Dismissed by the police as mere adjuncts to or gofers for male gangs, girl gang-bangers in fact are often as violent, emotionally closed-off, and dangerous as their male counterparts. In 8 Ball Chicks, veteran journalist Gini Sikes spends a year in the ghettos following girl gangs-white, black, and Latino-in South Central Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Milwaukee. In following the lives of several key gang members in each city, students discover the fear and desperate desire for respect and status that drive girls into gangs in the first place-and the dreams and ambitions that occasionally help them to escape the Catch-22 of their existence.
Gini Sikes, a former senior writer at Mademoiselle, was a producer for PBS's national weekly series on urban teenagers, "In the Mix." She has written about youth culture and crime for The Washington Post, Glamour, Vibe, Mirabella, and MTV. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
View titles by Gini Sikes
Dismissed by the police as mere adjuncts to or gofers for male gangs, girl gang-bangers in fact are often as violent, emotionally closed-off, and dangerous as their male counterparts. In 8 Ball Chicks, veteran journalist Gini Sikes spends a year in the ghettos following girl gangs-white, black, and Latino-in South Central Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Milwaukee. In following the lives of several key gang members in each city, students discover the fear and desperate desire for respect and status that drive girls into gangs in the first place-and the dreams and ambitions that occasionally help them to escape the Catch-22 of their existence.
Author
Gini Sikes, a former senior writer at Mademoiselle, was a producer for PBS's national weekly series on urban teenagers, "In the Mix." She has written about youth culture and crime for The Washington Post, Glamour, Vibe, Mirabella, and MTV. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
View titles by Gini Sikes
