If there is any one thing that could make a person unfit to head up federal housing policy in the United States, it would be his belief that poverty is a “state of mind.” Despite centuries and decades of intelligent discussion, research and policymaking on the subject, here comes Dr. Ben Carson, Secretary of the [...]
The great political scientist and activist Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “…We are likely to find that the problem of housing, and education, instead of preceding the elimination of poverty, will themselves be affected if poverty is first abolished.”
Flint’s families need an income sufficient to meet their basic survival needs in order to overcome this man made disaster.
Dear Mr. Kingston: Congratulations on your plan to have the destitute children of Georgia sweep their schools to earn their lunches! It is important for kids living in poverty to learn there is no such thing as a free lunch until they become Congressmen or bankers. Of course, since their families are super duper poor, [...]
I feel great dismay at the Thanksgiving news that Governor Cuomo of New York is giving away $4.5 million to food banks. Even the food bank industry itself has said that the ultimate cost-efficient solution to starving New Yorkers is income and increasing the coverage of the Food Stamp program, as well as increasing the [...]
by Diane R. Pagen, LMSW The Congressional Food Stamp bashers are at it again. I do wish they would call each other in the morning before telling rooms full of Americans what is wrong with Food Stamp users. In June we heard a Congressman from Texas, Louie Gohmert, say that it’s obvious poor Texas kids [...]
In the first 75 years of the 20th century, the United States was really interested in tackling problems affecting children. The federal government consulted public figures. Women spoke of children’s well-being: Eleanor Roosevelt, Lillian Wald, Grace Abbott. Problems like child labor, poverty, juvenile delinquency and malnourishment led to the creation of the U.S. Children’s Bureau, [...]
Homelessness is not just physically punishing, it destroys mental health and goes against everything society believes in.
So I took a hiatus from blogging. Like anything else, I think it is good to step back from blogging and make sure that what you are writing is relevant and purposeful, whether the purpose be to inform, entertain, or both. I've spent the past year writing, but more in the traditional way: pen, paper, [...]
This essay appeared in El DiarioLaPrensa on July 3, 2012 Joel Morales hung himself in his family's apartment in an East Harlem housing project one month ago. He was twelve. This event seemed a senseless tragedy to some. Despondent relatives and an angry community blamed rogue, evil children. Hoping to avoid a future tragedy, some [...]
