There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in The Other America by
Alex Kotlowitz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book was devastating to read how these young children grew up in the Chicago projects. The book is a very close look at the lives of two brothers Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers, 9 and 12 at the start of the book. Journalist Kotlowitz was embedded into the Rivers family life for two years, Summer of 1987 to September 1989.
The family lived in the projects in Chicago. LaJoe Rivers had eight children with Paul Rivers and still remained married to her husband, which was somewhat unusual circumstance for their background. The kids father sometimes was around, but didn’t really live with them. The three older kids were nearly adults, Lafeyette and Pharoah were the middle kids, then a set of triplets were their younger siblings. LaJoe was on welfare, had food stamps, and had the constant hope of being able to move out of the projects.
Gun violence, drugs, and gangs dominated their lives, along with poor living conditions. The bathroom tub faucet constantly ran, doors wouldn’t shut properly, the stove oven barely worked, among other problems. And the apartment was overly crowded. Each of the older children had succumbed to either drugs or crime. LaJoe hoped at least one of her children would make it by getting a high school diploma.
Pharoah developed a stutter due to all the trauma he experienced. The summers were the worst, as gang activity picked up, shootings became an almost every day occurrence. The Rivers boys lost several friends due to all the violence, one an accidental police shooting. Their older brother Terrance was picked up an charged with a shooting he had nothing to do with, the charged ended up being dropped after the eye witness admitted he didn’t do it. Later Terrance was again charged with a crime he didn’t commit, but was now 18 so he was in adult court this time. Lafeyette also ended up in juvenile court over a crime he didn’t commit either. Just being black and nearby seemed to make you guilty.
The book was written very well, read like a fiction book. The author’s note explains how he conduced his research, verifying everything with multiple accounts, if he wasn’t there. Since this took place several decades ago, one can hope the environment has improved, although I fear not enough.
I was amazed to find an audiobook at my public library, and that got me to finally read this book. I bought this book back around when it came out, so it’s been lingering very long on my bookshelves unread.