Download or read book G dog and the Homeboys written by Celeste Fremon and published by UNM Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an updated edition of the story of the gang scene in East L.A. and Father Gregory Boyle's innovative ministry and economic development efforts in the area.
Download or read book Father Greg and the Homeboys written by Celeste Fremon and published by Hyperion Books. This book was released on 1995-07-14 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Assigned to one of the most volatile neighborhoods in embattled East Los Angeles, Father Boyle has established himself as a force for positive change in a world where death and despair are rampant. His tireless efforts have been chronicled widely in the media, including profiles on 60 Minutes, Today, and Bill Moyers' Listening to America.
Download or read book Tattoos on the Heart written by Greg Boyle and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-02-08 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do you fight despair and learn to meet the world with a loving heart? How do you overcome shame? Stay faithful in spite of failure? No matter where people live or what their circumstances may be, everyone needs boundless, restorative love. Gorgeous and uplifting, Tattoos on the Heart amply demonstrates the impact unconditional love can have on your life. As a pastor working in a neighborhood with the highest concentration of murderous gang activity in Los Angeles, Gregory Boyle created an organization to provide jobs, job training, and encouragement so that young people could work together and learn the mutual respect that comes from collaboration. Tattoos on the Heart is a breathtaking series of parables distilled from his twenty years in the barrio. Arranged by theme and filled with sparkling humor and glowing generosity, these essays offer a stirring look at how full our lives could be if we could find the joy in loving others and in being loved unconditionally. From giant, tattooed Cesar, shopping at JCPenney fresh out of prison, we learn how to feel worthy of God’s love. From ten-year-old Lula we learn the importance of being known and acknowledged. From Pedro we understand the kind of patience necessary to rescue someone from the darkness. In each chapter we benefit from Boyle’s wonderful, hard-earned wisdom. Inspired by faith but applicable to anyone trying to be good, these personal, unflinching stories are full of surprising revelations and observations of the community in which Boyle works and of the many lives he has helped save. Erudite, down-to-earth, and utterly heartening, these essays about universal kinship and redemption are moving examples of the power of unconditional love in difficult times and the importance of fighting despair. With Gregory Boyle’s guidance, we can recognize our own wounds in the broken lives and daunting struggles of the men and women in these parables and learn to find joy in all of the people around us. Tattoos on the Heart reminds us that no life is less valuable than another.
Download or read book The Whole Language written by Gregory Boyle and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2023-04-04 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beloved Jesuit priest and author of the inspirational bestsellers Tattoos on the Heart and Barking to the Choir returns with a call to witness the transformative power of tenderness, rooted in his lifetime of experience counseling gang members in Los Angeles. Over the past thirty years, Gregory Boyle has transformed thousands of lives through his work as the founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest and most successful gang-intervention program in the world. Now, following his acclaimed bestsellers Tattoos on the Heart, “destined to become a classic of both urban reportage and contemporary spirituality” (Los Angeles Times), and Barking to the Choir, deemed “a beautiful and important and soul-transporting book” by Elizabeth Gilbert comes The Whole Language, a book that “filled my cup with hope” (The Jesuit Review). In a community struggling to overcome systemic poverty and violence, The Whole Language shows how those at Homeboy Industries fight despair and remain generous, hopeful, and tender. When Saul was thirteen years old, he killed his abusive stepfather in self-defense; after spending twenty-three years in juvenile and adult jail, he enters the Homeboy Industries training and healing programs and embraces their mission. Declaring, “I’ve decided to grow up to be somebody I always needed as a child,” Saul shows tenderness toward the young men in his former shoes, treating them all like his sons and helping them to find their way. Before coming to Homeboy Industries, a young man named Abel was shot thirty-three times, landing him in a coma for six months followed by a year and a half recuperating in the hospital. He now travels on speaking tours with Boyle and gives guided tours around the Homeboy offices. One day a new trainee joins Abel as a shadow, and Abel recognizes him as the young man who had put him in a coma. “You give good tours,” the trainee tells Abel. They both have embarked on a path to wholeness. Boyle’s moving stories challenge our ideas about God and about people, providing a window into a world filled with fellowship, compassion, and fewer barriers. Bursting with encouragement, humor, and hope, The Whole Language invites us to treat others—and ourselves—with acceptance and tenderness.
