Podcast appearances and mentions of aisha nyandoro

On the radio show this week, we cover the Fellowship for Liberated Futures to support the healing, wellness, and wellbeing of Black women and femmes who are on the frontlines leading justice-focused work across the social sector – and dive into the importance of rest to rise (and also share some tips too!); next up we cover how guaranteed basic income lifts families and the economy alike; after that we cover the terrific new changes in WIC, how people can access WIC, and also touch on the expanded summer nutrition programs for kids; then, last we cover how Republicans are attacking access to birth control and IVF – and how we can fight for our rights together.   *Special guest include: Chera Reid, Co-Host & Co-visionary @ Fellowship for Liberated Futures, instagram.com/liberatedfuture; Aisha Nyandoro, Springboard To Opportunities, @SpringboardToOp; Stacy Dean, USDA Food and Nutrition Service, @USDANutrition; Elyssa Schmier, MomsRising, @MomsRising."

On the radio show this week, we cover the Fellowship for Liberated Futures to support the healing, wellness, and wellbeing of Black women and femmes who are on the frontlines leading justice-focused work across the social sector – and dive into the importance of rest to rise (and also share some tips too!); next up we cover how guaranteed basic income lifts families and the economy alike; after that we cover the terrific new changes in WIC, how people can access WIC, and also touch on the expanded summer nutrition programs for kids; then, last we cover how Republicans are attacking access to birth control and IVF – and how we can fight for our rights together.   *Special guest include: Chera Reid, Co-Host & Co-visionary @ Fellowship for Liberated Futures, instagram.com/liberatedfuture; Aisha Nyandoro, Springboard To Opportunities, @SpringboardToOp; Stacy Dean, USDA Food and Nutrition Service, @USDANutrition; Elyssa Schmier, MomsRising, @MomsRising.

With more than two decades of experience working to improve the quality of life for people with limited financial resources, Aisha Nyandoro is a leader in the campaign to end generational poverty. She is the founding CEO of Springboard To Opportunities, a nonprofit that helps affordable housing residents reach their life goals. Aisha talks with Inside Source about “disrupting” poverty, living generously, and the gift of financial breathing room.

Welcome to a transformative journey with Aisha Nyandoro in the Dirty Napkins MiniSeries, as we dive deep into the inspiring stories behind the Magnolia Mother's Trust. This groundbreaking series explores the real change brought about by Aisha Nyandoro's efforts, providing a springboard to opportunities for countless individuals. Join us as we uncover the empowering narratives that redefine the meaning of community support and resilience.

There's a lot to keep us up at night. How do we manage our time, navigate financial uncertainty, escape a doom and gloom spiral? This hour, TED speakers help us flip the script as we face the future. Guests include time management expert Laura Vanderkam, non-profit CEO Aisha Nyandoro, environmental data scientist Hannah Ritchie and writer Emily Esfahani Smith.TED Radio Hour+ subscribers now get access to bonus episodes, with more ideas from TED speakers and a behind the scenes look with our producers. A Plus subscription also lets you listen to regular episodes (like this one!) without sponsors. Sign-up at plus.npr.org/ted.

For people living in poverty, a guaranteed income can mean finally having the space to dream of a comfortable life. Sharing the stories of single moms who participated in a first-of-its-kind program that offered them $1,000 per month with no strings attached, poverty disrupter Aisha Nyandoro calls for us to redefine what it means to be wealthy — putting aside lavish vacations and fancy cars in favor of paid bills and a well-fed family — and to listen when people tell us what they need most. After the talk, Modupe dives deeper into what it means to really let individuals and families decide what to do with their own money.

Wealth is a word that gets thrown around a lot, especially in economic conversations and spaces. The most basic definition is what you own minus what you owe. But as Aisha Nyandoro—CEO of Springboard to Opportunity and architect of the Magnolia Mother's Trust—argues in her recent Tedx Talk, it's time to redefine wealth in the United States. In her words, “for too long, we have allowed financial institutions to define wealth and the process by which we buildi it.” So for this week's episode of Off-Kilter, Rebecca sat back down Aisha for a far-ranging conversation about how we define wealth and why it matters; Aisha's own journey to answer the question of what wealth means to her; how the women who are part of the Magnolia Mother's Trust answer that question; the relationship between wealth and liberation; how guaranteed minimum income can be part of the path to building a society where everyone has access to true wealth; money and spirituality; and more. Links from this episode: Watch's Aisha's Tedx Talk here: “What Does Wealth Mean to You?” Follow Aisha on Twitter/X @aisha_nyandoro Here are some prior episodes of Off-Kilter with Aisha featuring more on her work, including the Magnolia Mother's Trust: “Your Work Is Not Your Worth” and “Self-Care Is Political Warfare”

For people living in poverty, a guaranteed income can mean finally having the space to dream of a comfortable life. Sharing the stories of single moms who participated in a first-of-its-kind program that offered them $1,000 per month with no strings attached, poverty disrupter Aisha Nyandoro calls for us to redefine what it means to be wealthy — putting aside lavish vacations and fancy cars in favor of paid bills and a well-fed family — and to listen when people tell us what they need.

For people living in poverty, a guaranteed income can mean finally having the space to dream of a comfortable life. Sharing the stories of single moms who participated in a first-of-its-kind program that offered them $1,000 per month with no strings attached, poverty disrupter Aisha Nyandoro calls for us to redefine what it means to be wealthy — putting aside lavish vacations and fancy cars in favor of paid bills and a well-fed family — and to listen when people tell us what they need.

For people living in poverty, a guaranteed income can mean finally having the space to dream of a comfortable life. Sharing the stories of single moms who participated in a first-of-its-kind program that offered them $1,000 per month with no strings attached, poverty disrupter Aisha Nyandoro calls for us to redefine what it means to be wealthy — putting aside lavish vacations and fancy cars in favor of paid bills and a well-fed family — and to listen when people tell us what they need most.

This show is made possible by you!  To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donateThis year, Mother's Day, May 14th coincides with the formal end of the National Covid-19 Emergency. Since its enactment in March 2020, emergency spending expanded healthcare coverage to some 15 million people who will now be disenrolled, and increased food stamp benefits, and post-partum coverage in many states. Poor parents will be taking a hit — but Guaranteed Income could be the solution. The Magnolia Mothers Trust in Jackson, Mississippi is the first in the country to provide Guaranteed Income of $1000 monthly to low-income families headed by a Black woman living in affordable housing. Joining Laura for this Mother's Day special are Aisha Nyandoro who leads this program as the CEO of Springboard Opportunities, a nonprofit organization working with residents in affordable housing to help them reach their goals; Anquoindria Moore, a mother of three was a recipient of this cash relief from Magnolia Mothers and Dorian Warren, the Co-President of Community Change, that  focuses on building the power of people most impacted by injustice. How does cash relief reduce poverty, and increase equity and security for families? All that, and a commentary from Laura on renewing, and renaming, the tax credit program.“Clearly it is not only about the cash. I had the opportunity to meet some very wonderful people. I was also able to socialize with different women who were also in the same shoes as me or similar . . . The women there are not getting involved and then leaving you stranded.” - Anquoindria Moore“When people have a little more breathing room, when they don't have to count every penny to pay bills . . . they actually have more time to get involved in our democracy and their communities and school board elections and town hall meetings . . . That is important for the promise of multiracial democracy in this country.” - Aisha Nyandoro“We know that if we trust women in particular and give them agency, they will always do the right thing for their kids . . . What we're up against is basically ideologues and zombie ideas who are ignoring the evidence and the stories about the participants in these kinds of programs.” - Dorian WarrenGuests:Anquoindria Moore: Recipient, Magnolia Mothers TrustDr. Aisha Nyandoro: CEO, Springboard To OpportunitiesDorian Warren: Co-President, Community Change Full Episode Notes are located HERE.  They include related episodes, articles, and more.Music In the Middle:   “Don't Know What Tomorrow Brings” by Secret Night Gang from their forth coming album “Belongs on a Place Called Earth” to be released on Brownswood Recordings.  And additional music included- "In and Out" and "Steppin" by Podington Bear FOLLOW The Laura Flanders ShowTwitter: twitter.com/thelfshow Facebook: facebook.com/theLFshow Instagram: instagram.com/thelfshow/YouTube:  youtube.com/@thelfshow ACCESSIBILITY - This episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

