Summary Of Evolution Of My Block By Jacob Saenz

For centuries now, gangs have been all over America, causing violence and ruining the youths opportunities. Children's lives can be ruined joining a gang leading into violence and substance abuse. From the earlier 20th Century, to now, gangs have been an issue in low income cities and neighborhoods. In Jacob Saenz’s poem, “Evolution of My Block”, written in 1982, Saenz describes to the readers how the gang life was in his neighborhood and on his block. Throughout the poem, he talks about the pressure of gangs and how they functioned. His poem speaks more than what is actually said and hides many of his thoughts through the words and rhymes. The poem conveys many messages and specific aspects which have to deal with culture and race. The narrator

also incomportates how he has grown throughout the poem and his opinion of his block. The narrator not only shares his opinions of what he is surrounded by but, describes to the readers his choices when encountered by his surroundings. The words and rhymes in the poem portray his life at the time and place, which speaks loudly and paints a picture of the evolution of his block.
In the beginning of the poem, the narrator talks about how he would ride his bicycle around his neighborhood noticing gang members on corners describing them as “Noble Knights / banging on corners, unconcerned,” (Saenz 5-6). The narrator described them as knights because he compares them to be royal or even noble to himself. The narrator talks about the gang members from an innocent and harmless point of view. Describing the gang to be royal or noble showshow highly people compared them to be from the narrator's view. Being in a gang seemed to be a privilege and everyone's goal at the time. By reading the text, you can tell the narrator was young and innocent at the time stating, “a shorty / too small to war with,” (7-8). This quote describes him as a young boy acknowledging and trying to understand the gang life from a different perspective. In this poem, the narrator is growing up and is starting to notice his surroundings and what goes on on his block. Further into the poem he talks about the gang like a hierarchy. He talks about how the different colors of the crown describe the evolution. He then states, “White Knight became brown / Kings still showing black & gold / on corners now crowned,” (10-12). The colors that the narrator uses to describe them is based on their rank in the gang. The narrator didn't seem to know how the gangs fully worked but did his best at describing how a member was introduced into the gang. When the narrator states how they are getting “crowned on corners”, he is trying to describe the initiation of the gang members and how life changing it could be. The narrator seemed to describe that being in a gang was a accomplishment and a special moment for them members. In the poem, “the block a branch branded / w/la corona graffitied on / garage doors by the pawns”.After being crowned into the gang, they were forced to graffiti their gang name onto garage doors representing a new member of the gang. Saenz mentioned how their garage doors were near pawn shops. Pawn shops don't have the best reputation usually being located in low income areas which represent the area he lives in. The small aspects that Saenz mentions throughout the poem really links everything together and make ones ponder about the details even more.
Throughout the poem, Saenz has been telling the readers about the neighborhood gang and how the gang life is.

The narrator mentions how he's telling a story from the past by saying, “As a teen, I could’ve beamed / the crown, walked in w/out / the beat down custom,”. The author is describing to the reader's how he is telling a story from his past as a teen. He mentions how he could of been in the gang but, choose not to, which wasn't normal at that time. The beat down custom is usually what is suppose to happen. He dodged the custom and choose to avoid the gang through the pressure of his cousin “who claimed Two-Six, / the set on the next block decked in black & beige.” (20-22). With all the influence on his block and from his cousin, he never gave in and never wanted any part of any gang. The narrator was strong enough to resist what everyone around him was doing. It's hard to try to not fit in when everyone around you is doing what your not. I can personally say I wouldn't have the power to do myself but would fall into the gang life due to my surroundings. If my cousin and everyone around me was joining a gang and was a norm at the time, I would also do so. The narrator stood up for what he thought was right and ignored the pressure. The narrator wasn't interested in what he described but, “preferred games to gangs, / books to crooks wearing hats crooked to the left or right” (23-25). Luckily the narrator wasn't interested in gangs but was in games and books. This not only

lead him to be gang free but to be intelligent and focus on his studies. To finalize the poem, the narrator seemed more mature than anyone his age at the time. He not only knew that the gangs were going to lead him to failure, but knew the gang members didn't know better. At the end of the poem he states, “a block / to spot & mark w/blood of boys who knew no better / way to grow up than throw up / the crown & be down for whatever” (26-30). This quote speaks to me at a different level. The narrator states that if he was in a gang he would have to do anything that they told him to do, which didn't make sense to him. It's interesting to hear that such a young teen would think this way and know right from wrong. He knew that being in a gang wouldn't get him anywhere but in trouble. He also realized that staying in school and reading books would take him much farther than anything.
The poem, Evolution of My Block, was an interesting poem that wasn't easy to understand. After reading this poem several times. I never fully understood what Saenz was trying to say. With some words that I've never seen, it forcused me look up several words and phrases to understand parts of the poem. If I didn't understand one part of the poem, it would play a factor in the rest of the poem. Not everyone who reads this poem is going to get the same message. The message that I took from the poem seems correct to me and explains the tone of the poem. One thing that I had to do was take apart the poem in 3 parts and analyze each part to see what they meant. Small phrases or words in the poem made it more complex which made me think harder. After finally fully understanding the poem, I realized how well written the poem is and how it can be viewed in different ways. I had my sister read the poem to see what she got from it. She got a different message from it but I didn't hesitate to incorporate what she said into my thoughts about the poem. When I came across this poem I didn't think it was going to end how it did. I was glad how it ended because it shows the opposite of what I usually see in movies or in books. Saenz did a great job at writing this poem by not making the text too clear to understand so that the reader is able to think and analyze what is being said.
In conclusion, this poem may not be easy to understand but tells a great story.

By rereading the poem several times, made me not only appreciate it, but understand it on a different level. Saenz did a great job at telling the story so that people can view it different ways. I enjoyed the poem because it clearly drew a picture in my mind of what he was talking about. At one point, I felt like I could see what he was talking about. I never acknowledged poems prior to this one because I felt that poems were too cheesy and corny. Instead of telling the story he made it a journey for the readers to get what he was saying. This poem shows how life was at the time and what people were surrounded with. Fortunately, many children are exposed to that today and are pushed in the right direction. All in all this poem was of the most interesting poems I've ever read and made me think harder than I ever would on any other

text.