Urban youth gangs are typically viewed as no more than training grounds for thugs and felons. This breakthrough anthology presents a far different picture, revealing present and former gang members€ and street activists€ artistic impulses, emotional sensitivities, political beliefs, and capacities to assess the social conditions that created them. The Bandana Republic contains powerful writing: fiction and essays, poetry, and polemics written by adolescents from gangs like the Crips and Bloods and the Mexican Mafia. There's also creative work by ex-gangbangers who have become activists, artists, musicians, and movie stars. J. Sheeler€s “Seven Immortals€ finds grim poetry in a young girl€s gang initiation. Jaha Zainabu€s “The Jungle (Blood Territory)€ is a lacerating portrait of an L.A. Blood. Commander€s “The Brothas Gunnin€€ piercingly profiles a neighborhood - and a world - under siege. These writings give voice to an American subculture far richer and more complex than the headlines indicate.