World Hunger and Poverty Blog

Guest post by Kesia Alexandra, author of It Ain’t Easy

I have never questioned whether or not poor people deserve to have nice things. Growing up poor and still working my way out of poverty now, I know that having money doesn’t make someone more human and not having money doesn’t make anyone any less human. Everyone loves and deserves to have nice things, regardless of economic status.

However, I do often wonder about the nice things that many poor people choose to have. Yesterday in the dollar store the cashier was talking about how she bought her son an X-Box for Christmas and his father got him a Play Station. Another lady was talking about how she got her son one of those as well. Perhaps these people are secretly wealthy, there’s no way for me to know. But I live in a poor area and most people around here are poor, like me.

The situation made me think of some advice my mother got from a salesman once, which she relayed to me. He said, “look, if you want to sell something, don’t go to rich people. They don’t buy. Don’t go to middle class neighborhoods, they’ll pick over it, they’ll judge. You might make a few sales. But if you really want to move merchandise, go to the poor neighborhoods. Go to the ‘hood. They buy anything. I don’t know why, but they do.”

A few days ago I was at McDonald’s with my god-brother and he was talking to me about his Helly Hanson jacket and matching hat and Jordan sneakers. And it made me sad because a) he doesn’t even live with his real mother who’s a prostitute and b) the woman he does live with, i found out later that night, is very sick.

But if he has nothing else, he has these Jordans.

And I get it. Poor people, we deserve nice things too. It gives us a sense of value, in our own eyes and the eyes of all the poor people we live around. I’ve seen teenagers with Gucci belts beg bus drivers to let them ride for free because what’s the point of going anywhere if you don’t look good when you get there?

So yes, nice things are important to everyone, including poor people. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make smart decisions about what nice things to get. Growing up I might have never had X-Boxes or whatever was on trend at that time but I was taking trips around the US, I was a national figure skating champion, I always had new books because they were sold at the thrift store for 25 cents. And I was still poor. My mother just invested the money in my personal growth, something that doesn’t lose value as soon as you walk out of the store. Maybe I was made fun of for the way I dressed. I honestly don’t remember. But I do remember every trip I’ve ever taken and every accomplishment I achieved which led to new opportunities and new experiences.

I don’t like metaphorically tallying someone else’s receipts, but I think its important that if you qualify why poor people like nice things you also have to go a step further and dig into why we place value on the things we believe are nice. What makes these things “nice”? Who told us these things were “nice” and isn’t that the same person who benefits from us buying it?

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Books by Kesia Alexandra

It Ain’t Easy ~ View on Bookshelves | View on Amazon

Guest post by Khali Raymond, author of The Ballad of Sidney Hill 2

Newark, New Jersey. The largest city in New Jersey, with a population about 277,140 people. Only eight miles from Manhattan, it’s a city of culture and diversity. A quote from Becca Fitzpatrick says "Sometimes bad things have to happen before good things can." And for my city, that’s the case. Newark has been through a lot of several phases throughout time, that’s what’s so significant of my hometown; this melting pot of history and yeah, history can be very exciting.

A city divided into five geographic wards from bustling, thriving districts to the quieter sides of the town, there’s something here for everybody. Newark has been through a lot of wear and tear throughout the final half of the 20th century. Following the downfall of the Industrial Revolution, the city went into six days of rioting that changed the face of the city forever.

Known as the "Newark Riots," which happened from July 12 to July 17 in 1967, there were 26 people dead along with hundreds of others injured amongst the destruction. The aftermath of the riots integrated the modern day struggles here in Newark with crime, poverty, and further racial divides; such as white flight. Due to those effects after the riots, the population shot down at a rapid rate.

Most of those residents who fled Newark after the riots contributed to the rising populations in suburban neighborhoods in northern New Jersey. As of 2010, roughly one-third of the city’s population suffers from poverty. If you step into my shoes however, the struggle is clearly evident.

As I walk up Broad and Market, the most bustling streets in the city right in the downtown district, there’s abandoned properties everywhere. Out of the abandoned buildings, only the ground floors are occupied on some buildings for retail, but if you look up–you can feel the pain of Newark that never healed after years of crime and corruption…

The windows are rugged and dark. Facades which once gleamed with confidence and pride now are shuttered, giving off the feel of uneasiness. Or if you go up to Newark Penn Station at night, all of the homeless people come out. It pains me to see those people stand out there in the freezing cold or rushing rain with no home to go to, begging for pennies.

