So what I do is mind, body and spirit work all day. M.O.I. This powerful account of the triumph of the human spirit over insurmountable odds brings the reader into the daily battles for survival. Scott patted him on the back. (He told 60 Minutes in an interview with Steve Croft in 1993 that his godfather was singer Ray Charles, a family friend). They identified more with Malcolm and Black Power than with Martin and Negro Civil Rights. He just was who he was and he wasn't a showoff.". That is, it is capable of morphing, melding and adapting to most any circumstance. ; Ambrose Video Publishing. On top of his never having been in prison-despite his numerous convictions-Suge was staying in the Hole, where he would find it hard to breathe. He's a best-selling author whose life story is about to be turned into a movie. He was bald and had brown eyes, his height was 5ft 9ins (1.75m) and he weighed around 165lbs (75kgs). M.O.I. Of course I heard about the violence and I also read it in the book, but I never met 'Monster Kody,' said Sanyika Shakur II, 31, Scott's youngest son. Gang Member (1994), Kody often refers to himself as a warrior (e.g., 27, 216, 220). Monster Kody Speaks for Prison Coach Speaking and Consulting. Despite his reputation, people closest to him said that they rarely or never saw the Monster side of him. Anyway, we rollin; everything is tight. Although our sets dont get along, we never had any combat because of the distance between South Central and Compton. I read and reread all the news clippings about the shooting. So I had to face that, had to confront that, and either go around, you know, or deny it. And what I mean by that is if a day goes by and you havent learned nothing a new word, a new location on the map, made a new breakthrough in old thinking or thought of and put into practice new ways of realizing it then by and large you have wasted a day. Scott, who changed his name to Sanyika Shakur marking his rebirth and the end of his gang career, had a complex life. Youth identified more with Malcolm and Black Power than with Martin and Negro Civil Rights, recognizing that we were more of a nation inside of this empire than a disenfranchised minority of citizens of the empire. After the cages were secured with Yale padlocks, the handcuffs were removed. The first book that I read on my book list after I decided to consciously educate myself to be a part of the movement was Sanyika Shakurs Monster in the mid-90s. In the days following Makavelis shooting, their hood was practically overrun by shooters. Born Kody DeJohn Scott in November 1963 to Birdie Scott, he discovered later that his father was L.A. Rams running back Dick Bass, who died in 2006. So with me its ideological, theoretical and philosophical studies. This is an interview Orlando Anderson and his lawyer Renee L. Campbell did with Sanyika Shakur for VIBEs December 1997 Issue. His story . 32:31. Despite his promising career in Hollywood his memoir was discussed as a possible film by Training Day" director Antoine Fuqua, which never materialized Scott wound up being placed on L.A.s most wanted list for allegedly stealing a car, a potential third strike that would carry a long prison term, and living at an Oceanside homeless encampment. Fools be yelling and shit. Clearly, he was going through it. Written in solitary confinement, Kody Scott's memoir of sixteen years as a gangbanger in Los Angeles was a searing best-seller and became a classic, published in ten languages, with more than 300,000. You know how we gets: when its on, its on. But on this day, as Townsend and a schoolmate passed by 69th Street near Florence and Normandie avenues, they happened to catch Scott on a good day. A year ago, state prison inmate "Monster" Kody Scott, famed for his exploits as a savage Los Angeles street gang member, was on the verge of hitting the big time. Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. These youth were those who brought into existence the organizations I mentioned above. On hearing of his death, my first thought was that Suge had him set up. So, once I got my reading and comprehension up to par, I started reading what was on the tier books that were in circulation. Twelve years before the U.S. government opened Guantanamo Bay for so-called enemy combatants, California opened Pelican Bay for threats to institutional security. No charges, no rules, violations, no crimes all politics. This led me to the Black Liberation Army Coordinating Committee (BLA-CC). This incident was the reason for Baby Lane to gather three more Crips for a vendetta against the rapper. Perhaps the brotha was just stressed out and wrote the letter in haste. That is, those whod been captured came from organizations and formations on the street: the Black Panther Party, the Black Liberation Army, the African Peoples Party, the Nation of Islam etc. I knew hed be coming to Palm Hall perhaps even before he did. In closing, anyone who has the vaguest notions about the length the American ruling class will go to maintain dominance or to answer your question about targeting conscious leaders should read The FBI War on Tupac Shakur and Black Leaders by John Potash. Some comrades have life or lengthy prison sentences and may not get out unless we liberate them, so their thing is prison reform work for better living conditions inside the kamps though this is secondary to study and struggle around the picking, developing, maintenance and moving of cadres in concert with the overall National Liberation Struggle. The last time I had seen Makaveli was in April of 1996 during the vidoe shoot for the X-rated version of How Do U Want It.. JR: Can you talk about your daily routine in Pelican Bay? I related to the book, not because I come from street-tribal society of Los Angeles, but because a lot of what he wrote about reminded me of my memories and what I heard about Oakland in the 80s. Of course, 12 years before the U.S. government opened Guantanamo Bay for so-called enemy combatants, California opened Pelican Bay for threats to institutional security. No charges, no rules, violations, no crimes all politics. Weve been shouting from under here since 1989. Monster Kody, was responsible for a large portion of shooting's on the Rollin 60's, in return he became one of the main target of the 60's