Welfare Brat by Mary Childers
It was a really good memoir about growing up urban poor. Her mother was on welfare with 6 kids. If ever a person was motivated to leave poverty it was Mary, the 3rd of 6 kids and the de facto oldest at home for most of the book. Her story of struggling to survive and make it out of the whole world of poverty is pretty heartbreaking, the intense embarrassment and humiliation that poor kids suffer at school sears you like a hot iron. I remember being picked on all the time at nursery school and there were memories that flooded back while reading this book. It sucks to be different not just because you’re poor but because you look different from everyone else. More than race, it’s economic class that gets you. We didn’t starve, but I know what 5 pound blocks of government surplus cheese tastes like in its weird wax wrapping. My grandparents would receive it and bring it to my house since they couldn’t eat dairy products. For us it didn’t mean nutrition for the whole family like it did for the author. It was a snack we could take or leave and finally throw out the last 2 pounds when it got all dried out. For the Childers it was macaroni and cheese for dinner and a cheese sandwich at school every single day.
When you read the book you’ll see that as much as people are determined to raise themselves up, you’ll see folks pushing you down. And how do you ignore them when it’s your own family telling you that you’re stuck up and hoity-toity? I was pretty amazed. This isn’t some fairy-tale story of a girl who scored straight-A’s and gets a full scholarship to Harvard. Let’s get real, that’s a fluff article for the Sunday Features section. This is about real bitterness at poverty and true grit to survive.
I would recommend it to everyone to read for a changed perspective. There are times when the prose rubs me the wrong way, but I read it all in one sitting almost and that’s what happens. I had only one and a half chapters to read tonight. Ms. Childers has a wonderful voice that comes through and you can sense the distinctive voices of her mother and siblings.
I am biased though. I love memoirs and biographies. I think real people are very interesting and have done some amazing things. I think there’s a lot to be learned from books in this genre.
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I agree with you on biographys and autobiographys. I find that while novels are great, true inspirations are more likely to come from reading about real people with real problems…
… and let’s not even go there with memoirs…
Improving you situation is complicated by family opinions and judgments placed on you. Improving is looked at negatively by part of my family as though making more money and controlling your finances is a sign up being uppity and snobbish. And now, that portion of my family still thinks I’m a snob because I focus on my finances or when I don’t spend the money to fly my family home once a year to see them (when they can’t afford to fly out to see you). For me, leaving the environment was essential to be able to improve my life but I do miss the contact and social support of my family.