I listened to the Tavis Smiley special on poverty in America last week. It was a two and a half hour program with half a dozen guests discussing poverty. I have not slept well since listening to that program. What a statement we make as a society that in this country today, almost one out of every two of our citizens live in or near poverty. What absolutely energizes and frustrates me is not seeing Community Action part of these conversations. Where and how do we interject Community Action into this debate?
Recent census data reports that fifty percent of Americans live in or near poverty. The gap has probably never been as wide between the "have" and "have-nots" as it is today. During the Great Depression 50 to 60% of the population was living in absolute poverty, but the gap between them and the top 1-2% was not as wide as it is today. There were more people in the same boat during the Great Depression. If you go back to the days when the republic was founded, there was obviously a gap between the “have” and “have-nots,” mostly broken down by racial lines. Today’s situation has a similar quality.
In 2011 members of the press provided me opportunities to bring awareness about our network and to raise our presence. At the time, I felt as though I was inserted into a whack-a-mole game. I chose to keep my head down and work carefully – and quietly – through Congress. I have shifted in my opinion though. Now I want to bring attention to the inter-connectedness between poverty and Community Action. Our success and our existence will be determined in part by how well we participate in this debate. We can stoke the fire in a responsible way. Yet, it is certain to be an angry debate.
I find our current situation unconscionable. Everyone in Community Action ought to lose a bit of sleep thinking about the people we serve, the state of our communities, and what we stand for as a country. We need to think about the opportunities that are simply not there for people.
January 20, 2012
Poverty in America
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David it is about time more CAP directors lost sleep. There was a time when CAPs were being urged to get out of the streets and into the board rooms. They succeeded; they seem to have forgotten that in the early years it took organizing the welfare mothers and the residents of low income housing to make the voices of the poor heard in city hall and state legislative offices. There is no inclination to do that any longer. Seems as though CAP directors ( and maybe I only speak of my experience in Illinois)are all for training staff and giving awards. The state is more interested in economic development than in directly dealing with the poor. LIHEAP, Weatherization,Scholarship programs, Entrepreneurship Training, etc., focuses on providing services. But what about giving a voice to the poor? What about steps towards institutional change? As public housing is destroyed and inner city housing is now looked as prime development areas, it is not surprising our local mayor says: " Let our sister cities take our poor." Meanwhile we have HUDs : Continuum of Care" of shelters; Second Harvest's ever growing number of Food Pantries. Everything is calm in River City. How many CAP directors are almost at retirement age? Time to have a last hurrahs? You may be losing sleep, but I doubt if any CAP directors are. If I sound upset, I am and have been since I decided I was fighting a lonely battle ( they called me the conscience of the state CAPs). However, the other day I was cheered up when I heard Rev. Dwight Ford of an Omaha CAP speak at a Martin Luther King Celebration in Rock Island." The war on poverty has shifted to a war on the poor," he admonished the audience, which, incidentally had the former mayor there ( of course he did not clap). Let me know if I can help out. Vincent G. Thomas, Rock Island, IL. ( 29 year vet with Project NOW CAA).
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