Historical critics believe that literature must be studied in the context of its historical setting in order for readers to understand and appreciate the work. This study includes textual analysis, bibliography, biographical criticism (of the author), genre studies, source studies, the history of ideas, and sociological criticism. These all involve research of the background to a literary work. Historical critics could be interested in the life of the poet, the economic state or political situation of the day, or the role of the genre in a given time period. (The Writing Center, Brigham Young University)
Reconstruct the values of the the time from the novel. How well does the novel reinforce or contradict them?
Due: Friday, April 17th at Midnight
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ReplyDeleteThroughout the reading of this novel, the reader sees a great amount of controversial topics that change the life of the characters. The book itself was chosen by the New York Public Library as one of the 150 most important books of the twentieth century (There are no Children Here). Sue Popkin, a housing expert at the urban institute states that the book “really humanized some of the problems people didn’t want to pay attention to.” (Plight of Urban Poor still Moves the Author) Obviously, we know that the book was well written and wildly influential, but are there negative aspects to it as well?
ReplyDeleteResearch on the characters in present day reveals hidden sadnesses that the reader doesn’t want to hear about. Although, as stated in a previous blog, the Henry Horner homes were demolished in 2008, the mother of the two boys, LaJoe, has suffered a severe nervous breakdown due to the publishing of the book. Lafeyette and Pharaoh, now in their thirties, have both spent time in jail. Most of the other characters Kotlowitz interviewed during the writing of this book are now dead (A Generation Later). Kotlowitz also mentioned in an interview with the Chicago Tribune that he has “never thought about it being about public housing. It could have been about any inner-city neighborhood.” Through these words we are challenged on what to think. Was it ultimately a good decision to write the book the way it was written? We see the great things that came of it for the public housing audience, but we don’t see the book doing any wonders for the people that he actually wrote about. In fact, it didn’t help change anything in their lives at all. The book only seemed to have exposed the ugly part of their lives and didn’t strive to make it a little bit better.
Collette, Matt. "A Generation Later, ‘There Are No Children Here’ Resonates | School Stories." A Generation Later, ‘There Are No Children Here’ Resonates | School Stories. WordPress, 1 Apr. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. .
Daniels, Serena. "Oak Park Author Reflects on the Two Decades since Publication of There Are No Children Here." Tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Chicago Tribune, 14 Aug. 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. .
Kotlowitz, Alex. "There Are No Children Here." There Are No Children Here. 1 Jan. 2015. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. .
I like how you mentioned how critics take into account the positives of "There Are No Children Here" being published, and I also agree that the negatives of the publishing of this book should've been mentioned as well. These people's lives did not get better after the book was published, and I think the reader gets the wrong idea from these reviews. Some many create fantasies about the characters that are completely incorrect.
DeleteYou bring up some great points about the negative effects of this book being written. Everyone only thinks of the positives and few people take the time to realize that there are negatives to releasing a book like this. Especially to the people in the book, Lajoe as you mention suffered a severe nervous breakdown and both the main characters have been in prison. Just when you have a little hope and faith that they'll make it out of the projects, reality comes in and smacks ya' right in the kisser. This book definitely served as a voice to how nasty public housing was even if that wasn't the main intent of Kotlowitz. His main intent was also accomplished as you discover just how nasty the streets of the projects are.
DeleteThe novel “There Are No Children Here” by Alex Kotlowitz is a great example of the “other America that exists in the slums and ghettos of large cities across the country. In the 1980s, the time period in which this novel took place, Ronald Reagan was president of the United States. “Reagan’s presidency in the 1980’s played a key role in the development of racial issues. His presidential campaigns clearly did not support Civil Rights movements of previous decades so minority groups were left to fight for themselves without funding” (1980s - American Race and Racism 1970 to Present). This lack of funding and support was very apparent at Henry Horner Homes. It was frequently mentioned how underfunded the housing projects were, how they were run down and were not properly maintained. LaJoe strived to be a part of the election of new leaders frequently throughout the novel to try to get this issues under control.
ReplyDeleteThe 1980s was also a time of great recession, one of the worst since the Great Depression in the 1930s. This recession caused many businesses to go out of business, making the residents of the housing projects struggle to find work. Cabrini Green, one of the housing projects mentioned in “There Are No Children Here” was known as one of the “...most infamous public housing projects in the country. After nearby factories closed in the 1950s leaving many of Cabrini Green’s working-class residents out of work, poverty and crime began infecting the development” (The 7 Most Infamous U.S. Housing Public Housing Projects). Reagan’s conservative viewpoint and affiliation focused many on middle and upper class families, leaving people of the housing projects jobless and lacking funds. This is a large reason why gang activity was so strong in places like Henry Horner. There was no other way to make money.
“Public housing was established to provide decent and safe rental housing for eligible low-income families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities”(Public Housing - HUD). The majortiy of residents at Henry Horner and other housing projects were a part of the minority class. Black people were still struggling with civil rights during this time period. Many could only afford to live in the public housing projects because of the economic recession under the rule of Reagan. The kinds of things people will do for money to get out of these projects was extremely prominent throughout “There Are No Children Here”. Some people resorted to stealing and pawning seemingly insignificant items for money, mostly to purchase drugs. LaJoe got cheated on when she paid a salesman towards the end of the novel to get her at the top of the waitlist for new housing opportunities. He turned out to be a fraud. “There Are No Children Here” is a great historical representation of the “alternate life” during the 1980s.
Works Cited:
Assi, Talia. "1980s - American Race and Racism 1970 to Present." 1980s - American Race and Racism 1970 to Present. MICDS, 11 May 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. .
Castro, Julian. "Public Housing - HUD." Public Housing - HUD. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2015. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. .
News One Staff. "The 7 Most Infamous U.S. Public Housing Projects." News One RSS. News One, 29 Sept. 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. .
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ReplyDeleteIn the book “There are no children here” by Alex Kotlowitz, shows the lives of a family living in the projects of Chicago during the late 1980’s. The book was essentially written as the events occurred. With this in mind, the book shows and reinforces the values of the late 1980’s.
