You will never understand what it’s like to be Black in a White World

Hal Espy was my boss at Cal State Long Beach when I worked in the Kitchen for 49er Shops. He was (may still be) a tall man who repeated the name of the person he just met seven times in their first introduction and then he never forgot the name. He was an Olympic Hopeful […]

FAILURE . . .

Hey guys, So we’ve been hanging out here for over a decade (if you have been here since the beginning). When I started this in an Excalibur hotel room in Las Vegas, I was a little buzzed and talking to my friends Bonnie and Isabel. They did not understand why I spend my days on […]

National single parent day

Easily about 92% of the family’s I saw when I worked in the welfare system were single parent families. Most of those families were led by women and almost none of them received child support. It’s like I could have been my own client. It is only through assistance from families and friends and my own […]

Off to school I go

It is the first day after spring break…I can do it! #usc @msw

Women in Poverty

Thoughts?

The Trauma of Leaving Work on Skid Row

I noticed something as I read the LA Times today : I search the photographs of homeless people searching for familiar faces. My breath caught – my heart stopped – and I did a double take because I thought I saw Maria’s face outside a tent.

Recently Missing Children

It feels like children are vanishing into the fears of their parents and out of sight with each rising sun. Please search the faces of the youngsters you pass on the streets for these kids.

No attention span

Dude. It is 11 am today, and I just realized I made coffee at 4pm yesterday and never drank it. Actually,I forgot all about it. What kind of monster forgets she made coffee?!?!?!? Of course I’m writing mid term papers and the kid has a 102 degree fever…. but coffee guys, coffee?

No EBT accepted: get a job

Wow. So many of the “working poor” are on public assistance that this sign just makes me angry.

Clear Label

This might be the most user-friendly thing I have seen yet. The rules for how to manage and use a food stamp card are not complex but often hidden. You can buy cold chicken but not hot chicken. But what about pre-packed is chicken? I like that this grocery store has taken the moment to […]