Invisible Child

Invisible Child

"The same children were cycling through these systems after
being born into poor communities. Dasani's 'poverty' was merely the
point of departure for understanding her human condition. Every part
of her life had been touched by poverty, from childhood and education
to housing and medical care. And there was no separating poverty from
race--from the family's constant encounter with individual and
systemic racism."
The same year, 2012, Andrea Elliott and I reread the same book,
Alex Kotlowitz's There Are No Children Here. It was a classic then,
published in 1991, the tragedy of brothers growing up in the
projects. (Recall I reviewed it on my then fledgling blog?) We both
wondered if things had actually improved for poor Black kids in the
intervening decades. After research we both concluded nope.
But, unlike me, Elliott could actually do something about it.
She's an investigative reporter for the New York Times. She wanted to
do something hard hitting on the crisis of poverty in the world's
richest nation. When her editor reminded her of the biases that had
many more fortunate individuals blaming the destitute for their plight
she offered to write about the kids. Surely nobody could fault them
for lack of responsibility or poor decision making. Her pitch
resulted in a five part front page series and the poignant and
powerful book, Invisible Child.
Dasani is the focus of Elliott's narrative. She's the first
child of Chanel, a drug addicted woman who dropped out in the ninth
grade. By the time she's eleven she's the oldest of eight siblings in
a mine/yours/ours blended family.
The first chapter paints her family's predicament as Dasani is
about to start middle school. Eight children and two adults share a
single room in a New York City homeless shelter with mice and
roaches. There isn't even a table at which to do homework. The
communal bathroom shared by a number of families is so dangerous that
at night the children must relieve themselves in a mop bucket.
At one point Dasani gets a scholarship to a private school.
Only her family's constant crises leave her feeling that she's
abandoned her loved ones to focus on her future. Stress fueled
behaviors get her expelled. She returns to foster care, her parents
having had their parental rights terminated.
Throughout the book you will get to know Dasani and her siblings
and parents more intimately than you may know neighbors and
coworkers. If you're like me, some of the challenges they face and
the cruelties they encounter will have you thinking, OMG, in this
century! Nobody should have to live like that.
One of the cruelest entities in Dasani's life was ironically
created to protect children. An anonymous phone call can bring a
family to their unwelcome attention. Their agents are typically
middle class white; their clients typically poor families of color.
They are free to intrude on all aspects of a family's life and impose
difficult and arbitrary tasks on parents wishing to not have their
children taken away. They place emphasis on shaming and blaming rather
than helping, on breaking families apart rather than healing them--
even though the latter is less traumatic for children and less
expensive for taxpayers.
Intensive back story takes readers back in time, showing the
many ways in which systemic racism has enabled Blacks to fall into
generational poverty. Blacks back from fighting in World War II, for
instance were not able to avail themselves of the education and home
ownership opportunities enjoyed by white veterans under the GI bill.
Draconian drug laws disproportionately imprisoned Blacks more
frequently and for longer sentences.
I think every adult advantaged by skin color privilege,
especially those who still buy into the myth of meritocracy, should
read this book. It's a real eye opener. If it can't motivate us to
clamor for meaningful change I can't imagine what will.
Invisible Child is highly engaging. Take your time reading it.
Ponder on the questions it raises. Discuss it with friends. Suggest
it for your book club. Get to know Dasani and her family and you may
never see our society in quite the same way. Hopefully you won't.
On a purrrsonal note, my weekend was uneventful--homework, housework,
writing, reading. I did have a special treat on Sunday. Temps went
into the 50s. So I was able to read outside part of the afternoon.
That always lifts my spirits. I decided to not go to zoom church
until we're safely into January. I'll hear more than enough
Thanksgiving and Christmas talk at the places I have to be namely
school and work. This year the prospect of not seeing family feels
sadder than last year. Last year before vaccines it seemed like
pretty much everyone was in this isolation. This year it feels like
we're in a minority. I want as few reminders of what I'll be missing
out on as possible. Maybe next year the COVID grinch won't steal my
Thanksgiving and Christmas. (Jules)
What is this setting the clocks back nonsense? Most hoomans don't
like it. So why don't they just stop? (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to Elliott and all the others who use
journalist privilege to expose inequities in our society.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway


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