This semester I’m teaching Poverty Law at Seattle U. Law. It has been a fun and challenging task to put together a syllabus and decide what should be included in a class covering such a broad topic. So much of what is taught in law school I would consider rich people’s law and so much of what poverty lawyers do in the day-to-day is not covered in law school courses or tested on the bar exam. Trying to create a class that might address all the enormous constant legal issues faced by poor people (eviction, criminalization, child welfare, public assistance, old age benefits, immigration, low-wage work, Medicaid, consumer rights, credit, gentrification, etc.) and all the ways that the law structures our economic relations to create poverty is daunting. Continue reading “Teaching Poverty Law”
Scarcity Art
I thought others might enjoy this video documenting a recent performance of one of my favorite artists, Emma Hedditch, which touches on issues of scarcity, public/private, collaboration and support.
Notes from a Wealth Redistribution Conciousness-Raising Dinner Party
Last November, Jess and Dean worked on putting together a dinner party that would function as a kind of group consciousness-raising session about wealth redistribution. We invited a number of friends, several who did not know each other but were connected socially through us and others. The group we invited included people from a range of class experiences and current circumstances. We created the event based on the idea that a key way to make change around wealth redistribution is to start conversations in our intimate circles that are overtly aimed at being non-judgmental and where people can address fears and concerns and teach each other models and ideas for addressing them. Continue reading “Notes from a Wealth Redistribution Conciousness-Raising Dinner Party”
(Red) Campaign Criticized
Enough reader Aaron With recently wrote to us to share info about a campaign he is involved with focused on accountability regarding the philanthropy-themed (Red) advertising campaign. Aaron’s message, with links to the campaign, is below.
Letters about Poverty
by Lis Goldschmidt, Dean Spade, and Pascal Emmer
These letters originally appeared on Make and the first two also appeared in the anthology Without a Net (Ed. M. Tea).
Dean-
Hey. How’s things in NYC? Tired here. Just home from hanging out with everyone. Feeling really tired of the class stuff we were talking about the other day. Tired of people fronting like they’re poor or grew up poor or whatever-like it’s cool to be poor. You know the deal. They put it on like an accessory. You know? Just like co-opting any culture. Do you know what I mean? It’s like people who wear “native garb” from wherever they’re exoticizing at the moment-but the thing is they take it off when it gets old to them.
I guess I’m just feeling pretty pissed. Like I can’t take it off. Like it IS old. It’s always been old. And makes me feel old and fucking tired. And small. Continue reading “Letters about Poverty”
Can You Hear Me Now?
By Colby Lenz and Dean Spade
This article originally appeared on the http://www.communitychange.org/our-projects/movementvisionlab/blog/can-you-hear-me-now-the-trouble-with-cell-phones/view website.
Many of us share a set of concerns or complaints about cell phones. You hear them all the time. Nobody makes plan anymore ahead of time. People talk on cell phones everywhere instead of looking around and being present. The constant noise of cell phone use is annoying and often rude and inappropriate. Cell phones (including those with email) encourage people to work more, losing any sense of work-life balance.
These are solid, important complaints and we have more concerns about cell phones that we want to add to the list. We hope to re-frame the conversation about this suddenly ubiquitous technology in a broader and more urgent context. Here are six problems to consider:
Poor Magazine Facing Eviction
Thanks to Sailor for forwarding the news that Poor Magazine is facing eviction. You can hear all about it, and “Poor’s offensive strategy on how to deal with this eviction and the planned gentrification/displacement/colonization of the whole of Market Street and beyond” by listening to the Morning Show for July 28, 2008 on kpfa.org. Also, for those of you in the Bay Area, join Poor in protesting these events on August 7 at 8 am at 1095 Market Street (at 7th). And thanks to everyone who has been sending feedback about the site. We are happy to hear that people are eager for the conversations this site aims to spark!
Critical Desire
by dean spade
I went to D.C. for a job interview last week. Riding in the airport van in the rain from Dulles surrounded by the familiar climate and landscape brought back the feeling of Albemarle County, Virginia, where I grew up. Out the window through the rain I saw an SUV and was instantly transported back in time to 8th grade when my best friend Phoebe’s dad got a new jeep with Eddie Bauer leather interior and picked us up from school in it. I was flooded with the feeling of safety I had whenever I was doing something mundane like grocery shopping with Phoebe’s family.They were my escape from my chaotic, dirty, small, sad stressful house where that whole year my mom lay dying of cancer. Our fragile little family held together sloppily by a single mom on welfare and burdened by shame and struggle was its final decline. Being the youngest I was the one sitting at home all the time trying to fill my mom’s shoes as the caretaker, trying to get her to eat, trying not to run away when she coughed and vomited and struggled to stand up and walk naked, skin hanging from bones, to the bathroom. At Phoebe’s house there were two parents, meals at a table, rules, no cursing, no drunkenness, clean sheets, the feeling of being taken care of, restrained and guided. Continue reading “Critical Desire”
Some earlier conversations
The idea to create Enough came out of some conversations that started in July on my livejournal cruciferous and continued and continued and continued and continued and continued. It turns out people have a lot to say about this stuff, and that inspired us to dedicate this space to it. We hope you find it helpful.
Welcome
Hi! This site is still under construction, but feel free to look around and tell us what you think so far. We’ll be polishing things up and posting more stuff over the next few weeks. For now, take a look at our guide to submissions.