Analysis Of The Book Fist Stick Knife Gun By Geoffrey...

Geoffrey Canada pens a book that is part biography, part social view, a very thoughtful look into inner-city violence and the rules surrounding it. The book describes how his personal history with violence influenced his work with youth and the programs that he has started to support them. Geoffrey Canada describes the progression of violence that had happened in his lifetime. He also points out that there is a disturbing difference between what the streets were like in the 1960s compared to those of today. As great storyteller, Geoffrey Canada is thoroughly convincing. His Book Fist Stick Knife Gun, is a great explanation of violence and poverty in late 20th century here in America’s inner cities. Of how he changed from a timid and frightened child into a young man who could hold his own in a fight in the streets, is written in a believable way. Canada actually learned the way of the streets because he grew up in the streets. All of his experiences first started when he was a child when he and his friends used their fists to settle disputes and to gain a reputation that would bring respect from the other kids in the neighborhood. At times, those disputes would escalate with other weapons like a knife. Having grown up in the South Bronx in the 1960s, Mr. Canada brings you to a time when violence was ever-present but guns were not. At that time there were a very few adult men in the neighborhood, and the police were of very little assistance. Not even old enoughShow MoreRelatedGeoffrey Canada and the Harlem Childrens Zone Essay1672 Words   |  7 Pagesthat we have to confront the fact that we have systems that are designed essentially to fail kids,† states Geoffrey Canada in his address at the Social Justice Leadership Conference (Newport, 2011). Canada has an innate ability to blatantly state the problems facing communities in this country. However he is not just talking; he is doing something about it. Growing up in Harlem himself, Canada had struggles as a young person. The 1950s in the United States was a time of dichotomy. Although it was