BLUESONG GUIDE DESCRIPTION Stevie 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 POETRY LINKS "Broadway" - Mark Doty "Mother to Son" - Langston Hughes MOVIE LINKS The Bicycle Thief (1949, NR) City Lights (1931, NR) City of Joy (1992, PG-13) Crooklyn (1994, PG-13) In America (2002, PG-13) Oliver Twist (2005, PG-13) ARTWORK Look at Faith Ringgold’s narrative quilt “Tar Beach” (1988) at the Guggenheim Museum’s website. NOTE: Our Study Guides are available as an Adobe Acrobat PDF download. After your purchase you will be directed to the page which contains your downloadable PDF file(s). Click to purchase the music that accompanies this study guide! "Living for the City" by Stevie Wonder 013$8.99 ABOUT US | STUDY GUIDES | IN THE NEWS | EVENTS | CONTACT | MINDBLUE.COM Copyright 2006 Mindblue, Inc.