Those homeless people represent the wounds of the city that have never healed. There’s homeless people everywhere, but here in Newark–you can see the tiredness in their eyes. The hunger in their stomachs…there’s no positive energy around this part really…it’s a painful thing to look at.

Sometimes, I may have change to spare them, or not. And if I don’t, I apologize to them because if you just look at them…they’ve been through something, you don’t know what happened to them in order to be homeless. I never try to judge a book by its cover if I’ve never read it. I actually emphasize for those who don’t have, my heart goes out to those who can’t provide for themselves, and those are one of the reasons why I write.

And if you go in other parts of the downtown district of course, efforts to repair something once fallen is seen as well. From the Prudential Center to the newly being built Teacher’s Village, an effort to make a new Newark. So, there aren’t too many negative things about Newark. Three large colleges: Rutgers University, The New Jersey Technical Institute (NJIT), and Essex County College is a contributing effort as well, there’s new faces and efforts to unravel the true potential of a city like Newark.

I write to empower, and sure…my books are fiction and are not really G-rated, but every book I have put out so far includes some sort of struggle that surrounds the issues of poverty, hunger, crime, and corruption.

In 2013, Newark suffered from 113 killings, the highest number since 1990. That’s almost as much as those in the Paris attacks earlier in the month. Paris happens everyday in cities like Newark due to drugs, guns, gang violence, and poverty. Poverty is the scapegoat of it all, because if a man can’t provide for his family, what does he do?

His kid is starving. His wife is thirsty. He can’t sleep, because they’re suffering. There’s a grocery not too far from his house. He has a .45 loaded, so what does he do? He gotta eat, so he holds up the store in order to feed his family. Then, it’s fifty to life after that. We take risks and suffer the consequences of those risks in order to have things we need, so that’s why crime is a great struggle. Like they say– you gotta do the right things for the wrong reasons, or wrong things for the right reasons.

Back to the reason why I write. I write in order to make readers laugh and feel the emotions of the characters. Sure, there’s some points in my work that makes you raise eyebrows. Some things may sound unbelievable, but at the end of the day–there’s one moral; rise above what’s bringing you down.

I want to be the voice for the voiceless, I want to be a positive representation of my city so I can encourage more people who come from similar walks of life to become something great. You can do anything you set your mind to, and bring change to your world. It doesn’t matter if you’re White, Black, Hispanic– hate is something you learn, nobody is born to hate. And yes, this is coming from a young black teenager who lives in Newark, New Jersey. I am Khali Raymond.

I love my family and city more than anything, and with this writing… It provides me an outlet to address problems we have and by doing that, we can solve them. I want to do music and movies as well in the future, just do whatever form of art that can speak a lot of people so we can solve these problems, together. I want to give back to my community, because if it wasn’t for my community, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I AM NEWARK.

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Books by Khali Raymond

The Ballad of Sidney Hill 2 ~ View on Bookshelves | View on Amazon

The Undocumented Struggle ~ View on Bookshelves | View on Amazon

Guest post by Sam Waas, author of Blood Storm

As I find myself growing older, many friends gone, family grown and dispersed or gone, I reflect on how I can best share what I’ve learned and gained, how I may still provide to others.

Part of this is an evolution of my personal self, a sense of things I’ve experienced, some disturbing and sad, some enlightening and inspirational. I’m often asked by friends how I keep my spirits up. I’ve survived a serious heart attack and open heart bypass and I’m now fighting severe disability which tries to drain my energy each and every day. But I tell my friends, “I’m lucky. I really am lucky.”

I only have to consider our Wounded Warriors, or think of our brave first responders like the police and firefighters, and realize how many of them pay the ultimate price for their service to us all, how may are now injured and maimed and yet they fight the good fight. How then could I ever feel that I’m not fortunate? My physical mobility may be limited but my mind is still free. I can read what I wish, learn as I choose, have the great benefit of the internet and enough wherewithal to live in modest comfort and security. And although I’m physically restrained, my spirit is brimming with vitality and verve, and I’m able to write my novels and other works, essays and short stories, to market them in a free society and enjoy the admittedly small returns. But returns they are, nevertheless. And this is how it should be for all.

And so I know that because I am so fortunate, have been given the great gift of freedom from the country in which I live, and having been given the great gift of love from God and from those closest to me, I must continue to share that good fortune as much as I am able.

Therefore I try my best to donate as much of my material goods as I am able to charitable enterprises so that others may share my benefits. Through my church and other generous organizations, my money is spent toward helping those less fortunate. Were I able to work myself in these things, as I once did, I’d gladly do so. But that’s no longer possible and so I have to resort to giving funds. But these do help and they go toward the upgrading of those in poverty and in need.

