First thing is my family, and then my community. Valdez says people confuse the Las Cuatro Milpas gang with the Las Cuatro Milpas barrio. It was a neighborhood that's been there since the early '40s. That doesn't necessarily mean they are involved in criminal activity. The Milpas has a sense of security missing in most neighborhoods.
Most people know each other, or at least are familiar with family names.
The community also knows how to come together. The whole neighborhood had a funeral. The family couldn't afford no big wake. They had the wake in his house. All I remember is seeing the house full of candles for light.