G-Dog and the Homeboys: Celeste Fremon

The Pico Aliso housing projects in East Los Angles is one of the toughest neighborhoods in the country. Many of the teenagers don’t even know if they’ll make it to adulthood, heck they don’t know if that very day they’ll get shot. The author recounts the lives of people living in the barrio mostly that of Father Greg Boyle most known as to the homies G-Dog or just as G. Father Greg is a Jesuit priest who works to change the lives of many of the homeboys for the better. Celeste Fremon the author of the book was motivated to do this book after meeting with Father Greg and his homeboys when she wrote a story of them in the newspaper. She became deeply involve with helping Father Greg in maintaining order in the gang infested barrio of East LA.

Father Greg way of competing against gangs was to get the kids off the streets and working to better their lives. The only bad thing is that many people have negative views that gangsters are overly aggressive and violent delinquents; no establishment wants to hire such people. Father Greg manages to have the companies to hire the gang members if he pays their salary but having so many people under wages it has nearly bankrupt Father Greg. Even with such obstacles in his way Father Greg manages to pay all the wages of his gang workers and manages to change a few lives for the better.

RH