L.A. Gang Member by Sanyika Shakur Essay -- Monster Autobiography L.A.

L.A. Gang Member by Sanyika Shakur Kody Scott grew up in South Central L.A. during the nineteen-sixties and seventies, in short after the creation of the Crips. Raised in poverty without a father, and a full family raised solely by his mother, Kody Scott led the stereotypical ghetto life, a despicable and broken home. However he does not blame this on his own personal decision to join the Crips man only eleven years old. The allure of the respect and glory that bangers got, along with the unity of the set(name for the specific gang) is what drew him into the gang. Once joined, he vowed to stay in the set for life, and claimed that banging was his life. subsequently many years of still believing this, he eventually realized that the thug life was no longer for him, and that gangs were a problem on rescript and the Afrikan race(page 382-383). In his book Monster The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member, he tells of his life story and how he came and left the gang life. For long dozen years he was a member of the Eight Tray Gangsters, a set of the Crips, and throughout the book he explains, several(prenominal)times in full detail, the life he led while in the gang and his many times in jail and prison. These life stories he tells, include drive-byes, shootouts in supermarkets, parks, streets, houses etc., fist fights, group beatings, kidnapings, doing drugs, selling drugs, car-jacks, amputation, robbery, friends deaths, enemies deaths, being shot, knife fights, police abuse, jail riots, jail rapes and any other part of the gang life possible. Now if possible, imagine that this all happened within thirteen years, and to a teenager. These crimes, more specifically the brutal ones, are what got him his nickname Monster Kody. None of this really affected him though, until when in jail, he was converted to a Muslim, when he changed his name to Sanyika Shakur. However, it took him a while to realize that what he was doing was wrong and it was not what he w anted to do for the rest of his life. Although he now realized this, it wasnt because of religion really, but more for the survival and advancement of the Afrikan race, as he was now be coming more and more politically and morally conscious(page 277). After coming and going out of prison, he was struggling between the two lives he was trying to lead, one as a banger and the other as a leader for the Afrikan... ...left the gang life behind in order to raise his family in a safer environment and also to settle his conscience down and olfactory modality better about himself. In conclusion, Kody Scott a.k.a. Sanyika Shakur, used this book as a tool to help let society know the dangers of the gang life, and possibly some advice to help prevent gangs from growing and spreading, and also to prevent his past from becoming somebodies future. Which is best summed up in his last paragraph from the book in which he statesHow do we come to grips with the fact that this thing has gotten way too real, out of control like some huge snowball running down a hill, threatening to smash and kill all in its path, including those who originally fashioned it? Time is of the essence, and every thinking person with a stake in life-especially those involved in the fighting-should put forth an effort, something more concrete than a media truce, to deal with this tragedy. The children deserve to cave in a descent childhood where they live. They shouldnt have to be uprooted to the suburbs to experience peace. We cannot contaminate them with our feuds of madness, which are predicated on factors over which we have no control.