Sunday assignment

Step one:  read Revelation 18

Step two:  ponder each word and phrase, underlining the most interesting words and phrases

Step three:  summarize the chapter in one sentence

Questions:

1)  What dominates the reason for the great agony and mourning in these words?

2)  What is the place/position of great wealth in this part of the story?

3)  Is economic power a problem here?

4)  In what way do various actors "commit fornication" in the story line?

5)  Is the focus of this chapter sex or economics?

6)  What role does wealth and economic power play in this story of failure and defeat?

7)  What does the chapter seem to reveal about God's attitude toward wealth and its power?

8)  Where are "the poor" in this vision of the community in question?

Finally:  what is the "takeaway" for you?

Man in the yellow raincoat

My friend, Robbie San Juan, shared this experience recently.  He gave me permission to use it here.  Moving.  Insightful. Honest.  Real.  What's your reaction?  Ever made assumptions about the folks you observe?

Prayers for the man in the yellow raincoat
by Robert San Juan on Friday, January 7, 2011 at 11:48am

So I was on the train going to work this morning and I was sitting behind this gentleman in a yellow raincoat. I wouldn’t say he was one of the many homeless that jump on the train to keep warm, but I will say he looked down on his luck.

He looked to be over 60, with glasses, a moustache and a dirty baseball cap. He was filling out a work application for some random burger joint that I had never heard of. In the space that was labeled “Where did you hear about us?” he wrote “craigslist” and dotted the “I” with a hollow circle.

Out of his worn bag he then pulled out 3 worn pieces of notebook paper. Those three pieces of paper were entirely covered in the same tiny handwritten scrawl, the i’s all dotted with circles. There was not an empty space left anywhere on the pages. There was writing cross-ways, up the sides, running horizontally and vertically. It looked like a prop from the movie “A Beautiful Mind”… and my first reaction to those pages was “oh no… I bet he’s crazy”. There were barely any spaces between the words making the handwriting almost illegible. ALMOST illegible.

As we rode the train together, he pulled the pages closer to his face so he could read them better, and in effect pulling it closer to me (And yes I did ashamedly invade his privacy by reading over his shoulder). As I studied the pages along with him I realized that every single “entry” on the page was information about jobs… managerial contacts… phone numbers… addresses… websites… URLs… he was really… REALLY looking for a job… somewhere, he had been lucky enough to gain access to a computer and had hand written all of this information on these three pieces of paper in his search for a job…

I found myself feeling severely ashamed that I had so quickly judged him… I felt angry that this man, that so badly wanted a job and wanted to work, did not have one… and I felt sad that I did not have a job to offer him… I wanted to ask him what sort of job he was looking for, thinking I might be able to help him… but was conflicted in that I would have to admit that I had been snooping over his shoulder, or that I might offend his pride in doing so. Before I could make up my lazy, self centered mind, he was up and off the train before I realized it.

So all I have for him now, this man in the yellow raincoat, is prayer. I’m praying for him. Praying that he was getting off the train for a job interview and will be employed very soon… I also have my ability to request prayers for him on his behalf, from those that are believers in prayer… so please pray for him, and all those like him that are searching so hard to provide for themselves and those that they love.

To the man in the yellow raincoat… thank you. Thank you for putting a little more perspective to my day. And I hope you are blessed with more than what you were ever looking for.

"The Gospel of Getting Rich"

A few days ago over in Fort Worth, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland hosted a conference for "prosperity gospel" devotees.

The New York Times reported on the event and the mindset back of it. Here's a taste of the article (photo from same source):

Believers Invest in the Gospel of Getting Rich
by LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: August 15, 2009

FORT WORTH — Onstage before thousands of believers weighed down by debt and economic insecurity, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland and their all-star lineup of “prosperity gospel” preachers delighted the crowd with anecdotes about the luxurious lives they had attained by following the Word of God.

Private airplanes and boats. A motorcycle sent by an anonymous supporter. Vacations in Hawaii and cruises in Alaska. Designer handbags. A ring of emeralds and diamonds.

“God knows where the money is, and he knows how to get the money to you,” preached Mrs. Copeland, dressed in a crisp pants ensemble like those worn by C.E.O.’s.

Even in an economic downturn, preachers in the “prosperity gospel” movement are drawing sizable, adoring audiences. Their message — that if you have sufficient faith in God and the Bible and donate generously, God will multiply your offerings a hundredfold — is reassuring to many in hard times.

