Summary of Sudhir Venkatesh's Gang Leader for a Day

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

#1 I began walking around the Chicago neighborhoods surrounding the university, which were predominantly African American. I didn’t see any crime, and I didn’t feel particularly threatened. I wondered why the university kept warning students to keep out of those areas.

#2 I was a student at the University of Chicago, and I was interested in the more scientific branch of sociology. I was not impressed by the lectures, so I went to see William Julius Wilson, the most eminent living scholar on the subject and the most prominent African American in the field of sociology.

#3 I was assigned to help with a study on how black youth are affected by specific neighborhood factors, such as growing up in a poor area. I had no idea how to interview anyone, so I went to the library to look over questionnaires.

#4 I would go running in Washington Park, which was one of Chicago’s stateliest parks. I would often stop by the lagoon in the middle of the park, where I would listen to the old black men play cards and fish. They would never trust a white man, and thought blacks were no better.

© 2022 IRB Media (Ebook): 9781669382089

Release date

Ebook: 7 April 2022