Before Crips
eBook - PDF

Before Crips

Fussin', Cussin', and Discussin' among South Los Angeles Juvenile Gangs

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Before Crips

Fussin', Cussin', and Discussin' among South Los Angeles Juvenile Gangs

About this book

This groundbreaking book opens the door on the missing record of South Los Angeles juvenile gangs. It is the result of the unique friendship that developed between John Quicker and Akil Batani-Khalfani, aka Bird, who collaborated to show how structural marginality transformed hang-out street groups of non-White juveniles into gangs, paving the way for the rise of the infamous Crips and Bloods. Before Crips uses a macro historical analysis to sort through political and economic factors to explain the nature of gang creation.

The authors mine a critical archive, using direct interviews with original gang members as well as theory and literature reviews, to contextualize gang life and gang formation. They discuss (and fuss and cuss about) topics ranging from the criminal economy and conceptions of masculinity to racial and gendered politics and views of violence. Their insider/outsider approach not only illuminates gang values and organization, but what they did and why, and how they grew in a backdrop of inequality and police brutality that came to a head with the 1965 Watts Rebellion.

Providing an essential understanding of early South Los Angeles gang life, Before Crips explains what has remained constant, what has changed, and the roots of the violence that continues.

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Yes, you can access Before Crips by John C. Quicker,Akil S. Batani-Khalfani in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & North American History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Contents
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. Map of South Los Angeles in the 1950s
  4. Introduction
  5. Insiders Become Outsiders: Methodology
  6. 1. When the South Came West
  7. 2. Assemblies of Juveniles
  8. 3. The Discovery of Gangs in Los Angeles
  9. 4. Street Group Development: A Storied Evolution
  10. 5. Slaus Angeles, Villa Fornia 90001: Gang Capital of the World
  11. 6. The Big Three: Social Class, Gender, and Race
  12. 7. Comin’-from-the-Shoulders: Ethics, Weapons, Fights, and Violence
  13. 8. Malicious Mopery on a Public Highway: Crime and Punishment
  14. 9. Unable to Embrace the Ideology: The Rise of the Crips
  15. Appendix: South Los Angeles Sets and Car Clubs before 1965
  16. Notes
  17. Bibliography
  18. Index
  19. Photos