The preachers barely acknowledged the recession, though they did say it was no excuse to curtail giving. “Fear will make you stingy,” Mr. Copeland said.

But the offering buckets came up emptier than in some previous years, said those who have attended before.

Many in this flock do not trust banks, the news media or Washington, where the Senate Finance Committee is investigating whether the Copelands and other prosperity evangelists used donations to enrich themselves and abused their tax-exempt status. But they trust the Copelands, the movement’s current patriarch and matriarch, who seem to embody prosperity with their robust health and abundance of children and grandchildren who have followed them into the ministry.

“If God did it for them, he will do it for us,” said Edwige Ndoudi, who traveled with her husband and three children from Canada for the Southwest Believers’ Convention this month, where the Copelands and three of their friends took turns preaching for five days, 10 hours a day at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

You can read the entire report here, if you like.

Frankly, it was a hard read for me.

So, Jesus once told his followers that he had no where to lay his head.

He owned nothing.

He lived as a very, very poor man.

He counseled his followers and would-be followers to sell all that they owned and give the income to the poor.

He invited people to follow him in a radical life of self-denial for the sake of the marginalized, the hungry, the rejected and the untouchable.

He spoke often of "laying up treasure in heaven," one of his favorite phrases. Whenever he used that intriguing phrase, he always connected the earthly "deposit branch" to some clear benefit for the poor in the here and now.

He blasted greedy preachers and self-serving religious leaders as oppressors, not a category to which one should seek inclusion by God's standards!

No wonder we have problems today with poverty.

Is anyone listening to this weird guy named Jesus?

Religious expression like that which the Copelands hawk serves only to turn completely upside down all of the values by which people of faith should be formed and challenged.

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Krugman and income distribution inequality

Recently, I sat in a working group convened by the United Way that focused on income, one of the organization's priorities as it responds to community reality going forward. The emphasis is a part of the new focus to "Live United."

Our facilitator wrote on a large sheet of sticky paper this phrase:

"Root Causes of Poverty"

The group began throwing out answers and ideas. A number of our answers related to education issues and opportunities.

During our discussion, I thought of the clip below. Watch it and tell me what you think.

Wealth and spending in 2009

The Dallas Morning News published a story yesterday lifted from the Chicago Tribune entitled, "Rich hold tight to money" (Thursday, July 9, 2009, 13A).

As a result of the current economic crisis, "luxury spending" is down by 10% so far this year. Evidently, a proven indicator of our economy's resurgence can be found in the spending habits of our wealthy neighbors. According to the report, businesses selling luxury items shouldn't expect a "full recovery until 2012."

Here's an interesting fact: the richest 10% of us in this country account for 50% of all consumer spending. And, according to the Federal Reserve, consumer spending fuels 70% of the nation's GDP.

The report includes a brief analysis of the losses incurred by the mega-wealthy since the collapse of 2008. But then, it adds, "One school of thought is that the well-heeled shoppers are holding back because they are self-conscious about their wealth."

That's interesting, don't you think?

I know at CDM we continue to be grateful for our more affluent donors who continue to support our work. In a number of cases these donors have stepped forward to do even more than normal to help those who are hurting due to the faltering economy.

Other donors have disappeared.

Our mission and purpose leads us to work on poverty every day, regardless the state of the economy.

We don't talk much about wealth here.

The complexities of both poverty and wealth are clear to me.

One thing I know for certain, as different as rich and poor may be on the surface, we are all neighbors and our community will work best when we regard one another as such.

What are you ideas about wealth?
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bell hooks. . .Class Matters

bell hooks writes powerful, challenging, disconcerting, revolutionary stuff.

"Class" issues occupy her thought and analysis. She makes it very, very clear that we are not comfortable talking about these "class matters" and that we are in deep denial about them.

What follows is a sample of her work from her book, Where We Stand: Class Matters (Routledge 2000).

Nowadays it is fashionable to talk race or gender; the uncool subject is class… In less than twenty years our nation has become a place where the rich truly rule… While greed has always been a part of American capitalism,it is only recently that it has set the standard for how we live and interact in everyday life. Our nation is becoming a class-segregated society where the plight of the poor is forgotten and the greed of the rich is morally tolerated and condoned. (p. vii)

Everywhere we turn in our daily lives in this nation we are confronted with the widening gap between rich and poor… Yet there is no organized class struggle, no daily in-your-face critique of capitalistic greed that stimulates thought and action – critique, reform, and revolution.

