Most poor people are not lazy. They are not Black. They are not Brown. They are mostly White and female and young. But whether White, Black or Brown, a hungry baby’s belly turned inside out is the same color– color it pain, color it hurt, color it agony.
Most poor people are not on welfare. Some of them are illiterate and can’t read the want-ad sections. And when they can, they can’t find a job that matches their address.
They work hard every day. I know, I live amongst them. They catch the early bus. They work every day. They raise other people’s children. They work every day.
They clean the streets. They work every day. They drive dangerous cabs. They change the beds you slept in in these hotels last night and can’t get a union contract. They work every day.
No, no, they’re not lazy. Someone must defend them because it’s right and they cannot speak for themselves. They work in hospitals. I know they do. They wipe the bodies of those who are sick with fever and pain. They empty their bedpans. They clean out their commodes. No job is beneath them, and yet when they get sick they cannot lie in the bed they made up every day. America, that is not right. We are a better nation than that!
“They catch the early bus” is a lesson that has always stuck with me.
All respect.
* A lighter side…
Pouring one out for The Reverend Jesse Jackson. A giant and a champion for civil rights and equality.
He directly hit on the very essence of that piece.
* This is an official open thread. Have at it.
15 Comments
- Excitable Boy - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 6:56 am:
- “They catch the early bus” is a lesson that has always stuck with me. -
I once had a young single mother of two living below me in a 2 flat. I got up around 5:30 for work, and when I was getting up she was on her way out the door taking her daughters to their grandparents’ home so she could get to work on time. No one will ever tell me poor people are lazy.
Several years ago I went to a work conference in New Orleans. My spouse went with me so we could enjoy the city together. One day, after the work day ended for me, we rode the streetcar out into the neighborhoods and back. We wanted to see more of the city. As we rode, we listened to the workers who were commuting. They chatted with each other and the streetcar operator. As mentoned in this post, several were women who were cleaning rooms at the hotels. They are not invisible. They are human beings.
- don the lwgwnd - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 8:46 am:
This wonderful speech might be a good platform for someone to run on when confronting the class division and white privilege of todays GOP.
Thanks, I very much enjoyed “Green Eggs and Ham.” Yesterday I watched the Sesame Street appearance and passed it on.
Rev. Jackson and I were momentarily on a 90-degree collision course at O’Hare sometime in the early 80s. He had a garment bag slung over his shoulder and walked like he was late to his gate. Very dashing — more handsome than on TV — and taller than I expected. I was about 20 and probably lost as usual, but as he passed I stopped and watched him disappear into the crowd.
- stateandlake - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 12:27 pm:
“They catch the early bus”, indeed. When folks mention to me that they see Pace buses running around nearly empty, I suggest they get up at 5:30 and watch a bus or two go by on a major route.
- Dotnonymous x - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 12:47 pm:
The poor work hard for the idle rich…isn’t that the design?
- Dotnonymous x - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 12:54 pm:
America 2026 reminds me of a runaway dump truck with no brakes.
- Dotnonymous x - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 1:03 pm:
Jesse Jackson represented those who could not speak for themselves…call him Champion.
- Dotnonymous x - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 8:28 pm:
Maybe we’ll get back there again someday.
- Dotnonymous x - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 8:29 pm:
- Excitable Boy - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 6:56 am:
- “They catch the early bus” is a lesson that has always stuck with me. -
I once had a young single mother of two living below me in a 2 flat. I got up around 5:30 for work, and when I was getting up she was on her way out the door taking her daughters to their grandparents’ home so she could get to work on time. No one will ever tell me poor people are lazy.
- Keyrock - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 7:16 am:
Thanks for the quote. “They catch the early bus” was a great moral reminder for many of us.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 8:13 am:
yep Green Eggs and Ham read so well. and fun.
- B Jean - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 8:31 am:
Several years ago I went to a work conference in New Orleans. My spouse went with me so we could enjoy the city together. One day, after the work day ended for me, we rode the streetcar out into the neighborhoods and back. We wanted to see more of the city. As we rode, we listened to the workers who were commuting. They chatted with each other and the streetcar operator. As mentoned in this post, several were women who were cleaning rooms at the hotels. They are not invisible. They are human beings.
- don the lwgwnd - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 8:46 am:
This wonderful speech might be a good platform for someone to run on when confronting the class division and white privilege of todays GOP.
- VK - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 9:09 am:
His reading of Green Eggs and Ham is new to me.
10/10. No notes. Maybe the greatest reading of classic literature I’ve ever seen.
- Boone Logan Square - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 9:13 am:
His Sesame Street appearance is worth watching. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/o-lf4NdOZ90
- Pot calling kettle - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 9:18 am:
One of my favorite speeches. The power of his rhetoric, the delivery AND the content, remains.
Unfortunately, the content still resonates because we still face many of the same issues. Some have returned and others were never addressed.
- yinn - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 10:24 am:
Thanks, I very much enjoyed “Green Eggs and Ham.” Yesterday I watched the Sesame Street appearance and passed it on.
Rev. Jackson and I were momentarily on a 90-degree collision course at O’Hare sometime in the early 80s. He had a garment bag slung over his shoulder and walked like he was late to his gate. Very dashing — more handsome than on TV — and taller than I expected. I was about 20 and probably lost as usual, but as he passed I stopped and watched him disappear into the crowd.
- stateandlake - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 12:27 pm:
“They catch the early bus”, indeed. When folks mention to me that they see Pace buses running around nearly empty, I suggest they get up at 5:30 and watch a bus or two go by on a major route.
- Dotnonymous x - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 12:47 pm:
The poor work hard for the idle rich…isn’t that the design?
- Dotnonymous x - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 12:54 pm:
America 2026 reminds me of a runaway dump truck with no brakes.
- Dotnonymous x - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 1:03 pm:
Jesse Jackson represented those who could not speak for themselves…call him Champion.
- Dotnonymous x - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 8:28 pm:
Maybe we’ll get back there again someday.
- Dotnonymous x - Wednesday, Feb 18, 26 @ 8:29 pm:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL0tnrl2L_U