Dear John,

In case you missed it... this week the Voices for Human Needs blog reported on the Mass Poor People's Assembly and Moral March on Washington, D.C. and detailed the latest KIDS COUNT report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. And we looked at "prison gerrymandering," simply another example of systemic racism in our country, and discussed protests against racism on college campuses across the U.S. Finally, we unveiled CHN's latest COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship, a by-the-numbers glance at how the pandemic is affecting low-income people. Please share!

This week on the blog...

Forward together, not one step back: The Poor People's Moral March on Washington
June 25
Millions of people joined in the Mass Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington on June 20. We did not stand shoulder to shoulder, but we did stand together. It was an online event, also broadcast on MSNBC and CSPAN, that achieved something rare, powerful, wise, and morally right: we listened to poor and near-poor people from across our nation. They told us about their constant struggles to secure habitable housing, clean water, adequate food, a job at a fair wage, and health care. They told of their determination to fight for something better. They were organizers for the Poor People’s Campaign, for labor unions, and for community organizations. READ MORE

KIDS COUNT: Latest data show pre-pandemic progress -- with some setbacks -- for our nation's children
June 24
The latest edition of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT Data Book is hot off the presses and the news regarding the well-being of children in the U.S. through 2018 is mostly good – with some major caveats. This year’s report found that children improved nationally in 11 out of 16 indicators, essentially stayed the same in three areas, and fell further behind in two others. Among the good news to celebrate: in 2018, more parents were economically secure and lived without a high housing cost burden. More teens graduated from high school and delayed childbearing. And progress was made in the area of children’s health coverage. READ MORE »

Prison gerrymandering and (mis)representation: More evidence of systemic racism that needs to be dismantled
June 23
Calls for racial justice are spreading across the country and the world. COVID-19 has brought disproportionate death to Black Americans. Primary election calamities across the U.S. are making it more difficult for low-income and minority neighborhoods to vote. We can add prison gerrymandering to the list of things that have been included in recent Black Lives Matter protests and that allow us to question the integrity of the representation of BIPOC (Black and Indigenous people of color) and low-income communities in the United States. READ MORE »

For low-income college students, COVID-19 worries mount
June 22
For many college students, COVID-19 has become an inconvenience and created a series of disappointments. Students miss their friends, have had events or sports cancelled, missed out on a traditional graduation, and had to deal with a transition to online classes. But for low-income students, COVID-19 has presented a much more dire situation. Uncertainty about how many universities will handle a new semester come August has not eased the situation for many students who rely on their schools for housing and food security. READ MORE

CHN's latest COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship
June 26
Looming Deadlines. The fourth of July recess is approaching, and Senate Majority Leader McConnell is still adamant that the Senate will not take up a COVID bill until they return on July 20, while the pandemic surges. That means most states will begin their fiscal years on July 1 without any assurance of more federal assistance for state or local governments, despite their already laying off 1.5m workers and cuts starting in three-quarters of America’s cities. READ MORE »

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