians came up with this idea.

How is that poster racist?

I’m not going to explain racism to you.  Look at what the kids are wearing, look at the words being used, look at the defiant look on their faces.  It’s an attempt to isolate black, hip hop culture so that this will be the first thing that comes to mind when we think about street gangs.  By doing this, they’re making it seem like any kid who wears a hoodie or a bandana or wears their hat sideways might be in a gang. 

This was the wrong call to make as they’ve just given ONE image of what a street gang might look like when in reality, street gangs have several representations. 

Photoshopped by a friend. The zombie gangsta babies are coming!!! Oh noes!!!

Ok, so the poster’s not perfect and Norman’s comments surely don’t represent the entire committee. Why make a big deal out of a few minor things? Prevention is important, so why are you being so negative?

I don’t know that his comments don’t represent the entire committee because I haven’t heard from anyone else on that committee.  I was going to contact the police and all of the local agencies involved to see if they had anything to say.  But, I decided against that.  The way I see it, it’s the job of every agency to monitor its brand.  That means, if you launch a campaign like this, someone should be monitoring the web for feedback about the campaign.

This isn’t a minor issue – this is just further proof that non-profits and government agencies in Sudbury are in need of a personnel shake-up.  I heard from a lot of people in non-profit and some of them shared horror stories about personnel issues they’ve had.  The only explanation I was able to get from them was that the pay is so low for some of these jobs and unemployment is so high, that it’s hard to find really good people to do the work for cheap.  But that’s business.  Either hire someone good to represent your brand or don’t hire at all.

Nothing about the poster or the marketing around this campaign was telling me that it was about prevention.  Instead, I was presented with conflcting messages – the police chief is being reported as saying that there are no organized gangs in Sudbury but the poster says “Gangs are here”.  Which one is it?

I hate it when people try to win an argument by saying “you’re just being negative”.  Yes, I am.  I’m being negative because the situation is negative.  I’m being critical because the issue deserves criticism.  I’m asking questions because I’m skeptical about the entire session and I think that government money has been squandered on racist advertising and a campaign that lacks organization.

Why do you hate Sudbury? Why are you bashing Sudbury?

Because I can. I’m not a front-line worker – I can be critical of Sudbury all I want and I have absolutely no public responsibility to shut up. Besides, don’t take things so personally. I know you don’t always have nice things to say about Sudbury either. I’ve yet to meet a Sudburian who hasn’t complained about the city at least once… a week.

Not all front-line workers or police officers are racist or sexist. Why do you hate front-line workers?

I’m not even going to directly answer that because those questions are absurd. Front-line workers who are racist or sexist shouldn’t be front-line workers. Agencies that keep front-line workers who are racist or sexist should lose all of their funding.

You’re undermining the prevention efforts to prevent gangsta babies from invading the city! Don’t you see any value in that?

No, I don’t. I don’t see ANY value in having a couple of information sessions but not having any way for people who haven’t participated in those sessions to find your ‘community action plan’. I also don’t see any value in campaigns that use fear tactics instead of promoting what’s being done about any issue. For example, instead of having a poster of gangsta babies, have a poster that shows the future playground you’ll be building for kids as part of your action plan. And don’t tell me that gangs are here, but they’re not.

And seriously: gangsta babies?  That’s your campaign?

Well, hey, at least our poster has people talking about the issue!

Yeah, they’re ridiculing you. If this is your idea of viral marketing, you’ve failed.

You don’t understand non-profit work or what’s happening in the schools because you don’t work in non-profit or you don’t teach in the schools.

I’ve actually worked in elementary schools and I learned a few things – like how some kids in grade 8 still don’t know how to read because they’re being pushed through the system. Yeah, teaching stuff to kids who can’t read is so much fun.

I don’t need to have worked in non-profit or to have taught in schools to have a proper sense of business. And that sense dictates that racism shouldn’t be used as a marketing campaign and that my staff should be coached about things like sharing their personal opinions online. I also know that there is a lot of information out there about how to successfully implement a program, how to market it, how to communicate about it and how to handle staffing and personnel issues. I know that a lot of agencies ingnore this information and then try to convince you that you can’t criticize them because you’re not on the front-line.

What does “OMGWTFBBQSAUCE” mean?

Ok, if you’re asking me this question, you need to ask yourself the following question: Do I work with youth?

If yes, then WTF – it’s your job to know what that means.

As defined by the Urban Dictionary: “An expression used on the computer meaning ‘Oh my god, what the fuck’. It is generally used to relate to crazy situtations, or when something random happens.”  Oh, and it’s primarily used by young people.

Lastly, here are some questions that you should be asking of these agencies.  The poster advertises a “Community Action Plan”… so: 

Where’s the Plan? 

Where can I get a copy of it? 

Where can a parent or teacher or young person find information on street gangs from these local agencies or the local police force? 

If there’s an action plan, what kind of programs are being introduced into the community to prevent street gangs from setting up shop in Sudbury?

For further reading about this issue, check out this well-written blog article by “A Canadian Lefty in Occupied Land”.

You can also join the “Invasion of the gangsta babies” group on Facebook.  Everyone should be prepared!!!

Related posts:

1. Oh noes!!! Gangs in Sudbury! OMGWTFBBQSAUCE!
2. On efficiency, planning and how it’s ok to say “I don’t know”