Ghetto Life 101
The idea for
Ghetto Life 101 came from David Isay, a New York writer and producer.
He was asked to make a documentary for a public radio station in
Chicago as part of a series on issues of race and ethnicity in the
city. Instead of interviewing scholars and other experts on urban life,
Isay decided to ask young people who lived in urban neighborhoods to
tell their own stories. He received dozens of responses. He hired Jones
and Newman as reporters, because "they were smart. They were funny.
They were the ones."
LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman decided
to speak frankly about themselves, their families, and their community.
They chose to share not only the good things about their lives but also
their sorrows, fears, and disappointments. To broaden their audience's
perspective, they interviewed relatives, teachers, classmates, and
others in their neighborhood - the area around the Ida B. Wells, a
housing project on the South Side of Chicago. Lloyd Newman and his
family had an apartment there. LeAlan Jones lived in a house nearby.
This study guide encourages students to
find out about the history of their neighborhood. How has it changed
over the years? What
prompted those changes?
