I photographed this man several times. At one time, he was the leader of the Latin Kings in Uptown. On this occasion, he told me he was the ex-leader. This new baby was his first child. Perhaps he was trying to settle down. He contacted me recently through this blog and told me that he succeeded. It wasn’t easy, but he is now the proud father of four children and seven grandchildren. He works a steady job in another state far from Chicago.
His vehicle looked like a holdover from the 1960s, even though this shot was taken in 1976. Note that it lacks seat belts. Seat belts became mandatory in 1968. Note also the lack of a child safety seat. They were invented in 1962. But the first time they became mandatory in the U.S. was in Tennessee in 1978. By 1988, all U.S. states had car seat laws in place.
