Return-Path: <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id h0MJCZP09588; Wed, 22 Jan 2003 14:12:35 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 14:12:35 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <00e501c2c249$84f4c4b0$0201a8c0@margeryDDXR6H11> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "freemannola" <freemannola@cox.net> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:1019] Re: January is Poverty Awareness Month X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 7578 Lines: 191 Great response, Lou! ----- Original Message ----- From: <loujyesnola@netscape.net> To: "Multiple recipients of list" <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 10:20 AM Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:1018] Re: January is Poverty Awareness Month > Mary Ann et al, > > First, I strongly encourage you all to go to www.thepeoplesinstitute.org and learn about the work of this organization! > > I serve as the executive director of the largest community based literacy service provider in the state of Louisiana. YMCA Educational Services(YES!). > At YES! we require ALL of our staff and board members to go through the People's Institute training in order to be a part of our work. YES! does the very thing being suggested. AND we do it using, in part ABE dollars! We believe that helping adult learners better understand the underlying reasons for the condition they are in serves to develop them and their community into a viable force to be reckoned with. YES!, for nearly four years now has been using creative writing as a vehicle to achieve this end. It Works!!! Also, I urge folks to contact Peppercorn Press. They distribute the work of Literacy South a real fount of knowledge, via research, on participatory education for adult learners. > > Lou C. Johnson > > > "Mary Ann Corley" <macorley1@earthlink.net> wrote: > > >Hi, Peg: > > > >Thanks for the good words. You're right--we all can have a hand in > >spreading this message. There are so many misperceptions about poverty that > >it's incumbent on all of us to help get accurate information to the various > >publics (the media, policy makers, funders, the general public). If any > >subscribers to the list have tried to reach various publics by speaking to > >these issues, would you share your stories with this list? > > > >There are some hard questions here: Adult educators long have supported a > >functional definition of literacy, maintaining that literacy skills > >acquisition facilitates access to employment. But in an economy in which > >there are not enough jobs to go around that pay a living wage, and in a > >society in which race and socioeconomic status often can be barriers to > >quality education and employment, does this functional definition of > >literacy lose its value and appeal to potential learners? In these tough > >financial times, when adult education budgets face the threat of serious > >reductions, should we be rethinking ways in which we deliver services and do > >more than "teach the word"? Isn't this a time for us to work toward raising > >learners' critical consciousness, a la Freire and others? How can we make > >our programs more culturally relevant and also help learners to find their > >voices? (These types of programs typically do not receive public funding.) > >At the risk of raising an outcry among my colleagues, I ask whether we > >should put our energies into approaching private foundations to build > >support for critical literacy programs rather than appealing to the federal > >government, which imposes regulations on the type of literacy instruction > >that we provide. What I'm asking is whether we would have greater successes > >teaching critical literacy (with private funding) rather than continuing to > >offer literacy programs via public funding. Public funding dictates that we > >offer literacy programs in a work-first environment, although we graduate > >learners to a world in which there are not enough jobs that can pull them > >out of poverty. With private funding, perhaps we can help adult learners to > >understand some of the underlying reasons for their poverty and to find > >their voices. > > > >Will anyone jump in on this discussion? Let's hear from you! > > > >Thanks, > >-Mary Ann Corley > >Povracelit List Moderator > > > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: "Margarita Oliver" <pegtoliver@earthlink.net> > >To: "Multiple recipients of list" <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> > >Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 3:21 AM > >Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:1014] Re: January is Poverty Awareness Month > > > > > >> Mary Ann Corley, > >> Just re-visited this site. Can you get it to Nightline and/or other > >> such TV programs? Can you get related literacy statistics to those > >> programs? Getting them to listservs is preaching to the choir. Or could > >> we all forward a message to such noticeable places? THANK YOU for what > >you > >> are doing! > >> > >> Peg Oliver > >> -----Original Message----- > >> From: Mary Ann Corley <macorley1@earthlink.net> > >> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> > >> Date: Thursday, January 09, 2003 11:56 PM > >> Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:1004] January is Poverty Awareness Month > >> > >> > >> >Hi, All: > >> > > >> >The following references are cross-posted from A-Librarian-At-Every-Table > >> >list. > >> > > >> >-Mary Ann Corley > >> >Nifl-povracelit List Moderator > >> > > >> >* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > >> > > >> > > >> >Nearly 33 million Americans have fallen into poverty - more > >> >people than a year ago, the highest number in years. What > >> >does it mean to the life of our nation to have so many > >> >people lost in a shadowy state of uncertainty and need? > >> >What does it mean to be poor in America - to be a resident of > >> >the forgotten state of poverty? Click on POVERTY TOUR on > >> >http://www.usccb.org/cchd/povertyusa/tour2.htm > >> >Poverty USA site: > >> >http://www.usccb.org/cchd/povertyusa/index.htm > >> > > >> > > >> >REGRESSIVE TAXES FOR POOR & MIDDLE-CLASS > >> >The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has just > >> >released "Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax > >> >Systems in All 50 States."By an overwhelming margin, most > >> >states tax their middle- and low-income families far more > >> >heavily than the wealthy, the study finds.Most states > >> >require their poor and middle-income taxpayers to pay the > >> >most taxes as a share of income -- and the ways in which > >> >states have managed their budgets during the last decade > >> >have made this problem worse." State-by-state reports and > >> >"Top Ten" lists. > >> >http://www.goodjobsfirst.org/whopays.htm > >> > > >> > > >> >POOR HAVE FALLEN OUT OF POLITICAL FAVOR > >> >Despite the outpouring of support and generosity for the poor > >> >during the holiday season, Americans don't really seem to > >> >care about low-income people. Despite reports that hunger > >> >and homelessness have increased dramatically over the last > >> >year (U.S. Conference of Mayors report), raising the issue of > >> >poverty in America has fallen out of political favor. "We > >> >have indeed slipped into class warfare in our country, but > >> >it is being fought top down, as the well off harvest new > >> >gains for themselves from the powerless poor. And no > >> >number of charitable gestures, as admirable as they are, can > >> >make up the difference." > >> >http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/4825227.htm > >> > > >> > > > > > > > -- > Lou C. Johnson, Executive Director > YMCA Educational Services(YES!) > 833 Howard Avenue Suite 300 > New Orleans LA 70113-1122 > 504-566-READ(7323) > 504-568-1938(FAX) > National Faculty-YMCA of the USA > Literacy And Justice For All! > > > > __________________________________________________________________ > The NEW Netscape 7.0 browser is now available. Upgrade now! http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp > > Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/ >
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