It's our May membership drive when we move the mic to you!  By becoming a member your voice of support amplifies our coverage of forward thinking movement movers and shakers.     Go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support!This Mother's Day, May 14th coincides with the formal end of the National Covid-19 Emergency. Since its enactment in March 2020, emergency spending expanded healthcare coverage to some 15 million people who will now be disenrolled, and increased food stamp benefits, and post-partum coverage in many states. Poor parents will be taking a hit — but Guaranteed Income could be the solution. The Magnolia Mothers Trust in Jackson, Mississippi is the first in the country to provide Guaranteed Income of $1000 monthly to low-income families headed by a Black woman living in affordable housing. Joining Laura for this Mother's Day special are Aisha Nyandoro who leads this program as the CEO of Springboard Opportunities, a nonprofit organization working with residents in affordable housing to help them reach their goals; Anquoindria Moore, a mother of three was a recipient of this cash relief from Magnolia Mothers and Dorian Warren, the Co-President of Community Change, that  focuses on building the power of people most impacted by injustice. How does cash relief reduce poverty, and increase equity and security for families? All that, and a commentary from Laura on renewing, and renaming, the tax credit program.“Clearly it is not only about the cash. I had the opportunity to meet some very wonderful people. I was also able to socialize with different women who were also in the same shoes as me or similar . . . The women there are not getting involved and then leaving you stranded.” - Anquoindria Moore“When people have a little more breathing room, when they don't have to count every penny to pay bills . . . they actually have more time to get involved in our democracy and their communities and school board elections and town hall meetings . . . That is important for the promise of multiracial democracy in this country.” - Aisha Nyandoro“We know that if we trust women in particular and give them agency, they will always do the right thing for their kids . . . What we're up against is basically ideologues and zombie ideas who are ignoring the evidence and the stories about the participants in these kinds of programs.” - Dorian WarrenGuests:Anquoindria Moore: Recipient, Magnolia Mothers TrustDr. Aisha Nyandoro: CEO, Springboard To OpportunitiesDorian Warren: Co-President, Community Change Full Show Notes are located HERE.  They include related episodes, articles, and more to dive deeper.Music In the Middle:   “Don't Know What Tomorrow Brings” by Secret Night Gang from their forth coming album “Belongs on a Place Called Earth," courtesy of Brownswood Recordings.

Looking back on Women's History Month, we're wondering: What will it take to achieve a society that prioritizes—and achieves—true equality? Our answers to those questions are the Majority Rules: a series of rules, created by Supermajority, intended to guide us to our ultimate goal of gender equality.Today, we're diving into Rule #4, “Our families are supported.” The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted many of the existing gaps in our care infrastructure, uncovering the millions of Americans who tragically fall through the cracks. In this moment, we're faced with a number of questions—how can we ensure that our systems that are set up to help and support people? Specifically, how can we make sure they address the pressing needs of families, women who engage in caregiving, and individuals that come from communities where they are struggling to survive, let alone thrive?Joining us to unpack these issues is a very special guest:Dr. Aisha Nyandoro. Dr. Nyandoro is the CEO of Springboard to Opportunities, and director of Magnolia Mother's Trust, a guaranteed income program which this year will give $1,000 per month for 12 months to 100 families headed by Black women living in federally subsidized housing. Dr. Nyandoro has more than a decade of experience developing, implementing and evaluating programs that are aimed at improving the quality of life for individuals with limited resources, and has worked with various organizations and in various capacities as an academic evaluator, philanthropist, and nonprofit executive. Check out this episode's landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at ontheissues@msmagazine.com. Support the show

Air Date 2/14/2023 Today, we take a look at some origins, alternatives and misunderstandings of capitalism from the Dutch East India Company, to Adam Smith and up through the planned obsolescence and marketing that have tricked us all into working far harder than necessary while failing to make us happy. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Get AD FREE Shows and Bonus Content) Join our Discord community! OUR AFFILIATE LINKS: ExpressVPN.com/BestOfTheLeft GET INTERNET PRIVACY WITH EXPRESS VPN! BestOfTheLeft.com/Libro SUPPORT INDIE BOOKSHOPS, GET YOUR AUDIOBOOK FROM LIBRO! BestOfTheLeft.com/Bookshop BotL BOOKSTORE SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Indigenous Economics with Tyson Yunkaporta (In Conversation) - Upstream - Air Date 11-10-21 We speak with Tyson Yunkaporta of the Apalech Clan in far north Queensland, Australia, about the connections between Indigenous economics, complexity theory, and systems thinking. Ch. 2: Transcending Capitalism Insights from Buddhism and Marxism - Revolutionary Left Radio - Air Date 1-3-23 Professor of Philosophy and author, Graham Priest, joins Breht to discuss his latest book Capitalism - it's Nature and Replacement: Buddhist and Marxist Insights. Ch. 3: We don't understand Capitalism. Part One - UNFTR - Air Date 1-27-23 How we no longer seem to understand Capitalism. Adam Smith was so much more than the figurehead we associate with Capitalism. He was a true innovator and we use many of his concepts to measure economies to this day Ch. 4: Your Work Is Not Your Worth - OFF-KILTER with Rebecca Vallas - Air Date 10-21-22 Dorian Warren is co-president of Community Change and co-chair of the Economic Security Project, and Aisha Nyandoro is CEO of Springboard to Opportunities and founder of the Magnolia Mother's Trust. Ch. 5: We don't understand Capitalism. Part Two. - UNFTR - Air Date 1-27-23 Adam Smith was a social theorist who was greatly concerned with improving lives and creating a balanced economic system. He created several crucial concepts that remain relevant to this day and believed in the power of the free market. Ch. 6: Economics for a New Year - Economic Update with Richard Wolff - Air Date 1-19-23 US spending for war in Ukraine paid for by higher interest rates; a rational transport system is NOT electric cars; an appreciation of the "degrowth" impulse with a critique of the degrowth movement's focus. Ch. 7: Indigenous Economics with Tyson Yunkaporta (In Conversation) Part 2 - Upstream - Air Date 11-10-21 MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S) Ch. 8: Transcending Capitalism Insights from Buddhism and Marxism Part 2 - Revolutionary Left Radio - Air Date 1-3-23 VOICEMAILS Ch. 9: Stolen children and native cultures - Alan from Connecticut Ch. 10: Thoughts on the reasons for Cop City - V from Central New York FINAL COMMENTS Ch. 11: Final comments on the value of being open to understanding indigenous thinking MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions): Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr  Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent Activism Music: This Fickle World by Theo Bard (https://theobard.bandcamp.com/track/this-fickle-world) Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent   Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere! Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