Download or read book Barking to the Choir written by Gregory Boyle and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-11-14 with total page 3 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a moving example of unconditional love in difficult times, Gregory Boyle, the Jesuit priest and New York Times bestselling author of Tattoos on the Heart, shares what working with gang members in Los Angeles has taught him about faith, compassion, and the enduring power of kinship. In his first book, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion, Gregory Boyle introduced us to Homeboy Industries, the largest gang-intervention program in the world. Critics hailed that book as an “astounding literary and spiritual feat” (Publishers Weekly) that is “destined to become a classic of both urban reportage and contemporary spirituality” (Los Angeles Times). Now, after the successful expansion of Homeboy Industries, Boyle returns with Barking to the Choir to reveal how compassion is transforming the lives of gang members. In a nation deeply divided and plagued by poverty and violence, Barking to the Choir offers a snapshot into the challenges and joys of life on the margins. Sergio, arrested at age nine, in a gang by age twelve, and serving time shortly thereafter, now works with the substance-abuse team at Homeboy to help others find sobriety. Jamal, abandoned by his family when he tried to attend school at age seven, gradually finds forgiveness for his schizophrenic mother. New father Cuco, who never knew his own dad, thinks of a daily adventure on which to take his four-year-old son. These former gang members uplift the soul and reveal how bright life can be when filled with unconditional love and kindness. This book is guaranteed to shake up our ideas about God and about people with a glimpse at a world defined by more compassion and fewer barriers. Gently and humorously, Barking to the Choir invites us to find kinship with one another and re-convinces us all of our own goodness.
Download or read book The Homeboy Way written by Thomas Vozzo and published by Loyola Press. This book was released on 2022-02-22 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2023 Illumination Book Awards Gold Medalist, Inspirational 2023 Independent Press Awards Distinguished Favorite, Business - Motivational 2023 Catholic Media Association Book Awards, Honorable Mention, Catholc Social Teaching Leading with heart, authenticity and purpose, Thomas Vozzo provides a clear path to a new bottom line—including 55 rules to break—bringing the Homeboy Way to life as the perfect anecdote to the massive tidal currents of social injustice and inequities. By every traditional measurement of success, Vozzo was a clear winner. In his world of billion-dollar revenues and million-dollar profits, he knew exactly what shareholders wanted and how to get it for them. Then, through a series of fateful events, Vozzo landed as CEO of Homeboy Industries, the most successful gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the country, founded by Jesuit priest Greg Boyle. “I arrived at Homeboy at a time when I needed to learn more about myself and my life’s journey,” Vozzo writes. “And after 8 years of working with the poor, forgotten, and demonized people of our society, I’ve come to learn that I didn’t really know as much about life as I thought.” Vozzo’s enlightening journey leads to his recognition that a radical approach is needed in business and in life: “What Homeboy has taught me is that we need to do business differently . . . . We need to bust up the system, swim upstream, avoid herd mentality.” Blending personal stories of his day-to-day with Fr. Greg and the Homies along with counterintuitive business ideas that are changing lives for the better, Vozzo shows you how you can live, lead, and shake things up with toughness, determination, compassion, and grit. That’s the Homeboy Way. 100% of author royalties go to support the mission of Homeboy Industries.
Download or read book Homies and Hermanos written by Robert Brenneman and published by OUP USA. This book was released on 2012 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using the tools of sociological theory, Robert Brenneman seeks to discover why a pot-smoking, gun-wielding "homie" gang member would want to trade in la vida loca for a Bible and the buttoned-down lifestyle of an evangelical hermano (brother in Christ) - and to what extent this strategy works for the many youth who have tried it.
Download or read book Sharing the Wisdom of Time written by Pope Francis and Friends and published by Messenger Publications. This book was released on 2021-04-01 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christmas Day 2021 sees the release of a Netflix series, Stories of a Generation with Pope Francis, based on this book. Pope Francis views elders as reservoirs of wisdom and historical memory and believes their insights will offer future generations much-needed understanding and direction. More than 250 people were interviewed and Loyola Press sent a collection of stories to the Vatican. These encompassed universal themes of love, loss, survival, hope, peace in the face of unimaginable tragedy, and above all, faith. Pope Francis received every story, prayed over them, and responded with sensitivity and grace to 31 of the stories and the issues they raise. In his Preface, Pope Francis lays out his reasons for this collection of wisdom stories and the movement he hopes it inspires. He also contributes as a fellow elder, offering a story from his own life at the start of each chapter . And in his own wise and compassionate way, he serves as a spiritual shepherd, commenting on dozens of heartfelt stories.