ReplyDeleteIn the early 1980’s, under Reagan’s presidency, was one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression in the 1930’s. Because of this, many of the lower class families had a hard time finding work or keeping a job. The result of this pushed people to rely solely on welfare, as well as living in public housing. Unemployment during the 1981-82 recession was widespread, but manufacturing, construction, and auto industries were particularly affected (Recession of 1981-82). This affected many of the residents that were living in public housing, especially in the Cabrini-Green Homes, which many of the people living there had worked at a nearby auto-manufacturer (The 7 Most Infamous U.S. Public Housing Projects). When their jobs were taken away due to this recession, they needed a way to make money in order for them to live. This is where gangs and crime began to settle in. Recovering from this recession would take much time. As we see in the book, six years after the recession began, Lafayette's and Pharaoh's family were living poverty, partially due to the fact that it was hard for LaJoe to find employment during this time.
As well as the recession, racism was still a problem in the 1980’s. In fact, many of the public housing buildings that Lafeyette and Pharaoh are living in were built based on racism. According to Aaron Modica, the Cabrini-Green Homes were built with the idea of segregation because white Chicagoans were adamantly opposed to integrating in their neighborhoods. By the late 1980’s, the community of public housing is still dominantly African American. In the book, Alex Kotlowitz describes these same exact circumstances. Again, this shows that the book reinforces the values and morals of the 1980’s.
Work Cited:
Kotlowitz, Alex. There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Print.
Modica, Aaron. "Cabrini Green Housing Project, Chicago (1942 -2009) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed." Cabrini Green Housing Project, Chicago (1942 -2009) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed. Blackpast.org, 2009. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. .
Sablik, Tim. "Recession of 1981-€“82 - A Detailed Essay on an Important Event in the History of the Federal Reserve." Recession of 1981-€“82 - A Detailed Essay on an Important Event in the History of the Federal Reserve. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, 22 Nov. 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. .
Staff, NewsOne. "The 7 Most Infamous U.S. Public Housing Projects." News One RSS. NewsOne, 29 Sept. 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. .
I thought it was interesting how you said the Cabrini Green homes were built with segregation in mind. The fact that this neighborhood is prominently African Americans we didn't hear a lot about racism. But this was still a time when Civil Rights were a huge issue. And it seems these people living in the projects weren't really worried about Civil Rights, they just wanted to make it to the next day.
DeleteI really like that you talked about racism still being a problem in the 80's, because i put it in my blog as well. Racism was very apparent in the projects, because the public housing consisted predominantly of African Americans. This goes to show that the black people were pretty much forgotten about, and got the worst possible living options.
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ReplyDeleteThe book “There Are No Children Here” gave the reader a clear look into the harsh life of what it was like to live below the poverty line in the Chicago area in the 1980’s. These people were living in public housing, but the funds for maintenance on the buildings was significantly reduced. The buildings were in horrible shape, and most of the apartments were over crowded by large families. Chicago had the second highest poverty rate in the United States in the 80’s and still does today (IU's Kelley School of Business). Ronald Reagan was elected president at this time and was trying to fix the economy, and even though the economy was getting better, the “'80s saw poverty actually increase by 12 percent.” (Haskins, Ron, and Isabel V. Sawhill). The country was trying to fix the economy and increase the quality of life for people but a huge amount of people were living in horrible conditions in the public housing buildings.
Also the crime rate around this area was extremely high. Even children in these parts of Chicago were committing crimes. Authority was shown by the gangs, and they were constantly at war with rivalry gangs for drug turf. These gangs recruited kids as young as eight years old to run drugs and commit crimes for them. “Boys are constantly pressured to join the gangs and engage in criminal activity.” (Walinsky, Adam) Even in broad daylight woman and children were dodging gunfire on there way to the store or to school.
The United States isn’t a place that is known for or even expected to have living conditions as horrendous as the projects of Chicago are. Alex Kotlowitz wrote this book to bring awareness to places like this, that many people don’t know exist. Kotlowitz did a great job of showing what the Rivers and many other families were going through. Public housing was invented to give people in need a home, but the lack of concern for these people and their well-being allowed the projects of Chicago to become a place that is unimaginable to live in for most people, and terrifying to think that young children are going through these things everyday.
Haskins, Ron, and Isabel V. Sawhill. "Ending Poverty in America: Using Carrots and Sticks." The Brookings Institution. Brookings, 01 May 2007. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
IU's Kelley School of Business. "Poverty in the United States." Poverty in the United States. Indiana Business Research Center, Nov. 2000. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
Walinsky, Adam. "What It's Like To Be In Hell." The New York Times. The New York Times, 03 Dec. 1987. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
In addition to talking about the their values, I liked how you mentioned Kotlowitz and his motives for writing the book. It certainly gave readers an idea of the values of the people living in the projects and how little concern people had for the condition of the homes.
Delete“There Are No Children Here” written by Alex Kotlowitz is quite an interesting and eye-opening read. Consider the way Kotlowitz had to write this book, he was always around a house that was already very full with a large, active family in the projects of Chicago. The span of this book was two years, that means Alex Kotlowitz spent the majority of his time with a family in the projects for two years! This is how affected he was by the living conditions, and how dedicated he was to shedding light on the extremely dire circumstances that these people had to suffer through. I think the fact that the Henry Horner Homes were demolished shortly after this book was published is the perfect example for value that this book brought to society. It revealed way too much of the decrepit conditions for the building to continue to exist. It’s exemplifies perfectly how effective the book was in its historical setting.
ReplyDeleteThe content in the book itself is even more revealing on the lure of the streets of the projects. The living conditions were bad, but children who wanted no part in violence and bloodshed were being ripped into the middle of turf wars and drug deliveries. Once a child is affiliated with a gang thats it, there is no getting out, For some it was the only way that they could make money, for others it was protection and relationships. The content in the book is especially heavy, for example, when the violence is so bad that a child who probably struggles lacing up his velcro shoes is shooting at a person who is wearing a rival color. This exemplifies exactly how nasty it is to live on these streets, especially for the people who have no affiliation with either of these gangs and are caught up in the crossfire,
Works Cited
LIttle, Lisa A. "There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz: The Third World in Your Backyard." Lisasliterarylife. N.p., 17 June 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
"There Are No Children Here Book Review Summary." Detailed Review Summary of There Are No Children Here by Alex Kolowitz. Jeanne Milligan, 18 Mar. 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
I thought the same thing about where the two boys in "There Are No Children Here" grew up in. There was always violence on the streets and even in their own home. Children were joining gangs like they were candy stores. That entire area affected the values during that time period as well as everyone's own morals.
