Reddit reviews Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member

No man. Gang violence in LA was around long before the crack epidemic put a financial motivation to the game. They did it just to have somewhere tangible to point their rage, and often just for a sense of identity. Drug-related violence amplifies these cultural issues for sure, but it didn't cause them.

source Really interesting and insightful read.

Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member was an amazing read. I picked it up randomly at Powell's book store in Portland, OR, while I was visiting there. I read it over two or three days and I remember getting so immersed in the stories and the graphic depictions of violence that I consciously had to shake my paranoia that I might get stabbed or felled by a drive-by as I read on the patio of a Starbucks, surrounded by lanky graphic designers in bright, taut clothing.

Not really, of course, but it was disturbing enough that the stories stuck with me after I closed my book to go somewhere else, and I couldn't wait to have a chance to sit down and get back into the book afterward.

I mentioned that there are graphic depictions of violence, but it's not just a shocking memoir. It's pretty beautifully written for what it is, and you feel welcomed into a dank netherpocket of society that a person such as myself would never, ever experience.

I picked up a few more gang-related memoirs after I finished this one because I didn't want it to end, but all of the ones I picked up just didn't grab me quite as well. Some of those others were Inside The Crips, A Hundred Little Hitlers (probably not the type of gangs you were looking for, but still interesting.), and I have a couple more on the tip of my tongue, but I can't remember them right now.

Sorry about the delayed response.

How well do you know the L.A. Four?
So, the LA Four were just the football tossing older kids on 71rst street. I saw them everyday. Some days they were kinda nice and other days they were the older jocks on the block who threw a football around. Actually one of my most persistent memories of them was the 4th of July and the chaotic activity that came with it. One year was roman candle fights, the next year was m-80s carelessly tossed into the air using a wrist-brace style sling shot.

What really makes them go out and commit an atrocity on Reginald Denny like that for no reason?
So this is a complex question and answer. I would suggest watching the 2017 documentary LA 92. It explains the thinking. I don't agree with their actions or condone the activity but I understand the warped conclusion they came to. The best way I could explain is that they were definitely gang related (Eight Tray Gangster Crip) but they also had an awareness of social injustice which sounds like two clashing ideologies but in a sense they kind of compliment each other.

The four had a nihilist bent and had the concept of hope stripped from their lexicon at a very early age. They had checked out from society for a variety of reasons and were to a degree, outsiders. There is the context of police harassment (LAPD under Chief Daryl Gates) and a sense of not being able to get ahead/move forward/contribute to society (i.e., crack by way of Freeway Rick Ross and the CIA) but no real enemy to attack.

Deny I would argue was largely symbolic, it could have been anyone.

By the way, if you really are interested in learning about the culture of the time that led up to the riots one book thats not really talked about but is tied into the location is 'Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member' by Sanyika Shakur. https://www.amazon.com/Monster-Autobiography-L-Member/dp/0802141447
It talks about the gang culture that was in play during that era. Harrowing shit for real.

Also good is Crips and Bloods: Made in America its not LA Riot specific but it does draw out the direct linage to the Watts Riots and the creation of the Bloods and Crips (and how the initial goal of the Crips is 100% counter to the monster that its been for the past decades) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdv08c0aiTE

What were you doing at the time?
During the riots? First night was trying to make sure our house did not burn down. What people miss is that they think it was all black and brown people just burning down their own communities - thats just a few opportunistic folks. Most of us were just trying to save our homes. The main street, Florence contained lots of small and large businesses, on the backside of florence was 71st to the north and 73rd to the south. The fires that burned the business on Florence crawled back to the unfortunately located homes that were on the backside of Florence.

The first night black, mexican, korean and taiwanese folks came together with water hoses to help each other out. Furniture and goods were moved out to the street.

Day two was spent on the sidewalk with our shit just sitting out. We spent that day helping each other move our saved goods back into the homes that did not burn.

We had no water and power for a week. I specifically remember picking up kerosine lamps and playing cards so we had something to do in the evenings. For a week we just played cards by lamplight before heading to sleep.

Did you watch everyone else and did you see the cops come back?

See above, kinda. I missed the first part of the day, I was a Dodgers game and came back to everything on fire.

To answer your first questions...


What did you do during the L.A. riots?
See above. Just trying to make it through the shit.


Do you know any person who died or injured in the rioting?


Nope.


How close to the point do you feel you might be hurt or killed in the riots, especially with the epicenter of them?

First night was hell with everything burning. Oh yeah, the sight of Korean shop owners with very serious looking guns on the roofs of stores was a mindfuck.

Do you feel safe when the California Army National Guard and federal troops were dispatched to L.A.?

Not in the fucking slightest. It actually made shit feel scarier. I can still see the pink cheeked 19 year old kid holding his M16 scared shitless while everything around him was ablaze. I was afraid he would shoot me unprovoked.


In the days, weeks, or months after the riots, were there few tensions, security, racism, fighting, etc?

Hmm. Not really tension or fighting or racism but a lot of emotional unpacking. The riot did not just happen overnight, it was not a catalyst but an eventual breaking point for people. Lots of dialog opened. I do remember the "Black Owned Business" signs at actual black owned businesses (to prevent rioters from attacking...this was a second and third day preventative measure) BUT I also remember lot of non black owned stores putting the signs up as well.

Because I lived through the riot I find that I can really relate to citizens of war torn countries. It affects you on a deep level when physical landmarks you use to define your reality are suddenly gone and but a memory. Its literally a world changing action. I am still working through it all in therapy fucking 26 years later.

I read this book a few years back and it's stuck with me for a while. I'm not really the biography type, though. It's called Monster: The Autobiography of an LA Gang Member. And before you dismiss it, it's pretty much like IRL GTA:SA. It was a really awesome read.

Monster by Sanyika Shakur

This is an autobiography, but a riveting read and one hell of a tale. Aside from gang culture you get to see the perspective of a young boy see the gang life, live it as one of the most notorious members of the Crips in Los Angeles, do numerous stints in jail, and then change how he lives.

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Autobiography-L-Member/dp/0802141447/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407216076&sr=1-1&keywords=monster+sanyika+shakur