I just finished reading the book Our America by LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman. In this book two African-American boys talk about their life in the projects of Chicago. They interview family members, neighbors, school personal, and friends to give outsiders an inside look into the poverty that surrounds them.
Both boys have a lot of circumstances working against them. Alcoholism has torn apart Llyod's family and LeAlan does not have a father. Both boys families survive on government welfare and live in a terrible housing project. Crime, gangs, and drugs are a regular part of life.
Lloyd and LeAlan talk about how they live in a different America than what most of us experience. Yet they also see education as a way out. The book covers a time period of just over 5 years and at the end we see one beginning college and the other working to graduate from high school.
These boys are at such a disadvantage to begin with. They do not have a lot of male role models in their life and they are constantly watching friends and family die from the senseless violence the permeates their neighborhood. I am inspired by their desire to pursue education as a way out of their current situation.
The adults who strive to teach these types of students amaze me. The lifestyle LeAlan and Lloyd describe is something I cannot even imagine. How do teachers reach these students who simply struggle day to day to survive? How do you make curriculum relevant to students who watch their friends die from gang violence and whose parents can hardly take care of themselves?
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