Danger of a Single Story... Or any stories.

For the past few nights in reflection we have been discussing "why is Sam poor?" and really diving into the complexities of our assumptions to why individuals experience hunger or homelessness. Topics have been discussed about getting to know individual stories, understanding the danger of having a single story, and removing judgments.

Tonight McKayla brought up a good point about how we remove the stigma around asking for assistance or help. It suddenly angered me. Why do we place any blame on individuals who are caught in a system of poverty. When we discussed the first night "why is Sam poor?" we provided HIS or HER reasons. HIS lack of education or HER undiagnosed learning disability. It's really the system that has failed to provide support for Sam.

How do we change the paradigm from a single story to not about the stories and instead about the system that produces these stories?

-Patrick, co-advisor