DeleteAs the times change, so do the values of society. A value can be defined as a standard of behavior. In the 1980’s, particularly with the youth, there was a common trend among the community of Chicago. Every year, a large portion of the community would join gangs and participate in the activities that went along with them. These gangs would continue to grow, even as they lost members. Meanwhile, there were a lot of teenagers becoming pregnant and being forced to start families of their own. These are two of the bigger values of the time, and “There Are No Children Here” reinforces them well.
ReplyDeleteIt was common for someone from the projects of Chicago to be part of a gang. There were several gangs at the time. Each were constantly fighting for control of Chicago’s streets. “Dominant authority is exercised by the gangs: organized groups, led by men of 30 or 40, organizing and recruiting down to the age of 8…[The gangs] are armed with pistols, rifles, automatic weapons and occasional grenades. Firefights may erupt at any time.” (Walinsky) It was a very dangerous time to be living in Chicago. Stray bullets killed many innocent people. In the book, there are many examples of this. On page 17, “[G]unfire once again filled the air. It was two-thirty in the afternoon; school had just let out. As Lafeyette and his mother hustled the triplets onto the floor of the apartment’s narrow hallway...they caught glimpses through the windows of young gunmen waving their pistols about.” This example was the first of many times the family huddled together in the hallway. It was something that they had done with regularity and it now was routine for them. This demonstrates how often and dangerous living among the gangs can be.
Another standard of behavior for the time was teenage pregnancy. As opposed to most of society today, a 15 year old girl being pregnant was not an unthinkable circumstance. About 17.5% of 18-19 year old women became pregnant (Moser). The fact that few kids went to school regularly in Chicago did not help this statistic. Dawn, LaJoe’s niece, had even started a family at the age of 14. The amount of pregnancies caused a lot of homes in the projects to be filled with family from many generations. The Rivers apartment was no exception. According to the book, the people that lived or stayed there included: LaJoe, Lafeyette, Pharoah, the triplets, Terence, Paul, LaShawn, LaShawn’s boyfriend, her boyfriend’s brother, and her two children. Teenage pregnancy was something that frequently happened in Chicago and definitely affected the Rivers family.
“There Are No Children Here” is an accurate representation of the values that were present in the projects of Chicago. The gangs were active, violent, and growing. In addition, the birth rate for teenage girls was at its peak. Neither of these standards of behavior had positive effects on the community, but, fortunately, the amount of gang violence and the teenage birth rate began to decrease during 1990’s (Moser, Zuercher).
Works Cited
Moser, Whet. "Why Are Teen Birth Rates On the Decline?" Chicago Magezine. Politics City Life, 13 Feb. 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. .
Walinsky, Adam. "What It's Like To Be In Hell." The New York Times. The New York Times, 03 Dec. 1987. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. .
Zuercher, Rhyan. "Police Supt. McCarthy on Chicago Crime." Chicago Tonight. Chicago Tonight, 19 Dec. 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. .
Gangs were a huge part of the projects and in saying that would you agree that survival was also a huge aspect as well?
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ReplyDeleteIn the novel “There Are No Children Here” I believe one of the biggest values was survival. In the projects of inner city Chicago it was simply just survival of the fittest.
ReplyDeleteIn an article published by the New York Times, they stated that the projects were ruled by gang leaders in their 30-40s, who recruited members who were barely 8 years old. the author of the article claimed that “ the residents had the affinity for ground of seasoned infantry soldiers.” It was a dog eat dog world in the projects so for most it was best to conform to survive or die{What It’s Like To Be In Hell}.
In the novel the boys, Lafeyette and Pharoah, did nothing but just get by and survive. According to page 132 of “There Are No Children Here” there were 24,390 court cases and 56,204 charges, many of them were violent. I believe that this book reinforces the value solely because of the previous sentence. Even though there are so many bad things going in the the area people still live there and because there is nowhere else to go the deal with it hence survival being a crucial value.
Works cited:
Kotlowitz, Alex. There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Print.
Walinsky, Adam. "What It's Like To Be In Hell." The New York Times. The New York Times, 03 Dec. 1987. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
I liked how you really related it to the survival and survival of the fittest. Thats a very good point and I agree with everything you said. I actually think they recruited a 6 year old.. Isn't that crazy? Its just unbelievable something that we could not even fathom.
DeleteI liked how you focesed on the gangs and how they impacted where they live. Also how it is a dog eat dog world and if you try and take care of someone else it won't work out in the end.
ReplyDeleteThe novel “There Are No Children Here” takes place in 1980 in Chicago. To be more specific in the projects of Chicago, in the Henry Horner Homes. Everyone in the public housing area seems to all be stuck in a cycle. They have children at very young ages, as young as 13 at times. They raise their children and they drop out of school to try to find work to support their family. Soon enough many of them, still only teenagers, resort to gangs and drugs to try to earn money and become grandparents by their 20’s or 30’s.
ReplyDelete“In the shadow of downtown Chicago are 21 towers of poverty known as the Henry Horner Homes,” Next to poverty in Chicago was the Henry Horner Homes. Of course since so many generations lived there it's become normal to citizens to live in these conditions. It became normal to see gangs fighting and gunfire. In the novel Lafeyette even began to just sit on the couch instead of seeking shelter when gunfire broke out. “The book pulls you in almost immediately describing everyday life that includes violence, poverty, and living in constant fear.” (Ethnoinamerica.wordpress.com). Kids have seen their parents do it so they have children at such young ages. They drop out of school in order to find work for their families. For many young men and even woman it was completely normal and almost expected of them to end up joining gangs for money. All of this became normal for the people in public housing.
Citizens did not have many values. When they are younger they value family more than anything else in the world. Lafeyette would have done anything to protect his mother and siblings in the novel when he was young. But as everyone at Horner gets older, the only thing they value is money. During this time period in order to get by you needed money. For food, shelter, clothing, and to be bailed out of jail. Gangs would offer that money and after joining them children as well as adult's values would all vanish. All except for the value of money to them.
