I've Been Thinking...

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Sep 20, 20208 min read

Talking Loud and Saying Nothing

I used to love me some JB. The funk. The precision. The songs: Papa Got a Brand New Bag. Sex Machine. Popcorn. Say it Loud: I'm Black and I

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Oct 10, 20245 min read

LISTEN UP: IF YOU'RE ON THE HOOK FOR STUDENT LOAN DEBT, PROJECT2025 PLANS TO TURN UP THE HEAT!

Project2025 proposes to turn up the heat on those owing student loan debt

Apr 10, 20245 min read

INEQUALITY IN WEALTH: IT'S BOTH A RACE AND CLASS THING

The wealth divide exists between as well as within groups. It's both a race and class thing.

Mar 20, 20248 min read

BLACK LUNGS MATTER TOO: BAN MENTHOLATED CIGARETTES

Smoking and Mentholated cigarettes is doing a number on our lungs and our lives. If Black lives matter, so must Black lungs.

Feb 16, 20244 min read

WORTH THE WEEP

I arrived early enough to stick my head into the chapel and be hit with a sight that was beyond jarring: Two caskets facing each other, each

Jan 16, 20245 min read

THE RISK OF EXPERIENCING AT LEAST A YEAR IN POVERTY IS GREATER THAN YOU THINK

Make no mistake about it: Economic vulnerability is a thing and, particularly important, most of us are likely to get a “taste” of it.

Jan 15, 20244 min read

POVERTY IS POLITICAL

Poor people are not impoverished because they're under some "generational curse" that needs to be broken. Poverty is political

Dec 7, 20236 min read

NEEDED: AN ECONOMICS VISION ROOTED IN HUMAN RIGHTS

"The economy" ought to serve people and the planet, not the other way around

Nov 4, 202310 min read

ALL OF US DIE BUT SOME OF US ARE NEVER DEAD DEAD

Milton Friedman, the intellectual OG of the school choice and voucher movement, is dead but far from dead dead

Oct 9, 20234 min read

YOU MAY NOT KNOW IT BUT I'VE BEEN ON WELFARE FOR DECADES

There's a lot more of us on "welfare" than we recognize or care to admit. And welfare for the well-off is defintely a thing. I ought to know

Oct 2, 20234 min read

YOU GOTTA PAY A PRICE TO BE POOR

One thing's for sure: It ain't cheap being poor.

Sep 29, 20234 min read

DESPITE A RISE IN POVERTY, STATES ARE SITTING ON BILLIONS IN UNSPENT FUNDS MEANT TO AID THE POOR

Child poverty has risen, yet states are sitting on $6 billion in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

Sep 20, 20233 min read

NEW CENSUS STUDY SHOWS CHILD POVERTY IS ON THE RISE

Public policy can push people into or pull people out of poverty. It is created and sustained by political choices.

Aug 12, 20231 min read

FOR O'SHAE

Gazing at O'shae Sibley's face--and knowing what happened to him-- leaves me enraged

Jun 27, 20234 min read

THE CASINO NEVER CLOSES

That whole submersible thing left me feeling more than a bit of moral disgust. Here's some reasons why

May 16, 20234 min read

LOWER BLACK UNEMPLOYMENT RATE PARTIALLY DRIVEN BY INCREASED NUMBERS DROPPING OUT OF THE LABOR FORCE

It's way too early to be out here running victory laps in light of the recent drop in the Black unemployment rate

May 9, 20235 min read

STILL STIGMATIZING SNAP

Speaker McCarthy and his allies are part of a long tradition in stigmatizing the poor, including food stamp participants

Apr 15, 20237 min read

WANNA BLESS BLACK WOMEN? FIGHT TO CANCEL STUDENT LOAN DEBT!

We need to bless Black women--and millions of others in the process--by cancelling all student loan debt. Now!

Mar 8, 20236 min read

THEY DON'T MEAN US NO GOOD

Let’s get straight to the point: They don’t mean us no good. Just in case you’re confused about who the hell “they” is, they is all them

Feb 23, 20235 min read

THE ECONOMIC AGONY OF AGING

Aging in America can be a real .... Especially if you're a Black woman. The economics of it can be brutal AF

Feb 13, 20234 min read

VISION, VALUES, AND SOCIAL SECURITY

What we think and do about Social Security is not simply an economic issues; it's about our moral values and our vision of the good society