So, now we are comparing the poor to stray animals?

Everyone who blogs on a regular basis, especially those who blog about politics and social issues, can testify that blogging sometimes takes a toll on you, both emotionally and physically. Getting something of substance up on your page every day can sometimes become a real chore.

Not only that, constantly thinking about and dwelling on the abject foolishness which comprises modern politics, not to mention the other extraneous occurrences that erupt from time to time, makes my blood boil and gets under my skin so much so that I have to take a step back, clear my throat, get my thoughts back in order, and find my voice again.

I have always hoped that my blogging voice would be one of clarity, of sanity, that would elucidate, sometimes entertain, sometimes sternly rebuke; however, sometimes rage and disbelief cause that voice to tremble ever so much. Last week was one of those times.

However, I saw the above piece on television on last evening, and I knew that I would have to comment on it, if only briefly.

It seems that Andre Bauer, the Lt. Governor of South Carolina, had the temerity to compare providing sustenance to poor and needy children to feeding stray animals. The reasoning behind not feeding the poor? Because if you feed them, the poor will reproduce. But the word he used was breed.

Okay, now we are talking about other human beings as if we are discussing animals. Come on now. Haven’t we progressed any further than this? And this is a public elected official no less.

I don’t want to get preachy. But part of the problem we face in this country, and elsewhere for that matter, is our sanctimonious display of religiousity—“This is a Christian nation”—tempered by a firm disregard for religious or moral principle.

As of this morning, Lt Governor Bauer still stood behind his statements. I can only hope that the humanity in him wakes up just enough to recognize the humanity in the less fortunate.

If We Could Just Allow them to Dream: Poverty Is the Next and Most Urgent Battlefield

Photo credit: UrbanMinistry.org who is observing Blog Action Day

which is meant to bring about an awareness of poverty throughout the world

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world… --Ephesians 6:12

I grew up smack dab in the middle of the ‘hood. But though poverty surrounded us, I don’t remember us to be poor. I remember there were times of boom and bust. I remember there were times when we had a lot. And there were times when we had very little. However, whether we were going through boom or bust, my mother endeavored to give us good gifts.

And of all the gifts she gave us, perhaps the greatest gift was the ability, the encouragement to dream, to imagine a future far beyond the confines of the inner city, to believe that anything in the world was possible. Though we were raised in the ‘hood, the ‘hood never became a part of us or defined us; it was simply the place where we resided for the moment until that day when our dreams came true.

But as I now work with kids from the inner city, the first thing I notice is their inability to dream, or the very limited scope of their dreams. The first thing I notice is the gleam missing from their eyes.

Yesterday, I alluded to a book I spent the weekend re-reading, Dr. Ruby Payne’s A Framework for Understanding Poverty. One of Dr. Payne’s central tenets of the book is the notion that poverty engenders a certain mindset. She writes that for those caught in a seemingly endless cycle of generational poverty, the very first casualty is the ability to imagine a future any greater than the present; all that matters is the here and now.

I mentioned this to a colleague, and he summed up her argument thusly: Those caught in an endless cycle of poverty have basically given up hope. They have surrendered themselves up to the vicissitudes and whims of circumstance, and in this pernicious cauldron of hopelessness, it is the children who suffer most. If the children cannot imagine a future greater than the present, then no future exists for these children.

Though we still haven’t overcome or solved the issue of race, our next and most urgent battleground is poverty and the effects thereof. But the problem with confronting problem the problem of poverty and its effects is our attitude toward those languishing within its tenacious, insidious grip.

We have been conditioned by the politics of meritocracy to believe that those who work hardest, those who make the necessary investment in self are those who rise highest. In other words, those who are successful have worked hard for that success and fully deserve it. And I too subscribe to this belief.

However, we often are not aware of what is implied by this argument. If we accept this argument, we also tacitly accept the notion that those who are not successful, those mired in poverty, do not work hard and deserve to be in the very position they are in. Even further, I have heard it stated that many of those living in poverty actually enjoy that way of life.

But this is for the most part untrue. Many of those living in poverty work very hard, perhaps harder than most, but having a limited set of skills, they find themselves working the hardest, most menial jobs for the least amount of pay. Many deplore the lives they are forced to lead but simply know of no other way. Many have just thrown their hands up and given up altogether.