I also follow my father’s habit. He’d be driving along the street and if he spotted some poor homeless person huddled on the sidewalk, he’d stop his car, get out, and hand them some cash. And my dad didn’t have a lot of money, either. But his heart was full of love, and the lessons he taught me were so formative in how I view the world. He would often tell me, “Son, we have nothing but what God gives us. And so we have to share it with others because it’s not really ours to keep.”

I know that my meager gifts aren’t much in the huge order of things in this world. That there is widespread hunger, disease, depravity, and the terrible crush of ruthless evil people who continue to oppress the weak and helpless. I can only chip away at this, little gifts, one at a time. That’s all I can do.

But I also try to persuade others, my friends and colleagues, to give of themselves as well. Because each small gift builds upon others and forms a great power for good. And working together, we will prevail. We will defeat those evil forces, both human and from nature.

Together, we shall win.

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Books by Sam Waas

Blood Storm ~ View on Bookshelves | View on Amazon

Blood Spiral ~ View on Bookshelves | View on Amazon

Guest post by Guy Lozier, author of The Eternal: Guardian of Light

My philosophy says that the Intrinsic Goodness will manifest in our reality over time. It even goes on to say that it is inevitable. When I say my philosophy, I mean my very own philosophy. My understanding of reality. Many would say that those words are nothing more than my words and have no meaning in their reality. Yet through my eyes, I see it in their reality and mine.

When I was very young, it appeared that I did not fit in very well. I didn’t want to fight or hurt others. I wanted everyone to be happy. But as all things in youth, our society and others around me tried to beat it out of me. Telling me I was a dreamer, a silly minded kid, someone who did not understand the world I lived in. So I pushed it beneath the surface, but I always kept it close to my heart. Hoping that some day more people would begin to see things through my eyes.

My philosophy also explains that reality is infinitely complex and yet it is designed to experience in simplicity. Again, my philosophy, my words, my reality. Yet somehow I have never found anyone to disagree with that statement when I share it. I have found that if I take the pieces of my philosophy that others agree with and find a logical way to add in the pieces that they did not agree with in the past, that an understanding can form in their reality also that helps them to see my reality and then it becomes their reality also. And so my reality is spreading. Yes I have found others that share my reality and now our realities are one. As the years have passed, I have found more and more who also shares my reality. My reality is growing, spreading across the planet. Now there are many of me and our numbers are growing.

When my daughter was around 7 years of age, she also shared my reality. Many times she would take her toys and try to find other kids who didn’t have such nice toys and give her toys to them. She didn’t even care if they said thank you. It just made her happy. It made her feel good inside. It made her shine brighter. But as youth goes, society and others around her, tried to beat it out of her. But I see it in her still. It wants to shine brightly but she holds it back. Keeps it close to her heart as she tries to find her path through life. All the horrors of the world try to snuff that flame that burns inside her.

Every so often I go speak to her. I share my reality with her in subtle methods of logic and interaction with her. I see that flame flare to life in her eyes. My tears tread silently beneath the surface of my reality as I contemplate her growth. We share my reality and yet the world has hardened a shell over her flame. But I know that she only waits for more in our world to see our reality as theirs.

I know that it is inevitable for my reality to become the dominant reality of our planet. It only takes time, because the Intrinsic Goodness was built into all by the hand that created all things.

I know that if you are reading this message that we share the same reality. If we spread our reality, finding methods of logic to accomplish. Then we will be creating the ripples that spread across the future to eventuate the inevitable. <smile>…

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Books by Guy Lozier

The Eternal: Guardian of Light ~ View on Bookshelves | Amazon link unavailable.

My Comment

As stated in my last post, we are the majority of all “groups”.

What do you think? Please leave a comment below to let me know! 😀

Guest post by Erin Lee, author of Crazy Like Me

My poverty is not complete: it lacks me. ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

The worldwide economy is in a state today that causes many to doubt any solution to extreme poverty in the next century. Natural disasters, wars, market crashes, debt, political decisions, a lack of natural resources, poor planning, plummeting employment rates, and extreme inflation have many feeling hopeless about where our world and country are heading. As longtime homeowners make decisions between medical care and avoiding foreclosure and the American social security system becomes more threatened, many Americans fear that extreme poverty is where our country is heading. They worry that if they aren’t part of the elite and wealthiest, they will fall into a place of extreme poverty. What they fail to realize is that the richest of all often live in poverty and that those who have the least often live the fullest lives.

