Challenged Book: Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days In L.A. In the book, Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days In L.A, written by Luis J. Rodriguez, the main character Luis Rodriguez, experiences a crazy early teen life of being a gang member in East Los Angeles. Luis Rodriguez describes La Vida Loca, which means “the crazy life”, through the gang culture, the endless shootings he witnessed, beatings, arrests, and also through murder, drugs, and suicide.
Victor M. Rios was born in Mexico. When he was two years old he immigrated with his mother to Oakland, California. He went through a tough childhood and he and his mother moved several times throughout poor neighborhoods such as West Oakland, The Fruitvale District, and Elmhurst. As a result of growing up in this kind of environments he was forced to be part of Latino East Oakland gangs. Stealing cars, selling drugs, getting into street fights and having problems with police was all he would do until he was 15 years old.
The Gangs of New York is a book written by Herbert Asbury. It was first published in 1928, and features vivid storytelling of 19th century New York. This book is a treat to read for those interested in learning about New York and its most heinous tales. Herbert Asbury collects a tedious amount of information and compiles it beautifully. Most of the material in the book was taken from newspapers, magazines, police and court records, and also from interviews with criminals and police officials.
THE REVOLUTIONARY OUTLAWS 2 The Revolutionary The Wild West was a lot different than life in a small town like Seymour, in Jackson County, Indiana, after the close of the Civil War. From this area came a pioneer group of outlaws who would come to be known as the, Reno Brothers. Causing havoc in the Midwest and accomplishing the world's first peacetime train robbery, which occurred on October 6, 1866, nearly seven years before one of the most well known outlaw gangs the James-Younger Gang held up its first train at Adair, Iowa.
Jason Holdsberg Honors Psych 10/11/15 Castelli Gang Leader for a day Plot Summary: The book starts out by explaining some of the background behind the main character and author of the book, Sudhir Venkatesh. Sudhir is a young, indian native, college student who attends the University of Chicago where he studies Sociology. Sudhir lives right outside of campus on the border between the nice apartment complexes in the loop and the slum projects of the south side of Chicago. Sudhir is considered dumb at the beginning of his book for his lack of his own personal safety.
During the 1920’s gang related crime was a serious issue. The leader of all this violence and corruption was a man named Al “Scarface” Capone (“Al Capone”). This organized crime, dehumanization, and corruption, became the ultimate image of Chicago for people throughout the world. He was largely immersed in things like gambling, prostitution, and the illegal sale of liquor. He was not convicted for any of his crimes, even the St. Valentine's Day massacre of 1929, until he was imprisoned for tax evasion (Horan).
After being stabbed by a rival gang member and having an epiphany about his identity, he used the last of his energy to wriggle himself out of his jacket, which donned his gang's name. He did this for in hopes that somebody will come to help him without fear, and also to be known as himself, not "just" a gang member before he died. Secondly, Andy can also be described as loving/committed, as in his final moments he thought about his
This is important to notice because it tells the readers that Andy was by no means innocent and it reveals his sins. After a couple had wandered into the alley and refused to help him because of the name on his back, he then thought of death, he thought “Now in the alley, with the cold rain washing his hot body, he wondered about the meaning. If he died, he would die as Andy.” Andy continued to think about the meaning of his
overing an area of almost eight square miles. The area boasts one of the most densely populated neighborhoods with approximately thirty four thousand persons per square mile. During the 1980’s, the Rampart area saw astronomical increases in violent crimes and street gangs trafficking in narcotics controlled the area. In an effort to combat this violence the LAPD established an anti-gang unit known as CRASH, “Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums”. The unit was given wide ranging discretion in their crime fighting approach.
But gradually Andy allows himself to get to know others and for others to know him. He shows he has a very confident side. According to Oxford Journals, “Confidence in one’s abilities generally enhances motivation,” (Benabou and Tirole). The first time the audience sees this is when the inmates are tarring the roof and Andy decides to suggest that he can do Hadley, the chief guard, and other guards’ taxes. He was even threatened to get thrown off the roof, and yet he continued to
In the memoir “I Escaped a Violent Gang” and the play “The Watsons Go to Birmingham.” the theme they used was courage. In “I Escaped a Violent Gang”, Ana had enough courage to join a gang but not only that but to stand up against it. In “The Watsons Go to Birmingham” Sarah and Junior walk in a march for equal rights. They both show courage in different ways in “I Escaped a Violent Gang” the characters actions are different.
Prison gangs have been and are a growing problem. Prison organizations throughout the United States have tried many different strategies to address the issue of prison gang members. One of the problems is that gang members are more of a threat to the staff and other inmates than regular inmates who are not in a gang. The prisons have problems begin able to house certain serious offenders that need to be kept separate because of the limited spacing. Gangs in the prison have a higher disruption and incident rate then non gang members.
In Gary Soto’s short story “The Jacket” the main character, the boy in the jacket, vows “ I spent my sixth-grade year in a tree in the alley, waiting for something good to happen to me in that jacket, which had become the ugly brother who tagged along wherever I went.” The boy blames his jacket for all the struggles that happened to him and he believes that the jacket brought him bad luck. Soto uses this to support the theme because the boy is being distracted by the jacket. Which makes him not try to improve his life.
Ever had a bad wardrobe malfunction? Once students arrive in middle school, their appearance is one of the top priorities, and many are made fun of because of the clothes they wear, turning a good day bad. In "The Jacket", by Gary Soto, the main character has to deal with these events. After reading this story, it is evident that the universal truth, one’s clothes can affect how they feel, is the overarching theme for this short story. This is the theme of the text because it is supported by the symbolism, the conflicts, and the climax.
Sanyika Shakur tells his life story in detail in his book, Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member. He tells how he lived from a very young age and survived the gang life in South Central L.A. during the 1960’s and 1970’s, which was during the startup of the Crips. He was born Kody Scott and he was born into a very poor family. He had an absent father and was therefore raised by a single mother. At the very young age of eleven Kody Scott turned his life over to the Crips.