Is broken. President johnsons war on poverty has this one goal to provide everyone a chance to grow and make his own way. I think everything in life thats important really lives in the grey like theres no black and white this is great how do we make it more clear of what the problem is there are so many different Life Experiences of poverty and we dont have a clear definition of the federal government doesnt have the definition they say if your family is more right about. To take care of your family for a year in 2000 does that mean that if youre making more youre not in red and that thats not the case i think the most difficult challenge. Of your current predicament. Of course people cannot contribute to the nation if they are never taught to read or write. If their bodies are stunted from hunger. If their sickness going on him didnt get their life to spare him hopeless poverty just drawing a welfare check. So we rafted from the goodies to opportunity. Were also going to give all our people. Help the very meat. Through those. All of our welfare you get money and you get more if you have less income go through have 0 income get the biggest minimum. And then as you earn money lose part of the benefit sometimes if you were even 1. 00 extra dollar the whole benefit medical. Help for people and people who are disabled if that number seems low it should because its based on 1000 fixed these costs of living in the sixtys economists came up with the formula for calculating the family need and they said things like well well have a parent in the home so we dont have to include childcare people can walk to work so we dont have to include transportation and employers will pay for health care so we dont need to include that 3 major family expenses are not included in the 2017 federal poverty guideline where you have more women in the workplace than average in the history if you look at parents and divide their income into 5 equal parts and less will be just the bottom 20 percent of this would be parents with income below roughly 25000. 00 and now we come watch their kids grow up and we made sure their kids income. 30 to 34 years of age are they doing better than the kids from that bottom 5th of income below 25000 are twice as likely as we would expect based on chance to be in the bottom its very difficult to get out of the bottom. Its a fight every day to meet your needs and the needs of your family. Were find some quarter 1000000 of our brothers sisters. Parents or home along with our own apartment i am a master. Our material parent more must be done to reduce poverty and dependency and believe me nothing is more important than welfare reform i think poverty to a large extent is also a state of mind poverty in a sense. How does piloted love. Papa didnt have a loan. Because he can put make up. The clothes on anything about it sometimes if we struggled with poverty in a certain way with him to be most most critical because we say well we didnt i pulled myself up by the stress i got it done i struggled i had to work 2 jobs i did it well your situation is not the thing somebody else is because were individuals and our characteristics our personality our network of people our demographics of the area that we live in are different so we can take 2 people from different sections and they will this person did it he must be good and this person didnt do it they trained elephant by pound elephant with a little bell when a young. Man elephant growth of the bull found them all the elephant. It put the same little rope around that elephant. But that elephant is a condition only go in far as a rope will lead. Anywhere say wait a minute cases of people as he has a little rope around their mouth. Will will only let him go so far. You know enough of. So far in there with your. Newly grew up. Aflame little rope youre talking about. It only goes for example. The 2 most important things is where youre born and who youre born to so this one guy he said ill do your study for you he said i grew up in poverty and i said thank you so much i said tell me how did your family get by he said well my father was a physician he died when i was 12 i had to go live with grandparents i worked in their store i pulled myself up by my own bootstraps i had the right mindset and i was determined and i became a doctor like my dad and im listening to him through the eyes of somebody whos bought her 5 brothers in the back window of the car and im thinking you knew someone who owned a store and you were related to both. But if you look at it from his context his experiences who do the children a professional singer. Typically its going to be other children of professionals and what people do is we compare ourselves to the people around us and we sometimes put an umbrella and say poverty is just poverty and thats not thats not true thats not the case its so difficult to come up with a solution to help someone we dont understand the problem ourselves how can we Work Together how can we understand each other and the answer is we have to accurately understand poverty what is poverty about. So understanding the perspectives of people who live in generational poverty or working class poverty or immigrant poverty or situational poverty theres so. Many different Life Experiences of poverty and we use one word to describe them so many people theyve they have no idea if youre born into a poor ringback family youre born into a minority family if youre born into a family that only has a single parent that really constrains your life chances people die on average 15 years younger if youre born into generational poverty. Only 17 percent of the people born into generational poverty move out so you move a lot and you just get through the day and a life becomes about getting through the day generational poverty is the deepest part radio cycle out of any people in generational poverty are working 1. 