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Street Wars: Gangs and the Future of Violence
The renowned activist's impassioned look at gangs and youth violence in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York.
A gripping and honest account of the culture of gangs, Street Wars is essential reading for anyone concerned about cities, violence, and the future of urban youth. Though never officially acknowledged, over 25,000 young people have died in America's gang wars since 1980. In cities across America, members of the Crips, Bloods, Mara Salvatrucha, 18th Street, Latin Kings, Blackstone Rangers, and Gangster Disciples are like traumatized war veterans with no way home. Drawn from ten years spent as an activist and public official working to understand and prevent gang violence in Los Angeles, Street Wars is Tom Hayden's searing indictment of the neo-conservative politics of law and order that dominate current policy and suffocate inner-city youth.
Weaving together cutting analysis and numerous firsthand stories from gang leaders, Hayden shows how the prison industrial complex reinforces gang identity through humiliation and punishment, and reveals how globalization has created a force of unemployable men and women around the world who are defined as incorrigible, outside law and community. The final chapters advocate an internal peace process based on ideas of the New Deal to address the devastation of America's urban youth.
A gripping and honest account of the culture of gangs, Street Wars is essential reading for anyone concerned about cities, violence, and the future of urban youth. Though never officially acknowledged, over 25,000 young people have died in America's gang wars since 1980. In cities across America, members of the Crips, Bloods, Mara Salvatrucha, 18th Street, Latin Kings, Blackstone Rangers, and Gangster Disciples are like traumatized war veterans with no way home. Drawn from ten years spent as an activist and public official working to understand and prevent gang violence in Los Angeles, Street Wars is Tom Hayden's searing indictment of the neo-conservative politics of law and order that dominate current policy and suffocate inner-city youth.
Weaving together cutting analysis and numerous firsthand stories from gang leaders, Hayden shows how the prison industrial complex reinforces gang identity through humiliation and punishment, and reveals how globalization has created a force of unemployable men and women around the world who are defined as incorrigible, outside law and community. The final chapters advocate an internal peace process based on ideas of the New Deal to address the devastation of America's urban youth.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
432 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
3 people are currently reading
115 people want to read
About the author
Tom Hayden
88 books29 followersThomas Emmet Hayden was an American social and political activist, author, and politician.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 3, 2016
We all know that Street Wars exist. Gang culture is vibrant whether the majority of us wish to acknowledge that fact or not. There's a lot of fiction littering the shelves of bookstores and libraries that account for storylines featuring the roughest and toughest of gang leaders and followers but to stumble across a renowned activist's self-researched paperback is rare.
I picked this book up years ago at a book sale in my local Barnes and Noble bookstore. It was sitting in the bargain bin and the graffiti glorifying the cover caught my eye. It's been sitting on my shelf until recently.
Street Wars is an honest account of gang culture and is a must read for anyone wishing to know and understand it. If you live in a city (more specifically a popular, busy one..), have experienced gang related violence or consider yourself part of the urban youth movement, this book is one you need to add to your collection. Since 1980, society has witnessed and silently turned their backs on tens of thousands of gang related deaths. Members of the Crips, Bloods, Latin Kings, Gangster Disciples and various other well known and more discreet gangs are comparable to war vets that struggle to find their identity in a world that they feel is no longer meant for them. Tom Hayden, author of Street Wars, is a public official working to be pro-active in the war on gangs. This book takes a not-so-slanted look into the policies and laws that suffocate urban youth while forcing them into the lives of gang members.
The firsthand accounts of various events and incidents that occur in leading gang leaders lives is one of the most redeeming characteristics of this read - Hayden explains and depicts just how our current prison system reinforces gang activity rather than eradicating it.
If anything, this book will open your mind a little more about those involved either directly or indirectly with gang culture.
I picked this book up years ago at a book sale in my local Barnes and Noble bookstore. It was sitting in the bargain bin and the graffiti glorifying the cover caught my eye. It's been sitting on my shelf until recently.
Street Wars is an honest account of gang culture and is a must read for anyone wishing to know and understand it. If you live in a city (more specifically a popular, busy one..), have experienced gang related violence or consider yourself part of the urban youth movement, this book is one you need to add to your collection. Since 1980, society has witnessed and silently turned their backs on tens of thousands of gang related deaths. Members of the Crips, Bloods, Latin Kings, Gangster Disciples and various other well known and more discreet gangs are comparable to war vets that struggle to find their identity in a world that they feel is no longer meant for them. Tom Hayden, author of Street Wars, is a public official working to be pro-active in the war on gangs. This book takes a not-so-slanted look into the policies and laws that suffocate urban youth while forcing them into the lives of gang members.
The firsthand accounts of various events and incidents that occur in leading gang leaders lives is one of the most redeeming characteristics of this read - Hayden explains and depicts just how our current prison system reinforces gang activity rather than eradicating it.
If anything, this book will open your mind a little more about those involved either directly or indirectly with gang culture.
April 15, 2007
fascinating. (similar to "The Corner" in style and approach)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews