home > on-air > feature documentaries > ghetto life 101 >


Update on Ghetto Life 101

Lloyd Newman and LeAlan Jones, the reporters of Ghetto Life 101 and Remorse, sent in the following updates in May 2001.

Lloyd Newman writes:

I know a lot of people have been wondering what's been going on with me over the past few years. Is he living up to his words or is he still living that Ghetto Life? Well, I'd have to say both. Since the documentaries and the book came out, I have attended three different colleges, searching for the one that fits me best. I'm not living a Ghetto Life but I'm still living in the ghetto (when I'm not at school), which doesn't bother me at all, even though there are rats and roaches still crawl the wall. My father has been doing the same. Some people might think, "Oh he's a terrible father," but a father who loves his kids as much as mine does is the best father you can have. My sisters are still doing great, raising great kids, even thought they still don't have jobs. Lately I've been thinking of a million things that I want to do, but I've had a hard time putting it all together. Yes, I have been blessed with success in journalism, but I was a kid then and had a lot of help. Now that I'm in college, I see you have to work hard to get to where you want to be. All I can say is: I got ideas. Don't think that this will be the last time you will hear from me because I will put those ideas to work.

 

LeAlan Jones writes:

I am now a junior at Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois, were I am taking up Interdisciplinary Studies with a minor in Poli-Sci. I will be graduating from Barat in the spring of 2002 with a Bachelors Degree in the above fields. I have been continuing to speak at all levels of academia, from grade schools to graduate and law schools around the United States. I firmly committed to changing the intolerable conditions of urban America. I still live in the same community and have immersed myself in attempts to affect the social climate of poverty. A change will come when we as a people embrace difference and respect all capacities of life. Whether it be a ghetto or an isolated rural community, we have to begin working towards One America. This is my goal, my life, and my mission.

 



Lloyd Newman, David Isay, and LeAlan Jones in the Sound Portraits office, March 2002.

 

LISTEN
This piece is available in the following audio formats [30:16 min]:
28.8 kbps Real Audio
56 kbps Real Audio
ISDN Real Audio

READ
intro
transcript

MORE

Ghetto Life 101 on CD

Our America, a book based on the documentary

Remorse, a documentary reported by LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman

Blak's Story, a documentary inspired by Ghetto Life 101

Youth Portraits, a series of radio stories by young adults who served time in prison

Photos of the Ida B. Wells Housing Projects in 1942, from the Library of Congress

Photos of the Ida B. Wells Housing Projects in 2003, taken by John Brooks

Updates by Lloyd Newman and LeAlan Jones, the reporters of this documentary [posted 7/19/01]

A study guide, for teachers who want to share Ghetto Life 101 with their class [PDF file, 416 KB]

There Are No Children Here, the book that inspired this documentary



YOU ARE HERE: home > on-air > feature documentaries > ghetto life 101 >

email this page | top of page



 

home  |  ON-AIR |  in-print |  about |  education |  support |  store

Sound Portraits Productions, 80 Hanson Place, 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Telephone (646) 723-7020 | Fax (646) 723-7026

Copyright © 2008 Sound Portraits Productions. All rights reserved.