Download or read book Skin Deep written by Steven Burton and published by powerHouse Books. This book was released on 2017-10-24 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For decades now tattoos have been potent symbols of the Los Angeles gang-life scene. The black and white tattoos with recognizable gang symbols appear on members' faces, necks and all over their bodies, making their gang affiliation immediately clear to whomever crosses their path. This can mean the difference between life and death on he streets, and just as often, in prison. What does this prominently placed imagery mean for those men and women who somehow extricate themselves from gang life or are released from prison or want to separate themselves from the gang and start life anew? The very tattoos which may have helped guard against the constant threat of rival gangs now bar many ex-gang members from employment, life without harassment, and the freedom to move on from a past they have worked hard to overcome. Skin Deep is a photography project that seeks to show the effects of this ongoing gang conflict in Los Angeles. Photographer Steven Burton set out to photograph realistic portraits of former gang members who are trying to escape the revolving door of death and prison. For these men and women, the aftermath of gang life is not only carried within--it is also scrawled across their faces and bodies. Skin Deep uniquely highlights the impact tattoos have on the way a person is perceived by showing what each participant might look like without them. Utilizing before and, thanks to the advantages of Photoshop, after photographs, these men and women got a chance to see what they'd look like without the inked visual armor. After the bare images were presented to each, they were asked to talk about themselves and their families, what tattoos represent to them, and their aspirations for the future. Seeing themselves without tattoos--many for the first time in decades--naturally brought about a wide range of emotions, recollections, hopes, and dreams, with responses such as: "I am shocked. I don't know what to say about this. I am going to give this to my mom, she is going to be so happy." "I think this guy in the pictures would judge the one with tattoos right off the top." "That's crazy, that looks real crazy. Those came out cool man! I think I like it better without the tattoos." Burton met his subjects thanks to Father Greg Boyle, the founder of Homeboy Industries in LA, and the entire project is inspired by his tireless work to help rehabilitate these former gang members and give them all a crucial second chance in life. Skin Deep offers a chance to expose the realities these individuals face when trying to rebuild their lives and re-enter society. As importantly, for the public, the project provokes consideration regarding how society perceives and judges people with tattoos and violent pasts and seeks to garner empathy for those caught in the crosshairs of gang life as they try to change their futures.
Download or read book Prison Ramen written by Clifton Collins and published by Workman Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-03 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A unique and edgy cookbook, Prison Ramen takes readers behind bars with more than 65 ramen recipes and stories of prison life from the inmate/cooks who devised them, including celebrities like Slash from Guns n’ Roses and the actor Shia LaBeouf. Instant ramen is a ubiquitous food, beloved by anyone looking for a cheap, tasty bite—including prisoners, who buy it at the commissary and use it as the building block for all sorts of meals. Think of this as a unique cookbook of ramen hacks. Here’s Ramen Goulash. Black Bean Ramen. Onion Tortilla Ramen Soup. The Jailhouse Hole Burrito. Orange Porkies—chili ramen plus white rice plus ½ bag of pork skins plus orange-flavored punch. Ramen Nuggets. Slash’s J-Walking Ramen (with scallions, Sriracha hot sauce, and minced pork). Coauthors Gustavo “Goose” Alvarez and Clifton Collins Jr. are childhood friends—one an ex-con, now free and living in Mexico, and the other a highly successful Hollywood character actor who’s enlisted friends and celebrities to contribute their recipes and stories. Forget flowery writing about precious, organic ingredients—these stories are a first-person, firsthand look inside prison life, a scared-straight reality to complement the offbeat recipes.
Download or read book Beloved written by Toni Morrison and published by Everyman's Library. This book was released on 2006-10-17 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Toni Morrison’s Beloved is a spellbinding and dazzlingly innovative portrait of a woman haunted by the past. One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has borne the unthinkable and not gone mad, yet she is still held captive by memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. Meanwhile Sethe’s house has long been troubled by the angry, destructive ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. Sethe works at beating back the past, but it makes itself heard and felt incessantly in her memory and in the lives of those around her. When a mysterious teenage girl arrives, calling herself Beloved, Sethe’s terrible secret explodes into the present. Combining the visionary power of legend with the unassailable truth of history, Morrison’s unforgettable novel is one of the great and enduring works of American literature.
Download or read book Gangs and Spirituality written by Ross Deuchar and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-05-17 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the role of religion and spirituality in desistance from crime and disengagement from gangs. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with male gang members and offenders as well as insights gathered from pastors, chaplains, coaches and personal mentors, the testimonials span three continents, focusing on the USA, Scotland, Denmark and Hong Kong. This volume offers unique empirical findings about the role that religion and spirituality can play in enabling some male gang members and offenders to transition into a new social sphere characterised by the presence of substitute forms of brotherhood and trust, and alternative forms of masculine status. The author presents critical insights into the potential relationship between religious and spiritual participation and the emergence of coping strategies to deal with the ‘stigmata’ that gang masculinity leaves behind. With its wide-ranging and multi-perspective approach, this book will be essential reading for students and scholars of gang culture, masculinity and spirituality, as well as policy makers and practitioners.
Download or read book Jumped in written by Jorja Leap and published by Beacon Press (MA). This book was released on 2012 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Oral histories, interviews, and eyewitness accounts explore the gang community in Los Angeles to describe how gang membership grows, why violence levels are so high, and how gang activity can best be handled.
