- Contributors: Julian Voloj and Claudia Ahlering.
- Library Holdings Link (Worldcat)
- 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.
- Awards/Recognition:
- In the Margins Book Award, 2016
- Booklist's Top 10 Graphic Novels, 2016
- Maverick Graphic Novel List, 2017
- No additional awards known of as of 10/1/2020. Please contact this project's researchers if you are aware of an award not listed.
- Number of Pages: 129
- Recommended Grade Level:
- Publication Year: 2015
- Publisher: NBM Comics Lit
- ISBN: 9781561639489
