Keepin On Analysis

The Social Settings of Keepin’ On and Blackwell
The social settings between the young women in Keepin’ On and the community of Blackwell are very different but yet somewhat similar when it comes to the family structure, employment and unemployment, and programs to help poverty. Even though Blackwell and Keepin’ On have many similarities when it comes to families, employment opportunities, and programs to keep the community. One of the most important similarities between families is the drug use and jail times seen between both of these places. In Blackwell, many people of community are addicted to pain killers and in Keepin’ On, see have seen many examples of the women’s’ brothers and boyfriend spending time in jail for dealing on the street
One of the most important difference between these places are the family settings. In Keepin’ On of the most common theme seen is a broken family. Out of the study, only Kyierra and Tanisha were the only girls are living with their boyfriends. All of the other mothers were living with their mothers and grandmother but not with their own fathers. In the Blackwell community, the family connections are much stronger than in Keepin’ On. Many of the members of the community live with their families and do not leave this community which is mainly based of off the inability to earn a living wage outside of the town. Employment opportunities are also seen to be different. In the Keepin’ On book, the young women all worked at either a food fast restaurant, phone clerk, or in an early childhood center as a teacher. The only mothers that did not work in these fields were Breanna, Andreya, and Sherrcye who worked as a nurse assistant or in construction. While in Blackwell, jobs were not easy to come by. Only half of the male population worked and only ¼ of the female population worked. Jobs were controlled by patronage man recommendation especially when it came to state jobs and the only job openings were in the dangerous coal mines. When a state job was opening, people would spend more money on campaign than the job was worth because of the power it gave you in the community. Another difference was the programs offered to help the community. In Blackwell, 40% of the community were receiving social security checks and children’s disability check were able to support the family. When in Keepin’ On to earn help finically the mothers needed to be actively looking for employment. The mothers were able given a head start program, daycare assistance, and food stamp to help provide for their