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In a recent column, Bill Moyers and Michael Winship wrote, “When it comes to our ‘out of sight, out of mind’ population of the poor, you have to think we can help reduce their number, ease the suffering, and speak out, with whatever means at hand, on their behalf and against those who would prefer they remain invisible. Speak out: that means you and me, and yes, Mr. President, you, too.”
In the past year, it’s hard to imagine how anyone could have done more on the national stage to seek out and speak out on behalf of people living in poverty than broadcaster Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West, professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice at Union Theological Seminary. This week, September 12–15, they will go on the road for their second poverty tour in a year, which they have dubbed “Poverty Tour 2.0.”
The bus for radio co-hosts Tavis Smiley & Cornel West on the road to Hayward, WI to kick-off 'The Poverty Tour: A Call to Conscience" in 2011. (AP Photo/Earl Gibson III)
All of this work is in addition to their coverage of poverty-related issues on their nationally syndicated weekly public radio show, Smiley & West.
In my mind, Smiley and West’s work is representative of the kind of constancy and singular focus that’s needed if we are to preserve the advances this nation has made in the fight against poverty, and take new and greater steps forward in the months and years ahead.
“It’s all about making sure we keep on beating the drum about poverty,” Smiley told me when I spoke with him and Dr. West about the upcoming tour. “We want to do our part to make it a priority in this campaign and beyond this campaign.”
The poverty tour that begins this week will visit four battleground states—Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Florida.
“We know where Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney are essentially going to take up residency between now and Election Day,” said Smiley. “We know where the energy is going to be and the concentration of media is going to be, and that’s where we’re going.”
At each venue, Smiley and West will interview elected officials, policy experts, faith leaders and authors—“people who have solutions to offer,” said Smiley.
“But most importantly we’re going to be talking to poor people—to folks in the audience who will share their stories of enduring, of trying to survive, of overcoming poverty,” he said.
They will also focus on pushing the presidential debate moderators to make poverty a central issue in the upcoming debates.
“The words ‘poor’ and ‘poverty’ did not come up one time in the 2008 presidential and vice presidential debates,” said Smiley. “We’re going to be hitting the moderators really hard in advance of the first debate on October 3.”
The tour is scheduled intentionally to coincide with the release of new Census Bureau statistics on poverty.
“These new numbers will underscore what we’ve been saying for a while now—poverty is the new American norm,” said Smiley. “There are now one out of two of us—150 million of us—either in or near poverty. Politicians can’t simply continue to be quiet on this issue.”
“This is all about trying to lift the veil off poor people and the stereotypes of poor people—attempts to demonize and dehumanize poor people—to allow people to see them for the human beings and fellow citizens that they are,” said West. “The prevailing public discourse describes poverty as a matter of bad habits and bad judgment, instead of seeing the lack of opportunity, lack of jobs with a living wage, lack of access to quality education and quality housing. We come back to these issues over and over and over again. How do we instead stay in contact with the humanity and creativity of poor people?”
West and Smiley aren’t without their detractors, and both expressed concern that personal attacks will get in the way of the work they hope to accomplish through this tour.
“Get the focus off of us, and put the limelight on our precious fellow citizens who don’t have access to a decent job, decent housing, and decent healthcare,” said West. “I think that’s a challenge for every journalist today, because the problem right now is we live in a country where conservative discourse has made it fashionable to be indifferent or have contempt toward poor people. If you focus on the messenger then you never have to confront the suffering and the misery of the poor people that we are highlighting with our work.”
Smiley also noted the negative reactions they have received for their critique of President Obama.
“I get sick and tired of people who believe that just because you’re pushing the president, that somehow you’re hating on him, or you’re aiding and abetting the other side,” said Smiley. “How do you push a president? You can’t push him by being silent. You can’t push him by not pressuring him on the things that really matter. We are not going to stop pushing, but it doesn’t mean that we hate Barack Obama.”
