Amir Said / Benjy Melendez
Benjy Melendez, founder of the Ghetto Brothers street gang, social activist, and lead singer of the Ghetto Brothers band, now tells his story: a memoir of life as a late 1960s/early 1970s street gang member, of a musician on the cusp of stardom, a fighter for peace, and a man on a quest to reclaim his Jewish roots. With chilling detail and candor, Benjy Melendez opens up as never before in ’Ghetto Brother’ (Benjy Melendez with Amir Said). Telling the story of his family, growing up first in the West Village in in the ’60s, his family’s forced move to the South Bronx, his life in a street gang, and his transformation to a peace ambassador, ’Ghetto Brother’ is a riveting memoir that explores the human condition.Melendez takes us back to the forgotten New York of the late 1960s and early 1970s that gave rise to New York’s infamous street gang era. But at its core, Ghetto Brother examines the route from boy to man in uncharted territory, and it renders a vivid portrait of what identity means and what happens when that identity dissolves and grows anew. Evocative and filled with the sights and sounds of a changing New York and a transformative life, ’Ghetto Brother’ is the fascinating chronicle of a remarkable journey and an extraordinary leader. 3
