Personal Life
In a June 2006 interview with www.popandpolitics.com reporter Zoneil Maharaj, Native Guns explained more about how their personal backgrounds. Both Kiwi and Bambu are former gang members who have chosen to redirect their energies in a more positive direction. Bambu discloses that he was immersed so deeply into the gang lifestyle that he was jailed for armed robbery before he even graduated from high school. When asked, they refused to mention their former affiliations by name in order to refrain from promoting the gang lifestyle in any way. Bambu also cites reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X as another watershed moment in his life.
Currently, they are deeply involved in organizing work in the Filipino community. Kiwi is most known for his affiliation with BAYAN USA in the San Francisco Bay Area while Bambu is most known as the Secretary General of Kabataang Maka-Bayan, Pro-People Youth in the Los Angeles area. The interview has since been removed from www.popandpolitics.com but is transcribed on the group's MySpace blog.
In a video documentary entitled The Guns Show directed by Tadashi Nakamura, Bambu reveals that he first became conscious to political issues after being exposed to Filipino prostitutes while stationed in the military in Japan, although he would not specify which branch. The Guns Show was originally uploaded to the group's MySpace page and has since been relocated to YouTube.
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