COVID-19 pandemic started nearly three years ago, Rebecca's been feeling called to take the podcast in something of a different direction this year (you can read more about it here). So, starting with this week's 2023 opener, Off-Kilter will be spending the upcoming season going behind the scenes of the economic justice topics and debates the podcast has been uplifting for years and leaning into another dimension of the meaning of the term off-kilter, by digging into why, in the famous words of Audre Lorde, self-care is indeed political warfare—and what it looks like for social justice warriors of all stripes to care for ourselves as we fight for economic justice and liberation for all. And to help us kick this season off right, Rebecca sat down with her good friend Aisha Nyandoro, CEO of Springboard to Opportunities and founder of the Magnolia Mother's Trust, to talk about the role radical self-care plays in her life and how she shows up for herself in this work. For more: Learn more about Springboard to Opportunities and the Magnolia Mother's Trust Follow Aisha on Twitter @aisha_nyandoro For more on the origins of radical self-care, check out this great Refinery29 piece: “Reclaiming Audre Lorde's Radical Self-Care” And for the original context of Audre Lorde's famous quote, check out her 1988 essay collection, A Burst of Light

With burnout spreading like wildfire throughout progressive advocacy circles even before the COVID-19 pandemic started nearly three years ago, Rebecca's been feeling called to take the podcast in something of a different direction this year (you can read more about it here).  So, starting with this week's 2023 opener, Off-Kilter will be spending the upcoming season going behind the scenes of the economic justice topics and debates the podcast has been uplifting for years and leaning into another dimension of the meaning of the term off-kilter, by digging into why, in the famous words of Audre Lorde, self-care is indeed political warfare—and what it looks like for social justice warriors of all stripes to care for ourselves as we fight for economic justice and liberation for all.  And to help us kick this season off right, Rebecca sat down with her good friend Aisha Nyandoro, CEO of Springboard to Opportunities and founder of the Magnolia Mother's Trust, to talk about the role radical self-care plays in her life and how she shows up for herself in this work. For more: Learn more about Springboard to Opportunities and the Magnolia Mother's Trust Follow Aisha on Twitter @aisha_nyandoro For more on the origins of radical self-care, check out this great Refinery29 piece: “Reclaiming Audre Lorde's Radical Self-Care” And for the original context of Audre Lorde's famous quote, check out her 1988 essay collection, A Burst of Light

This week, continuing Off-Kilter's ongoing series of conversations about the limiting beliefs that we as a collective must release and replace to pave the way for economic liberation, Rebecca sat down with two dear friends and leaders within guaranteed income movement—Dorian Warren and Aisha Nyandoro—to continue the conversation we started last week about one of the most toxic limiting beliefs underpinning large-scale oppression in the United States today: the notion that a human being's worth comes from their work. Dorian Warren is co-president of Community Change and co-chair of the Economic Security Project, and Aisha Nyandoro is CEO of Springboard to Opportunities and founder of the Magnolia Mother's Trust. For more from this week's guests: Learn more about Aisha's work and the Springboard to Opportunity and the Magnolia Mothers' Trust here Learn more about Dorian's work with Community Change and the Economic Security Project Follow Aisha (@aisha_nyandoro) and Dorian (@dorianwarren) on Twitter

This week, continuing Off-Kilter's ongoing series of conversations about the limiting beliefs that we as a collective must release and replace to pave the way for economic liberation, Rebecca sat down with two dear friends and leaders within guaranteed income movement—Dorian Warren and Aisha Nyandoro—to continue the conversation we started last week about one of the most toxic limiting beliefs underpinning large-scale oppression in the United States today: the notion that a human being's worth comes from their work. Dorian Warren is co-president of Community Change and co-chair of the Economic Security Project, and Aisha Nyandoro is CEO of Springboard to Opportunities and founder of the Magnolia Mother's Trust.  For more from this week's guests: Learn more about Aisha's work and the Springboard to Opportunity and the Magnolia Mothers' Trust here Learn more about Dorian's work with Community Change and the Economic Security Project Follow Aisha (@aisha_nyandoro) and Dorian (@dorianwarren) on Twitter

The drinking water system in Jackson, Mississippi, failed its 150,000 residents this week after severe floods overwhelmed the city's outdated facilities. Thousands of residents have no clean drinking water and little to no water pressure, meaning they cannot even flush their toilets. But this current crisis has been decades in the making due to disinvestment and neglect. Many residents already lived under a “boil notice,” meaning their water wasn't safe to use without first boiling out contaminants, or even didn't use their tap water at all, due to lead contamination. We speak with Mississippi Public Broadcasting reporter Kobee Vance and Aisha Nyandoro, CEO of Springboard to Opportunities, to understand how the city got here and what must be done.

The drinking water system in Jackson, Mississippi, failed its 150,000 residents this week after severe floods overwhelmed the city's outdated facilities. Thousands of residents have no clean drinking water and little to no water pressure, meaning they cannot even flush their toilets. But this current crisis has been decades in the making due to disinvestment and neglect. Many residents already lived under a “boil notice,” meaning their water wasn't safe to use without first boiling out contaminants, or even didn't use their tap water at all, due to lead contamination. We speak with Mississippi Public Broadcasting reporter Kobee Vance and Aisha Nyandoro, CEO of Springboard to Opportunities, to understand how the city got here and what must be done.

The year 2021 was one for the history books in many areas of American economic policy. And one thing it will be remembered as is the year the United States finally adopted a guaranteed minimum income for families with children. Unfortunately, that policy victory was short-lived, and the expanded Child Tax Credit signed into law as part of the American Rescue Plan Act expired at the end of last year after the historic economic recovery package many of us will forever remember as “Build Back Better” stalled in the Senate—despite widespread popularity with bipartisan voters—for lack of West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin's support as the critical fiftieth vote.  Advocates for children and for low-income families haven't given up the fight, though chances of bringing the expanded credit back anytime soon appear dim in the current political climate. Meanwhile, millions of children across the country have fallen back below the federal poverty line—and nearly half of low-income families reported struggling to afford food five months after the lapse of the expanded credit's monthly payments. So we at Off-Kilter felt it was time to revisit the topic of the child tax credit on the pod, and to take a look at how kids and families are faring half a year after our elected leaders allowed a policy estimated to cut U.S. child poverty nearly in half to expire. And to help us to do just that, Rebecca sat down with two friends and colleagues who have been leading the charge to bring back the expanded child tax credit: Aisha Nyandoro, chief executive officer of Springboard and architect of the Magnolia Mother's Trust, a guaranteed minimum income experiment in Jackson, Mississippi; and Elisa Minoff, senior policy analyst at the Center for the Study of Social Policy and co-chair of the Automatic Benefit for Children (ABC) Coalition. For more: Here's more on the millions of kids who fell back into poverty (via Columbia University's Center on Poverty and Social Policy), as well as the sharp rise in hunger and food insufficiency among low-income families with kids (via CNBC) following the expiration of the expanded credit Check out the story behind the Magnolia Mothers Trust—and for a deeper dive, give Aisha a listen on this episode of Off-Kilter on the ever-growing case for guaranteed income (with Community Change and the Economic Security Project's Dorian Warren) Learn more about how the ABC Coalition is fighting to bring back the expanded CTC And here's Elisa and Aisha (with Liberation in a Generation's Jeremie Greer) on another prior Off-Kilter episode, explaining the racist roots of so-called work requirements and why they're terrible policy for the CTC or any other income assistance program

Anton and BC welcome Aisha Nyandoro from Springboard to Opportunities, and discuss Chipper Cash, the African Futures Institute, and the brave new film, Neptune Frost.

