Sudhir has been hanging around J.T. and his gang for around three years now. He has met many new people since J.T. has had less time for him because of the growth of the gang. Next to J.T. Sudhir's best friend is Autry. Autry is a 35 year old man who runs the kids clubs in the projects. Autry is an ex Black- King and has spent some time in jail and hoping to turn his life around. Sudhir and Autry started spending a lot of time together around the projects when J.T. was gone. It was surprising to see that Autry had a lot of power as well in the gang. Autry would act as a mediator for many disputes within the gang and was always searching for ways to make the community a more comfortable place. Autry held a meeting with all the local gang leaders to see if he could start a local midnight basketball league. A few nights a week, basketball games would be held late at night in an effort to decrease the amount of young gang members dealing drugs. Autry said he would need $5000 from each gang leader to make it happen. The league was started and it kept people off the streets.
A constant theme in this book is that almost all the issues in society are handled by each other or within the gang. Although it may seem dangerous, it is very effective. No one ever thinks about calling the cops.
A few weeks after the gang leader meeting, Sudhir, J.T. and his bodyguards are driving around doing their normal routine. When they sit down to eat Sudhir says something that gets of J.T.'s nerves. "I don't see what's so difficult about your job, I mean you say how hard it is to do what you do, but I just can't see it being that difficult." J.T. responds, "Okay, well, you want to give it a try?" Sudhir is given one day to be a gang leader. Predictions?
Hey Sam,
ReplyDeleteI'm slightly confused as to what the focus of the book is. I understand that Sudhir is a schlor and is trying to understand how a gang funcions, but does the book show how violent these gangs can be? It threw me off when the title is gang leader for a day and then talks about the gang leaders giving $5000 to support a basketball program. I've never heard of a gang leader who cares about his community. Can you help clarify this?
Brad,
ReplyDeleteSudhir isn't let in on much of the violence going on in the gang. Sure he hears stories, but J.T. wants to keep Sudhir from witnessing crimes as much as possible.
The Black Kings like to consider themselves as a community organization responding to the people's needs rather than a gang. The gang hides out and deals drugs amongst the people of the projects. In order to keep these people happy, they must cater to their needs as well. This way the gang gets a cut of all business in the projects, while the people are protecting the gang, as well as the gang protecting the people.
It's cool that they tried starting a sports league to keep people off the street. It seems that as more kids become bored or cease participating in communal activites, the likelihood of them becoming involved with drugs or gangs has to be higher. You don't think of gang members being conscious of the youth... you just thing of them as murderers. It's interesting to see how my idea of a ruthless gang leader doesn't always hold true
ReplyDeleteAndy-
ReplyDeleteSudhir was just as surprised as you were. Keeping balance and keeping everyone happy is at the foremost of the gang's agenda and although it may be costly, it improves the community. Sudhir still saw J.T. be ruthless many times, but it wasn't his character. He had to be tough to his gang because it was necessary to their success.
I have heard before that the original idea of what the gangs were made for were for people who do not have families and need people to lean on. I think that if gangs worked off the idea of them being a family and not about gang banging then I think that gangs could be good for some people
ReplyDelete