Pioneering black-and-gray tattoo artist Freddy Negrete was twelve years old and confined in the holding cell of a Los Angeles juvenile facility when an older teenager entered--covered in tattoos.
Freddy was in awe, not just of the art, but of what it symbolized, and he wanted what this kid had: the potent sense of empowerment and belonging that came from joining a gang.
The encounter drove Freddy to join the notorious gang La Sangra, and it didn't take long before he was a regular guest at LA County's juvenile detention facilities.
By the age of twenty-one, Freddy had spent almost his whole life as a ward of the state in one form or the other.
Enthralled by the black-and-gray tattoo style that in the 1970s was confined to the rebel culture of Chicano gangsters and criminals, Freddy started inking himself with hand-poked tattoos.
Everyone wanted a piece of Freddy's black-and-gray style--gangbangers but also Hollywood starlets and film producers.
In a riveting narrative that takes the reader from Freddy's days as a cholo gang member to evangelical preacher to Hollywood body art guru to addiction counselor, Smile Now, Cry Later is, ultimately, a testament to that spark within us all, that catalyst which gives us the strength to survive, transform, and transcend all that can destroy us.
| Had | The potent sense of empowerment and belonging that came from joining a gang |
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Seven Stories Press Smile now, cry later: guns, gangs, and tattoos-my life in black and gray, hardcover/freddy negrete