Amanda Rhein, the executive director of the Atlanta Land Trust, Inc., and Catherine Woodling, the deputy executive director of the East Lake Foundation, discuss a new land donation aimed at creating more affordable housing in the East Lake community.For “Closer Look's” Paycheck to Paycheck series, Rose talks with Aisha Nyandoro, the founding CEO of Springboard to Opportunities about Magnolia Mother's Trust, the longest-running guaranteed income program in the U.S. for Black mothers.Rose then talks with Paedia Mixon, the CEO of New American Pathways, and Maura Walters, a resettlement and placement coordinator at New American Pathways, about the many financial challenges people face as they resettle in Georgia. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As the debate over President Biden's sweeping “build back better” agenda continues in Washington, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin hasn't been shy about laying out his demands, as Democratic leadership in the House and Senate and the White House bend over backwards to garner his and Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema's votes for reconciliation bill that's been moving through Congress. High on Senator Manchin's list: adding so-called work requirements to the newly expanded Child Tax Credit. In a September appearance on CNN's State of the Union, he derided parents who don't work outside the home, asking: “Don't you think, if we're going to help the children, that people should make some effort?”  Asked what he thought of the West Virginia Senator's remarks, Child Tax Credit champion and Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown responded as aptly as he did succinctly, declaring: “I think raising children is work.” Of course, so-called “work requirements”—the policy of using survival benefits as a tool to compel paid work outside the home—is not a new idea. Indeed they were the centerpiece of Donald Trump's agenda to dismantle the safety net for the better part of his one-term presidency.  But the notion of so-called work requirements dates back a lot farther than Trump—and even a lot farther back than Ronald Reagan's racist myth of the welfare queen. Indeed, as a recent report from the Center of the Study of Social Policy documents in painstaking depth, the long and sordid history of work requirements in U.S. income policy has roots that trace back centuries to the slave trade. So given the Senator from West Virginia's continued interest in keeping work requirements alive, instead of turning the page on this kind of policymaking-by-dog-whistle and ensuring that all families have what they need to thrive—we at Off-Kilter thought it might be helpful to take a deep dive into the racist roots of work requirements. Joining Rebecca for this week's show: Aisha Nyandoro, chief executive officer of Springboard to Opportunity and architect of the Magnolia Mother's Trust; Jeremie Greer, cofounder and co-executive director of Liberation in a Generation; and Elisa Minoff, senior policy analyst at the Center for the Study of Social Policy and the author of “The Racist Roots of Work Requirements.”  Dig into Elisa Minoff's full report, “The Racist Roots of Work Requirements” For more on the history and consequences of the 1996 welfare law, check out “TANF Policies Reflect Racist Legacy of Cash Assistance” by Ife Floyd Read “Work Requirements Would Undermine the CTC's Impacts on Racial and Economic Justice” by the Children's Defense Fund's Emma Mehrabi

Aisha Nyandoro is head of Springboard to Opportunities. Their Magnolia Mother's Trust program provides $ 1,000 a month for one year to Black mothers living in extreme poverty in Jackson, Mississippi.

This week, Baratunde digs into the world of Universal Basic Income and Guaranteed Income, in other words distributing money, much like we do when we subsidize farmers or oil companies, but instead to individual households. Where does this money come from? Who gets the money? Will people still work? What will people even spend it on? And how on earth does free cash help our economy? Baratunde sits down with Aisha Nyandoro to find out what exactly happens when you give people in extreme poverty a thousand dollars a month, no strings attached.   Guest: Aisha Nyandoro - CEO of Springboard To Opportunities Twitter: @aisha_nyandoro Bio: Aisha Nyandoro is the Chief Executive Officer of Springboard To Opportunities. Springboard provides strategic, direct support to residents of affordable housing. The organization’s service delivery model uses a “radically resident-driven” approach designed to improve quality of life and end the generational poverty trajectory. SHOW NOTES + LINKS Go to howtocitizen.com to sign up for show news, AND (coming soon!) to start your How to Citizen Practice. Please show your support for the show in the form of a review and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords! We are grateful to Aisha Nyandoro for joining us! Follow Aisha at @aisha_nyandoro on Twitter and learn more about Springboard to Opportunities and Magnolia Mother’s Trust. ACTIONS PERSONALLY REFLECT  Change the story Consider the commonly told stories you’ve heard about poverty in America. Stories like “people are poor because of bad choices,” “poor folks are uneducated,” and “never give spare change to a homeless person because they’ll use it on drugs.” Now flip those stories. Think about the systems at play that keep people poor. Things like predatory payday lending, doctor-prescribed opioids, red-lining, social welfare programs with unrealistic thresholds, and drug-related incarceration rates for people of color. Who is benefiting from these misleading narratives, and keeping certain segments of society poor?   BECOME INFORMED Look for other models Universal Basic Income and Guaranteed Income has been tested in a few different countries, regions, cities, and towns. So do some reading, and find out what the economists say about these programs. Check out this article from Vox listing out everywhere that has tried these programs and what learnings came out of each program. You can also check out the results from the most recent UBI experiment in Stockton, CA that spanned the course of two years. Learn about it here.    PUBLICLY PARTICIPATE Donate to Magnolia Mother’s Trust Got some capital you’re looking to liberate? This one is simple. Donate to Magnolia Mother’s Trust. Checkout springboardto.org/magnolia-mothers-trust/ to find out how. If you are sold on UBI as a part of the solution, get involved with others in the Income Movement and attend or sponsor a march near you planned for Sept 25th, 2021.  If you take any of these actions, share that with us - action@howtocitizen.com. Mention In People We Trust in the subject line. And share about your citizening on social media using #howtocitizen.  Visit the show's homepage - www.howtocitizen.com - to sign up for news about the show, to learn about upcoming guests, live tapings, and more for your citizen journey. Also sign up for Baratunde's weekly Recommentunde Newsletter and follow him on Instagram or join his Patreon. You can even text him, like right now at 202-894-8844. CREDITS How To Citizen with Baratunde is a production of iHeartRadio Podcasts and Dustlight Productions. Our Executive Producers are Baratunde Thurston, Elizabeth Stewart, and Misha Euceph. Stephanie Cohn is our Senior Producer and Alie Kilts is our Producer. Kelly Prime is our Editor. Original Music by Andrew Eapen. Valentino Rivera is our Engineer. Sam Paulson is our Apprentice. This episode was produced and sound designed by Stephanie Cohn. Special thanks to Joelle Smith from iHeartRadio. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

