America Our By Nathan Sullivan
In the story told by LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman the reader will find themselves in a world of fear and death. This world is one where hope is not something that will be found as easily as it is in so many other parts of the United States. These young boys live in the same country as the rest of us, however when we look in on it we see a world that can only be compared with war torn countries. This pain filled world is the south side of Chicago, a place not far from our very own Valparaiso. However unlike here these young men are faced with death every time that they walk out of their door. And are put into a place that made learning almost impossible. That along with the fact that most of their friends are out selling or doing drugs. This is something that no one could relate to unless they have had an encounter with something like this first hand. The world that these young talk about in their adventure in the daily life of the Ida B. Wells is something that could be easily compared to that of the story of Ishmael Beah. However this story did not take place in the unstable land of South Africa it took place in the back yard of many Americans. This took place within walking distance form the Chicago University. And it is in this place that every day a life is taken and another is falling into a world of drugs, drinking, and never ending gang violence. However the young men that the reader follows in this terrifying glimpse into the Chicago ghettoes two are of a rare kind in this hopeless place. They learn and refuse to
become less then any thing that they want to be. They push themselves to always rise above what is set before them, The way that the two speak about the place that they live and the things that go on around them is truly amazing and they are more than clear that they are not like so many around them. The two speak of how the world around them affects every one around them and how hard it is for a child to learn how to grow up to become a self-standing adult. These young men talk about things that almost no child would worry about for years to come if at all. How to get a good job, how to steal because you don't get enough food at home, or what to do if being shot at. The way that these two talk makes it clear that they were never worried about what people thought about them, unlike the youth in the safer place in the U.S. They have already come to terms with death and the loss of those that they cared about. These boys were more mature then some of the people that I know now. This story goes to prove that you should never judge some one by were they come from. That a person that is from a less up kept place never means that they are automatically less intelligent then you. They could give you a look at life that you may never have seen otherwise. It also shows that there is more to education then learning how to read and write.
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