This piece marks the 40th installment of “The Anti-Poverty Solder” during which I have addressed the specific issue of racial disparities in Minnesota numerous times.
Clarence Hightower
Dr. Clarence Hightower is a visionary leader with more than 37 years of nonprofit
experience in the Twin Cities. He is the current executive director of the Community Action
Partnership of Hennepin County, one of the largest anti-poverty organizations in the area and the state’s largest Energy Assistance program. He welcomes reader responses to chightower@caphennepin.org.
Posted inOpinion
Extreme poverty plagues billions across the globe
In many ways the face of poverty outside of America might seem different to us. On the other hand it looks the same in other ways, including the fact that it tends to disproportionately affect people of color wherever they live.
Posted inOpinion
Ten thousand more MN Black children now in poverty than in 2008
I still remember the astonishment I felt when reading the 2008 Minnesota Kid’s Count Report published by the Children’s Defense Fund of Minnesota. It addressed the disproportionate rate of poverty among the state’s Black children as compared to other states throughout the nation. I have cited this particular report in previous columns but still believe it bears repeating, especially when considering the following quote.
Posted inOpinion
How Dr. King’s prophetic words define our current crises
Shelterforce began, 40 years ago, as a newspaper for tenant organizers. They were legal aid lawyers and similar rabble rousers in small cities in Northern New Jersey, wanting to connect to other folks doing similar work across the country: organizing groups of tenants to stand up to their landlords about horrendous living conditions, fighting for policies that protected tenants.
Posted inOpinion
Stand with the poor before it’s too late
A few weeks ago I introduced a column discussing the official U.S. poverty rate by referencing the 2011 poverty bus tour that was organized by Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West. In August of that year, Smiley and West visited a total of 18 cities in 11 states.
Posted inOpinion
So, why can’t I get a job?
In recent weeks, several media outlets and employment-focused nonprofit agencies have highlighted the sharp increase in the number of metro job openings since last year.
Posted inGo Green
Environmental injustice in the Twin Cities
The modern environmental movement has its roots in social and political ideologies that stretch all the way back to the early 19th century, including the Romantic Movement, the conservation movement, and the early environmental protection societies. Though similar ideas, strategies and conservationist programs continued into the early part of the 20th century, particularly in Europe, […]
Posted inLocal & State, News
The federal poverty line grossly underestimates actual U.S. poverty
During the summer of 2008, art would imitate life in New York as Michael Bloomberg implemented a more meticulous and sophisticated method to measure poverty throughout the city’s five boroughs. As such, the poverty rate in New York swelled to 23 percent overnight, and 400,000 New Yorkers joined the ranks of the poor.
Posted inOpinion
The economic security of our seniors is at risk
Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties operates the largest Energy Assistance Program in the state.