39 pages 1 hour read

Piri Thomas

Down These Mean Streets

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1967

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapters 11-13: “Harlem”Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 11 Summary: “How to Be a Negro Without Really Trying”

Piri has been homeless for three months when he meets Pane and his sister, Lorry, at a bar. They offer him a place to sleep, and the sixteen-year-old Piri soon starts a sexual relationship with the thirty-three-year-old Lorry. This relationship, “all natural, all good, all as innocent and pure as anything could be in Home, Sweet Harlem,” lasts for a few months (97).Of Lorry, Piri says that he “couldn’t dig her the way she wanted me to” and he leaves her for a young single mother (97).It isn’t long before he leaves her as well, stealing ten dollars from her in the process.

Needing money, Piri looks for work and applies for a job as a door-to-door salesman. A Catholic man named Mr. Christian interviews Piri, who pretends to be a devout Catholic in order to get on Mr. Christian’s good side. Although Mr. Christian tells Piri that work will be available soon, Piri’s friend, Louie, is offered a job right away: “The difference between me and Louie was he was white” (103). When, later on in his life, Piri relates this story to a black friend, his friend’s reply is that “a Negro faces that all the time”, to which Piri responds, “I know that […] but I wasn’t a Negro then.

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
Unlock IconUnlock all 39 pages of this Study Guide
Plus, gain access to 8,500+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
+ Mobile App
+ Printable PDF
+ Literary AI Tools