Gang Leader for a Day

One of the most exciting books I’ve ever read—it’s only been a couple of minutes (at the time of this writing, or typing) since I finished “Gang Leader for a Day” by Sudhir Venkatesh.

Bear in mind that I don’t read a lot of books, let alone reading them cover-to-cover, but this one is an exception.

On a hot summer day in 1989, Sudhir Venkatesh, a callow sociology student with a ponytail and tie-dyed T-shirt, walked into one of Chicago’s toughest housing projects, clipboard in hand, ready to ask residents about their lives. He stuck around, befriended a gang leader and for the next decade lived a curious insider-outsider life at the notorious Robert Taylor Homes on the city’s South Side, an eye-opening experience he documents in the high-octane “Gang Leader for a Day.”
- NYTimes

Listed under Sociology, the book touches on issues such as Chicago’s underground economy (crack, prostitution, etc.) in the late 80’s and 90’s, the workings and management of a big, crack-selling, money-laundering gang (main focus on the Black Kings), the day-to-day lives of black residents (in the high-rise, Robert Taylor homes) living in poverty (and how they get by), as well as the corruption and bureaucracy of public organizations (the cops, the housing authority, etc.).

J. T. and his fellow officers like to describe the Black Kings as a social-service organization. “You need to understand that the Black Kings are not a gang; we are a community organization, responding to people’s needs,” one high-ranking member tells Mr. Venkatesh. This may even be sincere.
- NYTimes

J.T., the charismatic, smart and at times, cruel gang leader of the few gang factions (of the Black Kings) he operated and T-Bone, one of J.T.’s close friends and senior officers, are only two of the many personalities described in the book. Reading about these two should already defy the often stereotype of gangsters: J.T. went to college and loved reading about history and politics; T-Bone also attended college, majoring in Accounting and got A’s. Racial pressures, money prospects (for the future), preference over menial jobs were a few of the many reasons they joined the Black Kings.

J.T. once asked me what sociologists had to say about gangs and inner-city poverty. I told him that some sociologists believed in a “culture of poverty”—that is, poor blacks didn’t work because they didn’t value employment as highly as other ethnic groups did, and they transmitted this attitude across generations.
”So you want me to take pride in the job, and you’re only paying me minimum wage?” J.T. countered.
- Sudhir Venkatesh

All in all, it’s a very fun and worth-while book to read, so much that the “once you start reading, you’ll never stop”, or something like that, law applies here.