Works Cited:
Dorfman, Lori. "Henry Horner Mothers Guild." BMSG Henry Horner Case Study Final (1995): 1-22. Bsmg.org. Feb. 1995. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
"Ethno In America." Ethno In America. Wordpress.com, 6 Mar. 2011. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
Kotlowitz, Alex. There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Print.
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ReplyDeleteI like how you took a different approach with this. But why did you choose to open with Jimmy Lee?
DeleteThe values in the novel, “There Are No Children Here” are very different than what you would expect due to some of the lifestyles in the projects of Chicago. If one was to take a look at the family values of a town like Castle Rock for example, they would see something along the lines of, the father and mother going to work and providing for the family. Or in other cases there is a stay at home parent that keeps the house clean runs errands and cooks meals. For children in this area their jobs are to go to school, get good grades, maybe play some sports, and possibly have a job. In communities such as the Henry Horner Homes projects one would see a completely different set of values. In most of these homes the reader will see very large sets of families and very poor living conditions. In the story the author mentions that most of the homes don’t have a male figure to help raise and provide for the family. This means that the mother is left to fend for the family. In the story Lajoe has to provide for not only her younger children but also her older children and their kids. She provides shelter and food for everyone living there with just $500 a month. A lot of families in the projects need public assistance just to get by because there isn’t a ton of work for one to do. In an article from http://narrative.ly/, a man who once lived in the projects of New York states, “We never saw poverty until I got a little older. Hard times befell on many of us and people got caught up from public assistance. I remember my parents would have the kids go. I would go with my cousin to go get public assistance. It was interesting, because we would go with our shopping carts and the whole entire project would be there. Everybody was on that line. There was an embarrassment and a stigma attached to it, but we were all poor at that time. We were all struggling to survive.” The last sentence in the quote is what really stuck out to me, when you don’t go through hard times such as these people you don't truly know what its like to live in this environment.
ReplyDeleteWorks Cited:
Washington, Rico S., and Shino Yanagawa. "Life in Public Housing." Life in Public Housing. Marquee, 6 Nov. 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
Just with my brief time with jimmy Lee I nailed a style on him, a style unprecedented and respected among the kids. When you think of Jimmy Lee you just think jean jacket, four finger ring and jheri curls . Am I right or am I right? Jean jackets were a huge deal in the 80’s along with track suits, if anyone was going to have the flyest gear in Horner It would have been Lee. Another one of the many trends during the 80’s was the act of carrying around a boom box jamin’ to some classic MJ, (thats Michael Jackson for you kids with terrible taste in music). Though these seem like silly insignificant details, they were very relevant trends that a lot of people, especially in african american communities, would have had. (The 80 Greatest '80s Fashion Trends). It doesn't reinforce the times in which the book was written taking away from the readers experience. Can you blame him for leaving out such details? Kotlowitz had plenty of material for the novel, I am sure he had to be vague with details just to get all that happened into the two year span, into three-hundred and nine pages.
ReplyDelete"The 80 Greatest '80s Fashion Trends - 17." Complex. Jian Deleon, 12 Dec. 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
.... *Jimmy
Delete" There Are No Children Here" by Alex Kotlowitz gives us an insight how low income housing in the projects if Chicago where in the 1980's. Henry Horner Homes is a low income housing that was built by the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA). " The Chicago Housing Authority is an agency that is at odds with its own true nature and goals. It is an agency committed to managing the welfare of the poor and disenfranchised. At the same time it is an agency with a commitment to the city of Chicago to "take care " of the Black poor problem. "Taking care" in this instance seems to mean by any means necessary. Whether Blacks are shuttled about from one part of the city to the next, stacked on top of each other like prisoners, or out and out murdered there seems to be an unspoken agenda to get rid of the problem." (Divided Agenda: The Chicago Housing Authority)
ReplyDeleteThe gang violence rate was extremely high with two gangs in one housing complex."Dominant authority is exercised by the gangs: organized groups, led by men of 30 or 40, organizing and recruiting down to the age of 8. The Blackstone Rangers have been here for more than 30 years. The gangs engage in regular and constant warfare for control of the drug and vice trades. They are armed with pistols, rifles, automatic weapons and occasional grenades. Firefights may erupt at any time. Children dodge machine-gun crossfire as they leave the school. Sudden bullets smash through windows into apartment walls." (What It's Like To Be In Hell) The pull of the gangs was strong if one of your friends went and joined a gang there was two ways to go about it one lose that friends or join with them. During the 1980's that's just the way things were.
The people of Horner said "There was a time when you could say we were family" ( Saying goodbye to Henry Horner Homes) No one moves out of Horner for two
reason one they could not leave their family, or two they did not have the money to move their family. Most of the people there are trying to keep their kids out of the gangs and to get them through school. Anyone can see that through out the novel.
Works cited
"Divided Agenda: The Chicago Housing Authority :: Poverty War Welfare." Divided Agenda: The Chicago Housing Authority :: Poverty War Welfare. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
Website
"Saying Goodbye to Henry Horner Homes." | Chicago News, Events and Culture., 28 Mar. 2008. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
Walinsky, Adam. "What It's Like To Be In Hell." The New York Times. The New York Times, 03 Dec. 1987. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
Kotlowitz, Alex. There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Print.
Book
While documenting the book “There Are No Children Here” The Author Alex Kotlowitz did the exact opposite of sugar coating the context. The book depicted the daily struggle of the living conditions of the Henry Horner Homes, to an utmost extent. Although one could argue that there is much more fear and hostility than the book could capture. “What Kotlowitz delivers in the scene is nothing less than a paradigm for race relations in America today. In place of dialogue or even physical proximity, blacks and whites largely occupy separate realms of ignorance and terror. The black middle class, although it is growing, still returns at the workday's end to generally segregated neighborhoods.” "The Other America : THERE ARE NO CHILDREN HERE: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America Kotlowitz took a step further in the initial process of developing an accurate depiction of what it is truly like to live in the harsh and unforgiving projects of Chicago Illinois, by living with these two boys.
ReplyDeleteWorks Cited
03, March. "The Other America : THERE ARE NO CHILDREN HERE: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America, By Alex Kotlowitz (A Nan A. Talese Book/Doubleday: $21.95; 320 Pp.)." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 03 Mar. 1991. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
Kotlowitz, Alex. There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Print.