“What we hate is the contempt and indifference toward poor people that is found in both Republican and Democratic parties—less so in the Democrats, but both parties suffer from it,” West added. “So this issue of class, of poverty, of economic injustice is one that we will continue to highlight in a very serious way.”
Smiley and West hope that their effort will play a role in electing a president who can no longer afford to ignore poverty—that so many people will demand action, he will use the bully pulpit to make the eradication of poverty a priority.
“We need to force poverty onto the agenda,” said Smiley. “And timing is everything.”
“Very Low Food Security” on the Rise
On Wednesday, the United States Department of Agriculture released its annual report on food security. The data show that more than 50 million Americans—one out of every six households—were “food insecure,” meaning they “had difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources.” That means there was no statistically significant change in the overall number of food insecure households between 2010 and 2011.
However, the number of households with “very low food security”—those with members that reduced their food intake or skipped meals at times due to limited resources—rose from 5.4 percent to 5.7 percent of all households in 2011. That number represents 6.8 million households, or more than 16.8 million people, and is the same level of very low food security that was evident at the height of the recession in 2008 and 2009.
Children in particular are struggling with hunger. More than 16 million children live in food insecure households, including nearly one-fourth (24.5 percent) of all children under age 6.
Dr. Mariana Chilton, associate professor at Drexel University School of Public Health and co-principal investigator for Children’s HealthWatch, notes the impact on young children who go without food as they lay the foundation for their health; cognitive, social and emotional development; and future potential.
“There are lifelong implications,” said Chilton. “Children in food insecure households have more health problems, are more likely to be hospitalized and have developmental delays. Young kids who are food insecure may arrive at kindergarten unprepared and never catch up with their peers.”
Tianna Gaines-Turner, a member of Witnesses to Hunger—a project in which people living in poverty use photographs and testimonials to advocate for change at the local, state and national levels—said she isn’t at all surprised by the numbers. She operates a peer mentoring program in Philadelphia two days a week, helping people get the food, energy assistance, healthcare, school supplies, community legal services and housing services they need.
“I see more and more people in need of assistance with purchasing food,” Gaines-Turner said. “Many come in with their children who wake up in the morning hungry and go to bed with their stomachs growling.”
“What these numbers show is that we have malnutrition right here in America,” said Chilton. “The people suffering from hunger are our neighbors—in the suburbs, cities and rural areas. We can do better as a nation.”
She noted, however, that the summer drought is expected to drive food prices higher, there is no national plan to end hunger, and the strongest defense against hunger—food stamps (or, SNAP)—is under attack in Congress.
Indeed, the Senate version of the Farm Bill would cut more than $4 billion over ten years from SNAP, reducing benefits for an estimated 500,000 households. The House version would make these same cuts and also end benefits totally for a minimum of 1.8 million people, cutting the program by $16 billion.
The good news is that the American people seem to be ahead of the politicians when it comes to SNAP and supporting the nearly 47 million people who benefit from it. A new poll released by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) indicates overwhelming majorities are opposed to SNAP cuts, with 79 percent of respondents supporting more (55 percent) or about the same federal spending to address hunger. Fully 75 percent feel that cutting food assistance is the wrong way to reduce federal spending. According to FRAC, opposition to SNAP cuts was high among Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.
“[The] food insecurity data and polling data show that proposals for SNAP cuts are a ‘two-fer’ of wrong thinking,” said FRAC President Jim Weill. “A bad policy idea and a very unpopular idea. Americans…believe government should—and must—do more to address hunger.”
Here are a few things you can do to fight hunger and protect food stamps and other nutrition programs: you can advocate to protect SNAP in the final Farm Bill; join the NoKidHungry campaign which focuses particularly on protecting nutrition programs that serve at-risk children and families; support and follow Witnesses to Hunger—the experts who know poverty and hunger firsthand; and e-mail me at [email protected] about other campaigns people should know about.
