Homeboy Industries

I always cringe whenever I hear middle class, suburban kids romanticize gang life. I don't understand the psychology behind glorifying a genuinely brutal, limited, and potentially short life. I'm certain that for these kids, whose lives are very comfortable, the sources from which they are informed present a very skewed version of reality. Fortunately, there exists a place and a person that can supply some very concrete examples of the violence and tragedy that plagues individuals who choose this path.

Father Greg Boyle has been working tirelessly in some of the roughest neighborhoods of Los Angeles for over twenty years. He started the pioneering program known as Homeboy Industries that has proven to be highly effective in transforming the lives of gang members by showing them a path to employability, education, and hope and breaking the cycle of generational membership.

You can listen to a very touching and powerful interview with Father Greg Boyle on the NPR program, Fresh Air or checkout these titles and read about this very humble man and his important work firsthand.

G-Dog and the Homeboys: Father Greg Boyle and the Gangs of East Los Angeles

Father Greg and the Homeboys: The Extraordinary Journey of Father Greg Boyle and His Work with the Latino Gangs of East L.A.

Related Titles:

Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets
War of the Bloods in my Veins: A Street Soilders March Toward Redemption