Throughout the novel there are many events that occurred in and around the projects as well as how they were handled. They were mostly all race and poverty issues because of a neverending cycle and were largely ignored by the public. “they will never escape the projects without a good job, but they can’t get a good job without an education and they can’t get an education, because they have no money” (Clapsaddle, Diane). Unfortunately that was how most people in the projects lived their lives and weren’t being helped by the larger part of society. This also had to deal with racial issues. It not only affects adults but children as well and since they’re much more susceptible to the idea of racism because they’re so young they grow up thinking that that’s just how things are meant to be. "I was always the child who had seen too much" (Daniels, Serena). “There Are No Children Here” has shed some light on how poverty will always be around and the dangers that come along with it.
ReplyDeleteClapsaddle, Diane. "There Are No Children Here THEMES/MOOD/BIOGRAPHY." There Are No Children Here THEMES/MOOD/BIOGRAPHY. The Best Notes, 15 May 2008. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
Daniels, Serena M. "Oak Park Author Reflects on the Two Decades since Publication of There Are No Children Here." Tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Tribune Reporter, 14 Aug. 2011. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
One of the biggest themes of the 80’s was patriotism and having a love for your country. Most people were very patriotic and did display love for their country. This is in high contrast to the people in the projects of Chicago, because they had no reason to be patriotic; there lives were spent being stuck in Horner trying to survive through every day.
ReplyDeleteAnother large event happening during this time was the Cold War, and going hand in hand with patriotism, people didn’t really care, or have time to care. Why should people worry about an international war when there is a gang war going on right in their backyards? While the rest of the country was worrying about if we were going to go to war with Russia, the people in the projects woke up to a war everyday.
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Culture in The Reagan Era." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
"Culture | Like Totally 80s." Like Totally 80s. Like Totally 80s, 2015. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
Daniel, I liked your use of outside knowledge of history that you incorporated into your blog post. You added things such as the Cold War and themes of the 1980's into your writing and that added to the overall aspect of your blog. I, however would have liked to see more information to support your statements a little bit better. You had great main ideas but not a lot of cites to support them.
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ReplyDeleteLiving in The Projects is a struggle beyond anything that we have ever gone through. There are shooting everyday, people struggling to stay alive to go home to their families. Drugs are everywhere. There is still kids being raised in these areas. Most of the kids are not able to escape these life styles. D. Bradford Hunt is a high schooler at Hinsdale high school. He was driving around The Projects looking for something interesting after getting his license. He sees a crowd of people outside one of the buildings. Cops everywhere trying to keep people out. There was murders. Gangs were having a gun fight across a few forms not only killing each other but also killing young kids and mothers. Hunt saw this and later grew up to wanting to make a difference in The Projects (They Didn’t Think Of The Children).
In the novel “There Are No Children Here” They same thing was happening. Kids under the age of ten were struggling to stay alive. They were not as fortunate as Hunt because they lived in The Projects and had to avoid gunfire everyday of their young lives. Lafeyette didn’t know if he was going to make it past his teens. He said, “If I grow up I would like to be a bus driver”. I little boy saying “If I grow up” is just heart breaking! He doesn't even see a future. These boys struggled and dealt with the unimaginable their entire lives.
Cites:
Isaacs, Deanna A. "They Didn't Think of the Children." Chicago Reader. CHICAGO HOUSING AUTHORITY, 24 Sept. 2009. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
Kotlowitz, Alex. There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Print.
Throughout the novel, “There Are No Children Here” by Alex Kotlowitz, the reader sees many values that they themselves most likely don’t share with the main characters in the book. Kotlowitz had no problem with sharing the severe struggles that the people in the projects of Chicago had endured while trying to survive. In this novel, you read about the value of family and being there for one another. The author also described how the people in this area were in a constant cycle, kids in high school were having children, they then would drop out to get a job and support their new family, and since jobs were scarce many of they resorted to joining gangs and selling drugs. Fathers usually left so it was normally the women who would try to support their families. Lajoe who was the mother of the two main characters in the book always tried her hardest to keep her children in line and to keep them safe. The two young boys Pharaoh and Lafayette showed that they cared for their family and would do anything to protect them. Especially Lafayette, although he seemed cold and harsh at times, you know that it was just because his childhood was taken from him and he had matured like most children in that area do, because of the experiences they have had and the brutal violence they faced in their everyday lives. It is hard for children to constantly observe these violent acts and not change their outlooks on life. Lafayette once told LaJoe, "Mama, I'm real tired. I could go outside and don't have to come back. Anytime I go outside, I ain't guaranteed to come back" (Kotlowitz 216). This is a problem we see in urban areas, but it is not as likely in the middle class areas. Lafayette constantly showed how he cared to protect his loved ones, such as his mom, siblings, friends, and his dog Blondie . Although we value our families too, we don’t value them as strongly as the people in this book do, since they know that there is no guarantee that they’ll have them tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteWork Cited
Smith, Laurenmaria. "There Are No Children Here." School Stories. Laurenmaria Smith, 07 Apr. 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
"There Are No Children Here Book Review Summary." Detailed Review Summary of There Are No Children Here by Alex Kolowitz. Jeanne Milligan, 18 Mar. 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
In the novel “There Are No Children Here” the biggest thing for teens and adults is surviving. Drug deals are going on everywhere and violence is constant. Poverty is huge, if you don’t have money then the gangs would recruit you. Gangs would recruit 8 year olds to commit crime. On page 132 there were 56,204 charges in one year. Women had a tough time living because of the high rate of rape. Young boys would drop out of school and join a gang. Mothers only dream their kids would finish high school and leave but that rarely happens. Once kids got sucked into the projects leaving wasn’t an option. Survival was the only option that’s why the average life span is so low. If you aren’t in a gang then you are nobody.
ReplyDeleteKotlowitz, Alex. There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Print.
I agree with you at that time it was hard for people to stay away from gangs that's why I think this book is awesome because it shows how Lafayette and Pharroh where able to stay above that for a while.
