LeAlan Jones facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
LeAlan Jones
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| Personal details | |
| Born | May 8, 1979 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Political party | Green Party |
| Residences | Bronzeville, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Journalist, Football Coach/Trainer |
LeAlan Marvin Jones (born May 8, 1979) is an American journalist from Chicago. He is known for his award-winning radio documentaries. These documentaries shared stories about life in Chicago. LeAlan Jones also ran for the United States Senate in 2010 as a candidate for the Illinois Green Party.
Contents
Early Life and Radio Work
Growing Up in Chicago
LeAlan Jones grew up on the South Side of Chicago. He lived near the Ida B. Wells housing project. His grandparents, Gus and June Jones, raised him in the same family home since the 1930s. .....
Making Radio Documentaries
When LeAlan was 13, he and his friend Lloyd Newman created a radio documentary for NPR. It was called Ghetto Life 101. A producer named David Isay helped them. The documentary showed what life was like on the South Side of Chicago in 1993. The boys recorded interviews with their families, friends, and people in their community. The show was very popular. People praised it for showing real life in the housing projects of Chicago. It won several awards, including the Sigma Delta Chi Award.
In 1994, Jones and Newman made another documentary. It was called The 14 Stories of Eric Morse. This documentary looked at the lives of people connected to Eric Morse. He was a five-year-old boy who tragically fell from a window in the Chicago projects. This documentary first aired on NPR's All Things Considered in 1996. It won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and a Peabody Award.
Later, the two documentaries and more recordings were put into a book. The book was published in 1997 and was called Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago.
Education and Community Work
LeAlan Jones graduated from Chicago's Dr. Martin Luther King High School in 1997. He then studied criminology at Florida State University. He later transferred to Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois in 2001. He earned a bachelor's degree in Social Science.
Jones also created the Aspiring Youth Take A Student To your Employment (TASTE) Program. He realized that students could learn a lot by visiting workplaces. This program helps students see why school is important. It shows them what they need to learn to get good jobs in the future. The TASTE Program has helped more than 13,500 students visit workplaces across the country.
Political Campaigns
Running for U.S. Senate in 2010
LeAlan Jones decided to run for the United States Senate in 2009. This was during a time when there was a lot of news about Illinois politics. He ran for the seat that Barack Obama had held before becoming President. The person holding the seat at the time, Roland Burris, decided not to run again.
Jones ran without anyone else challenging him in the Green Party primary election. This meant he became the Green Party's candidate. In the main election in November 2010, he ran against candidates from the Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian parties.
Early polls showed Jones getting about 5% of the votes. After some news about another candidate, Jones's support grew. A survey in June showed him getting 14% of the vote. In the end, he received 3.18% of the total votes.
Special Election in 2013
In 2012, a U.S. Representative from Illinois resigned. This meant there would be a special election for that seat. On December 4, 2012, the Illinois Green Party chose LeAlan Jones as their candidate for this election.
Political Ideas
LeAlan Jones has spoken about several important issues. He believes the U.S. should agree to UNICEF's Convention on the Rights of the Child. This is an agreement about children's rights around the world. He also supports banning land mines and getting rid of all nuclear weapons. He wanted troops to leave the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Jones has also talked about the financial industry. He has said that certain financial practices have caused problems. ..... He also thinks that cooperatives and credit unions can help the economy.
