Monster: The Autobiography of an LA Gang Member by Sankiya Shaku

Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member by Sanyika Shakur Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Course Instructor Date Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member by Sanyika Shakur Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member is a memoir about the criminal lifestyle of Kody Scott, also known as Sanyika Shakur, who was a gang member in the Los Angeles streets. He was born in 1963 in LA to Ernest Scott and Birdie Canada. His mother conceived him from an extramarital affair, resulting in a bitter resentment towards him from his father. Consequently, he was subjected to physical and emotional abuse, with Ernest Scott openly showing his dislike of him over his siblings. Later, his parents separated, with his mother moving them to a house in a rough, gangster-infested neighborhood on West 69th Street and Denker Avenue. This move saw Scott recruited into a gang that led to his criminal activities, ultimately being arrested for beating and stomping a robbery victim into a coma, which saw him earn the moniker, Monster. Written while in prison and published in ten languages with over 300,000 copies, the text is about Kody Scott’s initiation into the L.A. gang, where he matured into one of the most ruthless members, committing a series of violent crimes. Subsequently, the police arrested and prosecuted him, resulting in his incarceration in a maximum-security cell, where he underwent a complete political and personal transformation that saw him become a crusader against the causes of gangsterism in the U.S. Through this text, which he wrote in 1993, Sanyika provides crucial insights into the causes and challenges in the U.S. inner cities that compel individuals into a gangster lifestyle, encouraging efforts to alleviate those challenges and prevent more youths from being recruited into the li...