Do or Die by Leon Bing

Do or Die by Leon Bing

Do or Die is the first insider account of teenage gangs-the lives, loves and battles of children who kill-from the only journalist ever allowed inside this closed and dangerous world.aThis is no West Side Story. Welcome to a world where teenagers wear colostomy bags and have scrapbooks filled with funeral invitations; where a young man, after being shot in the chest, drives himself to the hospital; where another youngster, caught in crossfire, uses his girlfriend as a human shield; where teenage gangsters are kidnapped, tortured and held for six-figure ransoms; where kids hum the latest movie theme music while killing people. It is a world of clickheads, sherms, bangers, ballers and mummyheads; a world where the strongest feelings of family come from other gang members; a world where the most potent feelings of self-worth come from murder.

Leon Bing, a former model, is the author of Do or Die, a book about the archrival gangs the Bloods and the Crips, which she authored after spending time in both groups. She currently resides in Los Angeles.