Father Greg Boyle buried a youngster killed by gang violence in 1988. Two weeks before Christmas 2011, he did it for the 180th time.
Father Boyle said there was a time when the people in his neighborhood didn’t feel safe walking the streets because of the ongoing gang warfare. They leaned mattresses against their front windows to stop stray bullets. Father Boyle felt compelled to start a movement – without guns – to get gang bangers off the streets and into jobs. He created Homeboy Industries.
Homeboy Industries was formed when Father Boyle was a pastor at Delores Mission, the poorest parish in Los Angeles. The parish is located between two public housing projects, Pico Garden and Aliso Village. According to Los Angeles Police Department, it has the highest concentration of gang activity in the entire city. Father Boyle didn’t know this when he took the position.
Homeboy Industries supports at-risk, recently released, and formerly gang involved youth in becoming contributing members of their communities through a variety of services — including counseling, education, tattoo removal, ending substance abuse and addiction assistance, job training and job placement.
“I was intrigued by his talk on restorative justice and gang violence. I wanted him to speak to the men of San Quentin,” said Rose Elizondo, facilitator to San Quentin’s Restorative Justice Interfaith Roundtable.
Father Boyle addressed more than 100 San Quentin prisoners in its Catholic Chapel. He said, “For the last 25 years, it’s been a privilege to work with ex-gang members. It’s very important to listen to what these young kids are saying in order to understand their needs.”
He told the men, “I’m honored to be here. We are in a place where we are trying to make something positive happen… This is powerful to see. It’s real. It’s true. You’ve created a community of kinship such that God will recognize.”
Father Boyle’s message: “How do we inch our way out toward the young people who don’t feel included? When we stand with the poor, the powerless and the voiceless, we choose to be of service and to transform lives. We stand with the easily despised and the readily left out, the demonized so that the demonizing will stop the disposable of human beings – so, the day will come when we stop throwing people away.”
Father Boyle spoke of the time he spent with Cesar Chavez. “I told him that the people love him. He just shrugged his shoulders and told me that the feeling was mutual.” Chavez maintained that “It’s not about service; it’s about bridging the differences between us.”
Father Boyle said one of his most exciting moments was when First Lady Laura Bush visited Los Angeles to talk to members of Homeboy Industries. He added that Vice President Al Gore’s visit had a tremendous impact on Homeboy Industries also.
Father Boyle’s best-selling book, Tattoos on the Heart, is a colorful work of art that gets under the skin of those who read it. It shows the deep relationships he has nurtured and cultivated in his 25 years at Homeboy Industries. Through the ink on the pages, images are drawn of homeboys and homegirls finding their true identity and self worth, said Elizondo in a review of the book.
Elizondo asked Father Boyle, “If you could have a word tattooed on your heart, what would it be?” He replied, “Hope.”
–Rose Elizondo contributed to this article.