Monster The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member by Sanyika Shakur, aka Monster Kody Scott

Back Cover: After pumping eight blasts from a sawed-off shotgun at a group of rival gang members, eleven-year-old Kody Scott was initiated into the L.A. gang the Crips. He quickly matured into one of the most formidable Crip combat soldiers, earning the name Monster for committing acts of brutality and violence that repulsed even his fellow gang members. When the inevitable jail term confined him to a maximum-security cell, Scott channeled his aggression and drive into educating himself. A complete political and personal transformation followed: from Monster to Sanyika Shakur, black nationalist, member of the New Afrikan Independence movement, and crusader against the causes of gangsterism. In a document that has been compared to The Autobiography of Malcolm X And Eldridge Cleaver's Soul on Ice, Shakur makes palpable the despair and decay of America's inner cities and gives eloquent voice to one aspect of the black ghetto experience today. So I read this book for my english class because it's on masculinity and violence, but let me tell you. It's amazing. It's real, obviously and so raw, so gritty, so violent, so powerful, so heart wrenching. I mean I think everyone should read this, no lie. Shakur just puts you right into the story and you just gotta take it all in. all of the gang words and how they operate and what they do to become an O.G. It's crazy. And monster is crazy. I mean I read it in a way of looking at masculinity and violence since it's for class, but just reading it for what it is besides that is so amazing. Stories like this are just like wow! You know you hear stories of this all the time and it's def a journey to read through his gang life and how he learns later on through being a father and being in jail learning about being black. From being a gangster to a black nationalist. I mean its the lowest form to the highest form and it's just God. It reminds me of my pastor who used to be on drugs and went to jail when he was young but now he's a pastor. It's so amazing what can happen when just one person or one resource or one event changes the life of a person into someone like this. But it's a really good book. Read it. I know it's probably hard for some because it's so different than their life but that's the point. Looking at what others have to go through. It's the same reading about rich girls and sex, that's their world. Well, now this is the world of guns violence gangs and drugs.