Former gang member turns entrepreneur... by giving tours of LA gangs | Hacker News Reader

Former gang member turns entrepreneur... by giving tours of LA gangs

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26 pointsabstractbill13 comments

I ran into a guy with a similar idea in Jeffrey's Bay, South Africa. He had started out doing the standard Township Tour, where you go visit the slum and take pictures of yourself standing next to poor people. Naturally, it didn't work out so well for him. Until, that is, an Australian convinced him to modify the tour into...

"Township Pub Crawl"

So now, he takes you into the township at night, and quickly gets several beers into you at a few of the local government-issue-shack-turned-bar. Before you know it, you're arm-in-arm with the local Reggae band doing their Bob Marley covers on a beat up $5 casio toy keyboard, talking with toothless moms and holding their babies, and generally having the time of your life.

He's booked solid every night.

Why does it not surprise me that an Aussie suggested a Pub Crawl? Still - from the sounds of it - meeting the locals at a bar sound much more authentic than the original idea.

So the story goes, one time a couple tourists decided it would be a good idea to go back to the same bars by themselves the next night. They had another good night about the township, but were intercepted on the way home by a group of locals that they'd been drinking with an hour earlier, who relieved them of all their money as well as their shoes.

South Africa is a rough place.

Instantly reminded me of this: http://plif.courageunfettered.com/archive/wc282.gif

That comic was pretty prescient - which isn't terribly hard if you assume the worst about humanity, and go on from there.

Edit: the link seems to be giving people some troubles; try mirror here: http://imgur.com/3NJiL

Doesn't load for me.

It seems to be checking the referrer (probably to avoid hotlinking). Copy and paste the link.

No, that also doesn't work. Even going to the actual website doesn't work.

Firefox cached the bad response for me. Try refreshing.

Worked now. Thanks.

pavel_lishiin++ for linking the old school, now forgotten PLIF web comic—it was very prescient!

This reminds me somewhat of the tours they give around Belfast, showcasing the murals in the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods.

Awesome.

Also recommended is Gang Leader For A Day by Sudhir Venkatesh, whose work with the crack gangs of Chicago's Robert Taylor homes was featured in Freakonomics. Sudhir revealed the inner workings and social motivations behind gang behavior.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1594201501/?tag=httpwwwhiph02-20

Freakonomics was a fascinating read! I like your book choices.

The gang's corporate structure was fascinating. One could easily draw comparison between entry-level day laborers and the management/entrepreneurs of large businesses.

Kudos!

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