A History Lesson
Alex Moir/February 13, 2001
Mrs. Neitling/Per.4 Kody Scott grew up in South Central L.A. during the nineteen-sixties and seventies, soon 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 poor and broken home. However he does not blame this on his own personal decision to join the Crips while only eleven year's 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. After many years of still believing this, he …show more content…

At the start of the book he tells of how he joined the gang and why. He also tells of all of his glory stories and how much he enjoyed banging. However as the book slowly progresses, he starts to mature and to develop mentally. Until toward the end of the book, in which he is a much more educated man, and also out of the gang life. He shows this progression, mainly because this is what happened, but also because he wants to illustrate that people only join and use gangs for their shallow and basic needs. When he joined at only eleven, he didn't know what life was about or what he wanted from it or what to do with his. The gang was his choice at the time because it made him feel important and needed, and could gain him respect, fear and fame, but most of all made him feel like a man and was what introduced him into "manhood"(page 6). He then goes on to tell of his many stories of violence and crime that he had committed throughout his gang years. The detail and ferocity in which he explains the gang mentality and actions, are to show people the cruel and harsh life that bangers lead. That it isn't what is seen on T.V., where kids think it looks fun and cool, and that nothing would ever happen to them, that it is in actuality not a life that anyone should lead, no matter what. That is why he told so many and so much of his brutal life and of all the lives that gang members lead. He wanted to scare people