Hmmm, well there wasn’t much in this book about The Gangs of Zion, other than that they exist. Instead this is a rather pompous autobiography about a black cop in a gang unit in Salt Lake City, Utah in the 1990s.
In Utah, being black was unusual and being a black cop was unbelievable for the white males in charge of the state. That cop, who is also the book’s author, tried to tell his superiors, seemingly alone, that gangs were settling into Utah. No, crips and bloods couldn’t infiltrate our nice homogeneous LDS community, they thought. They were wrong.
In the book, the author describes how he used gangsta rap lyrics to see how gangs operate. He needed to use lyrics rather than personal experience because he has never been associated with gangs IRL previously either—just like the white guys running his department. He is their gang expert solely based on the color of his skin, which is just blatantly racist.
Ultimately, The Gangs of Zion is a fair autobiography of a black male cop who had to fight the patriarchy of both a white male government and an omnipresent religion in a state where black people are looked down upon. Could he make his voice heard? However, the book basically uses gangs more as a setting rather than as a major plot arc so the title is definitely a misnomer. 3 stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and Legacy Lit for providing me with an advanced review copy.