Letters and Politics

A History of the Gang Wars in East Los Angeles

Guest: Randol Contreras is an Associate Professor of Sociology, Media, and Cultural Studies at the University of California, Riverside. His research focuses on the intersection of history, social structure, and biography, which sheds light on how crime emerges and influences the behavior and meanings of people.  He is the author of the award-winning book The Stickup Kids: Race, Drugs, Violence, and the American Dreamand his most recent, The Marvelous Ones: Drugs, Gang Violence, and Resistance in East Los Angeles.
Watch interview on Youtube here