poverty

by Beth Dalbey “IT’S NOT SOMEBODY in the deepest part of Detroit or Pontiac,” said former marketing manager for Fortune 500 companies who found herself unemployed and homeless. “It’s somebody standing next to you in the grocery store who…

by Lynn Parramore IF YOU’VE GOT the money, there’s hardly anything you can’t buy in America. You can purchase a cushy upgrade to your prison cell, an internship at a famous magazine, or a fast-track through airport security. You can even…

by Drew Dellinger WHEN MARTIN Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech, he did something extraordinary for a speaker mounting a challenge to the existing order: he positioned those in his movement not as outsiders and dissidents,…

by Diane Nilan WITHIN 3 MINUTES of sitting down for a haircut at one of those places that asks for everything but your social security number to cut your mop, I heard about two more homeless families, known to my hairdresser-du-jour.…

by Richard Eskow “OVERCOMING POVERTY is not a task of charity,” said Nelson Mandela, “it is an act of justice.” When the War on Poverty began a half-century ago, it was widely seen as the moral obligation of a wealthy nation.…

by Alyssa Figueroa A FEW YEARS ago, as David Sleppy was walking around downtown Toronto, he spotted a young homeless man who reminded him of his son, sleeping on a sidewalk. “Whose son is this?” he thought. He snapped a picture,…

June 8th marked the 24th time Food Gatherers has put on its annual fundraiser Grillin'. According to Food Gatherers staffers at the event, this year's numbers topped last year's numbers, including number of attendees and amount raised.…

by Rob Smith On December 12, 2012 Governor Rick Snyder was quoted in the Detroit Free Press as saying that "Michigan is well-positioned for a comeback." A few days later, for the third year, Forbes Magazine ranked Michigan 47th in Forbes’…

by B. Mann It’s morning.  I think of what day it is.  God, please let it not be the 15th.  I don’t have the money for the payroll taxes.  Oh wait... did I pay the truck? Shit!  I didn’t pay the truck.   I hope that check comes today.  It’s…

by Rob Smith It's been a tough couple of weeks for Governor Rick Snyder in the Michigan courts. First a Wayne County judge declared closed-door meetings of the finance team which had been evaluating whether Detroit should be forced to…