DeleteThe book " There Are No Children Here" has lots of values that contradict those of the times in which it was based. This I personally believe is why the book was so great. The book follows two kids trying to make themselves the honest way and by that I mean the right way. Pharroh is going to school, placing top two in spelling bees, watching cars for a little extra money. Lafayette is watching over Pharroh and his mother Lajoe, staying away from the wrong people and being the best role model he can be for his little brother. It also follows there mother Lajoe who takes care of all her Children as best as she can. She makes then attend school, she supports them, and takes the best care she can of them. This contradicts every value there was back then. Expecially on the kids end because the kids of that time and that place only went to school when they could and only till the age where they could get a job and or join the gang. They weren't going to spelling bees and preparing for there future because the now for them is too difficult. You also don't see role models like Lafayette the gangs want young kids because no one suspects it(Gang Alternatives program(GPA). So the kids would try and get younger children to join but Lafayettekept Pharroh away. And as for Lajoe none of the mothers much cared about school because they need help with money. They need there kids out there working. So I believe this book really contradicts the values of the times. But in a very positive way.
ReplyDeleteSemark, Douglas L. "Gang Alternatives Program (GAP)." Gang Alternatives Program (GAP). Gang Alternatives, 30 Sept. 2008. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
There are no children here; being a book set in the 1980s and a book that was set in the projects of Chicago. Had many different values, most of these values ended up having to do with either survival or living until the next day by not getting involved with the wrong crowd. These are values that are still held to this day. But, a major value that I saw in the book; and a major value in any time or place. Is family. Girlish of how Farrow's father acted toward his siblings and his mother he still had a very strong urge to protect the ones that he loved that is also the same with Lafayette even when they were in their game together they looked after each other and they watched each other's back because to each other they were practically brothers. Not just brothers that are related by blood. But brothers that stand together under one symbol. Regardless of the fact that their "symbol" was a gang. It was still something that helped them watch each others back. A ragtag family, under one gangland symbol. Because without family or friends, they really didn't have anything.
ReplyDeleteI observed in this book that family means more than the relation of blood, close friends are also treated as family. La Joe is known for taking some of Pharaohs and Layettes friends under her wing of care. These kids consider La Joe as their mother, not by blood, but simply because she was their care giver when they needed somewhere to go.
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ReplyDeleteThe values of the people who grew up in the 1970’s and 1980’s were dramatically different than the values our country has today. Possibly the only value we keep in common today, is that family was very dear and important to the people in that time. Many people lived with, or near their families for the full duration of their lives, to provide protection, look after each other, and spend time with each other as well. However, in the inner parts of large cities (Chicago, Los Angeles, Etc.) gangs thrived. This is heavily reinforced and shown very clearly within the novel “There Are No Children Here”. On a short review of this book, Publishers Weekly states; “We witness the horrors of growing up in an ill-maintained housing project tyrannized by drug gangs and where murders and shootings frequently occur”. The values of this time in America’s history are simply repulsive by today’s set of moral standards. For example; it was common in those times to hear gunshots at night, or to cover your windows on the ground floor so that people couldn’t break in as easily. These values are further reinforced by The NYU’s Portfolio on “There Are No Children Here”, in which they explain that “Kotlowitz's narrative leaves us with indelible images to back these facts up: the bathroom faucet that shoots water day and night, the bloodstain in the stairwell outside of the boys' apartment, the death of Lafayette's beloved friend at the hands of police,”. The novel itself played a huge role in expelling these toxic values, even the mother of the two main characters in the book (Lafayette Rivers and Pharoah Rivers) states during an interview with the author; “But you know, there are no children here. They've seen too much to be children.” Coincidentally, this also became the title of the book itself. As stated here and in these sources, the novel “There Are No Children Here” was a huge reinforcement to the values of the times, and depicts exactly the values and way of life in the inner city ghettos during the time this book was written and while the interviews took place.
ReplyDeleteWorks Cited:
Kotlowitz, Alex. "Nonfiction Book Review: There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz." PublishersWeekly.com. Publisher's Weekly, 2 Jan. 1991. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-385-26526-3
Kotlowitz, Alex. "There Are No Children Here." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Mar. 2015. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Are_No_Children_Here
Kotlowitz, Alex. "Portfolio at NYU." Portfolio at NYU. Portfolio.com, n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
http://journalism.nyu.edu/publishing/archives/portfolio/books/book281.html
The values of the people who grew up in the 1970’s and 1980’s were dramatically different than the values our country has today. Possibly the only value we keep in common today, is that family was very dear and important to the people in that time. Many people lived with, or near their families for the full duration of their lives, to provide protection, look after each other, and spend time with each other as well. However, in the inner parts of large cities (Chicago, Los Angeles, Etc.) gangs thrived. This is heavily reinforced and shown very clearly within the novel “There Are No Children Here”. On a short review of this book, Publishers Weekly states; “We witness the horrors of growing up in an ill-maintained housing project tyrannized by drug gangs and where murders and shootings frequently occur”. The values of this time in America’s history are simply repulsive by today’s set of moral standards. For example; it was common in those times to hear gunshots at night, or to cover your windows on the ground floor so that people couldn’t break in as easily. These values are further reinforced by The NYU’s Portfolio on “There Are No Children Here”, in which they explain that “Kotlowitz's narrative leaves us with indelible images to back these facts up: the bathroom faucet that shoots water day and night, the bloodstain in the stairwell outside of the boys' apartment, the death of Lafayette's beloved friend at the hands of police,”. The novel itself played a huge role in expelling these toxic values, even the mother of the two main characters in the book (Lafayette Rivers and Pharoah Rivers) states during an interview with the author; “But you know, there are no children here. They've seen too much to be children.” Coincidentally, this also became the title of the book itself. As stated here and in these sources, the novel “There Are No Children Here” was a huge reinforcement to the values of the times, and depicts exactly the values and way of life in the inner city ghettos during the time this book was written and while the interviews took place.