To most, poverty is defined as having a lack money, goods, resources, and means to thrive in the world we live. We set national poverty rates based on costs of living and family incomes. Class structures are defined by our incomes, resources, and material wealth. But poverty runs much deeper than the lack of money we have in our wallets, investments, or other material things. In reality, true poverty is a world that lacks empathy and concern for its fellow human citizens. If people would start focusing on the difference between monetary poverty and human poverty we’d be in a whole other place.

Can we, as a human race, overcome extreme poverty in 30 years? Of course we can! We just need to change our thinking. Through public service, volunteerism, paying it forward, and living selfless lives of service, we make one another richer every day. The unemployed woman who spends her days volunteering at a local soup kitchen may go home to an empty pantry, but she does so with a rich heart. The child living in a hut in Uganda without a formal education is wealthier after eating a bowl of rice and soup provided by aid workers who took the time to care. A community blessed by others who come in to serve after natural disaster strikes is wealthy for the love shown to them and the help they receive. When they are able, these citizens often turn around and give back to others in need; a beautiful thing about the human spirit.

The only way to end extreme poverty in our world is through service. And it cannot be done alone. We have an obligation to our neighbors, worldwide, to open our hearts and work together. Through combining our talents and resources, we have the potential to end poverty across the globe. Every individual born has a talent. When these talents are combined, the possibilities for solving extreme poverty are endless. The woman who is good at sewing can make quilts for children who don’t have them. The fabric company with surplus supplies can donate them to her. The child who sleeps with the blanket can wake up warm, rested, and use his natural affinity for science to go to school and learn as much as he can. Later, he can use that education to teach others, invent something of use to society, or help in the pharmaceutical industry to find ways to keep drug costs down for seniors.

Those pessimists who are stuck in the notion that our world is heading for trouble are wasting precious energy and resources. Convinced we’re all doomed to a fate of extreme poverty, they are not thinking of how they could play a role in solving the problem. If each of them were to look at their individual talents, they may be surprised at how quickly they could see how a little gesture toward another human being or group of them can make all the difference. Giving and service are chain reactions that can go a long way – all the way around the globe – toward helping cure this problem.

The American economy hasn’t been the same since the 2001 terrorist attacks and the recession that followed. However, the American spirit has prevailed by people being creative. They have found ways to join together, as we as a country always have, to keep our nation alive and maintain our hope. While we’ve lost momentum as the number one and only world superpower, we have gained in other areas – by being more innovative, by developing alternative fuel sources, and so on. If we put this same spirit and creativity into acts of kindness and paying it forward, we have a chance at rebuilding this nation to as great as it and its economy once was.

Wealth and success isn’t only about the bottom line dollar. It’s also about quality of life and the compassion we are able to show each other as human beings. These days, it’s common to go into stores and hardly speak to one another. Many of our social interactions are done through technology or on social media instead of face to face. While these conveniences often make today’s fast-paced world easier, in what ways to they add to our wealth and spirit?

I believe that in taking a step back, making time for conversation and the old school way of communicating and doing nice things for other people, as well as using our individual talents, we can each find ways to bring more fullness, and in effect, end poverty in both our nation and personal lives. Those who fear poverty need to remember Antonio Porchia’s quote. Poverty can only truly take hold of us if we allow it to. If we make the choice not to allow it to, through looking at our talents and what we can give to others, we can eliminate poverty and make the world a whole, rich, and fruitful place. Then, we can say “Poverty does not exist: it lacks us.”

I do not write these words lightly. In 2010, I was laid off from a ten-year career in a mental health agency. At this time, I felt hopeless. I spent weeks wondering what I would do and worried about how to keep up with bills, mortgage payments and just putting food on the table. With no jobs available because of state funding cuts, I decided to give back to the community as a way of keeping myself busy. I began volunteering for work as a court-appointed special advocate for children; a cause I strongly believed in. This led me to pursue a graduate degree in marriage and family therapy. Since, I have taken my passion for helping others into my writing. I now write novels about children who suffer from abuse, the legal and social services systems, and mental wellness. It is my hope that my own experience of desperation—one I was able to turn into success through philanthropy—will serve as an example to others in similar situations. I believe that if we all work together; we really can make the world a better place.

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Books by Erin Lee

Crazy Like Me ~ View on Bookshelves | Amazon link unavailable.

Wave to Papa ~ View on Bookshelves | Amazon link unavailable.