Tag Archives: poverty

GOP Politicians as Dickens Villains

By Robin Bates | Published: December 27, 2023

Certain GOP pols are behaving like Dickens villains when it comes to the poor.

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Our Country, a Land of Poverty

By Robin Bates | Published: November 25, 2023

Blake calls out those who claim to be Christians while mistreating the poor.

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GOP Attacks on the Poor? Read McCullers

By Robin Bates | Published: February 26, 2023

In “Heart is a Lonely Hunter” McCullers calls out rightwing attacks on poverty programs. Today’s GOP should listen.

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Trump’s Modest Proposal

By Robin Bates | Published: March 31, 2020

It may be April Fools’ Day, but there are Republicans who are advocating a version of Jonathan Swift’s “Modest Proposal.” For real.

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A Teacher, Lit, & a Jailed Student

By Robin Bates | Published: November 16, 2017

In “Reading with Patrick,” English teacher Michelle Kuo works with a student in 8th grade and then later after he has killed a man. The story brings up questions about lit’s impact.

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I Am Lazarus Come Back from the Dead

By Robin Bates | Published: September 24, 2016

I’ve just realized that the Lazarus mentioned in Eliot’s “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is a different once than I’ve been assuming. This makes me appreciate the poem even more.

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Clifton & America’s Eviction Epidemic

By Robin Bates | Published: March 21, 2016

The United States at the moment is going through an eviction epidemic–which brings to mind a powerfully simple Lucille Clifton poem about an evicted family.

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Pope Francis as Shaw’s St. Joan

By Robin Bates | Published: September 23, 2015

Christianity is all very well in its place, but when Pope Francis comes to America counseling a dismantling of capitalism, he gets the same response that Joan of Arc does in “St. Joan.”

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The Inner City: Stay or Leave?

By Robin Bates | Published: July 9, 2015

How do we get young people to stay in the inner city and make it a better place? Baldwin’s “Sonny Blues” gives us a sense of what is possible.

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