But whatever the reason, whatever the situation our greatest concern should be the children. Perhaps we cannot reach many of the adults. Perhaps the effects of poverty, perhaps the mindset of poverty has set in, become entrenched in many of the adults; however, in the children there remains a glimmer of hope. Not only that, if we are successful in reaching the children, if we are successful in meeting the needs of the children, we can then get many of the adults to come to the fence.

Every person wants to give their children good gifts. Every person wants to pass on to the next generation those advantages that they did not have. The greatest gift we can give our children, the greatest advantage we can pass on to the next generation is the ability to dream, the encouragement to dream, to imagine a future greater than the present. In that way, we can actually offer them a future.

Upcoming Documentary: The Cotton Pickin' Truth...Still on the Plantation

I found this trailer via Facebook where it was first posted by Benjamin Woods of the blog freetheland. The trailer for the upcoming documentary The Cotton Pickin’ Truth…Still on the Plantation seeks to expose the present day system of slavery and peonage still in existence in many parts of the United States.

I must admit that when I watched the opening segment of this trailer, I was a bit incredulous at first. I am somewhat leery of conspiracy theories whether they come from the right or the left, and the story of the lady speaking seemed a bit outlandish when taken out of context. The notion that she was held in perpetual servitude as a slave up until 1960 is a bit hard to take even if it is in the state of Mississippi.

But as the trailer progressed, it gained a bit more credibility in my eyes. I have been through Mississippi, and I have witnessed firsthand many of the intolerable conditions some African Americans and whites continue to live under. I have witnessed the shotgun shacks and dilapidated trailers often housing successive generations under one roof, permeated by the overwhelming smell of urine and feces emanating from nonexistent or insufficient human waste disposal systems.

And I have witnessed the dearth of educational opportunities which might lead to meaningful employment among those still living a rural agrarian existence devoid of technological advances and advantages even as the nation and the world moves forward. Needless to say, some of the conditions I have witnessed firsthand in the state of Mississippi and in forgotten communities throughout the nation are abominable in a nation boasting of plenty.

I look forward to being able to see the completed product which is due to be available right around January 10^th, 2010. After you have watched the trailer, let me know what you think, and if you have any questions for the filmmaker, she can be reached by email at afrigenah@yahoo.com.

Questioning the Dyn-o-mite Dynamics of Good Times

I’m into about hour sixteen of a twenty-four hour Good Times marathon on TV-One. It’s been fun. I’ve had some laughs. I’ve reminisced. It took me back. But suddenly I’m beginning to question the whole premise on which the show is built.

You see, Good Times is based on a black family living in the projects; the hilarity grows from their efforts to overcome the chaos that surrounds them and the forces which keep them there. And it is hilarious. Until you think of the implications.

Over the five or six seasons or so this show was on the air, the family remained firmly ensconced in the projects. Every plan they conceive of to escape their conditions falls through. The father, James Evans, Sr., is killed when he goes south to pursue a better job. JJ has tremendous talent and potential as an artist, but he can’t seem to catch a break. Thelma’s husband the NFL prospect breaks his leg and doesn’t get the million dollar contract he was expecting, and the younger son Michael is not able to go off to college as he has planned his whole life because he has to stay and help out the family.

If you think about it, this is perhaps the most hapless family I’ve ever saw, and suddenly the show becomes just damn depressing. The shit suddenly ain’t so funny anymore.

But if you think about it, the show could play out no other way. If the family is finally able to progress and get out the projects, the narrative of poverty is broken, and the show no longer functions as a sitcom; perhaps, negroes succeeding just doesn’t seem so funny. Or at least it was not so funny at the time (Remember the shows staff of mostly white writers).

But wait. Another episode is coming to an end. It seems that at the end of this episode, JJ finally signs a lucrative contract with an animation studio and is finally able to move out. Thelma’s husband finally gets an NFL contract, and he and Thelma move out taking the mother with them. And Michael is finally able to go to college. It seems like their luck has changed!

It turns out that this is the last episode recorded; it is the farewell show. Now TV-One is starting over again with the initial episode. The cycle begins anew.

Ha! Seems my theory is correct.