DO you support homies and what they symbolize?

[Anonymous20]

I totally support homies.. i think that they symbolize individualism. each homie has a name and a profile.. i think that it shows us that there are hard times out there but you can still do something with your life... besides just because you dress lke a gangster does it mean that you are a gangster? havent you ever heard dont judge a book by its cover,.... so dont judge homies by what they look like.

[Anonymous20]

I SUPPORT THE HOMIES. THEY SYMBOLIZE SUPPORT AND THERE ALWAYS THERE THROUGH BAD AND GOOD DAYS. ESPECIALLY TO HAVE THERE BACK AND ALSO THEM. ESPECIALLY FROM THE ENEMIGAS AND ALL HATERS, PORQUE IS ALL ABOUT THE BARRIO, NO MATTER WHAT GOES DOWN. SO ALL THE ENEMIGAS KEEP TRUCHA.

[Jackie]

I work in the Human Resources Department at a big company in Texas. I am not a gang member. I have well over 100 Homies on display at my house and I very much support the Homies collection. When you look at a Homie, I bet you will know someone in your life now or that has been in your life that the Homie reminds you of. The story behind the Homies are awesome and I know mine by there names. For instance, some of my friends refer me to be Huera.
David great job! I like the other website better that way I can read and print out the new Homies of the week.

[Jackie]

I work in the Human Resources Department at a big company in Texas. I am not a gang member. I have well over 100 Homies on display at my house and I very much support the Homies collection. When you look at a Homie, I bet you will know someone in your life now or that has been in your life that the Homie reminds you of. The story behind the Homies are awesome and I know mine by there names. For instance, some of my friends refer me to be Huera.
David great job! I like the other website better that way I can read and print out the new Homies of the week.

[aud_world]

My husband grew up out in Cali. He misses the home state and wishes to be back in his "relm" per say. We can only find Homies in vending machines out here. I love having access to them because they give me an idea of what his life was like growing up. I'm a midwest girl who has traveled alot but have never been truly exposed to gangs or any of that jazz. The mid-west is candy coated. These guys bring the world to us. Keep them coming!!!

[Anonymous20]

This is an email i received about me having the homies on my site. She was not happy about them but read the message for yourself. What do you think about her thoughts? She also gave me permission to post her email.


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From: "Nadina H. Best"
To: alonso @ streetgangs.com
Subject: I am impressed
Date: Wed, 11 Sept 2002 13:32:36 -0700


Dear Mr. Alonso,

I am very impressed by your work with street gangs, as well as your personal success. It seems to me that your promotion of the dolls 'Homies' is in contradiction with your work. As a woman of Latin and African decent (my grandmother hails from Argentina and is half black), I am shocked to see that you do not consider these dolls as a source of the continued perpetuation of the negative stereotypes of our people in the inner cities.

I understand the reality of gangs in the cities, but to capitalize on it is a discredit to your work. As someone who is pursuing a Ph.D. in Social Psychology, I find the 'Homie' phenomenon disturbing. I believe that it says to our youth gangs are glamorous and fun.

I am sure this is not the first time you have heard this complaint. I am eager for your response.

Sincerely,

Nadina H. Best

[wcrockets]

It looks real enough. The tone is genuine and the person appears to be nice enough. Guess she's not a collector.. lol.

Well she has a point about how the marketplace perpetuates.

[Dreamer]

MAN THE HOMIES ARE JUST DOLLS,I DONT KNOW HOW THAT WILL AFFECT A PERSON.THEY DONT CAUSE VIOLENCE,ITS THE FAULTS OF PARENTS FOR NOT TAKING CARE OF THERE KIDS AND NOT BEING THERE.THATS WHY KIDS GROW UP TO BE DEALERS AND GANG MEMBERS.THE HOMIES ARE JUST DOLLS THAT EXPRESS OF HAVING GOODTIME WITH LA RAZA AND THATS IT.

[schme]

yes I do.the kick ass.

[schme]

they

[civil_thor]

"Homies" are nothing more than goofy trinkets, collectors items to some. To an adult with his/her own perspective on life, theyr'e utterly harmless. To an impressionable child, it may send or re-enforce the wrong message.

