***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[IATT]

 

[Belgium]

 

[Belgium]

ReSpEcT ThE TrOoPs

 

[-Red-]

I know I mentioned that this was coming a few months ago, but my book is finally here! It's obviously not a book about politics in the strictest sense, but it does examine the effects of social policy—both in general and specific—on street dynamics and their transformation over time and discusses potential solutions to these issues in much the same terms. I'd be more than happy to answer any questions that anyone may have.

Description:
Chicago has long served as a symbol of urban pathology in the public imagination. The city’s staggering levels of violence and entrenched gang culture occupy a central place in the national discourse, yet remain poorly understood and are often stereotyped. Views from the Streets explains the dramatic transformation of black street gangs on Chicago’s South Side during the early twenty-first century, shedding new light on why gang violence persists and what might be done to address it.

Drawing on years of community work and in-depth interviews with gang members, Roberto R. Aspholm describes in vivid detail the internal rebellions that shattered the city’s infamous corporate-style African American street gangs. He explores how, in the wake of these uprisings, young gang members have radically refashioned gang culture and organization on Chicago’s South Side, rejecting traditional hierarchies and ideologies and instead embracing a fierce ethos of personal autonomy that has made contemporary gang violence increasingly spontaneous and unregulated. In calling attention to the historical context of these issues and to the elements of resistance embedded in Chicago’s contemporary gang culture, Aspholm challenges conventional views of gang members as inherently pathological. He critically analyzes highly touted “universal” violence prevention strategies, depicting street-level realities to illuminate why they have ultimately failed to reduce levels of bloodshed. An unprecedented analysis of the nature and meaning of gang violence, Views from the Streets proposes an alternative framework for addressing the seemingly intractable issues of inequality, despair, and violence in Chicago.

Reviews/Endorsements:
I am very excited about Views from the Streets. It addresses central questions in contemporary gang research: What’s going on in Chicago? Why have the highly touted interventions there had little effect? Why are there so many killings? It does so by offering what is deeply needed but rarely accomplished in this field: a grounded analysis providing a convincing, cogent understanding of local history and social dynamics. Moreover and most refreshingly, it appreciates rather than ironicizes and pathologizes the voices of gang members. This is the book I’ve been waiting for: a nuanced explanation that matters. —Robert Garot, author of Who You Claim: Performing Gang Identity in School and on the Streets

The most important book on Chicago gangs in decades, Views from the Streets vividly describes how and why African American gangs in Chicago fractured and radically transformed. In recounting this story, Roberto R. Aspholm gives voice to the anguished cries of young men trying desperately to create meaning in impossible conditions. —John Hagedorn, author of A World of Gangs: Armed Young Men and Gangsta Culture

In this path-breaking book, Aspholm reminds us that our understandings of contemporary gang culture remain mired in nostalgia and urban legend. Views from the Streets provides an unprecedented look at the new social dynamics resulting from public housing demolitions, displacement, and pervasive carceral control. It is indispensable reading for anyone wishing to understand contemporary gangs and for all who hope to end urban violence. —Cedric Johnson, author of Revolutionaries to Race Leaders: Black Power and the Making of African American Politics

In Views from the Streets, Aspholm brings research on Chicago gangs into the twenty-first century where social media, cell phones, and an unabashed sense of individualism and democracy have brought about the demise of the city’s once monolithic corporate gangs. Aspholm's nuanced study provides a new―and much needed―theoretical lens on contemporary gang life that will set the stage for a new generation of gang scholars. —Andrew Papachristos, Northwestern University

Aspholm dares to tell a complex and layered story of life in Chicago. By dismissing the commonplace deficit-based narratives on Black life in street organizations (gangs), readers are challenged to confront the residual affects of disinvestment and displacement. Instead of a "gang problem," Chicago has a white supremacy problem rooted in tactics of fracture, isolation, marginalization, and containment. —David Stovall, University of Illinois at Chicago

Amazon link.

Columbia University Press link. Use code CUP30 for 30% off.

 

[IATT]

 

[IATT]

 

[IATT]

 

[Belgium]

 

[m-90]

 

[shibadekobe]

 

[IATT]

 

[keko jones]

Fake news: Trump sent the rockets himself to avoid impeachment.

 

[IATT]

dwalk31

 

[Nike Jordan]

 

[T Lo Sweater]

dwalk31

As good as this is, he won’t testify and this will be swept away

right?

 

[IATT]

As good as this is, he won’t testify and this will be swept away

right?

this is from Fox News.. before further information came out

 

[aepps20]

Glad Kobe called out Obummer.

 

[boris]

dwalk31

It makes sense why Trump and the Republicans are trying so hard to sweep everything under the rug.

 

[gry60]

 

[boris]

Always. A. Tweet.

 

[whywesteppin]

For all the "millions" of people Trump has met and taken photos with, none exist of him with Kobe.

we'll miss you, Kobe

 

[IATT]

 

[AEA18]

He's trying to figure out how NPR is still around after all of his attempts to defund it.

 

[aepps20]

For all the "millions" of people Trump has met and taken photos with, none exist of him with Kobe.

we'll miss you, Kobe

That's because Our PRESIDENT ELECT has Mamba Mentality. Kobe was the younger brother he never had but always wanted.

 

[Belgium]

Watch Republicans still vote to block Bolton's testimony after his first-hand confirmation.