How to have a meaningful discussion about eliminating poverty

How to have a meaningful discussion about eliminating poverty

A meaningful discussion of how to eradicate poverty can’t occur without a courageous conversation about race and racism. Last week, the Robin Hood Foundation brought together leaders from government, eduction, the non-profit sector, and the media to be part of a frank discussion about poverty at their (virtual) No City Limits Conference, which did just that.

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There is no normal to which we can return

There is no normal to which we can return

As Week 12 came and went, so did the stay-at-home order in most states, including Illinois. Still a lot of things we can’t do, but a lot of restrictions lifted. The Chicago lakefront is still closed although when I was down in the city last weekend, the barricades blocking off Lincoln Park west of Lake Shore Drive were down and I could run unencumbered along those pathways. Today I went back to my office for the first time since March 13. The day Ann died.

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The time to act is now!

The time to act is now!

I’m not only white, I grew up in “Whitelandia” – a wealthy suburb of New York City where “diversity” was Irish or Italian with maybe a German or Polish family thrown into the mix. We were all white. We were at all Catholic. I didn’t even know anyone who was Black until I went to a Catholic High School in another county. Not sure I would have even made any effort to have a relationship with the few Black girls in the entire school if they weren’t my basketball teammates.

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