Ep. #97 English -Thao Ha PhD - From Gang Life to Professor

The Vietnamese with Kenneth Nguyen · Oct 11, 2021 · 2h 6m

When sociology professor Thao Ha talks about the social consequences of gangs, she can point to the scar on her arm. She was shot in a gang-related drive-by shooting as she was coming out of a billiards hall near where she lived in Houston. It’s not everyday a sociology teacher can talk about street gangs from first-hand experience.

“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Professor Ha said. She was 23 and was not involved with gangs, but found it easy to get sucked into trouble.

“It was a challenging time growing up. Both my parents were working and we lived in a tough neighborhood…