After being released from prison, twenty-five years ago, I began to speak to African American and Latino gangs across America. I saw the hatred among these young people, not only for those of the opposite color but also for many of their own. I began to hear their stories, and the one common denominator that most of them shared was being born in the wrong place to parents who were out of control, in jail, or addicted to drugs and no opportunity for an education. Their only form of schooling and ""parenting"" was provided by the gangs themselves. For many of these young men and women, positive role models were not there, but the gang became their security, their parent, their schoolteacher, and their pastor-like leader.