First, I read an introduction about a man who was curious to see all the different kinds of people around Chicago, and to write a book about how and why their lives differ from one another. He went around Chicago looking for people who were rich, poor, of different races and religiois, and to see the urban phenomenas with his own two eyes. He met people at random places around Chicago, asking them questions about their jobs and if they do or do not like them. What he learned from doing this is that people who live completely different lives because of their jobs, income, etc., are completely divided, and do not associate with each other. "Although there is a division street in Chicago, the title of this book was metaphorical." (225) What he learned is that people in Chicago are completely divided because nobody will associate themselves with people who differ from them. This relates to the segregation that occurred during the Civil Rights Movement because the people that this writer wrote a book about segregated themselves from people who were different from them. This story also relates to separation that occurs today. For example, the north shore contains of people who make a better income than the people who may live on the South side of Chicago.
Florence Kelly was a was a woman who grew up in Chicago. She loved it there becuase of the city, but she also hated it because nobody respected each other. When Kelley was young, she moved to a neighborhood called the Hull House. The Hull House was a very diverse neighborhood where gangsters and hoodlums lived. Kelley enjoyed living in that neighborhood because it gave her insight on what the real world was like. Kelley learned that the people she thought were "nice" before moving into the Hull House were actually fake, and the people who lived in the Hull House were real. Many people did not like the gangsters and hoodlums because they were a threat, and people secretly knew they could succeed. Kelley was very inspired by her experience living in the Hull House and she decided to share it with the world by making a proposition: to speak out and convince people that the Hull House was a great place to live and it could be saved. Kelley did everything in her power to make people have the desire to live in the Hull House, but after some time, she recieved notice that the Mayor decided to use the space the was currently used for the Hull House to be used as a place to put a college campus. As much as Kelley wanted to protest, board members of the Hull House convinced her not to. One day, Kelley went to a meeting with a board member, and was influenced to believe that she did everything she could to help the Hull House, but there was nothing else she could do."The first time I went, I thought this was a friend through whom we could work. But I could see, you know, that she allowed me to be just so friendly, and there was a place beyond which I couldn't go. There was a difference now. I stayed in my place, but I said what I wanted to say...I was glad to experience it that way."(232) Kelley proved that she was a very strong woman because she did everything in her power to make the Hull House succeed, but she became aware that there was nothing else she could do besides share her thoughts. She also knew that protesting would lead to conflict, which would get her nowhere. Florence Kelley's story relates to Theordore Roosevelt's thought on conservation, to use areas in wilderess to be developed for common good. The mayor who decided to place the University in the area where the Hull House was relates to this concept. Florence Kelley also relates to the speakers of the Invisible Children program because the speakers try to convince people to help the children living in Uganda, but they do not protest against people who do not try to help. Like the Invisible Children speakers, Florence Kelley also made the decision not to protest against the people who did not agree with her views on the Hull House.
The last person I read about, Lucy Jefferson, was an African American women who was very passionate about reading. Lucy grew up in a very low rise project, called the Robert Brooks Housing Projects near the west side. She was a very tough woman who intimidated many people because she proved wrong the stereotype that blacks were unintelligent and could not succeed in life. She strongly believed that negro women could do anything they want as long as they had nerve, just like she did. Lucy Jefferson had children of her own, and she became very aggravated due to the facts that her children were not learning anything in school because the teachers did not care to educate the children, and there were no books in the schools. Lucy believed that the things that people thought were important when getting an education, like getting a diploma were not as important as actually learning. "If I woke up in a house that didn't have a book in, I'd just burn it down, it wouldn't be any good. To me, they're my life blood. Types of caps, gowns, all that crap, it don't mean nothing." (252) Lucy Jefferson was able to see the importance of education that many others did not see. Lucy Jefferson relates to Rosa Parks because she let everyone around her know that she was going to do whatever she wanted to do, even though she was black. Rosa Parks also proved that she was going to do whatever she wanted when she refused to sit in the back of a bus. Lucy's story also relates to the education that many people receive in this day and age because the quality of education today has greatly increased since her era.
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