Ghetto Life 101: Was It Exploitive?
“It’s kind of rowdy in the morning,” says LeAlan into his microphone. “Sometimes we learn. Most of the time it’s just too rowdy to learn.” The boys interview their teacher at Donoghue Elementary. “Yes, yes it’s difficult,” she says. “It’s difficult because of the publicity that surrounds the area. And you don’t believe that we believe you’re smart.”
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His mom remembers: “One time I had went downstairs, and it’s a long story but I started seeing shadows on the back porch . . . and I used to look out the window at night . . . and it looked like Ronald Reagan and he was talking to my grandmother. And I was hearing voices and the voices told me to run, get butt naked. I had did that before too, taking my clothes off.”
He changes the subject. “Who was my father?”
The scene shifts to Ida Wells, where LeAlan confirms the things we all suppose about project life. “Lloyd’s house is kind of messed up. . . . The toilet’s been stopped up off and on for years. The place is always noisy. Lloyd’s mother died two years ago from drinking. His father’s also an alcoholic, so Lloyd’s two older sisters have been bringing him up since then.”
Father: “I drink about two or three pints of wine a day. But the hell of it is it’s killing me. People don’t understand it’s destroying you.”
“I have no further questions.”
