For my last SAMO I did something very similar to my first…listened to someone speak. This time it wasn’t just someone, it was Alex Kotlowitz, the author of the book I am reading for our final project called An American Summer. I drove to the Chicago Humanities Festival in the city with Cara and Emily, as they are reading the book as well.
I am not a girl who enjoys reading at all. I only read if I have to for school. But this book was very different. I have never enjoyed a book so much and been so excited to go see an author speak. This book really made me realize so much about the world that I am upset I did not find out earlier. I have never realized how problematic gang violence is. I knew gang violence was an issue but I honestly believed it was because people thought it was cool to join a gang.
Thanks to this book, I have learned so much more and am so grossed out that I was socialized to believe that gang people liked being in a gang. Cycle of Socialization talks about how the media shapes our opinion and I think because of past shows I have watched, I believed gangs were full of awful people( Harro 49). I learned that almost no one wants to be in a gang and it isn’t an option really to join one or not. Usually people join a gang to protect themself and loved ones or they were born into the gang.
During this interview with Alex Kotlowitz I will admit… I was a bit upset. The interviewer simply asked him questions about the book. Since I have read the book I knew his exact answers.
I thought it would have been more of a question and answer scienero but I understand why this was the case considering the book is very new. Although I knew what he was going to say/ talk about, it was still very cool to actually see him in person. I respect him very much and look up to everything he did/ what his book is about.
I have always had a dream job to be a therapist but this book changed me in the first 163 pages. After reading this book, I want to do something to help kids who are stuck in a gang, whether that’s being a public defender or starting an organization. I really want to help these kids get out of the awful place they are in. Before reading this book, I was to scared to go to the city and also thought if you’ve murdered someone, then your an awful person automatically, no explanations.
Kotlowitz taught me different. Specifically starting on page 163 with a story about a kid named Eddie who he also talked about in his interview. Eddie was forced to join the gang because the gang had threaten his family if he did not join it. Later on he did shoot and end up killing someone. That ruined Eddies life and he also had no idea he had killed the person, it was just a shoot out through the gang. Eddie now tries to help other and is in touch with the child’s mom he killed(163-171). I have never heard a side of a story and I wish I have. I don’t believe Eddie is a bad person, but before I read the book I would of said with no explanation that he deserves to be in jail for the rest of his life. If Eddie was still in jail, he would not have helped hundreds of other kids get out of a gang.
Alex Kotlowitz really changed my view on so many different things. Not only did I realize how messed up the gang life is, but I realized how much of an effect poverty plays. I realized that the people who are poor and can’t get help just keep having kids and it only gets passed down. It has nothing to do with not wanting to work or wanting to be involved in violence and/or drugs, it simply is the way they have grown up. I want everyone to get the education that shows both sides of gang stories before they judge gang members and people living in poverty.
Although the book had absolutely no physical interactions with me, I now don’t feel threatened when I go into Chicago. I use to think the gang members for fun would come around shooting people for fun. I have noticed that thought is completely wrong and there really is nothing to be scared about. Gang members are just as scared as I(we) are everyday.
I have never noticed how affected people who are involved in a gang are. I believed that shooting someone was not a big deal and it is something that happens all the time. Although I was partly right because shootings do happen all the time, people who are involved suffer from server PTSD. PTSD is something that many people can’t deal to live with and needs a lot of medical attention. Due to poverty, many of these people can not afford or get the help they need and try to cope with their illness with substance or by themselves.
This SAMO costed me $10, but no money could ever buy the lessons I have learned from listening to Alex Kotlowitz. I strive to one day make just as big of in impact on someone life as he did to mine. It may be difficult to see Alex talk again, but I suggest that everyone reads his book, An American Summer. I think it will change people perspective just like it had changed mine.
Abby’s aspirations 