As a nation we have become passive, refusing to act responsibly toward the more than thirty-eight million citizens who live in poverty here and the working masses who labor long and hard but still have difficulty making ends meet. The rich are getting richer. And the poor are falling by the wayside. At times it seem no one cares. Citizens in the middle who live comfortable lives, luxurious lives in relation to the rest of the world, often fear that challenging classism will be their downfall, that simply by expressing concern for the poor they will end up like them, lacking the basic necessities of life. Defensively, they turn their backs on the poor and look to the rich for answers, convinced that the good life can exist only when there is material affluence. (pp. 1-2)

More and more, our nation is becoming class-segregated. The poor live with and among the poor – confined in gated communities without adequate shelter, food or health care – the victims of predatory greed. More and more poor communities all over the country look like war zones, with boarded-up bombed-out buildings, with either the evidence of gunfire everywhere of the vacant silence of unsatisfied hunger… No one safeguards the interests of citizens there; they are soon to be the victims of class genocide. This is the passive way our country confronts the poor and indigent, leaving them to die from street warfare, sugar, alcohol, and drug addiction, AIDS, and/or starvation. (p. 2)

We live in a society where the poor have no public voice. (p. 5)

Solidarity with the poor is the only path that can lead our nation back to a vision of community that can effectively challenge and eliminate violence and exploitation. It invites us to embrace an ethics of compassion and sharing that will renew a spirit of loving kindness and communion that can sustain and enable us to live in harmony with the whole world. (p. 49)

Wealth built and maintained by the exploitation and oppression of others undermines a democratic vision of prosperity. (p. 79)

…the widening gap between the rich and the poor causes pain far beyond economic suffering, it rends and breaks us psychologically, tearing us asunder, denying us the well-being that comes from recognizing our need for community and interdependency. (p. 158)

The Blue Sweater

Check out this interview with the author of The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World and founder/CEO of the Acumen Fund, Jacqueline Novogratz.

Amazing story about the sweater!

Amazing ideas about changing the world!

Acumen Fund, a non-profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty, makes critical capital investments designed to change things for the better among the poorest people on planet Earth.

Fascinating stuff!

Lessons here for urban investors and human and community developers.

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Rich and Poor

So, what happens when mega-rich folks go "undercover" among the nation's poor?

Take a look at the FOX network program, Secret Millionaire and tell me what you think.

Does the FOX program represent a real, scalable solution? Or, is this just another "reality show" with some specialized entertainment value teased out at the expense of the poor?

What are other options when it comes to driving forward sustainable solutions to the challenges of poverty?

[CDM note: For years now we've put youth groups and their adult sponsors through what we call "Urban Experience" to provide them an educational experience about poverty's reality in an urban setting.]

Failing capital markets and the extremely poor

Working on our housing effort in Downtown Dallas (City Walk @Akard) taught us a great deal about how hard it is to provide high-quality, affordable housing for the working poor and the homeless.

Even though we had millions of dollars lined up and secured, we found the entire closing process almost impossible, a clear signal to us that the credit markets were restricting dramatically earlier this year.

Going forward it seems clear that working out housing programs to benefit those most in need of good places to live will become more and more difficult, if not impossible, at least in the short term.

To be clear, the units I have in mind here are rental, not for sale.

As is usually the case, those at the bottom of the nation's economic life suffer disproportionately at times like the present.

Due to a lack of organization, necessary resources and political influence, folks at the bottom suffer, often in extreme circumstances.

Most of us don't or refuse to recognize or acknowledge their desperate plight. The poor have a way of suffering in relative silence and resignation.

A large part of our mission as a faith-based organization is to hear and acknowledge what is going on among our poorest neighbors and, then, to stand with them in attempting to make things better.

In short, it's always about much, much more than just charity.

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The gap

Wednesday, thanks to a bit of a glitch in the agenda, I sat in the Dallas City Council meeting for almost seven hours. Quite an experience to take in almost all of the entire meeting! My hat is off to our mayor and our council members for their willingness to do so for the common good.