"Homies" irrefutably represent gang members and the gang culture. Disagree? I redirect you to the name given by the manufacturer. Children play with toys that represent their ideals, vertual role models.. Hot Wheels cars do not represent 83 Cutlass buckets, they are usually cool rides. You may not agree with the US government or the idea of toy soldiers, but you can't argue that the military does not offer opportunities for job training and education.. Not the worst of examples for kids.. Barbies come in all colors and a number of styles and are fairly harmless unless you factor in "body image" issues... "Homies",more than any other toy I can think of, glamorize a lifestyle that, more than any other, incorporates crime and the opportunity to die, be maimed, or go to jail. You tell me which toy is healthier for a kid.

I'm just playing devil's advocate here. I don't really have anything against the "Homies" figures per se... But I'm looking at them as a well adjusted adult. Can you count on kids looking at them the same way? Especially if the real-life role models a kid has to look up to are merely the live version...

[WillieCreeper]

testing

[WillieCreeper]

Sorry about that last post. I have to completely disagree with the Phd candidate, and direct you to Glenn Loury's book "The Anatomy of Racial Inequality."

Personally, I think that dressing 'gangsta' is common in our society. But there is stigma for those individuals - especially brown and black individuals - who do so. If we keep insisting that people dressed like that are a negative, that stigma will always continue. So, in a way, the Homies are about empowering what W. J. Wilson would call members of the underclass.

That being said, there is a fine line in anything. For example, I feel that the Bratz dolls displays something bad in our society. Barbies were bad enough, but now we're teaching our girls that having a short skirt and big lips (and other parts) is the way to be admired.

So where to draw the line? Like everything with kids, it starts with the parents. Parents who let their children watch cartoons, which shows a lot of violence, without supervising them are teaching their children that violence is impersonal and fun. Parents who let their children eat food without supervising them are teaching them that food is for pleasure, and not nutrition. Ban television? Ban fastfood? The government should let us decide some things, and even communist China has realized that.

[ChAoS]

Well, my homies a Blood, and I don't alwayz agree on the shit he's involved in but he's still the homie to the end.=p)

[Anonymous20]

well i collect them, i think the artist makes good work with these

[fistfullofboomstick]

chaos i think u misread the question, and capo check ur private msgs

[chico]

people need to get a life ...show me one homie that carries a gun r a knife..well there is on but he stands in front of a U.S flag.... get off the homies nuts

[ChAoS]

what?????

[blackmanofhonor]

My husband grew up out in Cali. He misses the home state and wishes to be back in his "relm" per say. We can only find Homies in vending machines out here. I love having access to them because they give me an idea of what his life was like growing up. I'm a midwest girl who has traveled alot but have never been truly exposed to gangs or any of that jazz. The mid-west is candy coated. These guys bring the world to us. Keep them coming!!!

not my part of the midwest.Try the Mil,Chicago,Gary,Flint,Detroit,St.Louis etc if you want to see parts of the mid that aint ''candy coated''.

[AnthonyK]

No, I do not support homies, to say that they are of no consequence is too simple. To a mature adult maybe so, but what about impressionable children. The point about Barbie has been brought up. How many teens are or have been bent over a toilet with their finger down their throat? As art I say homies are not a masterpiece. Parents, you are their example. Are you homie? Do you collect them? If both are answered yes, chances are you will raise a homie. Is that your goal for your child?

[cashville]

i support homies cuz they respresent urban black and latino youths not all of the figures are negative thats what people fail to realize.

[kenni]

i guess

[BobBarker]

i don't support it but im not against it either. i don't see what the big deal is.

[Anesis]

I think if the stories were accesible to the people that bought them, that would be one thing. But for the majority of the people that buy those toys (at least out of the vending machines), you don't know anything about the "background" of the toy.

At the inner-city high school that I taught at, my students did not have access to a computer, and even if they did, the last time I looked at the Homies' web site, there were no background stories to be found. In fact, if your only association with Homies was through vending machines, you may not have even known there was a web site.

Regardless of the original intent, they toys have become associated with gang activity/behavior.

But the creator stands by his orginal intent. He's not going to pull them off the market - they are making loads of money.

On the flip side, there are so many OTHER things that need to be dealt with first., in my opinion. I haven't heard of anyone mugging anybody over the toys. I haven't heard of anyone killing anybody over a complete set of Series 1.

But this is a moot point anyway, because this mainly affects people living in "the ghetto". When it starts to slip out to gingerbread suburbia, then we might start seeing protests, petitions, and news reports.