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Ryan Mohandeson Ebbtide Reporter
Monster Kody, or more accurately "Monsta," repeatedly killed his hood's territorial enemies. But as he matured, Kody increasingly questioned this racial suicide and eventually found a way out. Today, he is a father, husband, author and leader promoting Afro-American self-identity and unity. "Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member" is Kody's (who has since change his name to Sanyika Shakur) firsthand account of the cycle of violence between gangs in South Central Los Angeles during the late 1970s and '80s. As Shakur explains, he took to the violence. He saw it as the step from childhood to manhood. He was good at it and soon received the gang name, "Monster," given after he had beaten someone so savagely that the media reported: "The person who did this was a monster." He willingly and joyfully joined fellow gangbangers "Fly," "Tray Ball," "Huckabuck," "Lep," "Crazy D" and "Gangster Cool." The group was very much aware of the gangster legends who had gone before them, most of whom were either dead or in jail, respecting and admiring them. Kody's goal was to build such a reputation. He even had a three-point plan: first, he had to build his personal reputation by effectively using violence; second, he had to build his name in association with his set, so that when his name is spoken his set is spoken of "in the same breath;" and third, he must establish himself as a promoter of Crip. Kody would patrol his neighborhood on his bicycle carrying a .44. He and his gang shot their enemies on sight. At times, I was amazed by the ferocity and cold bloodedness of some of the armed, guiltless homicides. Avenging assaults, initiation attacks and a peppering of random acts of murder accompany this proclaiming of manhood. One gang member, challenged to a private duel, responded, "I'm a killer, not a gunfighter." I have read quite a bit of military history, so I was struck by the similarity between accounts of small infantry units and these sets. I have read that soldiers will sometimes take on the attitude that "I am already dead" so as to lessen the mortal fear that interferes with combat efficiency. This same attitude was present in this book. Shakur quotes J. Glenn Gray, author of one of the best accounts of men in combat, "The Warriors": "The more lives the soldier succeeds in accounting for, the prouder he is likely to feel. To his people he is a genuine hero and himself, as well. For him, war is a mission, a holy cause, his chance to prove himself and gain a supreme purpose in living. His hatred of the enemy makes this soldier feel supremely real, and in combat his hatred finds its only appropriate appeasement." Monster's reputation built quickly. He was a very effective killer. Kody found himself the target of older gang members who wanted him dead. He was ambushed, shot six times. He survived and went right back to 'banging. It all seemed quite normal to him. He couldn't imagine living life as a "hook," a civilian, a victim. He was at war for control of the civilians and the hood, their turf. Killing civilians was frowned upon. There was no glory in killing civilians. Some civilians even welcomed and protected the hood's 'bangers as defenders. Later in the book, while in prison, Kody was recruited into an army of 'bangers, the Consolidated Crips Organization, unifier of the warring sets with claim to the Crips name. The older gang members were very aware of the need for more unity between gang members to reduce the crippling in-fighting. The primary motivation to such unity was surviving the larger scale wars, as the California prison system reads like a race war, with the Crips allied with Southern Mexicans against the Aryan Nazis with their Northern Mexican allies. Reading this, I pictured a possible Earth where the racial and tribal lines of loyalty and disloyalty exist on a bloody worldwide scale. I took comfort in the fact that this book is the story of transformation, from a boy killer to a mature man. I date the beginning of Kody's transformation from gangbanger to a day he was playing with his daughter. He realized that he could not marry the mother or help raise the child because the gang required most of his time. He felt less of a man because he could not help bring up his child and he started to have serious doubt about his self-identity. He flirted with Islam, but despite his great respect for Muslim friends, he could not buy into their religion. He eventually made contact with a black nationalist, who promoted his education. Kody slowly withdrew from gang activity. It is a tricky business to pull away from people you have fought beside without seeming like a traitor. He took the time necessary, and with the final break changed his name to Shakur. "Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A Gang Member" is a powerful account of the triumph of the human spirit over insurmountable odds. Written from the viewpoint of someone who spent many years on the inside, it offers the reader new insight. Shakur, shows the seemingly chaotic world of South Central L.A., and lets the reader experience it for a few hours. He does an excellent job of relating his experiences in an effort to educate those who still have time to do something about it. The fact that Monster Kody Scott, one of the hardest of the hardest Crips, could turn his life around, offers hope for many others who chain their lives to gangs simply because of where they live. "Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member" was published in 1998 by Addison-Wesley Publishing. © 2003 Shoreline Community College™ |
