Gang Leader For A Day By Sudhir Venkatesh

Gang leader. Over the decades, severe violence and drug trafficking has brought a serious negative connotation to this term. However, the connotation could not be any further away on the spectrum from the annotation. Something that is shown in ‘Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets’ by Sudhir Venkatesh, The book begins with a background narrative of Sudhir so the reader may obtain their own viewpoint through his eyes and experiences. During Sudhir’s first week as a graduate student at the University of Chicago he suffers through several painful orientation lectures, where students are warned repeatedly to stay in the safe areas of the city and not to venture outside them. Almost immediately after being informed of …show more content…
These traits and attributes include the absence of fear towards street gang related activities, this is an ideal characteristic which benefits Sudhir several times in the book. Another utility trait that Sudhir possesses is respect. Respect to the Black Kings street leader J.T. and the gang’s rules is the sole reason that allowed Sudhir to obtain the necessary information needed to complete his independent study. Without question, the most important assets to Sudhir, however, were his determination and intelligence. Even in the worst situations Sudhir stuck around, attempting to earn the trust of every citizen in the Robert Taylor …show more content…
Living within the boundaries of a wealthy society his whole life, it had never occurred to him that those who life without the luxuries and necessities of modern living have to make ends meet somehow. Without a proper governing force in the projects, there were no welfare programs to help the needy, no reliable police to hold citizens accountable for their crimes, and no judge to enforce punishment. This is where the “good gang activities” were taken place. It’s rather hard to comprehend how the gang managed to hold a large community together, but somehow the gang accomplished it. The gang would lend money to those in need, track down thieves and even decide who was guilty in mock trials. In return the community gave back to the gang by letting them in their lives and providing for the gang members. Sudhir observing all the while, never once judged or questioned how things were ran, with the exception of his comment towards J.T. joking that his job is easy, in which J.T replies with “If you think its so easy, you try it” hence the title given to this