Author:  Sudhir Venkatesh

Publication Date: January 2008

Publisher: The Penguin Press

Bottom Line:  Current government programs designed to benefit people living in the projects are essentially useless, because residents have learned to rely on corrupt community members, specifically gang leaders, to survive, and, as a result, are stuck in a cycle of poverty.

What it Covers: Gang Leader for a Day is an in depth analysis of Sudhir Venkatesh's time spent in the Robert Taylor housing project in Chicago, and more specifically, his involvement with the Black Kings gang. Venkatesh details the corrupt society that governs life in the projects.  Whereas in most locations there are police and city officials to govern and help the area, locals in the Robert Taylor projects depended upon gang leaders, and those connected to them, for survival.  Even community leaders who appear to conduct business above the line rely on assistance from the gangs.  

Through Venkatesh 's analysis, we see that those living inside the Robert Taylor housing projects are essentially living outside of society.  Neither normal rules nor normal laws apply. OhMyGov! readers will be intrigued by the underground economy which dominates life in the projects. Though Venkatesh is unable to veil his arrogance in his writing, he succeeds at writing a book that is both comical and humbling as he reflects on his time spent in the projects in this humanizing account about poverty in America.

About the Author: Sudhir Venkatesh is a professor of sociology at Columbia University.

Excerpts: “You need to understand that the Black Kings are not a gang; [they] are a community organization responding to people's needs.”

“Many of these women had protested for civil rights in the 1960s and campaigned for black political candidates in the 190s; they took the need to fight for their community very seriously. But during the 1980s and 1990s, as their plight was worsened by gangs, drugs, and even deeper poverty, they struggled just to keep their families together. By then the housing authority had grown corrupt and unsupportive, the police were largely unresponsive, and the tribe of strong women had been severely marginalized.”

“[JT] had grown up in this neighborhood, then gone to college on an athletic scholarship and found that he loved reading about history and politics. After college he took a job selling office supplies and industrial textiles at a midsize corporation in downtown Chicago. But he felt that his chance of success were limited because he was black; he got angry when he saw white people with lesser skills get promoted ahead of him. Within two years he left the mainstream to return to the projects and the gang life.”

Suggested Backdrop:  With summer fast approaching, Gang Leader for a Day makes for a perfect travel book - this reviewer read the book while sitting on the beach in Florida. Have enough time to sit down and read the book cover to cover, because you will not want to put it down.    

OhMyGov! Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars