Dont Call Us Out of Name CL

During school, Dodson worked in a candy and an electronics factory; later, she served as an ob/gyn nurse in a poor and violent neighborhood. Now that she's a fellow at the Radcliffe Public Policy Institute, she has melded those experiences into an account that addresses frequent stereotypes of women on welfare. Dodson used focus groups, interviews and surveys, offering money in exchange for cooperation. Many bravely managed to pull themselves up, seeking education or work to raise their standard of living, but with many, familial history repeated itself with disheartening inevitability. The subordinate position of women is nowhere clearer than in these women's lives. Children are their only allies, and the only thing they can control, so they continue to give birth to future generations who face the same conditions. What cuts across all lines of culture and class is a sense of frustration, of people trying to survive physically and psychologically in a structured institution. Dodson's work is riveting, a true wake-up call for those who view the problem as laziness and corruption among the poor, rather than a system that has failed. A well-written and eye-opening salvo in one of America's most crucial debates. (Oct.)