"Other countries have social safety nets. The U.S. has women.” —Professor Jessica CalarcoIn this episode, we're focusing on moms, child care, single parenting and teen parenting. We know that women have been hit hard by COVID—causing many to dub the economic downturn a “she-cession.” And as it stands, current U.S. laws and policies are woefully inadequate—leaving mothers, particularly mothers living with low incomes, behind. Luckily, women-led organizations are helping moms by filling in the gaps.  How are moms making it through the pandemic? And, how do single moms fit in, especially teenage moms? What should parents generally, and mothers in particular, be demanding of lawmakers and the Biden administration? What are the best ways for the U.S. to 'build back better' after pandemic? We also hear from some of our listeners who are giving shoutouts to the mothers–and stand-in moms—in their lives! Joining us for this very special Mother’s Day episode are special guests: Representative Katie Porter represents the 45th congressional district in Orange County, Calif. She is a member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, the House Natural Resources Committee, and chair of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. As a single working mom, Rep. Porter knows firsthand about the challenges that families face. She’s introduced bipartisan legislation that would more than double the amount families can set aside pre-tax to help pay for pre-school, summer day camp, before or after school programs, and child or adult day care.Nicole Lynn Lewis, founder of Generation Hope, which works with teen parents to apply to, enter and stay in college. She is a former teen mother herself, who put herself through the College of William & Mary with her three-month old daughter in tow. Lewis has been featured on major news outlets including Good Morning America, CNN, NBC Nightly News and The Washington Post. Nicole also serves as an Ascend national advisor with the Aspen Institute and a nationally known author and speaker. Her newest book, Pregnant Girl, was released on May 4, 2021 by Beacon Press. Dr. Aisha Nyandoro, CEO of Springboard To Opportunities and director of Magnolia Mother’s Trust, which this year will give $1,000 per month for 12 months to 100 families headed by Black women living in federally subsidized housing. Nyandoro has more than a decade of experience developing, implementing and evaluating programs aimed at improving the quality of life for individuals with limited resources. She has worked in various capacities—as an academic, evaluator, philanthropist and nonprofit executive. Prior to serving with Springboard, Aisha served as a program officer with the Foundation for the Mid-South. Tamara Ware, a caregiver and the mother of three beautiful girls. Ware was in Springboard To Opportunities’ second cohort of the Magnolia Mother’s Trust. Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at ontheissues@msmagazine.com.Support the show (http://msmagazine.com)

Results are in from the first year of a universal basic income experiment in Stockton, California, which gave randomly selected residents $500 per month with no strings attached—and they’re striking. The income boost improved recipients’ employment prospects, economic stability, physical and mental health, overall well-being, and more, according to an independent study released last week. The pilot’s striking results only add to a growing body of evidence making the case for guaranteed income policies that provide recipients unconditional cash. They come on the heels of another groundbreaking guaranteed income experiment called the Magnolia Mother’s Trust, which provides low-income African-American mothers living in affordable housing with $1000 in unrestricted cash per month, for 12 months straight. The mounting evidence in support of guaranteed income as a strategy for dramatically increasing economic security comes as the U.S. begins a guaranteed income experiment of its own, in the form of a 1-year child allowance authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act — which we’ve talked lots about on this show in recent weeks. All of which seems to beg the question… is the page finally turning when it comes to U.S. income security policy? And, even if it took a global pandemic, might now finally be the moment when we finally file the 1990s-era work requirements debate in the history books in favor of a meaningful debate around guaranteed income?    To dig into the results from the Stockton and Magnolia Mother’s Trust pilots — and talk about what it would take to leave the 1990s in the rearview mirror where they belong, Rebecca sat down with Dorian Warren, co-president of Community Change, co-host of the System Check podcast, and one of the co-chairs of the Economic Security Project; and Aisha Nyandoro, Chief Executive Officer of Springboard To Opportunities, which takes a "radically resident-driven" approach to supporting residents of affordable housing, and is home to the Magnolia Mother’s Trust guaranteed income initiative.   Show notes: * Learn more about the Stockton universal basic income experiment, and dig into the year 1 results * Learn more on the Magnolia Mother’s Trust guaranteed income initiative

On this episode of US, The Podcast we are joined by anti-poverty advocate and Springboard to Opportunities CEO -Dr. Aisha Nyandoro. We talk about where the National conversation is on Guaranteed Income, the Magnolia Mother’s Trust and fighting poverty. *Correction - during the episode Andrew refers to King’s Strength to love as a speech. This is incorrect. Strength to love is a book written by Dr. King in 1963. Follow Dr.Nyandoro on Twitter @aisha_nyandoro Podcast Graphic by Jackelin Garcia (@garciajackee on instagram) Instrumentals: Yung Katz - Baddie Follow US, The Podcast on Social Media: Facebook: US, The Podcast Twitter: @usthepod Instagram: @usthepod Did you know US, The Podcast has a Patreon? Well if ya don’t know, now ya know! Financially support the work that we do by subscribing to get access to our bonus content. Bonus content includes  #ReactPod episodes, Meditations with Drea, Devos with Drew, and extended interviews with all of our guests. Check out our Patreon webpage and support: Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/usthepod For one-time donations, give through CashApp $UsThePod --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