ReplyDeleteWorks Cited:
Kotlowitz, Alex. "Nonfiction Book Review: There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz." PublishersWeekly.com. Publisher's Weekly, 2 Jan. 1991. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-385-26526-3
Kotlowitz, Alex. "There Are No Children Here." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Mar. 2015. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Are_No_Children_Here
Kotlowitz, Alex. "Portfolio at NYU." Portfolio at NYU. Portfolio.com, n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
http://journalism.nyu.edu/publishing/archives/portfolio/books/book281.html
According to “There Are No Children Here”, the book portrays the characters living in the projects during the nineties to have completely different morals and values than what most people have today. Most of the children growing up in this type of setting valued far more important things than school. They valued life. These kids were just trying to get by, day by day. Survival was a key value in the projects. Gang activity was also valued by many. When the kids were involved in gang activities, they would sell drugs which helped to provide their families with money. Instead of going out and applying for a job like most 16 year old kids would do today, they would find their jobs within the gangs around age 8 (Walinsky). This shows how much the people during this time valued money, because they were willing to give up their kid’s childhood in order to provide for the family. The residents occupying the projects during this time period would do whatever it took in order to survive and get through the day. The book shows this value, because it stated there were 24,390 court cases that took place. These court cases contained situations involving burglaries, home invasions, disarmingly of police officers, armed violence, and many more acts that were performed so that these people could make it to the next day (Kotlowitz). Survival of the fittest played a huge role within this time period, and the book proved that survival was the biggest concern and value of this time period.
ReplyDeleteWalinsky, Adam. "What It's Like To Be In Hell." The New York Times. The New York Times, 03 Dec. 1987. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.
Kotlowitz, Alex. There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Print.
According to “There Are No Children Here”, the book portrays the characters living in the projects during the nineties to have completely different morals and values than what most people have today. Most of the children growing up in this type of setting valued far more important things than school. They valued life. These kids were just trying to get by, day by day. Survival was a key value in the projects. Gang activity was also valued by many. When the kids were involved in gang activities, they would sell drugs which helped to provide their families with money. Instead of going out and applying for a job like most 16 year old kids would do today, they would find their jobs within the gangs around age 8 (Walinsky). This shows how much the people during this time valued money, because they were willing to give up their kid’s childhood in order to provide for the family. The residents occupying the projects during this time period would do whatever it took in order to survive and get through the day. The book shows this value, because it stated there were 24,390 court cases that took place. These court cases contained situations involving burglaries, home invasions, disarmingly of police officers, armed violence, and many more acts that were performed so that these people could make it to the next day (Kotlowitz). Survival of the fittest played a huge role within this time period, and the book proved that survival was the biggest concern and value of this time period.
ReplyDeleteWalinsky, Adam. "What It's Like To Be In Hell." The New York Times. The New York Times, 03 Dec. 1987. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.
Kotlowitz, Alex. There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Print.
Survival of the fittest is a perfect way to put it. These boys and the families did anything they could to survive. Anything. The people that came out on top in these areas had to use any resources they could and cunning. It was almost impossible to get by without breaking the law, because legally, there were no jobs and no way to provide.
DeleteThis novel discusses the major historical events and themes that occurred during this time and place. The warzones of America played a monumental part in this book. Most of these children grew up with only one parent, and encountered gang violence everywhere they went. They usually did poorly in school assuming that they had no chance at a potential future. ("There Are No Children Here THEMES/MOOD/BIOGRAPHY”) Problems with poverty were another major role in the history of the projects. In places like inner city Chicago, kids were doomed from the start. As we saw in Pharaohs’’ character, escaping the projects was no easy task. In order to get out of this area, they needed a stable, good job, but they couldn’t get one without an education. Unfortunately, nobody could get an education because there was never even close to enough money. The only way out of this place was help from the outskirts, and nobody ever came to give the help that was desperately needed for these families. Lastly, racism was a common idea with humans in the 1980’s. When black children walked into a store, it was expected that they were thieves. Unfortunately, as we saw with Rickey stealing the tapes, this was not far from the truth. These children grew up in a community where they didn’t know any better. Also, the CHA did not help these children at all, and when a black person was killed, it never made any newspaper articles or television shows.
ReplyDeleteThe genre of “There Are No Children Here” being non-fiction made the book that much more enticing. It created for a dark and gloomy setting of the novel, but slowly became hopeful. These young boys being a part of a true story puts these events into a real perspective for the reader, and I don’t think this book would’ve had the impact that it did had it been written as fiction.
Kotlowitz was born and raised in New York City. He worked for the Chicago bureau of the Wall Street Journal. He adapted the idea for this book from an article he wrote, which was about the effect growing up around extreme violence had on the lives of kids like Lafayette and Pharaoh. Kotlowitz’s main writing focus was tied to urban affairs, poverty, and race relations. The fact that Kotlowitz lived with this family for two years leads me to strongly believe that this book reinforces the values of the 1980’s more than any other non-fiction book ever written.
Works Cited:
"There Are No Children Here THEMES/MOOD/BIOGRAPHY." There Are No Children Here THEMES/MOOD/BIOGRAPHY. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
Kotlowitz, Alex. There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Print.
The book There are no children here follow the lives of two boys surviving in the projects, displaying the struggles of hunger, murder, loss, disappointment and how this family deals with the ample amount of stress that accompanies living in such horrendous conditions. Lafayette and Pharaoh value certain aspects of life that several others living in safer environments take for granted. (child poverty, page1)More than 16 million children in the United States – 22% of all children – live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level – $23,550 a year for a family of four. Research shows that, on average, families need an income of about twice that level to cover basic expenses. Using this standard, 45% of children live in low-income families. In the cook county district in which the Rivers grew up, the vast majority were far below the poverty line and lived off of financial aid; therefore, several resorted to drugs, prostitution and violent crimes in order to survive. Its nearly incomprehensible to think of living in conditions where people will kill entire families for about one hundred dollars in reward. This situation makes the individuals that grew up in a financial stable home in controlled neighborhood feel shock and sickened by this absurd concept. These acts demonstrate that the citizens living in the projects do not value respect for the law, community, being an active member in the improvement of society, they value getting through the day by any means necessary. (Poverty and Racism is linked, page 1)Racial or ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by poverty; and the lack of education, adequate housing and health care transmits poverty from generation to generation, a United Nations rights expert has said. This cycle is how it is so hard to escape the ghetto yet, La Joe and her family continues to dream of that day.
ReplyDelete"Child Poverty." NCCP. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
"Poverty and Racism Inextricably Linked, Says UN Expert." Poverty and Racism Inextricably Linked, Says UN Expert. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.
