Can I see another’s woe,
And not be in sorrow too?
Can I see another’s grief
And not seek for kind relief ? ( William Blake)
My professional life takes me into America’s cities. It is there i have come to “see” that there are 2 America’s in our country. Most priveledged folks need never enter these communites…need never to see the hopelessness, despair and slow genocide that takes place there on a daily basis. Perhaps that is why no one really planned for the removal of the poor from New Orleans…..
America is quickly becoming a country of extremes…and although our communities are often close together… the poor are, for the most part, invisible to the well off.
38 million citizens live in poverty in America. The rich are getting richer and the poor have fallen by the wayside…..
The tragedy we are watching un-fold on our TV sets have put poverty front and center….in the face of America….
my hope is that we respond deeply to this tragedy…… America must do more then just rebuild New Orleans…..
we need to look deeply into the hidden faces of poverty in America…
we need to change this picture…….