There are a lot of jobs we as a country don’t value. Think farm work, child care, service jobs—these low-wage, often racialized and gendered jobs form the backbone of our economy, but if you’ve worked in any of these fields, you know how hard it can be to make ends meet on these jobs. Three of Dorian Warren’s grandparents were janitors, another job that doesn’t get its due. But they were also proud members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and through their work and their union they learned a vital lesson. If we want to improve working conditions for these undervalued jobs, you can either upgrade the workers, or you can upgrade the jobs—or you can do both. Upgrading and transforming jobs, especially dangerous and poverty-level jobs in growing sectors like care work (https://www.thenation.com/article/society/coronavirus-child-care-nurses-essential/) , is a critically important strategy precisely because of the historically devalued nature of this labor. But it takes power—the collective power of workers joining together with communities—to redesign the system of bad, poverty-level jobs into good jobs. On this week’s show, Melissa Harris-Perry and Dorian Warren follow up on last week’s episode (https://www.thenation.com/podcast/society/poverty-inequality-basic-income/) to answer the question: How can we eradicate poverty in America? It's not just about jobs, and the answers are common sense, but radical: To end poverty, we need to meet people’s real needs, like food, or diapers, or childcare, but we also need to disrupt and reform the systems that keep people in poverty, and we need to give people the power to smash through the structures holding them back. For insight on how to get to a poverty-free America, Melissa and Dorian turn to experts leading campaigns and organizations fighting against the system of poverty. Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis (https://www.thenation.com/article/society/we-still-live-in-two-americas-not-one/) , co-director of the Kairos Center and national co-director of the Poor People’s Campaign, joins to discuss how abolishing poverty is a moral imperative—and it makes good policy sense as well, leading to stronger organizing possibilities for all working Americans. Next up, Mary Kay Henry (https://www.seiu.org/mary-kay-henry) , President of SEIU, joins to talk about the role of multi-racial worker power in disrupting the system of poverty. Henry talks to Melissa and Dorian in-depth about the innovative “Fight for $15 and a Union” campaign SEIU helped launched in 2012, and the transformative power of workers setting the terms of their own fights. We then check-in with—and give the final word to—two guests on the ground in North Carolina doing the work to fulfill the immediate needs of those living in poverty and struggling to make ends meet. We talk to Eric Aft, CEO of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina (https://www.secondharvestnwnc.org/about-us) , who talks to us about “feeding the line and shortening the line” for the over 200,000 individuals his organization and its partners serve yearly. And Melissa and Dorian talk with Michelle Old, Executive Director of the North Carolina Diaper Bank, (https://ncdiaperbank.org/about-us) about how having access to diapers and what she calls “dignity items” is a vital necessity for babies, children and families to thrive. System Checklist  During the Covid-19 pandemic millions of Americans have fallen more deeply into poverty. Alleviating poverty in America requires political will, investment, and a strategy to win. During the past two weeks our System Check guests have identified two key issues that keep people poor: lack of cash and lack of power. This week’s System Checklist highlights a political agenda that addresses both. Raise the minimum wage. The last time Congress raised the federal minimum wage was 2007! We know that this meager $7.25 / hour minimum hasn't kept pace with cost of living. (https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/01/21/if-worker-pay-had-kept-pace-productivity-gains-1968-todays-minimum-wage-would-be-24) Right now there is nowhere in the country where a full time, minimum wage worker can afford rent on a two bedroom apartment. We must raise the minimum wage. Join the Fight for 15. (https://fightfor15.org) Universal Health Care. Unexpected medical bills cause 40% of individual bankruptcies. (https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/11/this-is-the-real-reason-most-americans-file-for-bankruptcy.html) Universal health care acknowledges that healthcare is a basic, human right and unlinks health and wealth. With access to affordable, available health care, families can spend their income on housing, food, and other necessities, while avoiding the medical bill caused spiral into poverty. Join the majority of Americans (https://www.kff.org/slideshow/public-opinion-on-single-payer-national-health-plans-and-expanding-access-to-medicare-coverage/) --support universal health care. Universal Childcare. One year of child care costs more than one year of tuition at most states’ four-year public colleges. (https://www.epi.org/child-care-costs-in-the-united-states/) Families need safe, accessible, affordable child care. We can alleviate poverty and change the trajectory of life for millions of American children with a substantial investment in childcare and early childhood education. Read this report from The Economic Policy Institute calling for “An Ambitious National Investment in America’s Children” (https://www.epi.org/publication/its-time-for-an-ambitious-national-investment-in-americas-children/) and sign up to join Childcare Changemakers (https://www.childcarechangemakers.org/) to enlist in the campaign for universal and equitable childcare for all families. Guaranteed Basic Income. Last week we heard from Aisha Nyandoro as she described the ways guaranteed basic income from The Magnolia’s Mother’s Trust (http://springboardto.org/index.php/blog/story/introducing-the-magnolia-mothers-trust) has affected the lives of Black mothers living in poverty in Mississippi. A Stockton, California, guaranteed income program (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-02/stockton-extends-its-universal-basic-income-pilot) has also ignited the interest around the country. If lack of cash is the core feature of poverty, then let’s get cash to the people. Learn about and support the work of the Economic Security Project.  (https://www.economicsecurityproject.org) Ensure Workers’ Right to Organize. Workers must have the right to organize in order to have a seat at the table of power. The power to negotiate wages and conditions of work is tied directly to the ability to organize and unionize. It’s time to update our outdated labor laws to adapt to our 21st century economy. Check out the campaigns of Jobs with Justice (https://www.jwj.org/) and Sign the Pledge (https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-the-jobs-with-justice-pledge?&source=NAT_W_homepage) to advance workers’ rights to organize. As always, we welcome your additions to our Checklist! Use our Twitter and Facebook pages to add your comments, suggested actions, and organizations to support. System Check is a project of The Nation magazine, hosted by Melissa Harris-Perry and Dorian Warren and produced by Sophia Steinert-Evoy. Support for System Check comes from Omidyar Network, a social change venture that is reimagining how capitalism should work. Learn more about their efforts to recenter our economy around individuals, community, and societal well-being at Omidyar.com (http://omidyar.com/) . Our executive producer is Frank Reynolds. Our theme music is by Brooklyn-based artist and producer Jachary (https://jachary.bandcamp.com/) . Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: http://thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

This week, your co-hosts Melissa Harris-Perry and Dorian Warren get personal. Melissa’s Grandma Rosa lived and worked in poverty in the Jim Crow south. She was a seamstress who suffered from arthritis, and she made tremendous personal sacrifices to ensure her twin sons, William and Wesley, could go to college (https://books.google.com/books?id=BPpYDAS_oUUC&pg=PA102&lpg=PA102&dq=genius+twins+richmond+ebony+1960&source=bl&ots=8Jq0FvY6_4&sig=SHqA3DZb2_YeamIE5vr8PudHjxs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj6wKafuunYAhVJymMKHWZ6Ce4Q6AEIKzAB%23v=onepage&q=genius%2520twins%2520richmond%2520ebony%25201960&f=false#v=onepage&q=genius%2520twins%2520richmond%2520ebony%25201960&f=false) and create a legacy of achievement and activism. (https://www.msnbc.com/melissa-harris-perry/fifty-years-later-my-father-and-uncle-msna154681) Her story is inspiring, but why did she have to make the choice between personal comfort and her children’s future? Dorian’s grandmother also grew up poor on the south side of Chicago. Born in the midst of the 1919 Race Riot (https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/tom-dispatch-1919-taught-us-womens-voting-rights-immigration-racism/) and growing up during the Great Depression, she taught him to “earn a nickel, save 2 cents,” proving that while she certainly needed more money, she did not need the kind of “financial literacy” programs that many think tanks and philanthropies put forward as a solution to poverty. These were resilient, forward-thinking women—but they still struggled with poverty. That leads Melissa and Dorian to ask the guiding question for this episode: “Why are people poor?” Why does the richest country in the world still tolerate millions of our neighbors living in poverty? And why is it so rare to hear—in the media, in the boardrooms of philanthropies, in the halls of power in Washington, D.C.—from the people who are experiencing poverty? To answer all these questions and more, we turn to our experts. Aisha Nyandoro, Chief Executive Officer of Springboard To Opportunities (http://springboardto.org) talked with System Check about the Magnolia Mother’s Trust (http://springboardto.org/index.php/blog/story/introducing-the-magnolia-mothers-trust) . The Trust is the first guaranteed income project in the country to focus explicitly on racial and gender justice. Magnolia Mother's Trust gives $1,000 a month, with no strings attached, to extremely low income black women living in federally subsidized affordable housing. Nyandoro began the program in 2018 as a small pilot with just 20 women in Jackson, Mississippi. Today there are 110 women receiving $1,000 a month for a full year, and the results are pretty amazing. This week’s Final Word is offered by Tiana Gaines-Turner. Despite working as the Housing Stabilization Specialist at Eddie’s House (https://eddieshouse.org) in Philadelphia, this wife and mom still struggles with poverty, housing instability and food insecurity. In her final word this week, Gaines-Turner explains why she and others in her community should be at the policy-making table (https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/week-poverty-expert-testimony-tianna-gaines-turner/) . “Nothing about us, without us” is her lesson for System Check. We hope that after listening to our guests this week, you feel inspired to transform analysis into action. Here is this week’s System Checklist. Fight for 15: Set a monthly reminder on your calendar—let’s say the 15th of every month, or any day that works for you. Each month, on that date, call or email your senators (https://www.senate.gov/senators/How_to_correspond_senators.htm) and your representative in Congress (https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative) . Urge them to increase the federal minimum wage to $15/ hour. Get your family, friends, and social media contacts involved. Let them know, “Every month, on the 15th, we are going to demand 15!” Make sure you follow and support the Fight for 15 (https://fightfor15.org) . Give Locally: Take a small step to make an immediate impact in your local community. If you have the financial resources, set up a recurring monthly contribution to your community foodbank. (https://www.feedingamerica.org/find-your-local-foodbank) As little as $10 a month can make a big difference. While you are at it, find out if your employer will match your contribution. (https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=1799) Many companies will double, or even triple, charitable contributions made by their employees. Act Locally: If you are ready, consider taking an even bigger step in your local community. Find ways to get involved with families who are experiencing poverty, hunger or homelessness. Contact your local department of social services, your United Way, (https://www.unitedway.org) the homeless liaison at your local school, or your religious organization to find out where the need is in your community to identify how your time and talents can contribute to a more fair and just system. Water the Grassroots: If you’re really ready to commit to this work, join a local grassroots community organization fighting to upend the system of poverty on which our country, and especially the 1%, depend. Join or support efforts to unionize. Support collective efforts in your workplace, support friends and family who are organizing, and vote for candidates and policies that give workers more voice and power. Make a personal pledge to “show up” in solidarity for someone else’s fight at least 5 times in 2021--whether a town hall, a digital rally, or contacting your local elected officials, especially for folks who are struggling to make ends meet in the midst of a disastrous health and economic crisis. As always, we welcome your additions to our Checklist! Use our Twitter (https://twitter.com/SystemCheckPod) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/SystemCheckPod/) pages to add your comments, suggested actions, and organizations to support. System Check is a project of The Nation magazine, hosted by Melissa Harris-Perry and Dorian Warren and produced by Sophia Steinert-Evoy. Support for System Check comes from Omidyar Network, a social change venture that is reimagining how capitalism should work. Learn more about their efforts to recenter our economy around individuals, community, and societal well-being at Omidyar.com (http://omidyar.com/) . Our executive producer is Frank Reynolds. DD Guttenplan is Editor of The Nation, Erin O’Mara is President of The Nation. Our theme music is by Brooklyn-based artist and producer Jachary (https://jachary.bandcamp.com/) .  Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: http://thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

