Marked Men

Abstract

On July 11, 2008, Reymundo Sanchez spoke these words in Chicago during a presentation of his third narrative about the Latin Kings, Lady Q: The Rise and Fall of a Latin Queen (2008), coauthored with a former Latin Queen writing under the pseudonym Sonia Rodriguez. Lady Q joins Sanchez’s first two memoirs, My Bloody Life: The Making of a Latin King (2000) and Once a King, Always a King: The Unmaking of a Latin King (2003), which purport to describe daily life as a member of the Latin Kings street gang on Chicago’s North Side. The event took place at Barbara’s Bookstore located in Chicago’s now trendy and affluent South Loop area. Sanchez and Rodriguez arrived wearing baseball caps and sun glasses in order to protect their identities as both live under threat from current Latin Kings. The presentation attracted a sizable crowd, which spilled out of the store’s conference room, flanked by two Chicago Police Department officers. Audience members spanned various age, ethnic, and racial groups. Several audience members of an older generation said that they were there to support and encourage these two voices willing to tell a story often seen only in news media reports or via the entertainment industry, portrayals that glorify and sensationalize gang life. The younger generation sought the guidance of those who had lived through violence and neighborhood unrest as they continue to grapple with these same issues.

We have to start from within the gang for real change.

—Reymundo Sanchez, former Latin King and author