00 jobs a month to decide between paying for buying food. Thats the kind of poverty i come from where most of my family members cant read and write theres high mobility of constantly a victim youre going hungry to have nutrition if you dont really really sick you know the bridge through and you just hope they give you sales you know theyll buy the prescriptions working class poverty is a little different youre living paycheck to paycheck dont have a lot left over but know that checks coming so you feel like you have a little more control over your life but theyre very hard on themselves they buy into the idea that if they work or dont make it and get the labor statistics they without an education or skill or your whole life. And then theres emigrant poverty where you have people who are struggling with housing transportation child nutrition medical care basic human needs and in addition to that you have the language barriers the cultural barriers. The discrimination racism to live to move really big obstacles to address to really develop to their potential and then you have situational poverty you go up in a middle class environment you hear middle class words since you were in the war you know middle class that is structure youre not saying you maybe have a divorce and you fall. Into poverty or maybe you get downsized in your job and you fall into poverty those are the ones that sometimes dont find their way into our numbers that didnt fill out the papers for the free and reduced lunch. So in america we like to thank that everybody who works hard and has a certain amount of talent can make it and can join the middle class thats the American Dream and past generations the American Dream seem to be working pretty well its not working as well now we always think that in america on the theory of the land of the brave equal opportunity and its just simply not. Just. Some. Just. Through education you can also better yourselves in other words you learn how to learn how to think critically and find solutions to unexpected challenges education also teaches you the value of discipline but the greatest rewards come not from instant gratification but from sustained effort and from hard work. And finally with the right education both at home and at school you can learn how to be a better human being. We go to work see you straight home. During the vietnam war u. S. Forces also bomb to neighboring laos there was a secret war and for years the American People did not know. How much it is especially the mouth can rebound country per capita in all Human History millions of unexploded bombs still in danger lives in this Small Agricultural country tonight and we have been going to continue to happen. Even today kids in laos full victim to bombs dropped decades ago is the u. S. Making amends for the tragedy in laos what help do the people need in that little land on. This politically. In the United States to advise eating listen to anything that has an industry. That makes a lot of money. As a language and say over and over again we know what it healthy diet is in these not being too much for one for for one thing and eating less is very very bad for diseases it doesnt make anybody rich is key. When you look at the landscape of our Community One of the things that keeps me up at night is. Our education attainment rates 70 percent of our citizens our neighbors that live with us have no postsecondary credential todays economy is very demanding scales and skills means education getting a job these days with just a High School Education is a lot harder than it used to be the chances are that youre going to be in poverty or close to be especially difficult if youre trying to support a family. Why did 20 different focus groups i did surveys i did interviews expecting to find that students were afraid of math which they are that students need more tutoring which they do but those werent the barriers that students identified that were keeping him from being successful in the classroom what students told me overwhelming thing he is the Biggest Barriers to their success in the classroom had nothing to do with the classroom transportation Childcare Health care housing food utility payments statistics show that college is a very successful way to go and its still the best decision for students or anyone who wants to get out of poverty or level up in what they want to do however i also think that the worst thing to do is go to college and drop out years ago the goal is to graduate you got to graduate like you just cant drop out because unlike anything else you still got to pay the bill. I. Have. I. Know what higher ed would do is they would look at those success rates and they would go oh are students arent as well prepared theyre not smart they dont know how to study theyre not dedicated and i think what weve learned in emerald colleges those arent true at all our students are smart vicious theyre capable they want for themselves theyre burdened not just provide a future for themselves but to save their families but they have real barriers that they bring with them if were going to fulfill our mission in our education weve got to understand those barriers and address them if we want our students to be successful in the classroom. And i teach people that if you dont get educated you dont get skilled you going to be poor your whole life and so will your children is an absolute exception of the person who is living you know so when i say well my old girl makes a 100000. 