Giving A Voice to the Voiceless

Ten years ago I was a normal poor woman from the Hood. I worked hard to provide for my family and struggled all the time. I lived through worrying about my sons surviving the violence that was common in my hood and I worried about the temptation my kids would face with selling drugs. I also prayed that someone would save the hood. I knew that no one was listening to us and that we did not have a voice.

best friends Jen and Carol

I love Hillary Clinton and was excited she was running for President. It was the media's unfair treatment that angered me enough to start blogging on Hillary sites. It was on these sites that I realized that I had a voice one rarely heard. I began talking about Poverty and violence in the hood and discovered that not only did these women listen they cared. I met the White, middle Class Republican woman who became my best friend on a Hillary site. I talked freely about being poor and worked hard to dispel the myth that poor women were sad, long suffering victims but strong women who were mostly happy despite poverty. My other mission was to shed light on Community Violence.

Because my friend Jen was a Republican and not the racist boogyman that most people in the hood thought they were I figured she must not be alone so I began befriending Republican women on Facebook and I was right not only were there more Republicians who were not racist the vast majority were not. Like their Liberal sisters I found them to not only care about what I was saying about poverty and the violence in the hood they learned about what life was like living in the hood. They cared about poverty and believed their ideas would help. A lot of their ideas were actually good ideas that the hood liked. Carol was in this group. She is actually a real time friend of Jen. She has become what my granddaughter Aleara says is my second best friend.

I realized also that I was a voice that was rare and not often heard and I started talking about more issues like mass incarceration for non violent drug offenders and the problems of public education and how often times Educators ignore us and how many fall beneath the cracks.  Issues I wanted to see change.

I continue to work hard educating women on what impact things like Prosecutors and Public Defenders pushing Plea Deals on terrified poor people who are innocent. My nephew who is serving time in Prison for a crime he didn't commit, encouraging me to continue to be not only his voice but the voices of the men serving time with him. Its a tremendous responsibility but one I must do because the hood needs not only my voice but others like me.

Ending the Myth that poor people lead sad lives

Ten years ago when I started blogging I realized that as a poor woman I was supposed to be an object of pity and that everyday of my life was supposed to be hell. I was shocked because NONE of the Poor women I knew lived that life. I looked at the pictures that media used for poor people, both black and white, are dirty with sad faces. People were stunned I wasn't sad and depressed. I don't have money but I have a full life. I don't know anyone born into poverty and even some who ended up impoverished live horrible lives.

Poor people work very hard, we complain about taxes (yes it hurts our pockets when they deduct payroll taxes. We do not want rich people's money we just want our taxes to go to Medicaid and Food Stamps instead of to Corporations or tax cuts. That makes us no different than the middle class and wealthy, looking out for our own interests. We are not fans of poor people who play the system and refuse to work living on the dole. We are more effective with getting them off welfare because we are their peers and shame from us is felt. Most of us raise our children to be moral and most of us care about our Children's education. We over indulge our kids at Christmas and vote. We enjoy our friends and we do not judge people by their race or income level. We don't judge people on Political Parties most of the time we stay out of that area. We make friends based on their character not things like race, income level, or Political parties. This enabled me to become friends with Jen, Carol, and Kim middle class Republican women and also Rosemary, Jess, and Amy middle class Democrats. All of these women enriched my lives. We are able to elect an Upper Class White Man as mayor based solely on who he is as a person.

Our lives are affected by poverty but it doesn't take over we take the hits and get on with our lives. We face Homelessness and overcome it without becoming sad. It's stressful but just one more obsticle to overcome. We may battle hunger and may require assistance but we get over it. We know that all we need to do is sound off the alarm to other poor people because the truth is no one helps the poor like other poor people. I once had to tell a middle class friend not to tell poor people she had no food in the house when she really meant she needed to go grocery shopping. She ended up having several bags of food and was embarrassed. I told her to keep the food and give it back to them when they needed it.

I'm usually a very positive person as is most of my friends. We sit in our kitchens or back yards and talk about our lives, jobs, kids, and men. We laugh and cry on each others shoulders. I may not have money but I have been blessed with a lot of good friends. I wouldn't change that either despite my struggles.

The next time you hear about poor people living horrible lives spend time with them and your discover we lack money not full lives full of happiness, sadness, struggle, good times, tradagy and love.

Different Worlds

On Monday I officially met my best friend Jennifer. I actually met her nine years ago in a Hillary Clinton forum. We became fast friends.

We faced many trials and tribulations together, even though we lived in different Cities. I live in Pittsburgh, PA and she lives in Rochester, NY.

I am a poor, uneducated woman from the Hood and she is a middle-class college professor.

In 2008 someone cut my gas line but no one could tell me who did it or why.
In January of 2009 my water was cut off. No one could tell me why. We lived an entire Winter without water or natural gas.

That Summer, faced with another cold winter, I called Child Protective Services on myself.

They found out why I had no gas lines and water. The houses that held my pipes were going to be torn down. The cost to put pipes in my house would reach $100,000. I couldn't afford that so I had to move.

On September 24, 2009 my teenage daughter and I would be going to a homeless shelter. I was terrified and I told Jen. We were terrified together.

The homeless shelter turned out to be a beautiful four bedroom apartment. Jen spent a sleepless night worried about me and I spent a sleepless night trying to adjust to a new place.

She decided she was going to get her PhD and began applying to schools. She got turned down by her first choice, which devastated her. I was heartbroken for my friend but didn't want her to give up. She applied to another school and got in. Together, we celebrated.

Together, we supported each other through Sarcoidosis and the loss of my spleen, loss of employment due to illness, a missing child, new employment. Jen did my resume on Messenger. My Sarcoidosis moved into Stage 4 and I had to quit my job. Jen had a seizure and then a brain tumor, which needed surgery. We supported each other through each struggle.

We also celebrated the birth of grandchildren, new jobs, and the graduation from high school of my youngest and her oldest child.

What makes us close is that we call each other out on our bull. We do not hold our tongue when the other is making a mistake or in trouble.

I've learned about middle class people and she learned about poor people.

Yes, we come from different worlds but more people should leave their comfort zone and talk to people who are different.