That’s by no means an exhaustive list. And I look forward to your help as we stay on top of this epidemic to help ensure that no one—families, single adults, working, not working, homeless, housed, seniors, middle-aged, young—goes hungry.
A Note on President Obama’s Nomination Speech
There is no question that from an antipoverty perspective, President Obama’s speech tonight was thin. If you expected otherwise, I don’t think you’ve been paying attention. This is a pragmatic president trying to get re-elected. He set out to do what he had to do, and—though I’m no expert—he probably accomplished it.
That he did better than the other guy in addressing some issues of concern to lower-income people surely isn’t enough. But I suggest we stop trying to “read” Obama—does he care about poverty, or doesn’t he care about poverty? Will he be bold, or won’t he be bold? Is he this, that, or the other thing?
It’s a waste of time and it’s a waste of energy.
In my opinion there is one line from the president’s speech tonight that those of us who care about eradicating poverty can and should take to heart: “Only you have the power to move us forward.”
My two cents is that we take a moment to recommit ourselves to this fight: that we will educate and agitate; we will yearn, push, and strive; we will not be complacent, nor will we be silent in order to make potential allies feel comfortable.
We will do everything we can—as Tavis Smiley said in the above interview—to force poverty onto the national agenda. We will be relentless.
I hope that our effort culminates in Barack Obama embracing this cause. But if it doesn’t, so be it. It’s not about him—never was—and that can’t stop us.
Get Involved
A National Standard for Paid Sick Days
For Organizations: SAVE Vital Services and Prevent Rising Poverty
For Individuals: SAVE Vital Services and Prevent Rising Poverty
Economic Hardship Reporting Project
ThanksGivingAmerica
Clips and Other Resources
“Domestic Workers Rights Expand in California But Challenges Loom,” Sheila Bapat
“The Good Jobs Challenge,” Elizabeth Lower-Basch
“Deadly Poverty,” Steve Bogira
“Obama’s Acceptance Speech,” Steve Bogira
“Fair Food Program helps end the use of slavery in the tomato fields,” Holly Burkhalter
“Hanging in the Balance: A Head Start for Low-Income Kids,” (VIDEO) Center for American Progress
“To Fight Hunger… Partner with Those who Experience it First-Hand,” Mariana Chilton
“NewtAid at 16: The Failure of TANF and Conservative Social Policy,” Shawn Fremstad
“The NYT and the ‘Disorganized Single Mother’ Meme,” Shawn Fremstad
“Should Kids Go to Jail for Skipping School?” Annette Fuentes
“‘Patients Over Politics’ Bus Tour,” Marissa Gallo
“Can the Black Middle Class Survive?” Steven Gray
“How We Can Bring Millions of Americans to the Middle Class,” Bob Herbert
“Locked Up Without a Key in New Orleans,” Karen Houppert
“Uncensored: American Family Experiences with Poverty and Homelessness,” Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness
“Low-Interest Locusts,” David Cay Johnston
“Maine Sues to Roll Back Medicaid Coverage,” Ezra Klein
“Economic Mobility in Chicago’s Projects,” Sylvester Monroe
“Invisible Americans Get the Silent Treatment,” Bill Moyers and Michael Winship
“Majority of New Jobs Pay Low Wages, Study Finds,” Catherine Rampell
“The GOP’s Welfare Lie,” Betsy Reed
“Senior Poverty: Food Insecurity Rising Among Older Americans,” Laura Rowley
“Making Child Care More Affordable and Accessible,” Heather Sandstrom
“Santorum’s Right: Better Access to Education is a Key Part of Welfare Reform,” Liz Schott
“New Hunger Data Shows a Generation at Risk,” Bill Shore
“Bringing the Poor to the Table,” Katherine Wright
Studies and Briefs
“Bad Jobs on the Rise,” John Schmitt and Janelle Jones, Center for Economic and Policy Research. Compared to the end of the 1970s, the typical worker today is almost twice as likely to have a four-year college degree, is about seven years older, works with approximately 50 percent more physical capital and uses much more advanced technology. Despite these trends, the share of “bad jobs”—defined as one earning less than $37,000 per year, without employer-provided health insurance and lacking any retirement plan—has grown since 1979. In 2010, 24 percent of the workforce had a “bad job,” up from 18 percent in 1979. The report co-authors point to the fall in the inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage, the decline in union representation, trade deals and high unemployment as some of the key factors reducing the bargaining power of workers.
