Pedagogy of the Poor

Friday, April 12, 2013

[Duluth, MN]

In spite of heavy snow and winds off the lake, folks make it out in impressive numbers to community workshop at Coppertop United Methodist. Great event.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

[Duluth, MN]

Blizzard hits Duluth in the midst of our Minnesota Tour. Lake Superior is an awesome force of nature!

Evening event cancelled.

Wednesday, April 10

[Duluth, MN] Willie Baptist and John Wessel-McCoy lead a community workshop at American Indian Community Housing Organization in downtown Duluth.

Local coverage by WDIO - http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S2994608.shtml?cat=10335

Sunday, February 24, 2013

[Memphis, TN]

Paying homage to the King.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

[Tyronza, AR]

Southern Tenant Farmers Museum. Linda Hinton, director of the museum, stands with Willie and John (Lenora is reflected in the window.) The museum is located on the site where H.L. Mitchell and others helped to organize the Southern Tenant Farmers Union. The STFU, organized in the depths of the Great Depression in Jim Crow Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi, was an inspiring example of the poor uniting across colorlines.

http://stfm.astate.edu/

PI Heads to Vermont, Upstate NY & Minnesota!

From March 18 - 24, Poverty Initiative will be hosted by Poverty Scholar partners at Vermont Workers Center for a book tour throughout the state of Vermont with stops in churches, communities and colleges in Burlington, Barre, Rutland, St. Johnsbury, and more!

In April, the tour will head to Albany, NY with visits to the University of Albany’s School of Social Welfare, the College of Saint Rose, and with local labor organizers. By mid-April the tour travels to Minnesota to visit with United Theological Seminary’s Center for Public Ministry, as well as other area churches and community organizations.
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March 18: Book event at Guilford Community Church in Guilford, VT, from 7 pm - 9 pm

March 19: Book event at Brattleboro Baptist Church in Brattleboro, VT, from 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm

Book event at Stowe Unitarian Universalist Church in Stowe, VT, at 6 pm

March 21: Book event at United Church of Christ Church in St. Johnsbury, VT, from 6:30 pm - 8 pm

March 22: Book event at Burlington Unitarian Universalist Church in Burlington, VT from 6:30 - 8 pm

March 23: Book event at Church of the Good Shepherd in Barre, VT

March 24: Willie Baptist preaches at Church of the Good Shepherd in Barre, VT from 10 am - 11 am

April 3: Poverty Initiative visits the School of Social Welfare at the University of Albany, 9 am - 11 am

Willie Baptists speaks at luncheon in the Science Library’s Standish Room for the University of Albany’s Chapter of United University Professions, 11:30 am - 12:30 am

Poverty Initiative visits the College of Saint Rose, 1 pm

April 9 - 12: Poverty Initiative visits the College of St. Scholastica, Duluth Community Action, NAACP- Duluth, and Holy Cow! Publishers in Duluth, Minnesota

April 13: Poverty Initiative visits Circles of Support in Grand Rapids, Minnesota

April 14 - 16: Poverty Initiative visits Lutheran Seminary, Plymouth Congregational Church, and Mercy Vineyard Church in the Twin Cities

April 15: Poverty Initiative, hosted by United Theological Seminary’s Center for Public Ministry in the Twin Cities, offers an exciting evening with A Minnesota Without Poverty as a part of the GOD IN PUBLIC series entitled “Building the Movement to End Poverty,” 7:30 pm - 9 pm.

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For more information on these upcoming tours or if you are interested in having the Pedagogy of the Poor Book Tour in your area, email kathy.maskell@gmail.com

Saturday, February 23, 2013

[Memphis, TN]

John outside the Lorraine Motel in Memphis where Dr. King’s murder involved all levels of the U.S. government.

Friday, February 22, 2013

[Glendora, MS]

On our drive from Jackson to Memphis, as we traveled through the heart of the Mississippi Delta, we made a stop in the tiny town of Glendora where a museum is dedicated to remembering the life and death of Emmett Till. The Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center is housed in the gin (a building where cotton is processed) where Till was murdered. In 1955, Till, a youth from Chicago, was spending time with relatives in nearby Money, MS. Tilll allegedly whistle at a white woman in a grocery, and later that night, J.W. Milam, a local white with reputation for “handling n——s” and others abducted Till from his grandparents’ home, tortured and murdered him, and dumped him nearby in the Black Bayou / Tallahatchie River. His body was found later by a young boy fishing in the river. Till’s body was returned to Chicago, and Till’s mother famously opted for an open casket funeral. Till’s disfigured corpse shocked and outraged people across the country. The museum tells this story, as well as acknowledging local blues legend, Sonny Boy Williamson, but it also captures the local history in terms of politics, social, and economic relationships including the continuing poverty in Glendora today. It’s worth a stop.

Friday, February 22, 2013

[Jackson, MS]

Outside of the conference we attended in the morning, we found this bumper sticker “Only Trash Litters.” The word “trash” is usually reserved for referring to the poor - in particular poor whites. Those gathered at the Mississippi Kids Count summit were moderate to progressive for the most part. This environmentally-concerned bumper sticker contains an attitude to the poor worth noting - an attitude that needs to be combated.

Friday, February 22, 2013

[Jackson, MS]

Carol Burnett & the Moore Community House (Biloxi, MS) are honored as a model of success at Mississippi Kids Count Summit - a gathering of community and faith-based organizations and other advocates concerned about and working with children and poor, working families. In particular, the Moore Community House was highlighted for its work with women in construction training and their work with early childhood education as a Head Start site.