Ghetto Brother: Warrior to Peacemaker

Outstanding true story in graphic novel format. The subject, Benjamin Melendez, was a Hispanic boy in the worst of the 1970s Bronx, where almost each block had its street gang and rules to determine behavior on and off their turf. After the Ghetto Brothers gang's peacemaker "Black Benji" is murdered, Benjamin, the gang leader, is sought out by a Black Panther Party member who suggests that the gangs stop killing each other and focus on uniting to turn around their neighborhoods from gang revenge cycles and indifferent (at best) policing. The resulting historic gang truce meeting change Bronx life for the better for all residents. Benji also discovers the secret of his parents' mysterious background - they are Maranos, Jews from Spain who had to convert during the Spanish Inquisition. This opens a brand new, fascinating avenue for him as he joins the remaining synagogue in his neighborhood.The words (really outstanding) and the graphics (okay) tell this story in a way that would appeal to all ages of readers. It should be required reading for all students of history and racism, and for those who survived those miserable, harrowing years of violence and crack in the Bronx. It sure wasn't ever peace and love for all.

Benjy Melendez's story is terrific, but I think it could have been done a lot more justice. The storytelling in this felt rather disjointed and as if it could have been fleshed out a lot more. The artwork was too muddy and nondescript for my liking, dulling the overall feel. But I'm inspired to learn more about the whole dynamic of the early 70s and the Hoe Ave Peace Meeting, and thankfully, Voloj does provide some good references for that.

The history related in this book is fascinating, and the bits about religion had some totally new information for me. But while I liked the style of the art, the book's format was small enough that I felt like I couldn't make out the detail very well. I'm definitely planning to watch some of the documentaries mentioned, and I really appreciated the extra resources listed at the end. Definitely worth a read, just not my favorite layout.

In this so-so biography, I was more interested in the impact of Jewish culture on the subject's life than all the street gang and hip-hop stuff that dominated the book. The art was distracting with its murkiness and the frequently disproportionate heads appearing on characters throughout. The first time graphic novel artist also needs to work on panel layout, caption placement and lettering. Better editing might have fixed those problems early on and not allowed two words to be left out of a word balloon on page 60.