first post

Welcome to gangstories. The site was originally launched in the summer of 2003 as a fiction blog. After it got some attention (see here), and after several hundred emails—both positive and negative—I decided to remove the site and rethink the project.

After some consideration, Gangstories was relaunched in April 2004. Only this time, without the fictional disclaimer.

For better or worse, these are the stories that made me—along with a growing class of urban kids who grew up like me. Over time, I’ve discovered the vast majority of Americans have never experienced anything like the crime, violence and poverty that characterized my childhood and fundamentally shaped my worldview.

In telling these stories, I hope to improve the way people think about class, social mobility, and what constitutes a good life in America by putting a face on the actual people we call “the poor”.

Bad people can change. Poor kids can get out of the ghetto. There’s more to being poor than gangsta rap and 40s.

The purpose of gangstories is to show that.

Thanks for stopping in.