The story of Raul Ramos

Los Angeles has been the “gang capital of the nation,” since the 1930s, while the number of gang members has gone down, it’s believed there are still over 30,000 active gang members in Los Angeles, today. In the late 1980s/early 1990s, this number was much higher, some estimate, there were over 60,000 active gang members at that time. Most of the time representing a gang leads to death or life in prison, let’s take a look at Raul Ramos story.

Raul was born on August 24th, 1978 in Los Angeles, CA, and lived with his mother, father, and his sister. Raul’s parents are both from Mexico but met in L.A when they were teenagers. The family lived in several cities and neighborhoods throughout L.A., like the city of L.A., Gardena, and Long Beach.

By the time Raul was 5 years old, his parents got divorced, Raul and his sister stayed with his mom. The 3 of them lived in a small one bedroom apartment. While his mom did her best to provide for Raul and his sister, she was unable to find a steady job. This led to there never being enough of anything, with his mom always working, Raul started exploring the world by himself.

Living in a gang infested neighborhood, the first thing Raul saw when he got out of his apartment was gang members with lots of money, money his family didn’t have. The gang member let young Raul hang out with them, sometimes they gave him money, so he could buy snacks. This impressed Raul, and Raul thought, this is what family is supposed to be like.

By the 4th grade, Raul was dressing like a gang member, and tagging his name in Old English Letters, but he wasn’t a gang member yet. Around this time Raul also reconnected with his dad. Raul’s dad was living in Huntington Park on Florence Ave, home to Florencia 13, a well known gang named after the Florence neighborhood of L.A. Raul started spending all his time at his dad’s place, and would see drug dealers, drug addicts, pimps, prostitutes, and gang members, all the time.

It didn’t take long before Raul became friends with 2 members of Florencia 13’s Malditos click. They brought Raul to the birthplace of the Malditos click, and introduced him to what gang life wasreally like. Raul saw lots of gang members chillin’ smoking weed, drinking 40s, and selling drugs. He spent a lot of time with the Malditos click, and started seeing the older guys as his older brothers. They gave Raul a sense of family, and guidance that he was missing. Raul made up his mind, he wanted to join the Malditos.

One night at a neighborhood party, Raul’s friend asked him if he wanted to be a member of the Malditos. Raul said “YES,” for 45 seconds, 3 older Malditos members punched, kicked, and slammed Raul on the ground. After the 45 seconds were up Raul’s nose was bleeding, his body was black and blue, and his eye was busted open, but he was finally a gang member. Everyone at the party congratulated Raul on becoming a member of the Malditos.

Raul was only 11 years old when he joined the Malditos. By the time he was 13, Raul had 4 tattoos, The gang’s name on both sides of his face, 3 dots under his eye, and F-13 on his back. Raul was sent on his first mission for the click when he was 13 years old, 2 years after he joined the Malditos. Getting shot at by rivals, and shooting at rivals was an everyday thing for Raul.

If there was any positive influence in Raul’s life, that influence was gone by the time he was 15 years old. At this point Raul was banging 24/7, selling drugs, fighting, protecting his neighborhood, and trying to stay out of jail. When Raul was 16, he was arrested.

It wasn’t all bad though, when Raul was 17 years old, his first daughter was born. The birth of his daughter made Raul think, and for the first time he thought, is gang life worth it. He saw homies die, paralyzed after being shot, get locked up, get addicted to the drugs they were slanging. His daughter deserved to have her father in her life, she didn’t ask for this.

When Raul was 18, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. It wasn’t easy, Raul almost got denied because of the amount of gang-related tattoos he had, but a Captain approved Raul. Raul hit the floor run, there was no stopping him.

Raul was assigned to work as an Aviation Boatswain's Mates or ABE. It’s considered one of the hardest positions in the Navy, an ABE is responsible for the launch and recovery of aircrafts. Obviously, this isn’t the only thing an ABE does.

Raul was finally doing something positive in his life, the navy took him around the world. Instead of destroying the world, he was making it a safer place. Raul moved through the ranks faster than anyone around him. After 18 years in the Navy, Raul was promoted to E-9, Master chief petty officer, one of the highest ranks within the Navy.

In 2021, Raul wrote Ese to Master Jefe: From street gang life in South Central Los Angeles to US Navy Master Chief, a biography about his life.

Raul now works with children in inner city schools, neighborhood programs, and juvenile detention centers. But his goal isn't just to help the kids; he also wants adults to be inspired by his story to help at-risk children because even one positive influence can save a life.