Post #11

I listened to Tupac Shakur’s song Dear Mamma and was moved. Tupac raps about his mother’s devotion to him and his siblings. This song is first person narrative about all his mother did to make his life easier despite being a poor black family. His mother was single working hard and just trying to survive. The song parallels many of the realities that we have read thus far throughout the class. The song touches on poverty, single parents, hunger, and drugs. It is a sad song to listen to knowing Tupac has passed away, I couldn’t imagine being a parent listening to my deceased child’s message. The song is a great tool in discovering some of the things we otherwise wouldn’t understand. The message is a good one. Most of us have great parents that would do any and everything to make our lives better. We don’t often realize what we have until its gone so we need embrace our parents, and as parents do what we can to make our children’s lives happy and healthy ones. Sometimes we need a reminder, and this song did that for me. Thank You Mom!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDBGGV3YFMY

Blog #9

18 percent of our nation’s children live in poverty. That equates to over 13,000,000 children, a jaw dropping number. Poverty is a very sad situation and when children are involved it makes things that much more sad. No child should live in poverty however the numbers don’t lie and sadly millions of children do live in poverty today. The videos and reading show that many hard working mothers are out there trying to make a living and trying to provide for their families. Sadly sometimes the work isn’t there. What do we do in these types of situations? Government programming is one answer. There are government programs that provide food for one’s children, sometimes in the form of food stamps or a credit card like tool that allows someone to purchase food. There are also programs that parents can enroll in that provide for food at school. These programs pay anywhere from fractions of the total lunch costs to the whole lunch. These programs work and provide meals when needed, but what happens when the children get home? How is a struggling parent to provide for their child when they are motivated and ready to work but the work isn’t there? At times the work a parent may be able to do is not enough to pay all the necessary bills of survival. How can we fix this? I don’t think there is any sure fire way to fix this problem. However, I do believe doing nothing will make things worse. We need to secure jobs on our home front, and keep them in America. Millions of jobs have been lost to oversee corporation relocation and hundreds if not thousands more will follow in the months and years to come. We need legislation passed that keeps our businesses here. This will save jobs in America and hopefully help in the recovery of our nation. This may work slowly but in the end everyone will be better off. Our citizens will make the money that they deserve, and their children will be better off. It can be a contagious effect if we just act on our feelings. Will we?

Blog #8

“Urban poverty” creates problems for poor working mothers. Here are some of the factors that contribute to Urban Poverty in regards to working mothers according to researchers. There is a decline in real-estate and abandonment of homes, the loss of Small and Big business, poorly functioning public schools with low expectations in regards to learning, emptiness of the streets and a decline of social interaction, and a grim outlook and concern for ones neighbors and neighborhoods.

The real-estate decline never gives mothers a peace of mind that their homes will be safe. Foreclosed homes and properties reverting back to the banks keep families second guessing their living situation. Families never really have a piece of mind that the home they may be living in will be there securely for the days ahead. The loss of small and big business leaves working mothers with fewer choices. The economy is definitely hampered by job loss and this job loss is affected by the economy. These tough times allow very little choice in regards to work. Mothers find themselves working in situations and jobs they wouldn’t typically work. Poor school systems with low expectations often times leave children with little to no aspirations. No authority in regards to education is enforced. Children find themselves wrapped up in the vicious education cycle. This at times leads to low morale with children following in their mother’s footsteps within their own lives and work. Little social interaction and a grim outlook for ones and neighbors and neighborhoods make problems worse for working mothers. The grim mindset and lack of close social networks within neighborhoods makes the cycle move forward. It is a sad reality that these working mothers face on a daily basis. The above problems mentioned are just a handful of the many problems that affect poor working mothers and so the cycle goes on.

Blog #7

Reading about the struggles of Julia and Jacqueline was sad to say the least. Julia wanted to better her situation and despite her efforts ran into some large hurdles. Julia started her college career with the idea that her husband would be able to support her with child care. The initial agreement was that the children’s father would watch the two daughters while Julia finished school. By the end of the first semester Julia’s husband was gone leaving her with no one to watch the children. Izzy, Julia’s sister, moved in during the fall semester to help out with the situation. Izzy soon ran into her own problems with work which prevented her from helping out Julia any further. From that point Julia had to quit school and provide primary care for her children. After about a month and half she started a work experience program. Other ups and downs were encountered until Julia’s cousin Sonia began to provide care for her children. Jacqueline and Julia both felt Sophia was a perfect fit. She fed the children healthy foods, provided an education, and helped out with the upkeep around the house. Julia kept her children with Sonia as long as possible, but eventually the cost was overwhelming. Julia had to have her 73 year old ill mother eventually care for her children.

There is a vicious cycle in which minimum wage jobs add to the poor working women’s ability to find and maintain stable and safe childcare while also trying to make a better living. It is almost a catch 22. If one makes slightly more money than required to get welfare assistance they end up losing in the end. The small increase in pay actually hurts them. This small pay grade increase takes away any government support that one may have once had and in return they actually bring home less given the child care costs that one may have saved on initially. The course work points to different stories and situations that Molly and Delores have gone through. They never seem to get ahead. Thousands and thousands of others are in the same situations trying to better their lives while struggling with issues of childcare and work. My heart is with them all.