Gang Leader for a Day

When I was a teenager, I read Freakonomics. It from Freakonomics where I heard the opening story of the book: Venkatesh had wandered into a public housing project where he was forced to stay the night by the local gang. Yet at the end of this harrowing experience, he returned to learn more about the gang and the residents of the Robert Taylor homes. For the duration of his graduate studies at the University of Chicago, Venkatesh observed the Black Kings gang and its interactions with tenants. What emerges is a rich picture of difficult circumstances, community grit, and self-sabotage. Things are never simple. The Black Kings sell drugs and commit violent acts, but they also keep the peace in the housing project. The Black Kings mediate disputes, protect women from crackheads, and even fund block parties. Residents of the Robert Taylor homes work together to raise children and protect them from violent crime. Gang Leader for a Day is an incredible work of ethnographic research, painting a complex world most Americans never see.

It is also a personal story, as Venkatesh gets close to the gang leader J.T. Venkatesh eats soul food cooked by Ms. Mae, J.T.’s mother, in her apartment while completing classwork. Initially, he is only allowed supervised tours of the Robert Taylor homes. It takes years of relationship building before Venkatesh is able to roam freely throughout the high rises of the Robert Taylor homes. Eventually, Venkatesh gains deep access to the gang and their territory: acquiring a copy of the gang’s books and, yes, becoming a gang leader for day. In one instance, Venkatesh drags an injured resident to the lobby during a drive-by shooting. Over 7 years, they had grown to rely on each other, which makes their separation an emotional affair, something neither could have suspected when Venkatesh was forced to stay a night by the local gang.