by David Isay
First published 1999
LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman grab microphones and venture into their own neighborhood to tell the story outsiders never hear. The two teenagers live in the Ida B. Wells housing projects on Chicago's South Side, where gunshots punctuate daily routines and children learn to duck before they learn to walk. Armed with recording equipment, they interview neighbors, friends, and family members about survival in America's most dangerous neighborhoods. Their conversations reveal how people maintain hope while surrounded by violence, how mothers protect children in buildings without working elevators or heat, and how teenagers navigate between school and street corners where drug dealers recruit new workers. LeAlan and Lloyd capture the voices of their community with an intimacy no outside journalist could achieve. They document not just the harsh realities of poverty and violence, but also the resilience, humor, and humanity that flourish even in the most challenging circumstances. Through their recordings, readers encounter the complex reality of urban America told by those who live it every day.
Genres: american, african-american, non-fiction, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, intimate-portrait
Setting: Chicago, Ida B. Wells Housing Projects, South Side
Period: 20th-century
208 pages · Paperback · Scribner
Content warnings: violence