By Trish Brown
You could say the blues have followed me wherever I’ve gone.
My mom came from a family of 18, picking cotton and peanuts in Georgia. My dad, who played the blues, couldn’t read. He learned numbers selling produce.
I was born in Massachusetts, where my mom worked in the factories and raised me alone after my parents separated. She was always telling me, “Keep praying we’ll get by.”
The prayers helped, but thankfully they were supplemented by government cheese and cash assistance. Our country’s social safety net has always been flawed, under-funded, and over-complicated. But it’s also essential — and we need to protect it from political attacks.
I graduated from high school with straight As, but poverty had left me unprepared for what came next. I made it into college, but I struggled to keep up with more privileged classmates. Feeling crushed and struggling to eat, I dropped out.
Later I got pregnant, trapped in an abusive relationship. I ended up homeless.
My prayers were answered again, with food stamps and enough cash assistance to rent a motel room. But as my ex-partner’s abuse got more dangerous, I fled several times — first to Chicago, where my mom’s Section 8 housing sheltered me, and later to Tallahassee, Florida.
In Florida, I worked three jobs — not enough to make ends meet, but enough to disqualify me from food stamps and cash assistance. Politicians who cut our safety net say these strict rules encourage work, but for me it was the opposite.
Still, we did everything we could.
Today my baby is grown. With the help of a mentor, he graduated from the Job Corps program and is now married and working. My own life changed once I began uniting with poor people like myself.
After many years I came across a group called Front Porch Florida. They gave me volunteering opportunities working with struggling women and families like mine.
I worked a dead-end minimum wage job knowing no one wanted to hire a civil rights activist. I’ve gone without health care and dental care for 20 years. I’ve been gentrified out of a home, facing the never-ending obstacles of racism and poverty.
Eventually, my volunteer work turned into an administrative and mentoring job with a stipend — although still not enough to survive. Even now I’m renting from a slumlord — I’ve got no working fridge and I cook on a hot plate.
But along the way I stumbled on the Poor People’s Campaign and joined to take the struggles of poor people straight to lawmakers to demand change.
It’s a big job.
Pick up any newspaper and see how Florida and other conservative-run states are trying their best to kick down anyone who’s dared to stand up. Federal lawmakers are doing the same, with the GOP forcing through cuts to social programs and new “work requirements” that make it harder for poor people to qualify for help.
It doesn’t have to be this way. I believe that in our hearts, we all want what is fair and right. Most of us believe there should be equal opportunity and help when we need it. We all want quality education, quality health care, and good jobs with living-wages. A fair chance.
We need ways to unite behind these ideals. When enough of us from all walks of life work together, we’ll be unstoppable. Please join me. For your family and mine.
Trish Brown is a theo-musicologist, a coordinating committee member of the Florida Poor People’s Campaign, and the founder and executive director of Power Up People.
Atwp says
Don’t know your race, sound like an African American. Times get hard for all of us especially people of color. Thank you for the story. People continue to elect Republicans and this what we get. They are talking about cutting social security, punish women because they have an abortion, get rid of any safety network people have in place, make life very hard for gay people. Hopefully people will see what the anti little man Republicans are doing. If they don’t see it by years end, they are blind and will never see how crazy the Republicans are.
Craig says
A very compelling and well written piece.
Acquire some skills.
Joshua Rosenbloom says
I would agree, it’s not safe, and it is never sanitary, to do that, I had it with Florida, completely, this is a travesty of humanity and a mockery of human life, and a mockery of human dignity, I would never trusted on American politics, completely.
Greg says
Sorry, but you reap what you sow. Limited education, and kidsright off the bat. Sorry, that you failed, but no one to blame but yourself. That’s his life works.
Sherry says
@ greg. . . What a heartless and despicable comment! Consider the possibility that “you”, greg, will reap the hate filled inhumanity that you are sowing here. How about “walking a mile” in her shoes? How about a little compassion? You should be very ashamed! Talk about “limited education”. . . what in the hell is “kidsright”, and “his life”?
Celia Pugliese says
In my long life I have learned that every individual is different:
1) There are those of us that have a strong power of determination and thou not high IQ gifted, do not give up and strive to claim that ladder out of the hole, even thou we know what is to be hungry at times with no food as a child.
2) There are those with gifted IQ’s that will succeed using also their determination, many of them are today’s young billionaires and my hat is sincerely out to them!
3) There are those that do not have enough strong determination, gifted IQ’s and furthermore harsher childhoods than 1 and 2 and I do believe that those need to be provided the first step that is missing for them on that ladder out of the hole, so they can get a breather to finish the claim and YES, as responsible citizens we should provide that first step they need.
