In March 1993, producer Dave Isay put a microphone into the hands of two young people living in Chicago's notorious Ida B. Wells public housing projects and asked them to record an audio portrait of their lives. The result was Ghetto Life 101, and it sparked the interest of an aspiring poet and writer living in the projects: Yanier "Blak" Moore.

Blak's life has been marked by an almost inconceivable degree of violence and death -- gang-banging and drug-dealing, the murders of his parents and countless close friends -- but through it all he has been able to transcend personal tragedy with the power of words.

On the tenth anniversary of Ghetto Life 101, Sound Portraits is proud to return to the Ida B. Wells and present a new story of hope.

Producers: David Miller and Dave Isay / Production Assistants: Joni Murphy and Ruby Sheets / Music consultants: DJ Scribe and Steinski / Original music by Arthur Bloom and Pete Sokolow / Funding provided by the Joyce Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts. Photo by Tez Straughter.

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This piece is available in the following audio formats [11:40 min]:
		28.8 kbps Real Audio
		56 kbps Real Audio
		ISDN Real Audio

		intro
		transcript

		Triple Take, Blak's novel
		An excerpt from Blak's novel
		Photos of the Ida B. Wells housing projects, by John Brooks
		Archival photos of the Ida B. Wells housing projects from the Library of Congress
		Ghetto Life 101, the documentary that inspired Blak

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