What is the main message of Gang Leader For A Day?

The main message of Gang Leader For A Day is a sociological exploration of gangs and poverty.

Who is the author of Gang Leader For A Day?

The author of Gang Leader For A Day is Sudhir Venkatesh.

Politics

Gang Leader For A Day Book Summary - Gang Leader For A Day Book explained in key points

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Gang Leader For A Day summary

Name: Gang Leader For A Day
Rating: 3.8 (17 reviews)
Author: Sudhir Venkatesh

Sudhir Venkatesh

A Rogue Sociologist Crosses The Line

3.8 (17 ratings)

18 mins

Brief summary

Gang Leader For A Day by Sudhir Venkatesh is a memoir that explores life in a Chicago housing project and the author's unexpected relationship with a local gang leader. It offers insight into poverty, crime, and the struggles of inner-city communities.

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Memoirs Social Philosophy Class Race Political Philosophy

Table of Contents

Gang Leader For A Day
Summary of 8 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 8

What’s in it for me? Look inside one of America’s worst housing projects and the gang that dominated it.

In 1962, the recently completed Robert Taylor Homes public housing project was one of the largest in America. Yet a few decades later, these 4,000 crumbling Chicago apartments were more war zone than welcoming homes, with daily murders and rampant crime.

Yet despite the misery, residents stuck together, learning how to live in a world that had all but forgotten them – while treading the fine line between legal and illegal pursuits.

Before the complex was torn down in 2007, the author, a sociologist, documented the social networks that ruled these high-rises and sustained its residents.

His close dealings with the Black Kings, a local gang that ran drugs in the projects but also acted too as local benefactors, gave him a unique insight not only into the inner workings of drug networks but also the complex power relationships between residents and gang members.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

what leading a criminal gang and leading a company have in common;
why if you’re hurt in the projects, you can’t call an ambulance; and
what happened when the author was named gang leader for a day.

In the projects, even though everyone’s officially unemployed, entrepreneurship flourishes.

Official statistics state that as many as 96 percent of the residents in South Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes public housing project are unemployed.

Yet on the ground, the projects are actually abuzz with entrepreneurial activity.

Most women living in the projects earn money by offering some sort of services to other residents, such as taking care of children, preparing taxes, telling fortunes or even selling sex.

These are not high-paying jobs, however; babysitting might bring in some $5 to $10 per day.

Together, the women complement and support each other’s services. One might drive a car while another watches the driver’s children in return; a third might cook for both women, as they lack the time to shop during the day.

Tenants also pool resources to fix what’s broken, a common challenge as the Chicago Housing Authority is reluctant to repair broken appliances, such as water heaters or refrigerators.

Sometimes money is collected as a bribe to entice someone to fix a crucial item, so at least one working shower or stove is available for the group – and which everyone in the group shares.

But where are the guys? In addition to what men earn through being gang members, they also tend to earn other illicit income.

For men, manual labor like fixing cars in the project’s parking lot tends to be the most lucrative activity, but there are other possibilities.

One man sells social security cards and licence plates out of his van; another helps tenants to steal gas and electricity for their own apartment. Those who can do little else sell scrap metal, stolen clothes or cigarettes.

The men are dependent on such income as government welfare is only temporary; unless they are caring for a minor, a situation that is extremely rare.

Emergency calls from the projects are often ignored. Honest police are jeered; crooked police feared.

From television shows and movies, we know housing projects are rife with crime: women raped, children shot, men beaten.

But no matter how bad it gets, if you live in the projects, you don’t call the cops. Why?

The Black Kings have a charitable side, offering assistance to the elderly and keeping kids in school.

Gang activity almost always means crime and violence. Yet this assumption is only part of the story, when looking at the local activities of the Chicago gang, Black Kings.

A gang can provide some semblance of order and safety on its turf. Gang members, for example, would escort elderly women on their shopping errands, to keep them safe from muggers.

The gang’s presence in the projects means drugs, violence and shootings are what’s normal.

As part of his research, the author developed close ties with the local leader of the Black Kings.

Yet as a result, many residents were reluctant to be honest about the negative effects the gang was having on the housing projects’ community.

Gang leader, or CEO? Managing drug dealers in the projects is like managing a company’s sales staff.

Every gang has a leader. With the Black Kings, the local leader is a man known simply as JT.

JT is college-educated, smart and charismatic. He used to hold down a regular sales job in downtown Chicago, before becoming gang leader. In fact, in some ways his role resembles a regular managerial job.

The author becomes a gang leader for a day, and finds it’s much harder than he assumed.

One day the author jokingly mentioned to the local leader of the Black Kings that being a gang leader seemed like a pretty easy job.

JT, the leader, then told the author that he should try it out for a day. The author assumed the job was mostly driving around, showing everyone who the boss is, with the only real action occurring if a gang war happened to erupt.

Status in the projects is all about power. The building manager teams with the gang to keep hers.

The Black Kings aren’t the only strong arms in the projects. The building manager, Ms. Bailey, too has considerable influence in the community – both good and bad.

Stout and strong-willed, Ms. Bailey is the main contact between residents and the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA), the city bureaucracy that manages the entire housing estate.

After so much time in the projects, the author found it difficult to remain impartial in his research.

Given the daily threats of violence and general poverty at the Robert Taylor Homes, how would you approach a research project into the lives of residents there?

Would you knock on doors, holding a clipboard, and ask residents – unemployed, poor and perhaps a member of a gang, certainly wary of who you are and why you’re there – questions such as, “How does it feel to be black, and poor?”

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What is Gang Leader For A Day about?

Gang Leader For A Day is based on author Sudhir Venkatesh’s ten years of personal, in-depth research conducted on-site at the notorious Robert Taylor Homes public housing projects in Chicago. Ignored by city government and law enforcement, residents in the close-knit community rely only on local gangs and each other for basic services and social support.

Gang Leader For A Day Review

Gang Leader For A Day (2008) is an eye-opening account of an academic's experience living among a Chicago gang. Here's why this book is worth reading:

It offers a unique and raw perspective on the lives of marginalized communities, providing insights into the complexities of poverty and the dynamics of urban life.
Through the author's engaging storytelling, readers gain a better understanding of the social structures and power dynamics within a gang, challenging preconceived notions.
With its blend of sociological analysis and personal narrative, the book gives readers an intimate understanding of the challenges faced by both the gang members and the author himself.

Best quote from Gang Leader For A Day

The police also are a gang, but they really have the power. - Harrison Autry, Boys & Girls Club

—Sudhir Venkatesh

Who should read Gang Leader For A Day?

Anyone interested in the influence of gangs in the United States
Anyone curious about what it takes to be a gang leader
Anyone interested in how poor communities are supported by underground economies

About the Author

Sudhir Venkatesh is a sociology professor at Columbia University, with a focus on communities in public housing projects, and has written articles for the The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and The Washington Post.

Categories with Gang Leader For A Day

Politics Biography & Memoir

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