Film Screening, Talk Feature Ex-Gang Members

The 250-seat auditorium of the Harvard Film Archive filled well before show time last night. According to documentary filmmaker Jacqueline R. Soohen '00, dozens were turned away before the screening of her film about a former New York City Latino gang that has turned from violence to community activism.

Two groups, Caribbean Focus and Education for Action, co-sponsored the premier of "Black & Gold," a 73-minute documentary by Soohen and Rick Rowley '00. The screening was followed by a discussion with the film's principle characters, members of The Almighty Latin Kings and Queens Nation, a political street organization.

Born in 1994 from the remains of The Latin Kings, once New York's largest street gang, the movement has denounced its criminal background to become a political movement working toward the betterment of New York's Latino community, according to the film.

King Tone, the leader of the movement, acknowledged his group's past but emphasized his hopes for its future.

"We're not a crime organization," he said in the film. "We made a change, and we had a revolution."

"Black & Gold" juxtaposed statistics, urban images and first person accounts to tell the story of a community that once knew nothing other than the gang lifestyle, but is now uniting in hopes for a better future.

Lorraine Padilla, now a community activist and member of the Kings and Queens, said crime used to make her feel powerful.

"When I grabbed a broad and beat the shit out of her, I felt powerful," she said. "When I was growing up, I didn't know who I was."

But the movement, which the film said has given people like Padilla a positive identity, has been subject to nothing but intimidation and brutality by authorities such as the New York Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The documentary detailed instances of police discrimination, torture and wrongful arrests.

"That's power," Tone said. "That's power when they arrest you for doing nothing but being you."

Tone was arrested last May after a massive police raid of the homes of 90 leaders and members of the Kings and Queens. According to the film, even though no drugs or weapons were found in any of the raided homes, Tone was convicted on charges of conspiracy to sell drugs. He is now serving a 10- to 15-year term.

But despite the adversity his movement has thrived.

King Mission, one of the group's representatives who traveled to Boston for the screening, spoke after the film about the group's need to focus on the future.

"We're not here to tell you we never did anything wrong, we're here to tell you the facts," he said. "We can't waste our time defending ourselves anymore."

Obstacles to success in poor Latino communities are not insurmountable, he said, but they are tremendous and inescapable.

"We aren't CEOs. Our hours are not nine to five. We don't have offices up at 75th like a lot of other organizations. This shit is all day every day," Mission said.

According to Soohen, the film will also be shown tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at Roxbury Community College.