As our country grapples with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, universal basic income (UBI) is back in the headlines. In this episode, the story behind the Magnolia Mother's Trust, a UBI-like initiative that provides low-income African-American mothers living in affordable housing in Jackson, Mississippi with $1,000 cash for 12 months--to use however they see fit, no strings attached. Aisha Nyandoro heads up the effort and talks about how those moms are faring during the crisis, and her belief that if you provide someone with the resources they need, they'll use them to succeed. Read more about Aisha's conversation with host Andrew Wolk about universal basic income at the Finding Common Purpose blog.

If you’ve never been poor, you don’t know how soul-crushingly hard it is to always be struggling to make ends meet. The grinding challenge of not knowing how you are gonna pay for this bill or that fee takes a real toll.  But on top of that, our current poverty alleviation programs—things like food stamps, welfare payments, disability assistance—they all come with some real strings attached. We make people experiencing poverty jump through more hoops to get this measly assistance than people who haven’t experienced poverty can even fathom. And the dirty secret of all that busywork we set up for people struggling to make ends meet? Our poverty alleviation programs just aren’t working in the way they should. A big part of why they don’t work is because the people who create and run programs and services don’t trust poor people. Instead of trust, they devise hurdles people must navigate to prove they are worthy of support.  The truth is that self-determination—our ability and desire to make choices about what our lives look like—is restricted when it comes to poor people—and this is to our collective detriment. Whether a person might become a powerful agent for social change or seek out their dreams as an artist, it does no one any good when we hold people back by not providing more equitable access to resources. Thankfully, there’s a better way, and it begins with trusting poor people to make the best decisions about how to shape their own lives. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/more-than-enough/id1494165763) , Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/6DupG4tOpQAyPzbhvksXLs) , Google Podcasts (https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hdWRpb2Jvb20uY29tL2NoYW5uZWxzLzUwMTU0NjUucnNz) , or your favorite podcast app.  * * * Show Notes The Magnolia Mother’s Trust (http://springboardto.org/index.php/blog/story/introducing-the-magnolia-mothers-trust) Aisha Nyandoro on “Guaranteeing More Equitable Incomes” (https://prospect.org/economy/guaranteeing-equitable-incomes/) More Than Enough was developed by Next River Productions. Created and hosted by Mia Birdsong. Audio engineering and music by Nino Moschella. Script development and production by Allison Cook. The content of this podcast was informed by the stories of hundreds of people across the country, only some of whom you heard from. Thank you to everyone who took the time to speak with me and share their story. Support for the production of More Than Enough was provided by a few generous folks and the Economic Security Project, an organization advancing cash-based interventions in the United States and reigning in corporate monopolies. More Than Enough is a project of The Nation Magazine.

