"Boo Capone: The Untold Story of Former Los Angeles Gang Leader & the Original Five Deuce Hoover Gangsta Crips"
The author, Marcus Diggs, despite serving an unfair life sentence under California's infamous Three Strikes Law delivers a thrilling autobiography. Diggs weaves together politics & history with the tale of how the son of a black panther started the notorious 52 Hoover Gangsta Crips with his childhood friends. Diggs vividly recounts his life full of sin, sex, drugs & crime from the Post Watts Rebellion to the dawn of gangbanging & the crack epidemic. Diggs sweeps the reader into a world of beauty, betrayal & brutality. The narrative illuminates the twisted complexities of crime while recounting a man's road to redemption.
The narrative is notably centered upon my lifelong childhood friends and family. These complex relationships thickened against the backdrop of an emerging epoch of crime, drugs, and Hip-Hop culture in the early 80s. The hardships and shared experiences they faced ignited the formation of one of the Crips' most infamous and notorious factions, the Five Deuce Hoover Gangsta Crips, whose name reverberated with fear and reverence throughout the streets of Los Angeles.
The effect of the Crack epidemic on the communities of Los Angeles was crippling. With an explosion of violence and unprecedented crime rates, the trap had been set, promising both power and destruction. Throughout his life, he was engulfed by an intense array of experiences: mind-numbing action, heart-stopping crime, passionate love, seething revenge. Among these experiences were daring heists where the plan's execution demanded a delicately balanced mixture of courage, guile, and audacity. Bullet-ridden shootouts, while life-threatening, were yet another surreal testament to the gang-infested canvas of his existence. The violence didn't stop there, with brutal brawls frequently punctuating his journey.
An undercurrent of love and humanity exists throughout the narrative. Classic, historic photographs are peppered throughout the pages, each snapshot a testament to his life, adding depth and a gravity that faithfully honors the Hoover Gangsta Crips infamous history. These images serve as a stark reminder of the intense life he lived, both redeeming himself & humanizing his friends, the original members of the notorious Five Deuce Hoover Gangsta Crips.
The gritty realism of his experiences are balanced against a narrative of redemption and change. This duality creates one of the greatest appeals of his story – the struggle for identity and survival in a world that undermines the potential for both.
Unfortunately, this battle is inadequately quantified by the justice system, which in 1994 saw Diggs become the second person convicted under California's 3-strike program. His seemingly predestined downfall to an unjust life sentence highlighted the inescapable cycle that entrapped many young men in South Central.
