ENGLISH

Storming Caesar's Palace: How Black Mothers Fought Their Own War on Poverty

By Annelise Orleck

Book information

Year
2006
ISBN
0807050318, 9780807050316, 9781429469746
Open Library ID
OL7944867M
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
3 MB (2864608 bytes)
Pages
376\377
Scanned
yes
Time added
2011-06-04 13:46:07

Description

In Storming Caesars Palace, historian Annelise Orleck tells the compelling story of how a group of welfare mothers built one of this country's most successful antipoverty programs. Declaring "We can do it and do it better," these women proved that poor mothers are the real experts on poverty. In 1972 they founded Operation Life, which was responsible for many firsts for the poor in Las Vegas-the first library, medical center, daycare center, job training, and senior citizen housing. By the late 1970s, Operation Life was bringing millions of dollars into the community. These women became influential in Washington, DC-respected and listened to by political heavyweights such as Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Ted Kennedy, and Jimmy Carter. Though they lost their funding with the country's move toward conservatism in the 1980s, their struggles and phenomenal triumphs still stand as a critical lesson about what can be achieved when those on welfare chart their own course.

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