This is the first episode in a new podcast mini-series from me, Mia Birdsong, and The Nation. More Than Enough is about guaranteed income, deservedness, dignity, and the country America can and should be. We hope you’ll subscribe on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/more-than-enough/id1494165763) , Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/6DupG4tOpQAyPzbhvksXLs) , Google Podcasts (https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hdWRpb2Jvb20uY29tL2NoYW5uZWxzLzUwMTU0NjUucnNz) , or your favorite podcast app. New episodes will premiere each Wednesday. But first, a bit about how this podcast came about. A few years ago, I found myself in a sun-lit conference room full of policy makers, academics, and social justice advocates talking about what a guaranteed income policy might look like. After more than two decades doing intersectional social justice work, much of it advocating for giving cash directly to people who experience economic injustice, I was excited by the conversation. This wasn’t the first time I’d heard about guaranteed income. You’ve probably heard about it by now, too—everyone from Silicon Valley titans to presidential hopefuls are talking about guaranteed income (also called universal basic income) as a way to deal with increasing automation and runaway inequality. I first heard about the concept in college in the mid-90s through the 1967 writings of Martin Luther King Jr. In the year before King was assassinated, he wrote “the time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty” by providing a basic level of material well-being to allow all Americans to truly flourish. To be honest, when I first read that, I thought it sounded ridiculous. Free money went against everything I'd learned about being a respectable citizen. But people change and our ideas evolve. I no longer think guaranteed income is absurd. When it comes to economic injustice in the United States, we have a well-established practice of talking about people who are poor but not listening to them. We try to solve the problem without talking to the people closest to it. As a result, we’ve created a lot of bad policy that treats poor people as a problem to solve instead of the holders of the solutions. (The actual problem to solve is wealth hoarding.) Back at that conference a few years ago, I was thrilled about the genuine interest in implementing guaranteed income, with its underlying ethos of self-determination and trusting people to do what is best for them. But I was wary of any movement that didn’t include the voices and leadership of the people it was meant to support. So I brought up this critical omission. Instead of being challenged, as I often am, heads were nodding, and I was asked to do something about it. So I did. This podcast is the result. I reached out to activists, advocates, and service providers across the country to set up workshops with groups of people who are living at the shit end of all our collective money distribution problem. I went to six cities—from Jackson, Mississippi, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Los Angeles, California, and heard from more than 100 people. I did a dozen phone interviews with advocates like Ai-Jen Poo of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Aisha Nyandoro of the Magnolia Mother’s Trust, and Anand Giridharadas, writer of Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World. The stories were overwhelmingly powerful—partly because of how unnecessarily traumatic and difficult economic injustice has made people’s lives, but also because of how innovative, determined, and collaborative people are when it comes to surviving and imagining a better future for themselves, their families, and their communities. When it came to the idea of guaranteed income, what I heard was an overwhelming “yes.” There was a wide range of things people said about the difference it would make in their lives, and none of it was surprising.  A woman in Jackson said she’d go on vacation for the first time in 10 years. That vacation would be driving with her kids two states over to Georgia to visit family her children had never met. A mother from LA said she’d pay the legal fees necessary to help her parents emigrate to the US. A young man from San Francisco would help his sisters out with diapers and clothes for his nieces and nephews. People talked about paying off debt, going back to school, working less so they could spend more time with their kids, caring for aging parents, saving for a house, buying a car, starting businesses, and taking their family to Disney World. It was all of the regular things people do when they don’t have to worry so much about money.  As I was having these conversations, I was also talking about guaranteed income to a lot of audiences at conferences and seminars (this is what happens when you become one of, like, four Black people publicly talking about guaranteed income). Most of these audiences were liberal or progressive. And I was struck by the two main concerns that often came up.  The first is best summed up as, “But, how can we pay for it?” That’s not really the question people are asking though. We are the wealthiest nation in the world. The question isn’t, can we pay for it? But, do we want to? This question is really about who we fundamentally want to be as a nation. Do we want to ensure that everyone has access to the basic human rights that cash can enable? Or do we want to continue to be a country where people are saddled with medical and education debt, working multiple part-time jobs to make ends meet, and living on the street because the rents to damn high? The second question was, “But what about X other important super thing (like education or health care)?” And I kept thinking, Why do we think we have to choose? People on the left keep behaving as if we are sitting at someone else’s table. And we compromise before we even get there. I get it, there are so many pieces that need to come together to get us to the future we actually want and every one will require a fight. But I think we need to demand more, not less. I’m so pleased to see candidates like Warren, Sanders, and Castro, when he was still in the race advocating for multiple bold policies. We deserve all of it! (Yes, the candidate who is actually talking about guaranteed income, Andrew Yang, is missing from my list. This is because his plan would gut welfare benefits and I think that’s a non-starter for any genuinely progressive guaranteed income proposal. As you’ll hear in the podcast, there are strange bedfellows in the guaranteed income world.) Guaranteed income isn’t a silver bullet (and let’s stop looking for silver bullets, because there are none). But I think it's a policy worth exploring. Perhaps even more importantly, it invites us to have a long overdue conversation about deservedness.  Capitalism conspires with racism and sexism to tell us that personhood is earned through paid labor. It tells us that our humanity is conditional. It saw we have to prove ourselves worthy of basic human rights like shelter, food, education, and healthcare. It has us taking pride in working later and not getting enough sleep because demonstrating “productivity” is one of its highest virtues. We believe that hard work equals success. We accept the idea that people who aren’t successful must not be working hard enough. If they are not working hard enough they are not proving that they are deserving. It's utter nonsense that people who are poor are not working hard—in the podcast you’ll hear from people working multiple jobs, people working exhausting shifts, all just to keep food on the table for themselves and their families . But that’s not even the point. The point is, we do not have to earn our human rights. A total slacker is just as deserving of a roof over their head, food in their bellies, and access to schools and healthcare.  We need a new story of what America is that tells us this: Our worthiness, our value as human beings, is intrinsic to our very existence. It’s not something we have to earn and not something we can un-earn. We need a story that says success is a collective endeavor, that connection and care are the values we should use to measure our achievements. We need a story that starts with the assertion that there is more than enough for all of us. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/more-than-enough/id1494165763) , Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/6DupG4tOpQAyPzbhvksXLs) , Google Podcasts (https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hdWRpb2Jvb20uY29tL2NoYW5uZWxzLzUwMTU0NjUucnNz) , or your favorite podcast app.  * * * Show Notes Guaranteed Income Research Round-up (https://www.economicsecurityproject.org/research/) from the Economic Security Project Mia Birdsong’s TED Talk “The Story We Tell About Poverty Isn’t True” (https://www.ted.com/talks/mia_birdsong_the_story_we_tell_about_poverty_isn_t_true?language=en) The Insight Center’s Report on Exploring Guaranteed Income Through A Racial And Gender Justice Lens (https://insightcced.org/exploring-guaranteed-income-through-a-racial-and-gender-justice-lens/) More Than Enough was developed by Next River Productions. Created and hosted by Mia Birdsong. Audio engineering and music by Nino Moschella. Script development and production by Allison Cook. The content of this podcast was informed by the stories of hundreds of people across the country, only some of whom you heard from. Thank you to everyone who took the time to speak with me and share their story. Support for the production of More Than Enough was provided by a few generous folks and the Economic Security Project, an organization advancing cash-based interventions in the United States and reigning in corporate monopolies. More Than Enough is a project of The Nation Magazine.

Long before Andrew Yang raised the idea of universal basic income (UBI) as a presidential campaign platform, UBI has been a topic among economic development experts. Is it a silver bullet or money without accountability? The reality is much more complicated. One cash transfer program, developed in Jackson, Mississippi, targets low-income families in public housing. Magnolia Mother’s Trust is distributing $1,000 a month for one year to fifteen families. The goal, says program organizer Aisha Nyandoro, is two-fold: to advocate for economic justice and change the narrative around poverty. Nyandoro speaks with Ebony Beals, a parent participant who helped design the cash assistance program. Their conversation was held during a convening in October held by Ascend, a program at the Aspen Institute that works to move children and the adults in their lives to educational success, economic security, and health and well-being.

Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, sits down with Christiane Amanpour to unpack the disturbing details of Jamal Khashoggi's murder, which have been published in a new United Nations investigative report. Gérard Araud, the former French ambassador to the U.S. and the U.N., discusses where France and Europe stand, as tensions hot up even further between the U.S. and Iran. Itzhak Perlman, the great violinist, talks about passing his passion on and teaching the world to play like him. Our Alicia Menendez speaks to Aisha Nyandoro, the chief executive of "Springboard Opportunities" about helping support vulnerable families.

This week: Your CEO/Board Chair Relations You, or your CEO, as the case may be, need to work together with your board chair toward an aligned vision. How do you establish it and what if it gets blurry? Aisha Nyandoro … Continue reading →

Recently, we got a very exciting announcement from Springboard To Opportunities and the Economic Security Project: the two groups are collaborating to create the Magnolia Mother's Trust. This program will provide an unconditional basic income to a small group of low-income African American mothers. Owen spoke to Aisha Nyandoro, who works with low-income women in Mississippi and will be leading the program.