← Piri ThomasDown These Mean Streetsby Piri ThomasPuerto Rican boy navigates racism, gang violence, and spiritual awakening in New YorkFind on Amazon↗About the authorPiri ThomasPiri Thomas wrote Down These Mean Streets, a searing memoir-novel of growing up Puerto Rican and Black in Harlem that is one of the most important documents of Latino American experience in the twentieth century.More by Piri ThomasSavior Savior Hold My Hand→Seven Long Times→Stories from El BarrioStories of Puerto Rican life, community, and resilience in East Harlem→