![]() ![]() Yet and still, I knew that because many families in Compton never make it to the beach - though it was about a 30 minute drive away - the local pool was the best option in serving thousands of people every summer who came there to learn how to swim and enjoy recreational aquatics.įor two weeks, I cleaned that pool for seven hours a day, even on Sundays. The pool became a derelict, forgotten public space. I used to swim at Campanella as a girl for swim competitions (yes there were flourishing black swim clubs in L.A.), but the pool changed. The water was like a green swamp and the facilities were downright dirty. I opened the gates and walked into a filthy, forgotten pool. On my first day, I borrowed my sister’s beach cruiser and cycled the 25-minutes to Compton into a cul-de-sac, off Rosecrans Avenue, just east of Central Avenue. When I got the offer at Campanella Park, I accepted with a little trepidation, but was grateful for the opportunity to co-manage. Since I paid my way through college, the pay raise with the promotion as a Senior Guard helped drastically with tuition at Florida A&M University. Although I grew up about a seven-to-ten minute drive from Compton (in South Central), it was a city that the media churned out to be a boogeyman, and I believed it. Shooting deaths were so frequent in the 80s and 90s, that it became the norm. Ĭompton, a modest-sized suburban municipality bordering the socio-politically constructed geography known as South Central Los Angeles, was one of several drop zones for gang wars fueled by a drug trade in black and brown communities in Los Angeles County. For me, it is the days of grinding at funky gigs under challenging circumstances that we discover who we are and how we are in work spaces. It is my litmus test to see if we can work together or collaborate because people think plush positions and long-winded degrees give the best experiences. I tell them it was when I was a lifeguard in Compton. In the ebb-and-flow of Ivory Towers and frou-frou meetings in New York, some people look at me with subtle hints of uncertainty when I reply to their questions asking about my best work experience. ![]() ![]() Still, I carry in the workplace, the leadership style I began to harness, the lessons on community relations and staff development gathered, the work ethic cultivated, and the fearlessness I grew, in the City of Compton. Nonetheless, it was the best days of my work life. While working at Campanella Park, the pool was robbed, a local guy threatened to shoot me, many gangbangers tried to sleep with me, and some of the kids were bad as hell. The closest prospect happened to be at Roy Campanella Park, a haven to this day for the Piru Blood gang organization. In order for me to work as a Senior Guard, I had to be placed where there was an opening. In June 1994, the third summer into me lifeguarding for LA County Parks & Recreation, I was transferred to oversee one of the worst public pools in Compton, California at the height of gang and drug wars.Īt the time, I was 19-years-old and just successfully completed training as a Senior Guard, which is an assistant manager position. Read more, then write your own #CareerLaunch post. Shady Records signed artist Boogie also has ties to the gang, although he barely talk about it.With summer jobs on the horizon, professionals recall the first jobs that launched their careers. Late rapper and DJ Quik protege Mausburg claimed affiliation to this gang. Most Campenella Park Pirus claim 148th Street and are found in and around the area of Campanella Park. Other enemies include the Florencia 13, all Hoover Criminals, the Original Swamps Compton Crips, Compton Varrio 155, Compton Varrio Tortilla Flats, Twilight Zone Compton Crips and Tragniew Park Compton Crips. They are allies of all Pirus, in particular the West Side Piru, 145 Neighborhood Pirus and 135 Piru but they also have engaged in past conflicts with other Blood sets such as the Bounty Hunter Bloods, Denver Lane Bloods and the Crenshaw Mafia Gang. Their territory is bounded by Central Avenue (East), Avalon Blvd (West), Rosecrans Avenue (North) and Compton Blvd (South). The West Side (W/S) Bompton Campenella Park Pirus are an African American street gang in Rosewood, a neighborhood immediately west of Compton, California. ![]()
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