On Two Dollars a Day is a journey, a dive of a thousand leagues into the abyss of poverty, a candid look at being poor in America.  In addition to giving a graphic illustration of what is to be at the bottom of the barrel of poverty, it shines an intense light on our political system and how it facilitates the opportunities for the powers that be to be able to implement policies that are oppressive and create further damage to the members of society who are most in need of the government’s assistance.

Rakeen Dow is an activist with the All Stars Project’s Committee for Independent Community Action, founded by Dr. Lenora Fulani. Rakeen is a co-founder of Live Poet’s Society NYC performance ensemble.

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When I began reading the introduction to this book my first reaction was Oh, no, I can’t handle another upsetting, depressing read.  My second reaction was one of fury.  Of course I must read it, so I can accumulate even more facts with which to fight against the moral outrage that is America’s treatment of the poor.  When I was a young mother, I couldn’t ever imagine not having food to give to my  children.  As an activist, I joined the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s and we made some gains.  Later I worked in Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society antipoverty programs, where the gains were only temporary.  For many years I have been supporting the building of an independent political movement, and now I am part of the fightback against the New York City plan to privatize public housing where 600,000 mostly poor people live.  But back in the 1960’s and 70s I would not have anticipated that hunger in this country would emerge as yet another dire outcome of the extreme income inequality supported and tolerated over many years by the politicians of both political parties.  Unfortunately the lack of food and decent housing is not confined only to the communities and families described in this book.  In my neighborhood on the upper west side of Manhattan, homelessness is and has been evident for years, but widespread hunger is now everywhere.  Whatever our political differences, we are all humans in an ever growing more inhumane world and we must take on this fight.

Harriet Hoffman is a consultant specializing in grant writing and helping people maximize their Medicare and social security benefits.  She is the coordinator of the popular monthly independent volunteer gathering, Talkin’ Independence, a program of IndependentVoting.org and the New York City Independence Clubs. She is also active with the All Stars Project’s Committee for Independent Community Action.

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Author with H. Luke Shaefer of

$2.00 A Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America

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