{"product_id":"catching-hell-in-the-city-joo-h-costa-vargas-9780816641697","title":"Catching Hell in the City of Angels: Life and Meanings of Blackness in South Central Los Angeles","description":"Since the 1980s, Los Angeles has become the most racially and economically divided city in the United States. In the poorest parts of South Central Los Angeles, buildings in disrepair--the legacy of racial unrest. Moving beyond stereotypes of South Central's predominantly African American residents, Jo o H. Costa Vargas recounts his almost two years living in the district. Personal, critical, and disquieting, \u003ci\u003eCatching Hell in the City of Angels\u003c\/i\u003e examines the ways in which economic and social changes in the twentieth century have affected the black community, and powerfully conveys the experiences that bind and divide its people. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThrough compelling stories of South Central, including his own experience as an immigrant of color, Vargas presents portraits of four groups. He talks daily with women living in a low-income Watts apartment building; works with activists in a community organization against police brutality; interacts with former gang members trying to maintain a 1992 truce between the Bloods and the Crips; and listens to amateur jazz musicians who perform in a gentrified section of the neighborhood. In each case he describes the worldviews and the definitions of \"blackness\" these people use to cope with oppression. Vargas finds, in turn, that blackness is a form of racial solidarity, a vehicle for the renewal of African American culture, and a political expression of revolutionary black nationalism. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eVargas reveals that the social fault lines in South Central reflect both contemporary disparities and long-term struggles. In doing so, he shows both the racialized power that makes \"blackness\" a prized term of identity and the terrible price that African Americans have paid for this emphasis. Ultimately, \u003ci\u003eCatching Hell in the City of Angels \u003c\/i\u003etells the story of urban America through the lives of individuals from diverse, overlapping, and vibrant communities. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJo o H. Costa Vargas is assistant professor in the Center for African and African American Studies and the department of anthropology at the University of Texas, Austin. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRobin D. G. Kelley is the William B. Ransford Professor of Cultural and Historical Studies at Columbia University. He is the author of numerous books, including \u003ci\u003eYo Mama's Disfunktional: Fighting the Culture Wars in Urban America.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jo縊 H. Costa Vargas\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0816641692\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780816641697\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Minnesota Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/01\/2006\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.92lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.80h x 5.90w x 0.80d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eReference and Research Bk News\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/01\/2006 pg. 80\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMulticultural Review\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/01\/2007 pg. 80","brand":"Jo縊 H. Costa Vargas","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44069408342271,"sku":"9780816641697","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_5b308762-f9a1-4a71-abb8-486598a351a8.jpg?v=1685424547","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/catching-hell-in-the-city-joo-h-costa-vargas-9780816641697","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}