During the afternoon session, the meeting room filled with very well-dressed people, well over 100 of them. When their time on the agenda came, it became very clear that the group was divided between those who favored the development of a luxury hotel/condo project down along the Katy Trail and those who were against it.

The testimony was interesting. The project fairly amazing. The conversation among council members very civil. The project was approved unanimously over the judgment of the City Planning Commission.

When our business was completed (the council voted to award our citywalk project $1.5 million in bond funds for homeless housing), I decided to drop in on The Bridge, our new homeless assistance center Downtown. I walked in and began roaming around asking folks how they liked the new facility.

Lots of honest conversation ensued. There are some bugs in the new building and the staff is working hard to resolve them. One fellow told me he believed the whole project was to provide a place for the homeless to be hidden from the rest of Dallas. Almost everyone I spoke with was grateful for the place.

The overriding impression I received was that of an extremely welcoming place.

The numbers seem to back up my impression. The Bridge is seeing about 1,000 people a day! I expect that is about 50% more than anyone planned for. But, that brings me back to that welcoming thing.

The place could just as easily have been named "The Oasis," because that is what it feels like to lots of people who are coming there. Just a place to sit down, to rest, to regain one's legs, to feel as if someone really cares. . .unconditionally. Clearly, The Bridge is not a place of condemnation, but a place of hope and friendship.

Not surprisingly, I ran into a number of men that I knew, guys who had passed through my world at CDM. Felt like a reunion!

As I drove away, I couldn't help contrast the two worlds I'd experienced in just a few hours. Two very, very different worlds. Two worlds that are drifting apart quickly, as the economic gap between the two widens daily.

The gap is sad to me. The people aren't all that different, though they may all think they are. But, they aren't.

Discovering beauty in both worlds is the challenge. Putting an end to the divide, slowing the division, the call.

And then, there is the small matter of justice, human dignity and simply loving "Lazarus."

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Impressions

Monday

As I arrive at my office, I watch a man, several years younger than I, get out of his car.

Nothing remarkable there, right?

Wrong.

He “stepped out” of his car and down onto his heavily padded knees. Both legs had been amputated just below his knee. He “walked” on his knees around to the other side of the car, removed his wheelchair and started my direction. He had seen me arrive and noted that I was still talking on the phone before getting out of my car.

As he approached, I noticed that his right arm had also been amputated just below his elbow and that his only hand was in fact half a hand.

Here was a man with challenges.

As he drew nearer, I introduced myself and took his shortened right arm in my hand to shake. I learned that his name was Dennis, that he lived in Tyler, Texas and that he had come over for an appointment at Baylor University Medical Center, located a stone’s throw from my office. He needed some help with a room for the night. He made it clear he needed to “clean up” before making the doctor’s appointment.

I did my best to “expedite” our typical processes for him.

My overall impression?

Amazingly positive!

He encouraged me with his attitude, demeanor and ability to engage me and everyone else in his environment.

Take away: never count anyone out.

Take away #2: I've got a lot to learn.

Tuesday

I’m on the road to Chicago.

Interesting assignment comes with this trip.

Friends at Bank of America in Dallas asked me to testify at a Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago hearing regarding the acquisition of Countrywide Financial Corporation by their bank. The public meeting is a part of the normal procedure whenever mergers and acquisitions such as this occur.

All I can do is speak to my experience with Bank of America Dallas. It has been very positive, but I feel a bit caught between. I know there are a number of regulatory issues going forward that must be addressed, not here, but in and by the U. S. Congress so that we can avoid future situations like the current sub-prime crisis that disproportionately affect middle and low-income working people who desire more than anything to be homeowners.

Jesse Jackson spoke to the panel before it was my turn. I wish I knew what he had to say, but I arrived later in the day.

As I interact with folks in attendance, it becomes clear that the criticism is directed at the business practices of Countrywide and the hope for new, more equitable practices resides with Bank of America and its management style.

I rode the Orange Line from Midway Airport downtown for the hearing.

Chicago is a real city!

As I stepped off the CTA train and walked down the steps from the track platform to the street, I encountered a beggar holding a paper cup. He must have been in his sixties. He asked for change. No one paid any attention. Being an outsider, I stopped to visit. And, yes, I made a contribution. Debate that all you want, I enjoyed talking to him, and I figure he earned his money by putting up with me!

