Sudhir Venkatesh: Gang Leader Of The Black Group

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Pages: 3
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In the beginning of the novel the readers learn about Sudhir Venkatesh, a graduate sociology student attending the University of Chicago. Sudhir goes to find some people who live in the projects and ends up meeting the gang leader of the Black Kings. The gang leader name is J.T. tells him the he is not going to learn anything based on the questionnaires, if he wants to learn how people feel he needs to hang out with the people. The next day Sudhir returns to the gang stating he wants to hang out with them. J.T. has the misunderstanding the Sudhir’s research is purely about the gang leader and is going to write J.T.’s bibliography. Instead of telling him the truth and risking the opportunity to hang out with the gang, Sudhir says nothing. Sudhir is introduced to many …show more content…
As he learns more about the gang he notices that the gang’s hierarchy is built like a modern American business. Sudhir witnesses first hand, the kindness of the community by being welcomed in by the people. The people refer to where they live as a community, not the projects. Sudhir witnesses an issue between a mother and a Middle Eastern man. The man was accused of raping the women’s daughter and giving her a disease, the gang steps in to resolve the issue. Since Sudhir had been spending most of his time with the Black Kings, tenants within the building were cautious near him and would just give him a quick hello. He needed to branch out so tenants would be more comfortable talking to him so he could learn more about the community. Mrs. Bailey, the building president, was one of the few people who were willing to talk. J.T. has the opportunity to try and move up further in the gang, but in order to do so he has to leave for a week to attend a few meetings. This allows Sudhir to get out from under J.T.’s grip and talk with other people within the community. Since the beginning J.T. said that if Sudhir is with him J.T. can protect him, but if he wants to do something outside of what J.T. says he
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