Getting To The Root - WRD Gangs Special

On this edition, we explore an issue that has had a particular impact on Long Island: criminal justice, street gangs, and the history of MS-13. First we present highlights of a special panel held at Hofstra University last October called The Gangs of Long Island: Mythmaking, Policymaking and the Origins of MS-13. The panel featured two guests who know and understand from unique perspectives the history of MS-13: Steven Dudley, Investigative journalist and cofounder of InSight Crime, a think tank devoted to investigating organized crime and corruption in the Americas. He is the author of the just published book MS-13: The Making of America’s Most Notorious Gang. Also, Sergio Argueta, among the most influential community activists on Long Island. Sergio is the founder and Board President of S.T.R.O.N.G. Youth, Inc. (Struggling To Reunite Our New Generation), one of the leading gang prevention and intervention agencies in the northeastern United States. Then, we hear from award-winning San Francisco-based journalist Roberto Lovato, who tells us about his just published book UNFORGETTING: A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and Revolution in the Americas. The book tells the story of his life growing up between the streets of Los Angeles and the internal conflict in El Salvador, and how he has witnessed first-hand the emergence of MS-13 in both places. Hosted by Mario A. Murillo.

Originally aired on 02/09/2021 on WRHU-FM