The California Condor

You know, California Condors were extinct in the wild.
They were. Back in the 80's there were only twenty-seven. No lie. The biggest bird on land here, homie, and it got killed off till it was almost dead dead. Back when California was getting built up we were also taking away its home. Then we started poisoning it with chemicals that we were putting on our plants and in the water. We fucked the Condor's day up, mio.
This upset some folks. They said the Condor was a special bird and it needed to be protected. So we rounded up the birds and put them in a zoo where they could chill and hook up, you know what I mean? Twenty Seven is an odd number too some someone was left out of the festivities.
It worked for a while. The Condors got to doin' what came natural, and the baby condor's grew up and got to doin' what was natural, and next thing you know twenty seven turns into fifty, turns into a hundred. Then the smart people say they want to put some of the birds back out into the open. Let them be free.
Because bein' in prison changes a bird, you know? And if you keep the condor in the cage too long, maybe it doesn't know how to be out of it.

The Street Gang

I think that's why El Cóndores are who they are. They used to be one of the most powerful gangs in Solis Bay. And they were betrayed. Poisoned. Imprisoned. But they're coming back. They rep the bird because its struggle is their struggle. That's how it used to be anyway. El Cóndores used to be, yo no sé, normal for a street gang. Machismo. Chip on their shoulder.
But some El Cóndores also think that bird has some kind of connection to the spirit world. They got that from the Natives. The El Cóndores today they're into that superstitious stuff. Magic charms and talkin' to spirits. I don't go in for that kinda stuff, mio. Once people start talking about ghosts and spells, I check out.
Maybe they just want to feel strong and powerful like the bird.