Walking down the street in front of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the downtown offices of Bank of America, I felt overwhelmed by the wealth and the power that attends such financial capacity.

Between the two giant financial institutions I meet a “Streetwise” vendor. “Streetwise” is the homeless newspaper for Chicago. Again, I stop to talk and purchase a paper. The guy thanks me and volunteers that "This is the hardest job I’ve ever had!”

I answered, “I’m sure that is right, but you know what, you do have it, don’t you?”

He flashed me a big grin and replied, “Yes, I do!”

The stark contrast is everywhere I go. I can’t avoid it.

The rich, the poor—the amazingly wealthy and the devastatingly poor. It is clear the gap is widening, especially in our major urban areas.

The contrast drives me forward.

How about you?

What do you see? What are your "impressions" as you walk around in your world?

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Economic organizing--hard work

[Lee Stuart worked with South Bronx Churches (an affiliate of the Industrial Areas Foundation) before he became Director of Development for The Hunger Project. I find his insights in the quote below extremely interesting, not so surprising and somewhat alarming. Overcoming entrenched poverty in entire communities is extremely difficult. If Stuart is correct here, it will only grow more challenging in coming days. I often have the feeling that many folks who drop by this blog don't understand or think in systemic terms when discussing poverty. To miss this dimension is to miss a large portion of the harsh reality of living in poverty.]

In organizing terms, what is happening is that the power of organized money is more and more trumping the power of organized people. In New York City, as recently as fifteen years ago, we could organize enough people to counteract organized money. Now, that is increasingly difficult to do. Methods of organizing that were developed to deal with a dominant public sector are not tuned to dealing with a dominant market sector, and much less a non-localized market sector.

All politics is local, but increasingly, economic decisions are made on a global scale, and local politics can do little but sit and watch as a century old sugar warehouse closes on the Brooklyn waterfront to make way for luxury condos, as a seventy year old plant manufacturing pots and pans in the South Bronx moves to Mexico and when tax breaks to an automobile manufacturing plant bankrupt the Tarrytown school system and the plant closes anyway.

Traditional community organizing, relatively powerless even in the old days of government strength, is even more powerless when the stage is global. Effective organizing is based on relationships and the types of relationships that organizing has depended on so far are undeniably local. In global economics, local doesn’t matter much. It feels as if we’re on the edges – good edges, to be sure and certainly important in the day to day lives of people, but edges nonetheless. (64)


Lee Stuart, "Theological Challenges to Community Organizing," Listening: Journal of Religion and Culture 42 no 3 (Fall 2007).

Vacations past. . .

Speaking of vacations, renewal and the benefits, luxuries and privileges of the middle class. . .

For years, when our girls were young, we spent at least a week or two each summer in and around the location pictured here.

Great memories!

Great scenery.

Pretty good trout fishing across the years.

Wonderfully relaxing.

Can anyone tell me where these photos were taken?

By the way, the really old shot was taken long before my birth!

Asking for money vs. caring for people

Yes, I ask people for money all of the time.

But, a surprising thing has happened to me over the past 13 years in the city. I care less and less about the gift.

When I say that my focus today is the giver, please don't hear me commending myself. I'm not patting myself on the back, not at all.

There is just no other position to take in the matter if I want to sleep at night!

Major wealth is a challenge and, I have come to believe for many/most people, at times a special burden.

I find myself asking for money less and less often. What I am inquiring most about these days is the life of the wealthy person who expresses interest in what we are doing.

Important questions, having nothing at all to do with what a donor may or may not decide to do for my organization, need to be posed to the very wealthy.

As a new friend told me recently, "It is a grand time to be wealthy."

That is certainly true from the standpoint of the growing wealth of the very wealthy in the U. S.

But, with multiplying wealth comes all sort of unique problems and specialized issues.

Taxes are a huge concern for most mega-wealthy folks. Thus, the proliferation of the family foundation as a means of managing that special set of challenges. Many people create foundations to handle tax burdens, but have little if any idea as to what the mission of their foundation will be.

Children as heirs is another gigantic concern for the very wealthy. The rich care about their children just as I care about mine. But the transfer of wealth to the next generation is not something that can be taken lightly. Parents worry about this significant passage in their lives and the affect it will have on the next and succeeding generations.

We are all on a journey through life.

My obligation, it seems to me, is to ask about the life stories, the dreams, the interests and the hopes of people--rich and poor alike.