Crip's . How would they then justify all of this concrete and steel erected in this sleepy little logger town? Lon Bing, a fashion model turned journalist, was the first to bring Monster Kody to the attention of the world beyond South Centralin a book about gangs called Do or Die.She became the woman . The razor broke. Oh yeah? said Suge, his voice indicating more concern than he intended. Death was always a taboo subject really, Book was crazyread it when it first came out years agoas u read it it, u feel like ur right therecrazy, Thats the nigga that said Ice cube wasnt no gangster just a good rapper, Old head was a true gang banger, the story crazy of why they gave him monster in his name, Not sure. I got in touch with Sundiata Acoli, who in turn sent me to Owusu Yaki Yakubu, who was using the pseudonym Atiba Shanna at that time, and he began to send me the New Afrikan ideological material and things just cleaned up. I assumed he meant Orlando Anderson, the Compton resident whod already been named as a suspect in the shooting. Welcome to the terror zone. With Tookie, it was a national message, and its a testament to the weakness of our forces that we allow such blatant acts of murder to happen to our nationals. Yet in my experience, Makaveli went nowhere without a vest or his heat. Box 7500, Crescent City CA 95532. A well-known gang banger in the 1970s, Scott remarkably became a motivational speaker and bestselling author of a 1993 memoir that took a sobering look at gang life in L.A. And heres the thing: Well, once Id been captured by a joint effort of U.S. marshals, FBI and LAPD, this guy recanted his story and said hed lied, and this and that. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Monster Kody Scott from Eight Tray Gangster Crips in South Los Angeles in a 2001 interview. M.O.I. Im gonna get the engine and all that chromed up. Monster Kody: an interview wit' author Sanyika Shakur June 20, 2012 by Minister of Information JR The first book that I read on my book list after I decided to consciously educate myself to be a part of the movement was Sanyika Shakur's "Monster" in the mid-'90s. Not one vehicle, however-not the Benz, the Jag, the Rolls, the Hummer, or the lolo-was in Makavelis name. Im losing weight. I had no real comprehension. View Article Pages . Show more Show. This was the guy that comes in, hes ready to play all day. The in-depth story of the famed fast-food spokesman's rise to national prominence and fall into disgrace thanks to his sexual appetite for young children, Sam Miller's . This has baffled us for years and has allowed our enemies to escape time and time again, as we stumbled blindly around trying to make sense of it. It wasnt cleansing me. Scott patted him on the back. When the time is right we will talk. Im sure Suge had to go through the same routine: Lift your arms up; stick out your tounge; pull back your ears; lift up your nut sack; bend at the waist; spread your cheeks and cough; lift your right foot; now your left. I was a bit apprehensive preparing for our first meeting. Ive been validated with an indeterminate SHU term since 1989. At Scott's request while he was incarcerated, Bing helped him coordinate a toy drive at a local childrens hospital with then 15-year-old Bernard Cooper, a young member of the Eight Tray Gangster Crips. 81 Comments for "Sanyika Shakur, aka Monster Kody" Reply Sanyika: Why did the Death Row crew zero in on you that night at the MGM? Thats bullshit. This nigga had 18 bodies and you niggas praise people for 1 or 2. The beast couldnt afford to let him live. Hey, I just saw you on the news this morning. Both Suge and I asked who. One day while Scott and Bing were riding in the backseat of a car through the hood, she recalls asking him to show her his mad dog face. I sent him a kite-a letter weighted with soap and tied to a long strip of bedsheet that gets delivered by being thrown from cell to cell-acknowledging receipt of his note and advising him to push the issue of going to general population. I used some prison connections to get Suge and I put on the law-library list together. What does Kody take with him after climbing out of a window at his mother's house in the chapter "The Juvenile Tank?" a gun The Professor mentioned that he has a family member that is in the book "Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. By age 13, he had been given the nickname Monster after beating a man so badly that police told bystanders the person responsible for the attack was a monster. The name stuck and for several years, Scott worked to live up to his moniker. Orlando Andreson was the guy attacked by Tupac, Suge and others from Death Row the night Tupac got shot in Las Veg as. I gotta be better than I was before, better than our enemies. Cooper, who joined the gang at age 13, said Scott took him and other recruits to the gun range, where he shared street game with them. This guy was a loyal guy [and] a hell of a rider, just charismatic and a person you love to be around.". We used to close up 662 at twelve, lock the doors, and give out free drinks and just get our freak on!, He was the happiest he said hes ever been. I punch it; bust a U-turn, but realize I got a flat. Learn how your comment data is processed. Then they said I had a dirty test. (LogOut/ Although Scott escaped death numerous times as a member of the Eight Tray Gangster Crips, then became an author who counseled others to avoid gang life, the 57-year-old was found dead on June 7 at a homeless encampment near the San Luis River Trail in Oceanside, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiners office. Imagine that. As a theoretician, my thing is the mechanics of struggle. Gang Member relates the mind set of those growing up the concrete jungle of South Central L.A. The former Eight Trey Crip. But he still talkin, like it aint nothing. Study and struggle. We have to be on all of the time. Monster Kody was 57 years old at the time of his death. We both had our demons. Earlier that day, Suge began in a solemn tone, dude snatched a necklage with the Death Row coat of arms. Before Id be unarmed. He was not looking to show off strength. The supposed third strike stemmed from the beating of a Bad Boy Records promoer at a 1995 Death Row Christmas party. I was sent straight back here to the Bay.