Summary

Sudhir told his professors about his dissertation topic. They were not as thrilled as he was about the topic – an in-depth study of the Black Kings crack gang and its leader, J.T. They believed he should focus on the tenants of Robert Taylor. Bill Wilson wanted to have a wider perspective of everyday life in the projects. He was also worried about Sudhir’s safety. A few of the professors were ethnographers and feared that he was getting too emotionally involved with J.T.

J.T. remained Sudhir’s best contact at the project. He had to be careful not to insult him by taking the focus off of him. J.T. viewed himself as a philanthropist as much as a gang leader. His job of keeping everything running smoothly in his buildings was a difficult one – a...