00 and is not educated including labor statistics and census data thats an exception i didnt know what i wanted to be and so after i graduated from college i think that thats somewhat normal but i went ahead and i i went to college and i picked the major and i was glad that i had people in my life that encouraged me just to go ahead and a lot of people because theyve learned theyve been sent messages that theyre not smart enough theyre not good enough they dont try to tell you to. Get your High School Diploma get your College Degree and then keep pursuing what it is that you have a skill set for and youre passionate about one of the hardest most heartbreaking things about not having your High School Diploma is sometimes you hit a ceiling at work or you miss an opportunity we dont want you to miss. We want people. Have those are. The best due to you know im not im standing in every the lot of those Walking Around but i graduated man education and you need to plan. One of these i think were really not talking about High School Students about this subject that i like to call success we teach english we teach math but we dont teach that which regardless how smart you are in any of those other categories if you understand the subject of the best way to do this basic fundamentals of understanding you know how to network how to communicate would be bold but also how to be strategic realizing whats important. College is down about how smart you are its about how hard youre willing to work and every house we should expose. That shows the average income of people who drop out of high school and people who graduate from high school but doable for the kids who get a 2 year degree in kids who get a 4 year to when they get to be adults the differences in those levels with education have exploded over the last 3 or 4 decades and if we can show that kids and make them understand and say you know if i get more education im going to make more money and that will have an impact on every other part of my life the most important thing is not the freedom to buy things its the freedom to dream and chase what you really want to do the more money you can make and now and not spend it it allows you to dream at a place and give you the oxygen and during where youre not thinking short term. I dont think that i think is so important to understand is how poverty steals your hope and your confidence i was talking to 2 students at my t. Place and i loaded one of them. My car brought him over here walk them through the process got him signed up we got a man rolled and then that student told me after we got him a schedule when it came time to go to class the 1st day he said in his car in his parking lot for 3 hours that he couldnt get out of the car. Thats thats not because he won smart capable or he didnt want to do it because he was a brave and. Thats real but it cant be an excuse everybody in their life everyone has fear i just challenge you to work through your fear and dont let fear keep you from being your best self about my yourself when you are educated and when you know the things that you know and you know how hard you work. You need to create this story for yourself you need to surround yourself with other people who are going to last ability and do not allow negative people negativity to talk you out of your dreams. What are you passionate about what you have skills that for and in the meantime keep pursuing your education you have to understand that you have so much purpose between 14 and 24 that the decisions you make not only going to pack yourself are going to pack your kids and your grandkids you dont even know whos going to benefit from the little decisions you make today you may not see it but your grandkids will definitely see. Its. True. But it was for a young woman i watched her just. See it was going to be a thing. And and im telling you. From the moment she decided she was going to be a singer. To have that many a little girl at that point and every time i saw her do the work think about. You know this work ethic that she had was this weekend amazing i mean you know as a kid authorise thing and all the things and then when we started this church in downtown houston our family joe and brought the kids to an assistant and she joined a choir. And every now and then shed get a solo and see would put more into that fellow than the whole choir would into the whole 12 and now she is on the largest platform in the world and they would be a thing. All because of the work ethic of me young woman who made a decision to what she was going to do and be in life. And allowed no one to get away will everyone be a. No. Thats why you got to have a plan a a plan b. And a plan c. We have a hard workers in this Community Whether theyre students in Amarillo College or employees in the community we have a really hard work ethic the issue is theyre underemployed so theyre working really hard and not making a living wage doing she already is i work in a crisis is 1. 