Press
language
Archive
|
Home  Press
|
Page 13 of 19
""It's a true story about life on the streets of New York in the early '80s: gangs, drugs and looking for a meaning in life.
At the beginning of the '80s, Peter was just a kid from Brooklyn in a gang of punks, painfully watching the sacrifices his parents made for putting food on the table. They worked for serving the rich in a restaurant. Their anger twards the rich grew stronger. So in order to survive in that world, Peter and his brother join a local gang, which was like a second family to them - the hardcore scene. By the time he was 16, Peter was living on the streets, tattooed from head to toes, sleeping in squats and of course around drugs and alcohol. He started looking for his place by embracing the punk and anarchist groups in east Manhattan. Overdoses, shootings and street violence made Peter ask himself many things, and after many years spent in the streets, it was time for him to choose: to leave the streets or to die there.
Peter chose to leave that life behind and to become part of the system.
After ten years of trying to understand the existence of his class, Peter is brought back to life by another event: his brother is found dead after a drug overdose.
He comes to the conclusion that this corrupt and unfair system in which they were caught in since birth is the result of upper class manipulation, in order to preserve their social status.
His brother was indirectly murdered by the system he was fighting and so the criminals had to be brought to justice. Peter's dilemma was: "how?" This crime had to be punished, Peter wishes to make this system end once and for all.
"A Rebel Life" is a true story about life and the continuous battle against the system (mostly crocked and unfair). It is a manifesto against the massive division of the working classes by the well-known criterias such as race, religion, etc. "My Brother's justice", the final chapter of the book (a letter from Peter to his child), a conclusion which the author wants to share with all of us: "The rich killed your uncle: their system goes on every day and nobody has brought them to justice. Your uncle was killed early in life and they made it look like it was his own fault. He died of an over dose in a life full of suffering, a life he did not choose. Nobody conciously chooses such a life. Archie paid the final price for not conforming. Tese are the rules: you either fit in or you die.
The book was written by Peter Kalafatis for his brother Archie: "this story is a personal one, which i owe to my younger brother so he can be brought back to life." "With all the love and respect for my younger brother. This book is for you."
This book is also dedicated to all those who staid true to their beliefs, to all who did not yet fit into the system and to those who did not forget the meaning of the word "revolution".
|
|
|
