Monday Morning Share: Poverty and Privilege

School Finance 101 Blog wrote a piece on The Perils of Economic Thinking, which brought me back to why I started this blog in the first place.  It is fun for me to look back a year ago when I started writing.  I thought that economics would have some answers into human behavior.  I am not so sure anymore, economists seem so far away from the lives of real people.  When I read articles, like the ones below on poverty and privilege, and when I talk with individuals wanting assistance, I can see that economists are a part of the problem.  Maybe that is the reason for continuing learning about economics, so that I can speak the language and have creditably with individuals making decisions that effect others lives.  With that being said, I know there are great theorists out there.  Anyone I should read up on?

SPECIAL TOPICS:

Poverty:

• Conservative Policies Ensures A Lasting Welfare State (CRISP)
• While Sequestration Cuts Programs For The Poor, The U.S. Ranks Second-To-Last On Child Poverty (Think Progress)
• Wealth Gap Among Races Has Widened Since Recession (The Time New Times)
• Food Stamps Participation by State (Stat Chat)

Power and Privilege:

• Why my race matters to me: It’s all that I have left (The Lost Daughters)
• Housing and the racial wealth divide infographic (Fair Economy)
• Mirrors of privilege: Making whiteness visual documentary (Notes from an Aspiring Humanitarian)
• Moving the Margins the the Centre: Shifting from anti-racist to pro-black (Feminist Wire)

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

Articles:

• Trauma informed social work practice (Virtual Connections Blog)

Webinars:

• Mental Health Webinars for You, May 2013 (Social Work Career Development)
  
• Planned Parenthood Youth Organizing May Webinars

Sunday Evening Share: Spring Snow

If you are wondering about my week:

1. I felt icky about Pallotta’s TED talk on increasing nonprofit overhead.  I understand innovation, but I also know how important our causes are, so how important it is to be good stewards of our finances.
2. I cried reading about the father-daughter dance that took place at Richmond City Jail.  It really restored my faith in humanity.

I also found the below articles interesting.

SPECIAL TOPICS:

Social Work

1. Starting a career at a reproductive justice social worker
2. Social work and liberalism 

Poverty:

1. Scientists believe ending poverty hinges on tougher environmental goals
2. Why there is little coverage of Americans struggling with poverty and Questions about coverage on poverty
3. Can home visiting alleviate poverty? 

Education:

1. Schools segregation by race and income worsening in the Richmond region
2. Smart, low-income students are applying the the wrong colleges
3. Richmond high schools create alternatives to suspension

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

Upcoming Free Webinars:

1. List from Wild Apricot
2. List from nonprofit webinars

I am looking for good resources on support groups and bereavement groups.  If anyone knows of any, please comment with the link below!

Sunday Evening Share

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  The second week of March has treated me well.  I enjoyed the leadership talk with Rosetta Thurman, Trista Harris, and Paul Schmitz.  I learned that congress has a social work caucus.  I nodded furiously to Classroom to the Capital posts: Patience: An overrated virtue and There’s Always Something We Can Do.  I sadly missed the first Social Work Helper twitter chat about online advocacy, but plan to join the next.  And I mourned the coming loss of Google reader – any suggestions on something similar?

There was some great news this week:

• Veronica Mars is becoming a movie!  (Which made me so excited I blew off lent and spent an entire evening watching the first half of season 1.)
• We have a new Pope that cares about structural poverty.

And some news that won’t go way:

• People are still arguing about raising the minimum wage.  (Which gives me a strong urge to punch people.)
• NYC may still be able to enjoy oversize beverages, so NYC needs to find a new way to address connection between poverty and obesity.

Special Topics:

Education:

1. Chicago Tribune investages Chicago Public Schools publishing An Empty-Desk Epidemic.
2. David Sirota writes about possible hidden agendas of wealthy educational reformers in Salon.

Professional Development:

Watch:

•  The Science of Communication was a great presentation by Sendhil Mullainathan.  My epiphanies:   1.) Don’t tell people what to do, help them do it by making the positive behavior easier.  2.) Sometimes making a big impact means focusing on small changeable behaviors.

Read:

• Margot Friedman outlines a basic structure to op-eds on “Getting Attention”.
• Natalie L. Hill shares tips on 2 big struggles for professionals: Asking for something and saying no.
• Dr. Christina Hibbert talks about taking control of your thoughts through becoming aware of your thoughts.

Upcoming free webinars:

• Proposal Writing Basics on Tuesday, March 19 @ 1PM
• Strategic Planning: Cultivation and Organizational Development on Wednesday, March 20 @ 1PM
• Taking Leadership Online: Developing Your Personal Social Media Voice on Wednesday, March 20 @3PM
• Writing Effective Program Design on Wednesday, March 27 @1PM

Sunday Evening Share: Injustice Everywhere

On Friday, the world celebrated International Women’s Day.  That same day I learned that  Zerlina Maxwell was harassed after saying men can prevent rape.  Seriously?!  As a social worker, do ever feel overwhelmed by the amount of injustice in the world?  If so, make sure to check out the social work section I will be including all March for Social Work Month.

Special Topics:

Social Work:

1. Vice recently shared the view of a disgruntled social worker in SF which sparked social workers to share their their own opinions.  One discusses a differing opinion of working in SF; another expresses her anger at the post; and last discusses the obligation of organizations to social workers.
2. The Political Social Worker discusses Social Work’s Visibility Problem.
3. Classroom to Capitol reminds us to believe our clients.

Poverty:

1. Video depicting the wealth inequality in America.
2. Greg Kaufmann reviews two documentaries on poverty in America.

Education:

1. A timeline of the Richmond region’s civil rights in public schools by The Richmond Times Dispatch.

Professional Development:

Free Webinars:

1. Everyone Leads: 5 Ways to Step Up and Make a Greater Impact in Your Work – Monday, March 11th @ 12PM
2. Who is poor in this country and why – Wednesday, March 13th @ 2PM
3. Poverty, Public Education, and Corporate Influence – Monday, March 11th @ 8PM

Other:

1. Conference on Race, Class, Opportunity and School Boundaries in the Richmond Region • March 13-14, 2013
2. Articles on Creativity: Bruce Nussbaum explains how to find and amplify creativity.  Another blog asks Bruce additional questions about creativity.