Gang leader for a day? An academic took the plunge
Sudhir Venkatesh, an Irvine kid, has made his mark as academia's go-to expert on thug life. His PhD dissertation soon could be a major motion picture.
People had whizzed in that stairwell.
Sudhir Venkatesh, alone and afraid as he walked up the dimly lit corridor, could tell as much with one whiff.
Still, when a group of Chicago-area gang members confronted him, Venkatesh ignored the guns and knives and threats on his life. Instead, the young doctoral candidate from a cushy part of Irvine clung to his clipboard and spit out his question:
"How does it feel to be black and poor: very bad, somewhat bad, neither bad nor good, somewhat good, very good?"
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