Bibliography

1.     Lemann, Nicholas. The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America. 1991.

Venkatesh, Sudhir Alladi. American Project: The Rise and Fall of a Modern Ghetto. 2000.

A summary of the history of the Robert Taylor homes

2.       McRoberts, Flynn. "Robert Taylor Homes Public-housing Project." Robert Taylor Homes Public-housing Project [Chicago] 5 Mar. 1962: n. pag. Print.

Tells about the first family to move into the homes

3.       Belluck, Pam. "END OF A GHETTO: A Special Report.; Razing the Slums to Rescue the Residents." The New York Times 6 Sept. 1998: n. pag. Print.

Describes the crime while living in the Robert Taylor homes

4.       Venkatesh, Sudhir. "An Invisible Community." The American Prospect. The American Prospect, Inc., 19 Dec. 2001. Web. 21 Sept. 2012. <http://prospect.org/article/invisible-community>.

Describes the pros and cons of public housing

5.       Cilimi, Isil. "Tearing Down The Community." Tearing Down the Community: Chicago Public Housing. National Housing Institute, Nov.-Dec. 2004. Web. 21 Sept. 2012. <http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/138/chicago.html>.

Describes the effect tearing down the homes had on the people who lived there and things they are currently doing to make the public housing cituation better.

6.  "Robert R. Taylor Homes, Chicago, Illinois (1959-2005) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed." Robert R. Taylor Homes, Chicago, Illinois (1959-2005) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed. Blackpast.org, n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2012. http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/robert-taylor-homes-chicago-illinois-1959-2005.

Describes some general history about the Robert Taylor homes

7. "A Dream Deferred - The Robert Taylor Homes." HubPages. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2012.
 Why the homes were designed and how the plan really worked

8.  "Farewell to the High-rise | Metropolis Magazine | January 2002." Farewell to the High-rise | Metropolis Magazine | January 2002. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2012. .
The tearing down of the homes and the failure of the homes.
 

9.  Moser, Whet. "Chicago - Less Segregated, Still Really Segregated." Chicagomag.com (n.d.): n. pag. Jan. 2012. Web.
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How segreagation in the homes played a factor in the building and designing of them.

10. "Chicago's Public Housing Projects." Chicago's Public Housing Projects. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2012. <http://www.uwec.edu/geography/ivogeler/w188/articles/chprjcts.htm>.
Explains why they are tearing down the homes.

 11. Venkatesh, Sudhir Alladi. American Project: The Rise and Fall of a Modern Ghetto. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2000. Print.
Describes the public housing for the low income community.

12. Henderson, Harold. "There Goes Their Neighborhood." Chicago Reader 28 May 1998: n. pag. Web.
Describes what is happening (tearing them down) to the Taylor homes during that time.


13. Myers, Linnet. "Hell In `The Hole'" Chicago Tribune 12 Apr. 1998: n. pag. Web.
Discusses the horrible conditions in the homes


14. Wolke, Jay. "View North from Robert Taylor Homes." View North from Robert Taylor Homes. N.p., 1999. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. http://jamesiska.com/Chicago/wolke.html.
This is a story about a man who attempts to visit the Robert Taylor homes

15. Papajohn, George, and William Recktenwald. "Living In A War Zone Called Taylor Homes." Chicago Tribune 10 Mar. 1993: n. pag. Web
How the residents cope with the gang violence that terrorizes their communtities

16. Ryan, Nancy. "1st Taylor High-rise To Be Razed In Spring." Chicago Tribune 4 Mar. 1997: n. pag. Print.
Talks about the plans to tear the Taylor homes down.

17. Wilson, Andrea S. Gettin out of the Projects: An Examination of the Relocation Experiences of Seven Adolescents Formerly Residing in the Robert Taylor Homes. N.p.: n.p., 2007. Print.
A study on the effect of living in the Robert Taylor homes on children

18. Bauman, John F. From Tenements to the Taylor Homes: In Search of an Urban Housing Policy in Twentieth-Century America. N.p.: Pennsylvania State Univ Pr (Txt), 2001. Print

evaluating the initial plan for public housing

19.  Howard Husock. America's Trillion-Dollar Housing Mistake: The Failure of American Housing Policy. N.p.: Ivan R Lee, 2003. Print.
the mistakes of public housing in general, including the Taylor homes

20. Schwartz, Alex F. Housing Policy in the United States. 2nd ed. N.p.: Routledge, 2010. Print.
What the United States has done for public housing.

21. Venkatesh, Sudhir Alladi. Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets. New York: Penguin, 2008. Print.
A writer goes inside to experience gang life in the Taylor homes.

 

Community Song Post

Hometown Glory by Adele

I've been walking in the same way as I did  

And missing out the cracks in the pavement

 And tutting my heel and strutting my feet "

 Is there anything I can do for you dear? Is there anyone I could call?

