Bongo

Based On A True Story

By: Susan Giffin

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Based On A True Story

For Bongo, music – piano, percussion, and voice – was a natural gift. It could have opened wide the doors to notable success for him, had he heeded his mother’s advice. Fate derailed her dream for him, as he moved from petty thefts to riskier criminal activities to a life sentence.

Born James Allen on Chicago’s South Side, his mother nicknamed him Sammy for his dark brown hue. As an older kid, Sammy served as a look-out for local drug dealers in the neighborhood. Whenever he saw a cop approaching, he would beat on a car hood, pretending to play the drums, earning his Bongo nickname.

A stint or two in federal prison taught him the benefits of foregoing purse snatchings and other petty thefts. His rise to lifer status in prison included riskier crimes – hitting banks, jewelry stores, furriers – as well as running prostitutes out of state. He was bold but not cocky, and he earned a measure of respect from law enforcement for maintaining a status well above the ordinary street crook.

During his life sentence, he acquired a respectable measure of remorse and rebirth. “I would rather live on beans in freedom than dine on prime rib if the side dish was more time behind the walls,” he concluded. Bongo passed away in 2006.