Gang Leader For a Day

In July 1995, Venkatesh attends the regional Black Kings meeting in Calumet Heights, a well-to-do black neighborhood where many senior gang leaders have homes. The meeting takes the form of a pool party and is much less glamorous than Venkatesh imagined; it’s just men talking and drinking beer. J.T. introduces him to everyone as “the Professor”. Venkatesh finds he doesn’t have to ask anyone questions, the men are eager to tell him their stories –both their personal stories and the history of the Black Kings. In fact, one senior leader introduces Venkatesh as the gang’s new director of communications and encourages his men to speak to him. This makes Venkatesh nervous—he doesn’t want to get even more involved with the gang.

Venkatesh attends several of these meetings and is relieved to find he hasn’t been given an official position. J.T. is quiet at these meetings and Venkatesh is struck by his pride in this young man he’s known for six years. Like the other leaders, J.T. is increasingly worried about the prospect of being arrested or killed, and he becomes obsessed with saving money for his mother and children. His anxiety is evident in his frequent requests that Venkatesh review his life, so nothing gets left out of his biography.