Gang Leader For a Day – A Rogue Sociologist Crosses the Line by Sudhir Venkatesh

One satisfying read. It all started out as a survey for his Uni dissertation. Dude went to the Projects/Ghetto to ask poor people questions which would help set out better policies for these people. He quickly found out that multiple choice questions were not the way forward. So without his friends, teachers and parents knowing he spent time with one of the most established gangs.

A ‘friendship’ formed with the gang leader and over years he was let deeper and deeper into their world. It say’s he spent 10 years with gangsters but the last few seemed to be occupied with other stuff and he didn’t really spend all that time in the projects or with gangsters.

But boy what a life when he did. From figuring out the totally new economics in the projects, the hierarchy not only of the gangsters but also the people in the Projects, how they exchanged favors, how the everyone was getting a cut some way or another, their ethics, lifestyle, gang mergers, gang rivals, truces, prostitution, drugs… man this book had so much juice I’m gonna be quenched for a while.

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His writing style was digestible for the people who know and don’t have any idea about what the ghetto is about. Sometimes I got the feeling he deliberately acted naive to help the reader get the full scenery of his journey.

I didn’t even bother noting points in my mobile because the book is so rich with content on so many people, activities and of course perspectives of the gangsters, the tenants, the victims and also a bit from the cops. And yes the cops are in on it too, from getting freebies from prostitutes to stealing gang valuables. Even ‘ghetto’ movies don’t show you this side and even though I had a good idea of how it is… there were other things that made you feel like there’s so much hope in the ghetto. Plus the gang Sudhir was hanging out with was more of an organisation as they helped not only the tenants but even the gang members were forced to go to school and well… there’s a lot of hope in the Projects… they just live by whole different set of rules.

It’s lightly peppered with funny bits… my fav was when Sudhir was made gang leader and he asks the gang treasurer ‘You’re up, talk to me nigger’. You have to read the book to find out the reaction. So jokes! The down sides got pretty low too but while reading, I didn’t once feel extremely emotionally moved even though experiencing it in real life would have one frozen or sickly. Don’t know if its a good thing or a bad thing coz emotional roller coasters are pretty fun… or maybe I’ve just gotten a bit numb :os Anyway, you wanna know about ghetto life? How an Indian got to be Gang Leader For a Day? This book tells all… all I want to know is how did it get published without lawyers turning Sudhir into a pinata. Major respect to Sudhir. Big up to Viv for the book.

Contents:
– Foreword
– Preface
– 1: How Does It Feel to Be Black and Poor?
– 2: First Days on Federal Street
– 3: Someone to Watch Over Me
– 4: Gang Leader for a Day
– 5: Ms. Bailey’s Neighbourhood
– 6: The Hustler and the Hustled
– 7: Black and Blue
– 8: The Stay-Together Gang
– Author’s Note
– Acknowledgments
– Index