The voices of the poor need to be heard
A reflection on what got me cancelled and what I am currently working on
If you came here via a comment I left on Michael Moore’s story on why he bailed out a rapist (who Moore referred to as a journalist and hero), please know that I did not endure hardship because of running an office to recall former Governor Scott Walker. No. I sealed my fate two years earlier when I wrote the story that so many other local journalists tried to write but failed to find the right approach for: A story about the homeless in the small city where I reside. I was inspired to write this story by a homeless man who was told by local police that he could not spend the night under the bridge. The only assistance the officers offered the man was a phone call. The man called my grandfather, a man who he had once lived next door to. My grandfather paid for the man’s stay at a local motel and gave him money for food. I didn’t totally base the story I wrote on that one person, but as a compilation of experiences I had encountered in speaking to the downtrodden.
At the time I wrote the article, I was not working as a journalist full time the way I once had. It was 2009 and local new outlets were already dying off. I was working for a domestic abuse shelter that had been forced to turn a family away when they found out they were not escaping an abuse situation but one of homelessness. People in my hometown were living in denial of this problem, but my article, which the now defunct weekly paper, The Voice of Wisconsin Rapids, ran multiple times, inspired several people to act. Among those who took action was a man who opened up his home as a shelter, zoning regulations be damned. Another was a religious organization that refused to credit my article at all, though the timing was suspicious. Despite that, I drew caricatures to help that group raise funds, but I also called them out for refusing to help LGBT people who experienced homelessness. LGBT youths make up a demographic more likely than most to experience homelessness, so a denial to serve this community when your whole non-profit is supposed to address the problem of homelessness is heartless and egregious. To put it lightly, it is not what Jesus would do.
Years later, during my AmeriCorps service, I was at a field to fork dinner where a person came up to me and expressed how much they admired me. “When you write stories like you wrote, that hold truth to power, you’ll never be rich,” the woman said. She was right. I took this as a sincere compliment. In my service as an AmeriCorps VISTA, I was continuing my fight for those in poverty. The focus of my service was food insecurity, and I breathed life into efforts in Wood and Portage counties to alleviate hunger.
After my last article, in which I gave a voice to others who do not get to be heard (children), a person unsubscribed from my Substack. I accept this too as a sincere compliment. I don’t offer paid subscriptions. Anyone can read what I write free of charge. I have done next to nothing to promote my Substack. If I were to make money beyond my disability benefits, I would risk getting booted out of the long term care program I need in order to survive.
This is why I cannot afford to waste my vote on third party candidates. I am simply not privileged enough to cast my ballot for anyone but Joe Biden. If Trump were elected again, it would likely serve as a death sentence for people like me, who rely on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. I’ve heard his recent comments, and I take him at his word. After all, his Supreme Court appointees overturned Roe, which next to no one thought was even possible.
If you are someone who dares refer to President Biden as “Genocide Joe,” please know that Trump plans on deporting Muslims to Gaza. He has said as much at a campaign rally, and he has deported Muslims in the past. I know; I lost some good doctors due to his deportation efforts. Any vote that isn’t for Biden is a vote for Trump. If you can cast a ballot for the likes of Cornell West, Jill Stein, or RFK Jr., you are demonstrating an extreme amount of privilege. I really don’t know what I will do if Trump gets elected. I cannot work with any kind of regularity, and there is no way I could afford the huge price tag of disease modifying therapy for my multiple sclerosis. If those who read this really do have empathy for marginalized people, please demonstrate it by voting for President Biden.
Recently, I have been helping my significant other to organize his thoughts for his autobiography. His memory does not follow a linear chronology, so I am trying to help him pinpoint the time of certain events in his life. I am doing this because the stories of those who experience disability, trauma, and poverty need to be heard. I am honestly so sick of reading the autobiographies of privileged white women on a journey of self discovery. The publication of those books is tantamount to the media’s insane amount of coverage when a pretty white woman goes missing versus the many unreported stories of missing BIPOC women who’ve gone missing. I vow in these paragraphs to never read another book like Wild ever again. I only want to read about people whose suffering was not a choice. Only their words matter. Everyone else is a whiny little bitch. I do not owe them one second of my limited time.
The poor are my people. It is why I opened up my house as a recall office back in 2011. My main motivation for doing this wasn’t because of how Act 10 ended collective bargaining for teachers (which was undoubtedly bad), but rather because the former Governor was also pushing impoverished people off of their health insurance, and was making FoodShare, Homestead Credit, Energy Assistance, and Unemployment benefits more difficult to obtain by people who desperately needed the assistance. I have experienced multi-generational poverty, and have written about how I failed to find a way out of its grasp despite my education, hard work, or service to my country. In my next post, I will share both the piece I wrote for The Voice on homelessness, and the piece I wrote for Middle Wisconsin on poverty.
Despite my own experiences with poverty, I consider myself extremely fortunate. I own my house, which when I purchased it 22 years ago, cost me less than $40,000. Both Will and I are highly educated and have had some wonderfully enriching experiences even though neither of us have been able to afford overseas travel. Through Second Life, we have forged friendships with people from many other countries. I often count my blessings. We are so fortunate to have hot running water!
I also consider myself very lucky in that I have been able to have animal companionship. I visited my second cousin Lori yesterday after having my annual MRI. I go to Open MRI of Wausau because I am claustrophobic. Lori does not have a vehicle reliable enough to make the 100 mile round trip to Wisconsin Rapids; this appointment puts me in her neck of the woods. Here is a woman who never made much more than the $7.25 an hour minimum wage despite working for the same employer for many years. This employer gave her Covid, but seldom offered her a raise. She actually is doing better in retirement, collecting Social Security, than she had in her working life. She said she may finally be able to afford a dog, a lifelong dream of hers. The rent control housing she lives in is in a very high crime area. I encouraged her to consider moving to Wisconsin Rapids, as we have several nice rent control apartments for senior citizens. I hope she makes the move, gets her dog, and finds her bliss. It is long overdue.
No matter what circumstances you, my readers, find yourselves in, I hope you find bliss and reason for gratitude too.
I get your point about certain stories getting more attention than other stories. It's a systemic issue that's neither fair nor does it accurately represent society. However, the example you used is a little strange. Cheryl Strayed grew up in Minnesota so poor that her family didn't have central heat nor indoor plumbing. She's also not what most would call conventionally attractive (thin). God, I hope she doesn't see this comment, but I think she knows she isn't thin.
I'm glad to hear that you're helping Will with his autobiography (memoir?). I think everyone deserves to tell their story and be heard, no matter who they are or what walk of life they come from.