Ghetto brother : warrior to peacemaker
Publication Information
New York : NBM Comics Lit, 2015.
Physical Description
127 pages : chiefly black and white illustrations ; 23 cm
Summary
"An engrossing and counter view of one of the most dangerous elements of American urban history, this graphic novel tells the true story of Benjy Melendez, son of Puerto-Rican immigrants, who founded, at the end of the 1960s, the notorious Ghetto Brothers gang. From the seemingly bombed-out ravages of his neighborhood, wracked by drugs, poverty, and violence, he managed to extract an incredibly positive energy from this riot ridden era: his multiracial gang promoted peace rather than violence. After initiating a gang truce, the Ghetto Brothers held weekly concerts on the streets or in abandoned buildings, which fostered the emergence of hip-hop. Melendez also began to reclaim his Jewish roots after learning about his family's dramatic crypto-Jewish background" --
Notes
"Based on true events" -- title page verso.
Subjects
- Gang members > New York (State) > New York > Biography > Comic books, strips, etc.
- Gangs > New York (State) > New York > Biography > Comic books, strips, etc.
- Community activists > New York (State) > New York > Biography > Comic books, strips, etc.
- Puerto Ricans > New York (State) > New York > Biography > Comic books, strips, etc.
- Sephardim > New York (State) > New York > Biography > Comic books, strips, etc.
- Bronx (New York, N.Y.) > Biography > Comic books, strips, etc.
- Melendez, Benjy, 1952-