Piri Thomas's Down These Mean Streets

It was....interesting. Piri Thomas's account of his own life living as a dark-skinned Puerto Rican living in Spanish Harlem actually reminded me of Malcolm X's Autobiography. The language used in the book is very simple, and loaded with Spanish Harlem slang and a very simple vocabulary, which at times made Thomas hard to decipher. Still, I am willing to overlook that because the story of his life, from ghetto child to ex-convict reveal the full extent of racial discrimination within Latino communities as well as their relation to African and white Americans. Indeed, I was surprised by how the Puerto Rican self-image resembles that of Dominicans, with many of African descent preferring to identify as indigenous, Taino-descended rather than identify with blacks.

Anywho, the book was most interesting when Thomas is in prison after committing armed burglaries and shooting a 'paddy' cop. Piri, like Malcolm X, expands his knowledge and vocabulary in prison by reading the dictionary, and even converts to the Nation of Islam's brand of the religion while in prison. Who would've thought Puerto Ricans converted to the Nation of Islam?