A few months ago, I made an appointment at the low-income clinic to see their therapist. I was hoping to find someone to listen to me – so I could hear my own voice better. The nurse practitioner suggested this as an option since I don’t make much money teaching part time. When I arrived, […]
About Nicole Braun
Malnourishment: A Case Study on U.S. Food Insecurity
The final report of the 1996 World Food Summit states that food security “exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture agrees – at least in theory. […]
“Homeless People Not Wanted Here”
They are all addicts, criminals, on drugs, mentally ill, dangerous and have made bad choices, unlike us. That was the general sentiment of the people who showed up to protest a new homeless shelter in the community where I live. They might as well have put a sign out that read, Poor People Keep Out. […]
Homeless Shelters as Band-Aids: Housing Is a Human Right
From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Article 25: (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, […]
Taken-for-Granted Social Class Privileges
CLASS PRIVILEGE MEANS… A list compiled by the students in my sociology course on inequality: I can pay to have dental work and therefore keep my teeth intact. If I speak out, I am assumed to be worthy of a voice, and people will respond to me in a prompt and respectful way. I can […]
Doing the Math: Student Loan Debt and the Adjunct Equation
One of my friends calls working in higher education a “Ponzi Scheme.” This is how it works: You put years of your life on a shelf in the name of higher education. You work hard, delay gratification and play the game to obtain the advanced degree. Unless you have wealthy parents, you take out student […]
Roadblocks and Detours: Classism En Route to Drivers Ed
I was shocked when a well-known environmentalist criticized my students’ campaign to make drivers education accessible to low-income students. The campaign ran into a lot of classism, but that was the low point. When I was in high school, drivers training was part of the public school curriculum. Obtaining one’s drivers permit and license were […]
Thinking Positive Thoughts as the Ship Sinks: Oprah, Tolle & New Age Classism
I’m concerned about classism in the new age, self help and spiritual movements. Oprah Winfrey’s show and “lifeclass,” which many people study religiously, promote individualistic “create your own reality” ideas, including the philosophy of guru Eckhart Tolle. “Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it,” Tolle writes. These ideas can be […]
