Summary Of Gang Leader For A Day

The book “Gang Leader for a Day” is about Sudhir Venkatesh. Sudhir began the book explaining how he was a graduate student at the University of Chicago. He was studying sociology and explained that most of his studies were conducted by reviewing data and opinions. However, many of these opinions lacked real interactions. He described how simplifying going into poor African American communities with questions does not give answers. Through one of his courses, he attempted to survey some people living in the Lake Park projects. Sudhir walks from campus into the Lake Park projects to find answers to his questions. He randomly chose building 4040. He found his way around after a few mishaps. He entered 4040 and found some individuals in the stairwell

explain his gang in a different way, “our organization is about helping the community” (74). This makes it unclear to Sudhir. Sudhir thinks to himself, “did he really believe selling drugs and bribing politicians would somehow help a down-and-out pick itself up?” (75). This underlines some of the problems with creating alternatives to offending in these communities. The corruption of politicians and community members is astounding. In the book we learn about how almost all aspects of life are fixed in the projects. There are community leaders and high-ranking gang members who take part in bribery. They also use the power of the vote to sway their community toward a candidate. These candidates would then allow them to conduct illegal activities throughout their communities. This closes the door for a lot of young people. They are not allowed to see other opportunities in life that do not include offending. Sudhir learned about this after J.T. invited him to a meeting at a church. This is where they met the ex-gangster by the name of Lenny Duster. Reading what Sudhir recalled him saying was sickening. They described very clearly how they would deliver the vote to candidates who would allow them to do whatever they wanted in their