Thurs 5/14 1:30P CST #ShaneshaTaylor Twitter Power Half-Hour

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	THURSDAY, MAY 14

	POWER HALF-HOUR ABOUT THE CRIMINALIZATION OF #ShaneshaTaylor #BlackMomsMatter

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     	Time: 11:30 AM LA • 12:30 PM Denver • 1:30 PM Chicago • 2:30 PM New York


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TODAY, 1:30P Central: Power Half-Hour for #ShaneshaTaylor & #BlackMomsMatter! | Tweets: tinyurl.com/BlackMomsMatter pic.twitter.com/dY9Dk7kFc0

#ShaneshaTaylor was criminalized for leaving her kids in the car while interviewing for a job she desperately needed. #BlackMomsMatter

Just because someone's out of the headlines, doesn't mean they're no longer targeted by the state. Support #ShaneshaTaylor. #BlackMomsMatter

Black parents are targeted by both police & child protective services--criminalized for poverty & survival. #BlackMomsMatter #ShaneshaTaylor

A year after her ordeal, #ShaneshaTaylor is still facing attacks from the courts and the media. www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/30643-poverty-jail-media-harassment-the-worst-year-of-this-mother-s-life
#BlackMomsMatter


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ARTICLE VIA TRUTHOUT:
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/30643-poverty-jail-media-harassment-the-worst-year-of-this-mother-s-life#


	POVERTY, JAIL, MEDIA HARASSMENT: THE WORST YEAR OF THIS MOTHER'S LIFE

	Sunday, 10 May 2015 00:00
	By Shanesha Taylor, Truthout | Op-Ed

2014 was the most traumatic year of my life. I was tested mentally, physically and emotionally. The year began as the previous year had ended. My unemployment benefits had run out. My endless job search was yielding nothing promising. But I kept persevering. I was the mother of three beautiful children who needed me.

They did not know our struggle, even though they lived in the midst of it. We lived from place to place, taking advantage of the generosity of friends and family. I made sure my children slept under a roof every night. I did not always have that same fortune. But that was okay. My primary task was to take care of them. It was a cycle of poverty I was determined to break.

As mothers, especially single mothers, we often tend to suffer in silence, shouldering the burden of care for our young, doing all we can to provide, crying at night for the things we feel we should provide but cannot. We do this only to dry those tears in the morning and go back out in the world with our heads high and shoulders back. We are determined, every day, to make the world a better place for our children.

My chance in a lifetime came in mid-March 2014. I was invited to interview with a reputable insurance company that promised a salary guaranteed to end our struggle. I'd also been approved for Section 8 housing. It had been a four-year wait, and it came not a moment too soon. I was told by the person living in the home where the children had been sleeping most recently that their finances had become so strained they needed to move within 30 days. I was facing my own financial worries: I was bringing in less than $50 a week at that time, just enough for gas and diapers. I could do little to help them out. My daughter would ask me every week if she would ever have her own room again. I would reply, "Very soon." That was my job as their provider: to make sure they had enough. It may not have been the best, but they always had enough.

I prepared the entire week of March 20 to be ready for my interview. I picked out the perfect business casual outfit. I borrowed a pair of black pumps. I collected cans and babysat all week to make sure I had the gas money to make it there and back. I made arrangements for my sons. I even spoke to the babysitter the day before to confirm my arrangements. That interview meant a new life for us. I called the recruiter a few days before the interview also to inquire how long the interview would take. I wanted to make sure my babysitting arrangements would be enough to cover the time. I was told the interview would take about 15 minutes. In my mind, I had 15 minutes to change our lives.

On that fateful day, my babysitter was nowhere to be found. No answer to my calls. No answer at her door. I was devastated. What would I do now? The interview of a lifetime was on the line. And I had no babysitter. I drove in a daze across town to the interview, trying to come up with a fabulous story I could tell my interviewer in order to allow me to reschedule. My two boys were sound asleep in the back seat.

I arrived at the location completely beside myself. I needed this job. We needed this job. We needed this chance. Something had to change! Something had to give! We were at the end of our rope and I was not sure how much longer I could hold us together.

My mind flashed to the recruiter saying the interview would take 15 minutes. My boys were still quietly napping. I sat in the car with them for an additional 25 minutes trying to compel myself to do something, anything. But what? We needed this job. I looked to the backseat, thinking, "They need me to get this job. They deserve this job and all it will mean for us." I exited the car. I had to make this the best 15 minutes of my life - and the clock had just started.

When I exited the interview I was on cloud nine. I had sold myself to the best of my abilities and walked out with the job.

All that changed in a matter of 130 steps. I rushed back to the parking lot to find my car doors wide open and the area surrounded by police. My children had been taken to the hospital. I was arrested for two counts of child abuse for leaving my boys in the car alone. The boys were released the same day with no injuries by the hospital. Records show they were administered juice and grahams crackers, and their body temperatures had rose to 99.3 degrees. I was put in jail for 10 days with no hope of getting out. My bond had been set at $9,000. For me, that was an astronomical amount; I did not have $1 to my name.

It's the most desolate feeling in the world to struggle to have the means to care for your children. The cycle of poverty is very difficult to break. Many tend to blame the individual for being poor, not realizing that it's not a choice. They demand the poor get a job and stop living off the government.

Many poor mothers, particularly single mothers, lack the proper experience to deal with police or the legal system. Even worse, they lack the resources to build a proper defense in cases targeting them for the offense of being "poor while Black."

However, while I was incarcerated, unbeknownst to me, my world was changing. A Good Samaritan in New Jersey saw my story and started an online fundraiser that went viral. Thousands of people donated more than $114,000 to help us. My name and story had become a nightly headline on news stations around the world. Another Good Samaritan in Arizona rallied her church to come to my aid and post my bail. I was released on my 11th day in jail. I thought the worst of it was behind me.

Instead, it turned out, I was just beginning my fight against the State of Arizona for my freedom and to regain custody of my children. The media inquiries were pouring in. Local reporters were beating down the door, all promising their coverage would help with my online fundraiser. I received hundreds of emails, cards and letters from supporters empathetic to my situation. It was all so overwhelming to go from a quiet struggle to the center of a world debate over whether my actions were right or wrong.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT TRUTHOUT:
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/30643-poverty-jail-media-harassment-the-worst-year-of-this-mother-s-life#


  •••  #ShaneshaTaylor #BlackMomsMatter #ShaneshaTaylor #BlackMomsMatter #ShaneshaTaylor #BlackMomsMatter #ShaneshaTaylor  •••