Roberto Aspholm - Views from the Streets (Studies in Transgression)

The completion of this book was only possible with the love and support I received from the many teachers, mentors, family members, friends, and collaborators who have helped me throughout this process and throughout my lifes journey more generally. First and foremost, I thank my friends and brothers Sheldon Smith and Kenny Rainey for their vital assistance with this project as well as their enduring comradeship. I am proud of them and appreciate them both more than they know. I am indebted to my advisor and dissertation chair, Mark Mattaini, for his encouragement and stewardship of this project, particularly in its early phases, and for his continued championing of my work. The support I have received from Jim Gleeson, in his capacities as both a mentor and a friend, has been indispensable and unwavering and has extended far beyond my doctoral studies. My utmost gratitude goes to John Hagedorn, who has served as a mentor, champion, and friend from the day we met, and as an intellectual inspiration for far longer. His assistance and fellowship throughout the process of writing this book have been invaluable. I am grateful to Robert Lombardo for introducing me to the world of gang research back in my undergraduate days and for his help in guiding this project. I owe a debt of gratitude to Joseph Stricklandthe one-man reentry programfor mentoring me in my community work, putting me in with good folks in the hood, inspiring my eventual return to school, and helping shape my research.

My work has been greatly enriched by Cedric Johnson, whose course on black politics opened my eyes to new analytic perspectives that continue to shape my thinking in fundamental ways. I am grateful to Creasie Finney Hairston for her support and encouragement during my doctoral studies. I have been fortunate to enjoy the camaraderie and friendship of Arturo Carrillo, Casey Holtschneider, Aissetu Ibrahima, Jalonta Jackson, Ifrah Magan, Olubunmi Oyewuwo-Gassikia, Aslihan Nisanci, Suhad Tabahi, and Roni and Gail Wilson during our doctoral studies and beyond. I am thankful to J Breezer Rickey, Flory Sommers, and the many great teachers and coaches I have had throughout my life for their support and inspiration. My gratitude also goes to my colleagues at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, especially Kim Carter and Jill Schreiber, for their support during the last legs of this long journey. I am appreciative of Christopher St. Vil and Robert Weide for their friendship and camaraderie beyond institutional walls.

I owe a great deal of thanks to the good people I had the pleasure of working with during my years on the South Side of Chicago. I am grateful for my Grand Boulevard/Washington Park comrades, especially Ken Davis, Cornelius Ellen, and Andrea Lee, for helping me get my footing on the South Side and for continuing to provide me with mentoring and friendship. My sincerest gratitude goes to my Woodlawn colleagues, especially Renita Austin, Warren Beard, Mattie Butler, Bryan Echols, Alex Gardner, Chuck Hayes, Erick Puckett, and Otelua Thomas, for their support and education during my many trials by fire in the hood. Thanks to Shannon Bennett, Jitu Brown, and Jawanza Malone from North Kenwood/Oakland; Juan Cruz from Albany Park; and Josina Morita (from everywhere) for the comradeship in our battles to improve the lives of young people in our city. I am also thankful to the folks from Ninety-Fifth Street, especially Lonnie Black, Angie Cummings, Tamikia DeBerry, John Hardy, and LeVon Stone Sr., for embracing me and bringing me into the family. My gratitude to Chico Tillmon for his solidarity as well.

I am fortunate to have a tremendous family that has both supported me during the process of writing this book and shaped me into the man I am today. I am especially grateful to my amazing wife, Piere Washington, for always loving and supporting me. She sacrificed a great deal to help bring this book to fruition. No words could adequately convey my gratitude and love. I am grateful for my daughters, Paris and Pilar, for bringing joy and inspiration to my life every day. I love them both beyond words. I owe a great deal of thanks to my mother and father, Beth Rademacher and Tony Aspholm, for instilling in me a deeply rooted sense of compassion and social justice. Thanks also for the last-minute editorial work on this book manuscript! I am also fortunate to have siblings, Jim Aspholm, Rose Aspholm, and Martin Aspholm, who keep me grounded and always challenge me to be the best version of myself. Thanks to my brothers Kawaskii Bacon and Abdul Omari for supporting and inspiring me by making positive moves when so many of our friends went in other directions. I am grateful to my aunts and uncles for their love and support, especially Laurel Miller and the late Patrick Kearney. Special thanks also to my extended family, especially Cynthia and the Bobo family; Marcus Davis; the Ellen family; Sommer Green; Tabaris McLaren; Paris Neal; Kathy, , and the Olson family; Julio and the Puma family; Ben Thullen; Rolene Walker; and Pete, Perez, and the Washington family. I owe a great deal of thanks to all the young people I have worked with throughout the yearsand who are far too many to name herefor allowing me into their lives and for the education and friendship they have provided.