Download or read book Roll Models written by Richard Holicky and published by Trafford Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I thought life was pretty much over." Paul Herman "I was afraid people wouldn''t see me for who I still was." Cathy Green "I didn''t need this to be a better person." Susan Douglas "I wasn''t sure I wanted to live ''this way.''" Kevin Wolitzky The above four people and 49 more just like them went on to find high levels of success and lead satisfying lives. Together they tell 53 stories of moving forward to meet all the challenges, fears, obstacles, and problems common to the life-altering circumstances after spinal cord injury, and doing it without benefit of wealth, large settlements or solid health coverage. Ranging in age from 21 to 67, disabled from three to 48 years they share 931 years of disability experience. Roll Models is a valuable new resource for recently injured people and their families, and for nurses, therapists, psychologists and all other professionals who treat, work with and care for people with spinal cord injury. Straight from the horse''s mouth, survivors explore their experiences with disability and answer many questions those in rehab are asking: Early Thoughts What were your thoughts immediately following injury? What were your initial thoughts and reactions regarding SCI and the future? The First Years What were your biggest fears during that first year or so? How did you get past those early fears? Changes, Obstacles and Solutions How much different are you now, compared to how you were before injury? What''s been the biggest obstacle? How did you address these obstacles? Finding What Works What have been the most difficult things for you to deal with since injury? What''s the worst thing about having an SCI and using a chair? What''s been your biggest loss due to injury? Is SCI the worst thing that ever happened to you? Tell me something about your problem solving skills. How do you deal with stress? What do you do to relieve stress? Salvations, Turning Points and More Was there any one thing that was your "salvation" or key to your success? Was there a turning point for you when you began to feel things were going to get better? What personal factors, habits and beliefs have helped you the most? SCI and Meaning Do you find any meaning, purpose or lessons in your disability? Did any positive opportunities come your way because of your injury? What''s your greatest accomplishment? What are you most proud of? "A wonderful roadmap with many alternate routes to living and thriving with SCI." Minna Hong, SCI survivor and Peer Support Coordinator/Vocational Liaison, Shepherd Center "Avoids the trap of providing a ''one size fits all mentality'' and provides solutions as varied as the individuals used as examples. Accentuates the positives while not sugar coating the difficulties. Essential reading." Jeff Cressy SCI survivor and Director of Consumer and Community Affairs, SCI Project, Rancho Los Amigos "A great resource for people as they venture out into the world, or search for meaning and a deeper, richer life. Filled with examples of real people and their real experiences." Terry Chase, ND, RN; SCI survivor; Patient & Family Education Program Coordinator, Craig Hospital "A wonderful tool for the newly spinal cord injured individual, as well as the therapists and counselors working with them. This certainly hits the mark in capturing important survival strategies." Jack Dahlberg, SCI survivor, Past President of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association "Artfully crafted and organized, Roll Models sensitively portrays life following spinal cord injury. Informative, creative, sensitive, as well as infused with humor and a kind heart. Recommended with my highest accolades."Lester Butt, Ph.D., ABPP, Director of the Department of Psychology, Craig Hospital
Download or read book Ghettoside written by Jill Leovy and published by One World/Ballantine. This book was released on 2015 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Discusses the hundreds of murders that occur in Los Angeles each year, and focuses on the story of the dedicated group of detectives who pursued justice at any cost in the killing of Bryant Tennelle"--Publisher's description.
Download or read book Inner City Miracle written by Greg Mathis and published by One World/Ballantine. This book was released on 2002 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the hugely popular star of TVUs "Judge Mathis, " comes the inspirational story of a young man who rose from delinquent to Detroit District Court Judge to national television personality. Color photos.
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Criminology written by Gerben Bruinsma and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 969 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of how the environment, local geography, and physical locations influence crime has a long history that stretches across many research traditions. These include the neighborhood effects approach developed in the 1920s, the criminology of place, and a newer approach that attends to the perception of crime in communities. Aided by new technologies and improved data-reporting in recent decades, research in environmental criminology has developed rapidly within each of these approaches. Yet research in the subfield remains fragmented and competing theories are rarely examined together. The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Criminology takes a unique approach and synthesizes the contributions of existing methods to better integrate the subfield as a whole. Gerben J.N. Bruinsma and Shane D. Johnson have assembled a cast of top scholars to provide an in-depth source for understanding how and why physical setting can influence the emergence of crime, affect the environment, and impact individual or group behavior. The contributors address how changes in the environment, global connectivity, and technology provide more criminal opportunities and new ways of committing old crimes. They also explore how crimes committed in countries with distinct cultural practices like China and West Africa might lead to different spatial patterns of crime. This is a state-of-the-art compendium on environmental criminology that reflects the diverse research and theory developed across the western world.
