In Chicago in mid-twentieth century amid the haze and smoke of
urban renewal and the sounds of the wrecking balls and bulldozers,
there lived two men, both street-savvy, one Black, one Irish, one
young, one old and both leaders of their clans. Each ruled with an
iron fist. Each embodied the fighting spirit of the turbulent
1960s. One was David Barksdale, the Black Disciples leader, a Black
youth club that would give birth to America's largest street gang;
the other was Richard J. Daley, the legendary Mayor of the City of
Chicago. He was one of the longest-serving, most prominent mayors
in American history and the last of the big-city "bosses." Although
the two never met, at least not face-to-face, their fates were
linked by a time of change, an era of protest, which was a decisive
moment of transformational power that was on the verge of a violent
uprising in America's second-largest city. This is a book that is
as lively as its subject. A braided narrative of two larger than
life people, it has the boldness to combine two oddly related 1960s
stories into a single narrative that is both intimate and epic. One
captures the unlikely story of a Negro boy whose share-cropping
family migrated from rural Mississippi to Chicago, where he started
a street gang that became the largest in America. The book's other
path follows America's last big city "boss," whose persona is
legendary and bigger than life. While historians, political
pundits, and those who knew him speak of "Hizzonor" as being a
proud, Irish-Catholic who was the long-time godfather of the
Chicago Democratic Party and Mayor who saved Chicago from becoming
another Detroit or Cleveland, they also acknowledge that he was a
fierce segregationist. He had a contentious relationship with civil
rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Richard Daley also
played a significant role in the history of the United States
Democratic Party. Williams an internationally recognized gang
expert and interventionist, eloquently tells the story of these
men, their clans, and their on-going struggle for power, status,
and legacy. However unheard of and unimaginable, some of the
incidents may seem, this is not a work of fiction. Everything
written comes from archival documents, official reports, focus
groups, in-depth interviews, or first-hand accounts. The action
takes place mostly in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood. Still,
there are some occasions where the action takes place in
Bronzeville, the Woodlawn community, on the West Side of the City
and downtown.
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