“Chicago COp: Tales from the Street” – Chapter 33: “Beat 1222, The Heart of Pilsen” – Part 1

1993:

Going south on Racine from Roosevelt Road, you’ll pass right by the South Water Produce Market. If you take Morgan, a few blocks to the east, you’ll pass both the Maxwell Street Market – of "Blues Brothers" fame – and the old "Hill Street Blues" police station. If you take Loomis, however, you will have to run the gauntlet through some of the worst urban Ghettos in Chicago: ABLA Homes, an acronym for a whole smorgasbord of Public Housing Projects, some hi-rise, some low, all of them as bad as they come.

Then, as you emerge from underneath the 16th Street railroad bridge, you will experience a culture shock as profound as if you had just crossed the Rio Grande into Juarez.

Extending beyond Cermak Road to the South Branch of the Chicago River, about a mile away, lies Pilsen: one of the most unique and picturesque of Chicago’s ethnic neighborhoods.

Pilsen was settled by Czech and other East European immigrants – usually lumped together as "Bohemians" – in the 1850’s and 60’s. Pilsen begins its transformation to a predominantly Hispanic community about a century later, and becomes a border station for illegal immigrants from Mexico. and refugees from every Central and South American country that’s mired in poverty and oppression. Some seek refuge for political reasons, but most seek what has always brought those huddled masses to our shores: a better life for themselves and their children. They are drawn here by the promise of economic opportunity to advance beyond the class or station of your birth, through hard work and free enterprise.

Unfortunately, this often comes at a price they had not anticipated: their children, who will be raised by Pilsen’s street gangs. It is the gangs who school these kids in a culture of conflict and violence from which there will be no escape.

Since the gangs are so numerous and gang territories are so small in size, the next block might as well be a foreign country, or the moon. Surrounded by rival gangs, you may be killed on sight if you cross any of the invisible boundaries that separates your block from the rest of the world.

* * * * * * *

Note: until recently, when the 12th District absorbed a big chunk of real estate from the former 13th District, the boundaries of Bt. 1222 were as follows: 16th Street to the north, Racine to the east, Paulina to the west, and the South Branch of the Chicago River to thesouth. Today’s Bt. 1222 is
completely different.

For more excerpts, look at the other images in the Album titles "Chicago Cop."

The book is available from amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle format. If you are a Prime member, you can read it for free through the Kindle Reading Library.
As Amazon is adding more websites that target specific countries, you can also order the Kindle version through amazon.co.uk.

At the moment, book reviews are available only on the amazon.com website.

Posted by Andre’s Street Photography on 2013-08-22 19:05:29

Tagged: , Pilsen – April 6, 2013 – , Chicago , Chicago Police Department , 12th District , Andre’s Street Photography , Chicago Cop: Tales from the Street , Andre Van Vegten , J.P. Borja , Jean Pierre Borja , KDP , Kindle , Kindle Lending Library , amazon.com , amazon.co.uk , Beat 1222

.
CONCLUSION

Keywords are important. In order to make your book stand out from the crowd, you must learn how to strategically choose them and ethically harness their power.

There’s a difference between Amazon Keywords and SEO Keywords. I’ve shown you how to choose and use them both to increase your ebook sales.

The right keyword combinations can open up new markets for you.

Strategic keyword selection will drive more viewers to your book. You can use keywords to gain more viewers and ultimately, make more sales.
Find the right keywords one of two ways: either use my free methods, or pay once for Keyword Samurai and have all the dirty work done for you.

With Keyword Samurai, you will have instant access to loads of incredibly valuable information at your fingertips.

http://kindlesamurai.net/

Cheers,

The post “Chicago COp: Tales from the Street” – Chapter 33: “Beat 1222, The Heart of Pilsen” – Part 1 appeared first on Publishing Review.

from WordPress http://publishingreview.com/chicago-cop-tales-from-the-street-chapter-33-beat-1222-the-heart-of-pilsen-part-1/
CONCLUSION Keywords are important. In order to make your book stand out from the crowd, you must learn how to strategically choose them and ethically harness their power. There’s a difference between Amazon Keywords and SEO Keywords. I’ve shown you how to choose and use them both to increase your ebook sales. The right keyword combinations can open up new markets for you. Strategic keyword selection will drive more viewers to your book. You can use keywords to gain more viewers and ultimately, make more sales. Find the right keywords one of two ways: either use my free methods, or pay once for Keyword Samurai and have all the dirty work done for you. With Keyword Samurai, you will have instant access to loads of incredibly valuable information at your fingertips. http://kindlesamurai.net/ Cheers,