To illustrate this thesis, let’s read some street gangster autofiction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What I’ve Been Reading This Week:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A book that showed me some neighborhood representation! The boundaries between Rogers Park and West Ridge are blurry, and I’m not even sure West Ridge existed when this book was set. Neighborhood looks a little different now. A book that confirmed something I’ve always suspected but never given voice to: the coyotes1<\/a><\/sup> in Chicago are magical. A book that I was lucky enough to be at the book launch for, and was excited to learn that the author and I have similar ideas of how informal and irreverent readings should be. I’m talking, of course, about The El<\/em> by Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr. Yes, “El,” instead of “L”\u2014as Ted said at the book launch, you wouldn’t call it a “Levated train.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The novel is simple: a group of guys have to take the train. Well, maybe not that simple. These guys are Simon City Royals<\/a>, and they have to get from Rogers Park to Roosevelt High School for a big meeting. The meeting is to announce new alliances brokered by imprisoned gang leaders, alliances which formed the Folk Nation<\/a> and People Nation<\/a>. They have to be dressed with certain flourishes, and despite what Wikipedia will tell you about the Royals being a white gang, Teddy’s set2<\/a><\/sup> is multiracial\u2014white, Puerto Rican, Black, and of course, the leader is Native. As you might imagine, they will inevitably attract attention from cops and rival gangs. To combat this, they have to be coordinated enough to split up\/regroup\/memorize fake addresses to dupe the former, and be ready to throw down with the latter. After the meeting, in which some jagoffs shoot at them and some cops hassle them, they have to get back home. Figure out dinner and stuff, you know? <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Chris you live in a city that is sometimes referred to as ‘Chi-raq’ because of how violent it has been, your city is a right-wing talking point\/scare tactic, you’re spending the rest of this blog being all ‘STFU ABOUT CHICAGO<\/a>,’ why are you so enthusiastically telling us to read this novel about a street gang?” Well, readers, for one thing, the book is an absolute blast, like you are sitting down with the most interesting elder storyteller for a few hours. For another thing, it is good to read books from radically different perspectives than your own. The biggest reason to read this book, though\u2014well, the biggest reason to read this book is that it’s super fun, but we gotta talk about the serious stuff too\u2014the biggest reason to read this book is to demystify street gangs a little. Chicago has a big history with street gangs. Understatement of the year. It’s not all Chief Keef, though\u2014Teddy (the narrator, not the author) walks around with a copy of Mike Royko’s Boss<\/em>, which is about the most consequential Chicago street gang alum: Mayor Richard J. Daley, whose gang, the Hamburg Athletic Club, was instrumental in the deadly 1919 Chicago race riots3<\/a><\/sup>. The Hamburgs were one of the first gangs to use the drive-by shooting tactic, deployed against Black residents of Bronzeville. Actually, before I get too long-winded, read Bella Bahhs in The Triibe<\/em> on how the war on street gangs stunted Black growth in Chicago<\/a>. Back? Good. Yeah, that article changed some previously held conceptions, huh? <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_6432-768x1024.jpg\")