I have met soo many helped with that first step and is so rewarding to see them happy and self sufficient and only takes “a little kindness” to help them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX7NNMKBPsw
After all we are all so lucky that we can still make it in our beautiful USA, were some gave up their lives trying to reach!
Robert Joseph Fortier says
Think you meant “That’s how life works”. By the way, I am white, born into poverty, Parents divorced after years of terror to us kids, and no rich person around to help me out.
My life isn’t like that today though, because I joined
the military to better myself, learned a lot and became a man.
Used my military benefits to go to college.
Worked when not in school.
Stuff like that…
Nancy N. says
It’s a travesty how so many people in this country are starving, do not have stable homes, and lack even basic healthcare. We should be ashamed of ourselves.
Sherry says
@ Celia. . . beautifully written! You and I have been singing the same song in comments to recent stories on Flaglerlive. Only your song seems sweeter. Hopefully our words ring true and soften the hearts of some of the folks out there.
Sherry says
Right On Nancy!
Sherry says
@ greg, or robert. . . whoever. . . You don’t seem to truly understand that right out of the gate, as a male, you have a much better opportunity for success than any woman. You are very smugly comparing apples to oranges, and in a defensive and heartless way. Maybe some introspection would benefit you. Why is your own self esteem so dependent on putting other people down?
Sherry says
OOPS Robert I misread your comment. My words regarding self esteem were meant for Greg. So sorry for the confusion.
Sherry says
@ Celia. . . beautifully written! You and I have been singing the same song in comments to recent stories on Flaglerlive. Only your song seems sweeter. Hopefully our words ring true and soften the hearts of some of the folks out there.
The dude says
Even the most bootstrappy, chest thumping, MAGA among us has simply stood on the shoulders of all who come before them.
Difference between them and us normals is we understand this simple fact, and they choose not to.
We should help the poorest of us as diligently as we help the billionaires. I’m a big believer in trickle up economics… help those at the bottom, the ones that will pump all their money into the actual economy. That $$$ will still eventually make it to our beleaguered billionaires, but not via government handouts like sweet sweet tax cuts and carveouts. If I gotta pay a nominal 10% +/- of the money I earn, so should should Elon Musk.
The Geode says
I am black. I grew up in poverty. I went to prison. I agree with Robert. So, is Robert “privileged” because he is presumed “white” or is he privileged because he is a “man”? I can assure you that a poor white man enjoys very little privilege and a black man (according to you) enjoys none at all. The thing with you Pasty-White Liberals is that you keep “moving the goal-post” to suit whatever narrative at the moment. I say that to say this, nobody impeded me from doing whatever I wanted to do or achieving whatever goal I set for myself albeit good or bad. What “introspection” does Robert need that I didn’t experience in the past or face today? I get it. You people think you are doing us a favor by acquiescing to our whims and appeasing us like pets or special needs children. My parents NEVER complained about racism and they lived in the middle of the Jim Crow South. I grew up at the end of the Civil Rights marches and I don’t remember the races being this divided and muddled because most of us just want to exist, live in peace, and enjoy life. I don’t need your supposed special treatment OR your entitlements. I think it’s complete BS for one race to be coddled and all others ignored. We should be EQUAL. Treated EQUAL. Have the same EQUAL opportunities to either earn our way through life or live in a cardboard box. If you haven’t guessed by now, I DO NOT suffer from “low esteem”
Pogo says
@The dude
Amen.
Linda says
Thank you! Most people simply do not, or choose not to understand. ♥️
Laurel says
Geode: You may not suffer from low esteem, but you certainly got one hell of a “Pastey white liberal” chip on your shoulder!
Sherry says
@geode. . . I completely agree with you that “We should be EQUAL, Treated EQUAL, have the same EQUAL opportunities. If you feel you have personally achieved all those things. . . how wonderful for you!
However, in my life experience, and with all the people I’ve met from many different life situations in different parts of the USA, it is my observation that complete EQUALITY in every way, across all genders/financial positions/skin colors has NOT been achieved.
In fact,it is my observation that in Florida, DeSantis is passionately ginning up fear and hate against anyone who is not a white, hetrosexual Christain. Please note, the NAACP warning about Florida.
Therefore, when I post comments about the INEQUALITIES in our country, I am not intending them to directly refer to “your” personal experience. . . your very defensive attitude against “pastry white’ people aside. I am happy to hear of your life’s achievements in EQUALITY.
Sherry says
@ The dude. . . Right On!