TIM

I know this kid named Tim (I use the term 'kid' loosely, as I'm much older than he)...He's 24 and lives in a pretty bleak component of the American Dream. Tim's life has been one of poverty replete with all the stigmas and suffering that comes with it.

From the start of my relationship with Tim, I saw a sparkle in his eye, and a willingness to get beyond the apparent, and head toward the possible. Tim and I have had many talks about 'life'...about what is and what ain't...about his dreams, his aspirations and the frustrations of inaccessibilty to those well thought out plans for the future. We talk about his family...about his mom, his grandmother(s), his aunts, cousins, nephews, (all of whom live in the same community just outside the 'Beltway To The Land of Promise') his sisters, and his 'Pops'.

We talk, too, about all the politicians, the TV, film, print media-journalists, and radio personalities who have all, at one time or another, come down to Blackmon Road, Tim's home community, to "talk about poverty". They/we talk about "helping people help themselves, all that...stuff that people "talk" about when the issues of poverty arise (particularly around election time). Tim and I have shot hoops...he's a hell of a basketall player...we shot 'em with John Edwards, with Danny Glover, with all manner of photo-ready moments...ensuring that the 'personality' that was shooting was in the 'moment'...(Please take a second, and visit http://www.aplaceforhope.net/ to learn more about the Blackmon Road Community in Rock Hill, SC).

Tim has a job that he rides his bike to, rain or shine, day and/or night...5-6 times a week The ride is about 5 miles. The job is ok, pays about $7.50 an hour, for about 6 hours worth of work. (If one does the math, one can readily see that not only is this not a great deal of income...Tim is recognized as a Part-Time Employee, so it also provides his employer a way out of needing to offer "Benefits"...like, say, health insurance). Remembering that Tim is helping support his mom (who, as it turns out, is in desperate need of medication to control her bi-polar disorder and her clinically diagnosed severe depression...to the tune of "way too much to afford"...and has not been able to receive any assistance due to her assumed 'lucid' status). 

The System is kaput...and we need to stand up for our brothers and sisters who are in desperate need of a way out of the abject poverty that they are subject to...this is not their 'lot in life' and a 'chosen lifestyle' as some local racist leaders and blog/comment posters would have us believe. Quite the contrary...what this is...is a shameful, 'out-of-sight-out-of-mind' way of thinking...and it needs to end NOW.

Hasta la Victoria Siempre!!!