Engaging "Gangland" Visual Culture: Memorializing Beltzhoover's Victims of Violence, 1993-1997.

On the morning of March 16, 1996, DeQuay "Quizz" Evans and his friends were riding in his car down Fifth Avenue not far from the University of Pittsburgh. It is likely that they were returning home from one of the university area's latenight diners where students and locals often eat after college parties or concerts. Another car of young men pulled up alongside DeQuay. Reportedly, the respective drivers and passengers began to argue and taunt one another. As the argument escalated, DeQuay stepped out of his vehicle and was shot multiple times. He died later that afternoon at a nearby hospital at the age of 1 8.Although it was never confirmed that his murder was gang-related, Beltzhoover youth regularly feuded with those of several neighboring communities. In another version of the story, DeQuay, who had earned quite a reputation as a feared gangbanger of the "Beltzhoover Young Guns" initiated the conflict. He allegedly terrified this group of young teens who attempted to avoid confrontation as he chased them in his car. When DeQuay cornered the car of teens, he aggressively jumped out of his vehicle and pretended he was armed. In response, a young man from the other vehicle open fired on DeQuay until his body dropped. For local adolescents familiar with either version of this tragedy, the sad tale of DeQuay Evans serves as a warning. It cautions young men to be ever mindful of their egos and to never lose sight of their mortality and the dangers of the city streets (C. Bradley, personal communication, April 17,2010).In the mid-1990s, Pittsburgh gang violence reached its peak when countless shootings and hundreds of murders took place (Houser, 2004). Most victims were African American males who became casualties of a drug war generated by economic hardships, the crack cocaine epidemic, and media-generated gangster culture. While some of these young men joined gangs to obtain various social and economic necessities, gang culture became closely associated with popular urban youth culture for African American males throughout the United States (hooks, 1994; J. White, personal communication, April 31, 2010). It was seemingly fashionable to be a gang member then, and murderers and victims alike were glorified. As one former member stated, "At one time in the hood [neighborhood], being murdered was the most glorious thing that could happen to you. You were nobody until somebody killed you" (J. Timber, personal communication, April 19, 2010). Sadly, many young men frequented these city streets with little hope for the future, and death became so commonplace that only through memorials and posthumous mythologies did people's lives find significance.I grew up in a large African American family in urban Pittsburgh. As an undergraduate student in the 1990s, my neighborhood, Beltzhoover, a predominantly African American community located on the Southside, became a hotbed for inner-city violence. As a result, I often returned home to attend funerals and mourn with friends and family. While I attended several services during this period, I vividly recall the collective pain we shared following the loss of DeQuay Evans. In subsequent years, I visited Beltzhoover to find increasing amounts of graffiti plastered on park benches, garage doors, alleyways, and abandoned buildings. Stylized letters read "R.I.P. (Rest in Peace) Quay" and "Much Luv [sic] Quizz". Additional graffiti served to memorialize other victims.More than a decade later, I visited a sparsely populated Beltzhoover. Litter-filled lots replaced the family-filled homes, porches, lawns, and gardens I remembered from my youth. On a walk to the local park with my daughter, I rediscovered some of the graffiti from the 1990s (see Figure 1 .) I noticed that, over time, these names and memorializing sentiments peeled away and faded, but were covered by the names of new victims. The layered writing and drips were charged with spontaneity and emotion. As I walked the streets of Beltzhoover reading the fading names, I thought about the moments I shared with these young men. …