Monster Book Report
A History Lesson
Alex Moir/February 13, 2001
Mrs. Neitling/Per.4 Kody Scott grew up in South Central L.A. during the nineteen-sixties and seventies, soon after the creation of the Crips. Raised in poverty without a father, and a full family raised solely by his mother, Kody Scott led the stereotypical "ghetto" life, a poor and broken home. However he does not blame this on his own personal decision to join the Crips while only eleven year's old. The allure of the respect and "glory" that "bangers" got, along with the unity of the "set"(name for the specific gang) is what drew him into the gang. Once joined, he vowed to stay in the "set" for life, and claimed that banging was his life. After many years of still believing this, he eventually realized that the thug life was no longer for him, and that gangs were a problem on society and the "Afrikan" race(page 382-383). In his book "Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member", he tells of his life story and how he came and left the gang life. For thirteen years he was a member of the Eight Tray Gangsters, a set of the Crips, and throughout the book he explains, sometimes in full detail, the life he led while in the gang and his many times in jail and prison. These life stories he tells, include drive-byes, shootouts in supermarkets, parks, streets, houses etc., fist fights, group beatings, kidnapings, doing drugs, selling drugs, car-jacks, amputation, robbery, friend's deaths, enemies' deaths, being shot, knife fights, police abuse, jail riots, jail rapes and any other part of the gang life possible. Now if possible, imagine that this all happened within thirteen years, and to a teenager. These crimes, more specifically the brutal ones, are what got him his nickname "Monster Kody". None of this really affected him though, until when in jail, he was converted to a Muslim, when he changed his name to Sanyika Shakur. However, it took him a while to realize that what he was doing was wrong and it
Alex Moir/February 13, 2001
Mrs. Neitling/Per.4 Kody Scott grew up in South Central L.A. during the nineteen-sixties and seventies, soon after the creation of the Crips. Raised in poverty without a father, and a full family raised solely by his mother, Kody Scott led the stereotypical "ghetto" life, a poor and broken home. However he does not blame this on his own personal decision to join the Crips while only eleven year's old. The allure of the respect and "glory" that "bangers" got, along with the unity of the "set"(name for the specific gang) is what drew him into the gang. Once joined, he vowed to stay in the "set" for life, and claimed that banging was his life. After many years of still believing this, he eventually realized that the thug life was no longer for him, and that gangs were a problem on society and the "Afrikan" race(page 382-383). In his book "Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member", he tells of his life story and how he came and left the gang life. For thirteen years he was a member of the Eight Tray Gangsters, a set of the Crips, and throughout the book he explains, sometimes in full detail, the life he led while in the gang and his many times in jail and prison. These life stories he tells, include drive-byes, shootouts in supermarkets, parks, streets, houses etc., fist fights, group beatings, kidnapings, doing drugs, selling drugs, car-jacks, amputation, robbery, friend's deaths, enemies' deaths, being shot, knife fights, police abuse, jail riots, jail rapes and any other part of the gang life possible. Now if possible, imagine that this all happened within thirteen years, and to a teenager. These crimes, more specifically the brutal ones, are what got him his nickname "Monster Kody". None of this really affected him though, until when in jail, he was converted to a Muslim, when he changed his name to Sanyika Shakur. However, it took him a while to realize that what he was doing was wrong and it