Peace treaty holding firm
BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY
THE CHRONICLE
Originally there was an agreement
for three weeks of peace between the
Latin gangs in the southeast region of the
city. Now that we have seen almost two
months of nonviolence, the peace treaty is
giving birth to additional opportunities in
the area.
David Villada, founder of Beating up
Bad Habits nonprofit organization, played
an integral role in bringing the gang
leaders together for the initial sit-down
through his work with the nonprofit and
being a bail bondsman.
“A lot of these kids that have either
been the victim or the one doing the crime
have been through my program,” said Vil
lada. “It bothers me that this stuff is going
on, so I have been trying to bring peace.”
Following the two recent homicides
that took place on Cole Road, Villada said
they “hit him hard” because he knew both
of the families.
“Both young men lacked a male figure
in their lives, so it was easy for them to
turn to the streets and turn to the gangs
and a lot of times this is what happens,”
he said. “Gang life is either you end up in
jail or you end up dead.”
Villada felt he had to do something to
curb the rise in violence. Soon afterwards,
two of the area gangs reached out to him
to organize some sort of cease fire.
“Seeing that I am a mediator and a ci
vilian and I know some of the people in
the community, they reached out to me,”
said Villada. “So, I reached out to the rest
of the gangs little by little and we were
able to have a sit-down.”
Villada coordinated with several indi
viduals for the sit down. Efirainguan Mu
hammad was one of the individuals at the
meeting. Muhammad and Villada have
worked together for years to subdue the
gang violence in the area, including doing
several peace walks. Villada commended
Muhammad for his de-escalation tech
niques and says Muhammad has taught
him a lot throughout their relationship.
Muhammad is the Winston-Salem
Submitted photo
The peace treaty among the Latin gangs in the Southeast Ward is picking up steam.
What started as a three-week peace treaty has extended into eight weeks of no gang violence.
Photo by Alphonso Abbott Jr.
representative of the Honorable Minister
Louis Farrakhan and the local Nation of
Islam. He stated his involvement was in
spired by Minister Farrakhan.
“Over the years, Brother David and I
have worked together in the community,
both in the Hispanic and African Ameri
can communities,” Muhammad said. “So,
when he reached out to me, after speaking
with various young men who had a desire
to resolve their issues, I was happy and
excited because of our work in the past
mediating beefs in the community be
tween rival parties.”
Muhammad said because the parties
involved were seeking peace in the com
munity, it was a lot easier for all individu
als to be in agreement.
“We give the praise and glory to God,
because only God could have inspired, in
the hearts of these young men, the desire
to want to resolve their conflicts and keep
the peace as long as it has been,” Muham
mad said. “Initially the agreement with
the parties was for a ceasefire for three
weeks as we try to work on how we could
maintain going forward. So, it has been a
blessing that here we are at seven, going
into eight weeks of peace now.”
According to Villada, with all of the
positive influences in the room, they were
going to get the attention of the gangs in
attendance.
“We told them that enough is enough
and we had to bring peace to the streets,
because the police were going to be pa
trolling more and it brings more problems
to not only them, but their families and the
community,” he said. “We continuously
talk with them and we de-escalate issues
before any actions are taken.”
Villada and Muhammad also con
nected with James Taylor, councilman
for the Southeast Ward, about bringing
jobs to the area, because they know that
will also have an impact on lowering the
violent crime in the area. Taylor was able
to partner Villada’s nonprofit with a local
contractor for employment opportunities
for some of the young men in the area.
“We just want them to let us work and
put these young men in the same commu
nity to work and be productive,” Villada
said. “When they work, you keep them
busy and off the streets and also put mon
ey in their pockets. With money in your
pocket, who is not happy?”
Muhammad thinks it would not only
benefit the young men, but also the city,
if more resources related to employment
were given to the Southeast Ward.
“A lot of our young brothers are not
in that lifestyle because they choose to, a
lot of times it’s because society has failed
them and doesn’t care,” he said. “To en
courage them and support them by putting
tangible resources in their hands will go
a long way in them self-maintaining the
peace they have initiated and understand
ing the value of the peace to themselves,
to their families and to their greater com
munity.
“I think it would be a tragedy if the
city and those in business leadership
would not support these young people in
these efforts in whatever way possible.”
To help some of the young men
achieve success in the workforce, Vil
lada collaborated with Lizbeth Sanchez
and Adela Patricia of Equal Opportunity
Staffing, which is a temporary employ
ment agency that will work with some of
the young men even if they have a trou
bled history with law enforcement.
“Being Hispanic, we also have family
that goes through that and it is really hard
for them to take care of their families, es
pecially once they are released from incar
ceration,” said Sanchez about why their
organization decided to partner with Vil
lada, “instead of them going back to that
life, because they have been rejected from
employment because of their history. If
these companies are willing to work with
us to give them a second chance, then we
are willing to be responsible for them to
make sure they show up for the job.”
Patricia added, “I have friends and
family that have been denied jobs based
on their record. I do believe in second
chances and I want to help those that want
to be helped. I am a single mother and the
thing that touched me the most was when
a five-year-old boy was killed in his home
by a stray bullet and I want to be able to
give my son a better future and give other
families a better future as well.”
Villada and Muhammad are hoping
this peace treaty will continue for as long
as possible and praying that employment
opportunities continue to be placed in the
area.
“I can’t do it by myself, Brother Mu
hammad can’t do it by himself, but it is
a team effort,” Villada continued. “To see
this is happening, shows that the effort we
all have been putting in is working. It just
took time.”
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