00 jobs and still i cant put food and pay rent i have to make a choice so we say you just got to work harder in order to to make it thats not true not when youre experiencing poverty because people in poverty are working. I started looking at whos the number one teacher of poverty in the United States of america and the answer that i found was the media so whats the average person going to know about poverty and people live. Then it is probably going to be things like when you get rich off welfare with a kid in high school is thinking its not that big a deal as long as i have kids ill be fine ill be getting well for all the good and casual for will be covered by medicaid i can get housing and so. It doesnt happen that way in 1906 my welfare check before going any dollars for me jennifer was 6 annulus to my 15 year old homeless cuz i was living with me and they said we wont help her because shes not yours well give you 400. 00 my rent in a neighborhood. In Portland Oregon was 395. Given to the man a welfare check today her family of 3 National Average or 78 thats 1962000 17 the average rent according to had a modest apartment 750. The average disability check is 756. 00 its almost impossible to get out of poverty based just on public. Our labor statistics if you take a minimum wage job and you work 10 years and you dont have Education Beyond High School you dont have a skill like an electrician or plumber the average increase after working hard for 10 years in a persons income is 2. 00 an hour doesnt matter how hard you work big about who works harder the person cleaning the hotel room or the person in their office you dont move up without a skill or an education so if you want to buy your mama house going to make sure your kids dont go hungry cant get a skill got a good education now if you want to on say start all that 30000 a year and have the possibility or up to 60 or 70000 you know you have to have skills you have to be talented and have to know how to do you need what we call soft skills and hard skills parts skills are just you know being technically trained to do something Computer Literacy anybody who goes through school these days and isnt computer literate is going to be in trouble. And i think our schools should be doing a lot more if theyre not already to teach people programming and coding skills and the whole set of things you cant get a decent job anymore if you dont have those skills either the soft skills and if you talk to employers employers will tell you that theyre really messing with the soft skills as much as the hard skills the soft skills or things like getting to work on tall im dressing appropriately knowing how to interact with other people knowing how to be polite with a client or a customer knowing how to rob im so all knowing what to do when something doesnt go quite right you know being a bit creative. One of the things that helped me in my personal life was to see other people maybe of my same skin color or or city and and see them succeed so it becomes attainable you dont know what you dont know and i think a lot of times is thats what i think Holding People back and they dont know its bigger than their town and they dont know what they can do bigger than what they see on t. V. And the people they see at school and people that their parents are. Used to work in Elementary Schools and yes the kids what they want to be in life and they want to be doctors and anna in a lawyer but if your home life doesnt support the teen ability of those things. Its a nice dream but its not a reality in certain groupings neighborhoods dont have that exposure so its important that our schools our community lend itself and expose especially the youngest kids to that. My i. I 1st heard about you know. From the helicopter. In iraq. I think that there are some people are going to be going to this military who have never forgiven or forgotten frater the truth of the book and a little bit of good looking through some he was really starting to happen. In the pentagon journalese says youve heard from some serious a lot of problems throughout not only. The idea of developing an anonymous digital top dogs and applying it to the media and since you said that was a friends. I didnt destroy and just retain with me for a short walk from the room and one of the worlds most of the news the rumors and the theory assumes its going to sell the founder to the song to the songwriting. And there was a great deal of jealousy the audience for it for the song the free why wont it be more marketable they have hugh seen all. The cinema. Says my. Records are going for. Giuliani sides in solitary confinement in the prison for terrorists await you know how its a live person. I dont see him dying you know its some. I dont. Know what hes saying some. You know my one using my. Brain to validate time about what it was it was a bit less sensitive on that. One with more than the side of the. Scene that are going to fit in but im before. Them by. The body im not. In the stories that shape the way here or not say russia rejects claims that meddled in last years election in the u. K. And try to steal information on the countrys coronavirus faxing also to paedophiles foster children in germany for decades a new report reveals the authorities knew all along we hear from the victims. Every day was mental and physical mistreatment we were forced to do things we wouldnt normally do because we were threatened our lives are being destroyed we are unable to work and we have become aware that we are just a pile of misery and china says it will hit back following president trunks revoking of hong kongs special trade