About

Award-winning journalist. Single father. Football coach. Truth-teller. LeAlan Marvin Jones has been speaking truth to power for 17 years about poverty, inequality and justice. In 1993 LeAlan made headlines with his WBEZ-FM documentary “Ghetto Life 101” which he made with 14 year-old Lloyd Newman and producer David Isay. Just 13 years old at the time, his honest portrayal of life on Chicago's south side earned him worldwide acclaim. He followed up his success with a tragic investigation into the murder of a five year-old boy in a Chicago housing project entitled “Remorse: the 14 Stories of Eric Morse”. For this documentary, LeAlan became the youngest recipient of the prestigious Peabody award and the Robert F. Kennedy Grand-Prize. Both documentaries were turned into the book Our America: Life and Death on the Southside of Chicago and a Hollywood movie called “Our America” produced by actress Angela Bassett and starring Josh Charles. Just before the historic 2008 presidential election, LeAlan produced a follow-up to his first documentary for the BBC World Service called “Out of the Ghetto.” While training to be an investment banker with JP Morgan, LeAlan decided to become a full-time father to his two nephews instead of entering the pressurized world of high finance. He is currently a linebackers coach at Chicago's Simeon High School where his youngest nephew is a varsity quarterback. LeAlan Marvin Jones' middle name was chosen by his mother because she was a fan of singer Marvin Gaye. He lives in Chicago's Englewood Community.

Education

• Florida State University
• Martin Luther King High School