“Strategies to Help Low-Wage Workers Advance,” MDRC. This study looked at a pilot project designed to help low-wage workers access “work supports”—including food stamps, child care subsidies and healthcare—as well as career coaching and access to skills training. All of these services were offered at a single center at three different sites across the country. With assessments at Year 3 and Year 4, MDRC found that the program increased workers’ receipt of work supports, and—in the two sites that that made funding available for training—increased the receipt of certificates and licenses as well as workers’ earnings in the third year. (Though those gains had faded somewhat at one of the sites by Year 4.) The study concludes that access to training is a critical part of any advancement strategy for low-income workers, but the earnings gains might be short-lived if it’s not the right kind of training and there aren’t opportunities for additional professional development.
When Unemployment Insurance Runs Out: An Action Plan to Help Long-Term Unemployed, National Employment Law Project. More than 6 million long-term unemployed people have already reached the end of their jobless benefits; 2 million more will be cut off at the end of December. This report looks at how some states have connected workers to social services and reemployment services. It calls for a coordinated federal response to work with state governments, as well as the nonprofit and private sectors, to pursue job creation strategies and maximize benefits for this hard-hit population.
Cutting Programs for Low-Income People Especially Hurts Women and Their Families, National Women’s Law Center. Women who head families and elderly women are especially reliant on programs for low-income people. Here is a look at some of the most vital programs that must be protected to ensure that any deal on spending reduction doesn’t increase poverty.
“…Welfare Is Not What You Think It Is,” Heather Hahn, Olivia Golden, and Alexandra Stanczyk, Urban Institute. Most people think TANF is a cash assistance program—it isn’t. Only 30 percent of the TANF block grant goes towards cash assistance for families. All fifty states make greatly divergent policy decisions on how to use their TANF block grant, with vastly different implications for low-income families. This paper examines the unique TANF programs in California, Florida, Michigan, Texas and Washington, including how each one responded to the recession.
Vital Statistics
50 percent of the jobs in the US pay less than $34,000 a year (Economic Policy Institute).
25 percent of the jobs in the US pay below the poverty line for a family of four, less than $23,000 annually (Economic Policy Institute).
US poverty (less than $22,314 for a family of four): 46 million people, 15.1 percent of population.
Children in poverty: 16.4 million, 22 percent of all children, including 39 percent of African-American children and 35 percent of Latino children.
Number of children in poverty receiving cash aid: one in five.
Deep poverty (less than $11,157 for a family of four): 20.5 million people, 6.7 percent of population. Up from 12.6 million in 2000.
Increase in deep poverty, 1976-2010: doubled—3.3 percent of population to 6.7 percent.
Families receiving cash assistance, 1996: 68 for every 100 families living in poverty.
Families receiving cash assistance, 2010: 27 for every 100 families living in poverty.
Impact of public policy, 2010: without government assistance, poverty would have been twice as high—nearly 30 percent of population.
Twice the poverty level (less than $44,700 for a family of four): 103 million people, roughly 1 in 3 Americans.
Quote of the Week
“Republicans are even bringing up poverty, because of a longstanding concern for the poor that began two weeks ago.”
—Steve Bogira, senior writer, Chicago Reader
This Week in Poverty posts to The Nation every other Friday morning, and again on Sundays at Moyers & Company. Please comment below. You can also e-mail Greg Kaufman at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter.