While documenting the book “There Are No Children Here” by Alex Kotlowitz, he did the opposite of explaining the sweetness of the context. The book depicted the daily struggle of the living conditions in Henry Horner Homes. Everyone could argue that there was by far more fear and hostility than the book could capture. One of the biggest value was survival in the harden inner city of Chicago, the motto was “survival of the fittest”. In the news, there had been an article on the projects stating there were gang leaders in the 20’s – mid 20’s trying to recruit young kids. Some kids were as old as 20 and as young as kids in the single digits. Meanwhile in the book, the boys did nothing but try to survive and get by. “there were 24,390 court cases and 56,204 charges, many of them were violence” (There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America).This book reinforces the value solely because of the previous sentence. Even though there are so many bad things going in the area where these people still live now, there is nowhere else to go then to deal with it hence survival being a crucial value.
ReplyDeleteKotlowitz, Alex. There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Print.
cool cool,
DeleteSince survival is so important in this book, do you think that Lafayette gave up his survival instinct towards the end of the book?
This book was written in a phenomenal way that balanced emotions and facts. A critic from the New York Times said it best when he said Kotlowitz was able to “inform the heart”. In reading the epilogue and writers note, we can see how much work really went in to this piece of literature. He spent weeks documenting families, taking accounts of an event, interviewing people, and having the children enact certain stories which needed visuals (Kotlowitz p307). So it is clear to the reader that Kotlowitz went the extra mile to ensure his information was accurate, and true to the times. An example of this is the use of police brutality throughout the book. The stories of these violent instances, like Craig’s execution and Lafayette beating, are very helpful in peeking into the general atmosphere of the time. Organized crime and gang warfare was at an all time high in the 80’s, due to a growing market of drugs and the adverse effect that the government housing had in cities. Although the housing projects had good intentions, they became a breeding ground for organized crime. (Harvard Business Review) Does this mean projects create crime? No, it means that when you put so many people together, deprive them of necessary resources to live, and push them till they have no room to breathe, they’re gonna fight to live, no matter what the cost. This basic instinct to fight for life fed into the stereotype of Black crime. Consequently, law enforcement began to make assumptions and presume those of color guilty until proven innocent. This epidemic has continued even until today, and it is more of an issue than ever before. I really enjoyed reading a piece of literature that gives a glimpse of how far, or how little, we have progressed as a society and where it all began.
ReplyDeleteWorks Cited
Schultz, Arthur M. "Kotlowitz." The Race and Ethnicity Book Review. Eddie Okelley, 21 Feb. 2000. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.
Taylor, William C. "Crime? Greed? Big Ideas? What Were the '80s About?" Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business Publishing, 01 Jan. 1992. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.
Koltowitz, Alex. (pg 307). “There are no children here”. 1991, Accessed April 20, 2015
The historical values of “There Are No Children Here” are great. It goes over what really goes on in the projects of Chicago, in a first hand experience. The part about the first hand experience is crucial. The author, Alex Kotlowitz, spent around 2 years with the family at Henry Horner Homes. This kind of first hand experience really provides more insight, much more than simple research and a small amount of time can do. Many areas that I have researched about Henry Horner provides many facts, but it is very detached. These sources, such as Austin Weekly News, simply have the first hand experience. So when reviewing the context of There are no Children Here, the facts are very true in conjunction to other sources, but there is just so much more.
ReplyDeleteThrough the eyes of the Horner boys, there’s a more personal aspect to the story. You read about the struggles of the people in these areas, but not like this for Henry Horner. The things that happen are very shocking, and brings more emotion into the equation.
Wilkenson, John. "Beginning, End, Rebirth of Henry Horner Homes?"Beginning, End, Rebirth of Henry Horner Homes? N.p., 14 June 2013. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
ReplyDeleteWhen Pharaoh answered the question in the book about what he wanted to be when grew up he said “ IF i grow up i want to be a bus driver.” this reflect the views of the then and now. still to this day in the projects the people struggle to escape. IF... Many of the kids never make it to adulthood. the girls have children in their early teens, while the boys join gangs and get gunned down in the streets. Bus Driver... this is the expectations these children are given as to what they can achieve in live without a gang. their education only goes so far money runs the world and how are you supposed to achieve anything without money right? they are left with two options a path Make money in the gang and die young or struggle to survive and live longer, although there still is a high chance of dying before old age. the boys who joined the gangs in the book pretty much owed their lives to the leader and they paid with their lives. this is the same in the real world. A contract signed with blood.
Kotlowitz, Alex. There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Print
Onesto, Li. "Stories from Harlem Life in the Projects: Prison-Like Conditions Outside of Prison." Revcom, 18 Dec. 2011. Web.
“There are no Children Here” written by Alex Kotlowitz is a very accurate portrayal of what life was like in the 1980’s in the projects of Chicago, Illinois. It was literally written from the perspectives of two young kids living in the projects at that time. Throughout the book the biggest issues of life were poverty, racism, and gang violence. The gang violence was so bad throughout the 70’s and 80’s that Paparelli Ambrose has been quoted that it felt like “A village was raising here” in the article “What Was It Like Living in Chicago’s Projects?” The book mentions on multiple occasions how throughout the months of summer they can hear the sounds of gunshots on a day to day basis. Living in a place that is that violent can definitely be described as growing up in a village. In the 80’s the poverty level was over 20% and was steadily increasing every year from 1980-1990. (Neighborhood Poverty) The book shows you exactly what it is like living in poverty in the projects, with its public living complexes. They were dirty cheap, and for good reason. The book describes the living arrangement for Pharaoh and Lafayette as beyond callous. Upon inspection of the basement, people noticed that sewage was seeping up into the upper floors, causing drains to be clogged and just emit an odor so foul that poor Lajoe had to cover up the sink with a pot every night just so the sink didn’t overflow. Alex Kotlowitz has created a book that is almost quite literally an encyclopedia for what it’s like to live in the projects of Chicago in the 1980’s.
ReplyDeleteParsi, Novid. "What Was It Like Living in Chicago’s Projects?" Chicago Magazine Arts Culture. Chicago Magazine, 21 Apr. 2015. Web. 02 May 2015.
Kotlowitz, Alex. There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Print.
Brook-Gunn, Jeanne. Neighborhood Poverty. Vol. 1. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, n.d. Google Books. Russell Sage Foundation. Web. 02 May 2015.