Kevin Weeks - Background

Background

Kevin Weeks was born in South Boston, Massachusetts to a working-class family of mixed Irish and Welsh descent. He was the fifth child in a family of six and grew up in the Old Colony Housing Project at 8 Pilsudski Way, apartment 554.

His father, John Weeks Sr., originally hailed from Brooklyn, New York. He changed tires for a living and later obtained a position with the Boston Housing Authority. John Sr. was a WWII veteran and had served in the infantry; he also had fought as a professional middleweight boxer. When he was twenty-six, he married Margaret, who was from Boston. A full-time homemaker, she suffered from severe arthritis and went about the family's tenement on crutches. Kevin had two brothers, William and John Jr. (named after their father John Sr.), and three sisters: Maureen, Patricia and Karen. John Sr. trained his sons in boxing and earned extra money by coaching prizefighters. Kevin first started attending school at Michael J. Perkins, but then changed to John Andrew School in Andrew Square for grades 5 and 6; he finally completed elementary school at Patrick F. Gavin School. He graduated from South Boston High in 1974, ending his formal education. His two brothers would later go on to graduate from Harvard University. His brothers sought out a career in politics; John (Jack) Jr. became an advance man for Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, and William became a selectman in Acton, Massachusetts. Kevin Weeks is also related by marriage to former South Boston liquor store owner and alleged extortion victim Stephen (Stippo) R. Rakes and Boston Police Department Detective Edward (Eddie) Walsh.

Kevin's brother, William, has described the atmosphere of their childhood as follows.

"Smart was good, but having the ability to beat someone senseless! Now that was real power. Education was often talked about in the apartment, but always with the implied threat that if your marks weren't acceptable, be ready to give up your soul to God because your ass belonged to our father ... nd As weren't acceptable."

Throughout high school, Kevin Weeks was involved in extra-curricular activities. When he wasn't boxing, he was on a team traveling to swim meets all over New England. His memoirs vividly describe how the busing controversy transformed the previously comparatively peaceful South Boston high schools into hot beds of gang warfare.