Don’t get me wrong. As the son of a single mom, who gave everything she had to raise me with the help of my grandparents, I turned out okay. But at the same time, I wish I’d have had a father who was around and involved.President Obama • Speaking to a predominantly black high school audience at Hyde Park Academy in the South Side of Chicago today, with a slightly different angle on the pro-gun control rhetoric he’s been voicing of late — urging that positive examples in poverty-stricken communities, in family life as well as community life, are also necessary to reduce violence: “…it can feel like the future only extends to the next street corner or the outskirts of town… There are entire neighborhoods where they don’t see an example of somebody succeeding.” source
» The nitty-gritty: ”If we’re going to impose standards on drug testing,” Dvorak said, “then it should apply to everybody who receives government money.” McMillin claimed that he had to withdraw the bill after Dvorak’s amendment was added, due to a 1997 Supreme Court ruling that it’s unconstitutional to drug test candidates for elected office…but that logic is flawed, as the Dvorak Amendment would have only required testing of officials already in office, not candidates. Surprisingly, McMillin said he plans to introduce a new version of the bill….that requires lawmaker testing as well. “Give me the cup right now and I will be happy to take the test,” McMillin said. (EDIT: corrected spelling error)
We should be reminded of what Dr. King was attempting to do when he was assassinated at 48 years [sic] of age. He was trying to put poverty on the American agenda. If he could speak to us today — and he will be speaking to us on Sunday — he would tell us that we should provide people with a living wage, end the wars, bring the troops home. He would say, ‘Do not forget the least of us.’Rep. John Lewis • Speaking about Martin Luther King Jr. before the hurricane-delayed dedication of the civil rights leader’s memorial. Lewis knows a thing or two about all this civil rights/poverty thing, due to the fact that he marched with King in Selma, Ala. — and notably got injured in the process. (Edit: As one of our readers noted, Lewis incorrectly stated King’s age. He was 39 when he died. He gave his “I Have a Dream” speech, which the dedication was originally timed to celebrate, 48 years ago.) source (via • follow)
![pantslessprogressive:
Dr. Cornel West at the Occupy Wall Street protest Tuesday evening. [Photo: @linktothepast86]
Hey, it’s that guy from “The Matrix Reloaded.”](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ls7q0f1Kiv1qzr73ro1_500.jpg)
Dr. Cornel West at the Occupy Wall Street protest Tuesday evening. [Photo: @linktothepast86]
Hey, it’s that guy from “The Matrix Reloaded.”
» What these numbers mean: The current poverty line in the U.S. is $22,314a year for a family of four and $11,139 for an individual, so anyone making less than that falls into these numbers. To put this into hard numbers, that means 46.2 million people are living below the poverty line. As for the middle class, their median income is $49,445 — actually down just a little bit from the year before. (Editor’s note: We just clarified the poverty line numbers.)
Nearly 1 in 5 children lived in poverty in the U.S. in 2009. That’s 15 million kids. Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi ranked lowest on the study’s 10 indicators of child well-being. New Hampshire, Minnesota and Massachusetts ranked highest.
A sad number, even sadder in graphical form.
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