I've noticed when I communicate to a wealthy donor that I care most about his story, her journey, his hopes and her mission, our conversations turn inward and go deeper. These conversations allow space for "safe reflection" and processing along a path of personal and community growth.

I've come to a place where donations just aren't the point.

Shared life, authentic understanding and productive action as community is what the journey entails.

Loving wealthy people is all about understanding and listening and really caring.

Just like loving poor people.

The challenge of wealth

When people ask me what I do for a living, I often respond with, "Oh, I'm a professional beggar."

My headstone should read something like, "Behold, the beggar died!"

It is true. I spend a fair, and increasing, amount of my time asking people for money. With some of my friends it's become a real joke.

A few years ago, I attended a Dallas Mavericks' basketball game with my good friend, Dan Hopkins. At halftime they blindfolded some poor guy, put him down on his hands and knees and the crowd yelled "hot" or "cold" depending on how close he was to another person wearing a sandwich board with "$500" printed on both sides. If the guy reached the "target" before the music stopped, he won the money.

Dan turned to me after the guy won the money and asked, "Would you agree to do that?"

I replied, "Shoot, Dan, that's what I do for a living!"

He roared and has never let me forget it.

Across the years I have developed an authentic respect for wealthy people, and not just because of our need for their financial support.

The very rich face challenges that most of us never really think about, let alone come to understand.

There is a special sort of burden attached to being wealthy.

In fact, I've noticed across the years that the very rich often share more in common with the very poor than they do with the middle class.

In some ways, in the case of the very rich and the very poor the "sky is the limit" as we say. The wealthy can do just about whatever they decide to do, though the deciding is the challenge. While the very poor, though certainly in no position to do whatever they desire, can realize great gains and receive real encouragement even in small steps because their circumstances are so open to improvement, but again, focus is a lively issue.

The mega-rich worry about the next generation and the transfer of wealth and responsibility and the impact of all of that on children and heirs. The ultra-poor worry about their children, as well, but for much different reasons. Still, generational wealth and poverty share many of the same emotional dynamics.

Many people of wealth and poverty struggle spiritually or theologically with what their personal economic position in life means about their own faith journey, purpose and significance. In many cases both rich and poor are more attuned to this thought process than many of us in the middle range.

I've watched very wealthy people relate intimately and authentically, displaying great openness to what can be learned from the very poor. And, I must say, in a way that is often lost on many middle class folks who often come to "fix" things and to offer instructions about how things ought to be conducted. The very wealthy I've known seldom seem so conditional in their commitments to the poor, and the poor respond with friendship and appreciation that can be amazing.

Stereotypes are never very useful. And, I understand that everyone is different. But, I've seen and felt what I am describing here. I need to think more about it.

For now, let me simply say that it is intriguing to watch.

More to follow.

The State of Black America 2007

The National Urban League released its annual report a couple of weeks ago, The State of Black America 2007: Portrait of the Black Male.

You can find the Executive Summary at http://www.nul.org/. You can purchase a copy from their website or via Amazon.com right here on my page (see thumbnail in column to the right that benefits CDM).

The Urban League does the nation a service every year by tracking and evaluating the progress, or lack thereof, among African Americans, as compared to whites, along six "weighted index values," including Total Equality, Economic, Health, Education, Social Justice, and Civic Engagement.

The 2007 report notes that African Americans status stands at 73.3% of whites status in the cumulative index. Economically they are doing 57% as well as whites; 78% as well in terms of health; 79% as well in the area of education; 66% in overall social justice concerns and 105% in the arena of civic engagement, the one category in which they out distance the white experience in America today.

Here are some of the noteworthy facts of life for black Americas in 2007:

++African American men are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as white males (9.5% compared to 4% for whites).

++Among young men (20 to 24-years-old) 76.5 of whites were employed, compared to 68.8% of blacks.

++For blacks over 25-years-old with less than a high school education 60% are unemployed, as compared to 53% of whites.

++African American men earn only 75% as much as their white counterparts.

++For African Americans under 18-years-old, 33.5% live in poverty, compared to 10% of white youths.

++Among black Americans, 47.9% own their homes, whereas 75.8% of whites own homes. In addition, blacks are three times more likely to obtain high-priced mortgages than whites.

