LEO: Living for the City

BLUESONG GUIDE DESCRIPTIONStevie Wonder’s upbeat song “Living for the City,” is a pulsating 70s track that soulfully paints a picture of the struggles faced by African-Americans who moved from the south to Northern Cities. Filled with memorable lyrics, a thumping bass groove and sound effects this song is ideal for classroom study on its own or with books like: A Raisin in the Sun, The Watson’s Go to Birmingham, Invisible Man, The Jungle and House on Mango Street.

Mindblue’s differentiated lesson plan is filled with multi-disciplinary activities linking the song to the artwork of Faith Ringgold, the sociology of the persevering family, and movies like the Spike Lee drama Crooklyn.

THEMES/SUBJECTS

Political Disenfranchisement

Poverty

Racism

The Great Black Migration

Voting

LIT TERMS

Personification

LITERATURE LINKS

The Watson's Go to Birmingham - Christopher Paul Curtis

Monster - Walter Dean Myers

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Mildred Taylor

House on Mango Street - Sandra Cisneros

Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens

Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison

Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansberry

Slaves of New York - Tama Janowitz

Crossing California – Adam Langer

The Jungle - Upton Sinclair

Bodega Dreams – Ernesto Quinonez

Joy Luck Club - Amy Tan

Dragonwings - Lawrence Yep

Nickel and Dimed - Barbara Ehrenreich

The Autobiography of Malcolm X – Alex Haley and Malcolm X

Young, Black and Gifted (Young, Gifted and Black) - Lorraine Hansberry

Harvard Works Because We Do - Greg Halpern

Letter from Birmingham Jail – Martin Luther King Jr.

Angela’s Ashes – Frank McCourt

Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. - Luis Rodriguez

Down These Mean Streets - Piri Thomas

Black Boy - Richard Wright Native Son – Richard Wright