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Romance and politics • No job? No food stamps. • White people haven’t recovered. • This week’s Tweets •
Continue reading * Romance and politics
Category Archives: Poverty
* Wolves in sheep’s clothing
I am at a difficult juncture.
My immediate material situation requires that, like never before in my life, I practice what I preach; care for myself; work in my own self-interest; be “here-now-can;” “keep the focus on me;” live by the Serenity Prayer. These are what I counsel any poor person to do. These are what I most emphatically now must do myself.
This entails dis-attending to all the current social turmoil.
It entails turning a deaf ear and blind eye to many messages, insistent messages, particularly coming from those who claim to have the best interests of the poor (like me) at heart.
* Naughty girls ISO the Kingdom
I have been spending lots of time at church during the week. I took to looking askance at two particular neighborhood teens who participate in a number of our programs — garden club, after-school, youth group — because they seem to manage always to be in the wrong place (an unauthorized place) at the wrong time, and Shontay in particular wears this mischievous grin, as if she’s looking for trouble.
One Sunday in mid-November, my attitude toward them changed completely.
* “Do the Right Thing,” part 2
Prosperity belongs not to the righteous, but the wise.
In the days immediately following the initial mistrial of Baltimore Police Officer William Porter on charges relating to the death of Freddie Gray, Bounce TV broadcast Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing several times. I could not help seeing this as a commentary on the mistrial. Bounce had likewise shown the film several times in the days following the April 2015 riots.
The film focuses on events surrounding a pizzeria in a New York City ‘hood on the hottest day of the summer. Sal is the Italian-American owner of the pizza place; Mookie, played by Spike Lee, is a young African-American employee. At closing time, a group of people led by Radio Raheem enter the store to insist Sal take down his “Wall of Fame,” which displays portraits of Italian-American celebrities (only).
* The pain pills saga
The dentist prescribed ibuprofen 800s and, for me to take at night if the toothache became severe, Hydrocodon-Acetaminoph 7.5-325. This is a narcotic. “Pain pills.”
I have a large zipper bag with four compartments. There is a main compartment, which I can lock; a front compartment; a left side compartment; and a right side compartment.
Every afternoon when I sit on my bunk, I empty my pockets and put my phone, debit card, and cash in the main compartment. I take my afternoon meds, which are already in there, and lock it all back up.
Related: Giving it all away
* It pays to be grateful.
I meant to discuss how privileged you are if you can choose your food.
An event Thursday night changed that. Sometimes you’re privileged even when you can’t.
That same guy happened to be right behind me in the dinner line. As we approached the serving window, he got all put out because they’d run out of the chicken and French fries. What we had to accept instead:
Four thick slices of hot, tender, juicy, turkey breast with gravy, and this fantastic stuffing.
And mixed vegetables.
Related: I stay at the best shelter on the East Coast
Related: Learning curve
Continue reading * It pays to be grateful.
* Why you should know about Freddie Gray’s life
Janell Ross’s 12/19/15 WaPo column includes a remarkable statement:
The abbreviated and not at all easy life of Freddie Gray was, to some extent, shaped by Gray’s choices. He was an American and an adult with at least some of the attendant free will that people assume comes with either status.
In the present political climate, I never expected to see such words in print.
Read the article:
Continue reading * Why you should know about Freddie Gray’s life
* Who’s dying in Baltimore
* A landmark study
Stress in low-income families can affect children’s learning
I am very excited about this.
This is, as far as I know, the first study to attempt to measure the degree of chaos in the home.
The researchers in an earlier-mentioned study (Related: Poor children have smaller brains) speculated that “poor families tend to live more chaotic lives, and that stress could inhibit healthy brain development.” The current study seems to indicate that it is directly so.
As of this writing, my hypothesis has become as follows: the chaos of a growing child’s environment causes comparatively more resources to be devoted to the limbic system and less to the cerebral cortex, resulting in a body with reduced capacity to learn.
Related: A MUST-READ CONCERNING JUSTICE AND POVERTY
Related: Chaos overwhelms the poor
Related: Wisdom teaching in poor black homes
(Reblogged 10/13/16, 11/18/21.)
The Homeless Blogger 