++Black men are more than 7 times more likely to be incarcerated than white men.
Average jail sentences for African American males are 10 months longer than for white men.

++Young black men between 15 and 34-years-old are nine times more likely to die of homicide than white men the same age and they are almost seven times as likely to contract HIV/AIDS.

++Black children do well in early childhood--over two-thirds are enrolled in early childhood education programs, such as Head Start, compared to 64% of white children. However, black children, especially males, begin to drop out in middle school and high school at alarming rates.

++Twenty-one percent of teachers in majority black schools had less than three years experience, compared to 10 percent in majority white schools.

++Dollars spent per black student was 82% of those spent per white student.

The Urban League report goes on to suggest a number of steps to improve the lives of African Americans, and black males in particular. The report would be well worth reading.

There is much to do for all of us who seek a nation of opportunity and equal access for everyone.

Thanks to the National Urban League for this important, ongoing research.

Surprising facts: American donors and "the least of these"

A friend e-mailed me a link to Sheryl Sandberg's essay that appeared in The Wall Street Journal recently ("The Charity Gap," page A15, April 4, 2007).

Sandberg's findings stood over against what most of us believe about American charitable commitments and concerns.

Whenever American donors are asked, we report back the belief that most of our donations go to assist those less fortunate than ourselves--right?

However, the facts of our giving tell a very different story.

Sandberg's report cites a study underwritten by Google.org that reveals less than one-third of the money individuals gave to nonprofits in 2005 went to help the economically disadvantaged.

"The analysis, carried out by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, concluded that only 8% of donations provide food, shelter or other basic necessities. At most, an additional 23% is directed to the poor -- either providing other direct benefits (such as medical treatment and scholarships) or through initiatives creating opportunity and empowerment (such as literacy and job training programs). It's just not true, in other words, that the major beneficiaries of charity and philanthropy are the disadvantaged," Sandberg reports.

Among wealthy donors the gap affecting the very poor is even wider.

Those earning more than $1 million per year give only 4% of their donations for basic needs and an additional 19% to other programs geared toward the poor, even though they also report when asked that most of their donations go to assist the poor.

Why does this matter?

The role of individuals in American philanthropy is often misunderstood. Individuals give more than four times as much as foundations and corporations taken together.

Here's an amazing fact, according to Sandberg's report: fewer than 10,000 American families contribute more than 20% of all donations.

Sandberg provides some interesting analysis as to reasons behind these trends.

I found her comments on church giving to be instructive, but not so surprising.

When I drop my check into the offering plate on Sunday morning, I may have in mind my congregation's outreach to the homeless, but the fact is less than 20% (in most churches far less) of every dollar given in church benefits the poor in my community or anywhere in the world. For individuals and families earning below $100,000, church giving accounts for the majority of gifts offered up.

Really wealthy donors target education and health care in their giving. Sadly, less than 9% of these dollars go for scholarships to low-income students and only about 10% supports health care initiatives for the poor.

Sandberg concludes, "As Americans consider their 1040s this year, they need to ask if there is a disconnect between their desires and their actions. Many will find, perhaps to their surprise, that what they want to do is not, in deed, what they're doing. If so, they should start looking deeper into how their donations benefit those whose economic fortunes are dramatically different from their own."

[Ms. Sandberg is vice president of global online sales & operations at Google Inc. and a board member of Google.org.

Read the entire article at: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB117565580732059314-lMyQjAxMDE3NzA1NDYwNTQ1Wj.html.]

Anxieties of the Rich

Advancing Philanthropy magazine published an enlightening report recently on worry and the rich ("What Worries The Wealthy," September-October 2006, page 46).

Quoting The U. S. Trust Annual Survey of Affluent Americans, AP reported the top "worries" of the rich this way:

1. Terrorism in the U. S. and abroad will negatively impact the economy and the securities markets (right at 90% ranked this concern first, up from 86% in 2003).

2. Concerns for the next generation's financial difficulties (75% cited this as a major worry, down from 82% in 2003).

3. Fear that taxes will rise steeply in the next few years (70% expressed this worry, up from 59% in 2003).

U. S. Trust, a New York-based financial management company conducts the annual poll that seeks information and opinions from a representative sampling of the top 1% of the wealthiest Americans. The "wealthiest Americans" by this poll's definition are individuals with adjusted gross incomes of more than $325,000 annually or net worth of greater than $5.9 million.