 No, and thank you, please madam, I ain't lost, just wandering"

Round my hometown, memories are fresh

Round my hometown, ooh, the people I've met

Are the wonders of my world, are the wonders of my world

Are the wonders of this world, are the wonders and now

I like it in the city when the air is so thick and opaque

 I love it to see everybody in short skirts, shorts and shades

 I like it in the city when two worlds collide

You get the people and the government

Everybody taking different sides

Shows that we ain't gonna stand

Shows that we are united

Shows that we ain't gonna take it

Shows that we ain't gonna stand

Shows that we are united

Round my hometown, memories are fresh

Round my hometown, ooh, the people I've met
Are the wonders of my world, are the wonders of my world

Are the wonders of this world, are the wonders of my world

Of my world, yeah, of my world, of my world, yeah

The artist is showing in this song that she loves where she is from. She definitely supports the people of the town and feels that her town is not necessarily perfect, but handles their business in the correct way, by not backing down to the government. The artist does not really describe the place she lives in but, I believe the place that the author describes is in London, although she does not explicitly say so. In my opinion I think that the place she grew up in is an urban area due to the part of the song where she says “I like it in the city when the air is so thick and opaque” or when she “I love it to see everybody in short skirts, shorts and shades” the scene and clothing Adele describes seems very urban to me.

Community posts

Three Communities I belong to

1.       The Swim team

2.       My church

3.       The National Junior Honor Society

      The Community I chose to depict was the Swim Team. We practice in Whitney Young in the Athletic Building, on the first floor, across the hall from the classrooms. When entering the locker room you would see two separate areas. To the left of there are two long benches straight down the middle of the room. Along the left side of the wall, and straight ahead (on the back wall) there are many thin white lockers with towels and swimsuits hanging on the outside of them in order to dry. When walking farther into the locker room you would see a restroom area containing to stalls and one sink with a mirror above it. Closer to the entrance is another little room to the right of the main area is a shower area and one more bathroom stall. To the right of the shower area there is a little hall leading to a stainless steel door where the pool is located. In the locker room the walls are white, the floor is a red brown tile, and bathroom stall doors are a deep red. On the pool deck the same tile in the locker room continues throughout the area. There is a small shallow pool called the “cool down” pool which is used after races at the far left end of the pool deck. A bulkhead separates the cool down pool from the main pool.  At the far right end you will see many brightly colored orange bags containing all each members swim gear. Above the swim gear hanging on the wall are all of the swimming and water polo plaques that the school has won. Separating the boys and girls locker rooms are three or so offices with glass walls which belong to the athletic coaches. On either end of the wall where the locker rooms and offices are, are stairs leading up to the stands. On the wall across from the locker rooms holds the score/record board.

      The expectations for this community are simple. In order to put in your fair share you must come to practice every day on time, try your hardest, be supportive, and communicate with the coaches. In order for me personally to be a member of this community I must make sure that my grades are up to par with what my parents would like them to be. For others to be on the team they must abide to the rules previously stated.  The expectations, however, are greater for the varsity members then for the junior varsity members. They are required to go to an extra practice each week, and in general I believe they are held to a higher standard because they are usually considered the veterans of the sport. My individual role in this community is to do my best in the races I compete in. This may mean pulling my weight by swimming an event I don’t like to such as the 100 butterfly, or anchoring in the team relay to ensure that we have the likeliest chances of winning.

       This community feels comfortable to me because the team is like one big family partially due to us spending so much time together. Team bonding is also very important to us which makes us even closer.  Being together so often would be a problem if there wasn’t such a great group of girls, everyone is so nice, and the one common interest that has brought us together allowed us to share other things that we have in common with each other. Some of the people I have met with swimming would have never existed in my life without the team. The swim team is my community because I feel like I belong there, we share our swimming problems and swimming triumphs, things that not anyone but a swimmer could understand.

Response to Crevecour

  I find Crevecour’s definition of an American to be quite accurate in the sense that Americans are not necessarily pure blooded because the people who have claimed to be Americans have come from many different places. However, I disagree with him when he says they are only of European descent.  People from all over the world have made America their home.  I also don’t agree with Crevecour when he says that when people come to America they leave behind all,  “ ancient prejudices and manners”and ”receive new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced.” I think that people probably hoped to break free of the bonds that were problematic in their old land and escape - some of them probably did. But, it is too hard to let go of the many prejudices, etc. that people have held their entire lives. Crevecour’s definition of an American still holds true in some ways today, such as being able to become something better in America, the ability to come into contact with so many different races, and the ability to get quality education.  Those are some of the reasons people still come to America today.  Although I think America is still great, I feel as if we are losing some of the credibility that Crevecour claimed we had, such as us “carrying along the great mass of arts, sciences, vigor, and industry.” Americans are becoming less and less known for these things because other countries are leveling the playing field by investing and working hard.  We are starting to fall short.

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