Mai Birdsong Summary

Summary of talk: Mai Birdsong, family activist, explains that many people have been tried to reduce poverty in the U.S for last 50 years. People have created and invested million dollars NPO-non profit organization with a purpose of helping people for poor; however, it is not enough for people in poverty. Therefore, she insists that we should reconsider at people in poverty: they may sift their poverty because marginalized communities are full of talent people, hustling, and working. She indicates the new solution of poverty with three examples. One of examples is that three women grew together as parents and friends. They talked about how hard was to make money when their children were little. Therefore, they started cleaning business and two of them cleaned the office and house, and one of them watched their children. Remarkably, Birdsong was also raised by single mother in N.Y. She experienced poor when she was a little. In conclusion, marginalized communities are the solution of the poverty because there are precious resources in communities, so we should
reconsider the voice of our unheard.

New Vocabulary, definition /Sentence:
Marginalized(adj): to make sb feel as if they are not important and cannot influence decisions or event; to put sb in a position in which they have no power / Maginalized community consists of retired people, elderly people, and children. overwhelm(verb): to have such a strong emotional effect on sb that it is difficult for them to resist or know how to react/Enthusiastic cornhaskers fun overwhelmed me during the game. devastated: to make sb feel very shocked and sad/ His family is absolutely devastated because they lost his son by unexpected accident. capable(adj): ~of sth of doing sth having the ability or qualities necessary for doing sth/ This sentence is capable of various interpretations. leverage: to move sth with a laver/ We should leverage our consciousness of helping others.
Personal Reflection: Birdsong inspired me about how to help people in the poverty.
It is important that people in the poverty need to develop their independence. For example, NPO have been giving them food or house, but they realy need how earn money to live. It is not the solution that NPO give something for them, people in the poverty need to know the way to earn. Birdsong’s talk is interesting for me because people in the poverty have been creating new jobs and activities by themselves. Since I grew up in the rich county, I was not concerned about people in the poverty so for. However, although I have worked as medical clerk for over ten years, I became a student with my husband in 2014. We had saved money for our education, but we faced a financial problem. We made effort to find a job in UNL, so I am studying with working on campus. Fortunately, I am getting to understand the feeling of people in the
poverty.