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Thanks! August 21, 2006 Race and Money With our August Race Matters Task Force meeting coming up this week, we thought "The Culture of Money," a paper on financial literacy and race, was timely as well as interesting. Posted on the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) website, the paper looks at the relationship between race and the accumulation of wealth, particularly as it affects low-income communities of color. Author Orson Watson postulates that a new paradigm - one that considers our "cultural baggage" - must be developed before financial literacy programs will truly work. You can read "The Culture of Money: A Framework for Understanding the Impact of Race, Ethnicity and Color on the Implementation of Asset-Building Strategies" here: http://www.aecf.org/lists/fes/aug06/the_culture_of_money.pdf Speaking of Race... There's still time to register for the Race Matters Task Force meeting, which is Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2-4pm. We're honored to be hosting guests from the AECF, which is watching our progress with great interest. We'd be honored to host you as well. Click here to register for the meeting: http://www.nmvoices.org/racematters.htm Showing This Week We were alerted about a couple of media presentations this week that we wanted to bring to your attention. The first is a screening of the film WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Prices. The film asserts that Wal-Mart policies actually cost the communities in which they operate more than their customers save. That's because the giant retailer pays low wages and denies its employees benefits like health insurance.
If you go, you'll want to set your VCR (or TiVo if you're high-tech) to tape the new documentary Opportunity to Succeed. Created by 17-time Emmy-winning writer and producer Chris Schueler, the film takes an in-depth look at education in New Mexico and offers expert ideas for improvement.
And Something to Crow About NMVC is always on the lookout for innovative approaches to dealing with the web of issues that is poverty. We wanted to point out an idea that's helping non-traditional students at CNM (formerly TVI) negotiate the treacherous landscape of public services. The idea, which was developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is to bundle an array of services in one place, called a Center for Working Families. Here, struggling students get encouragement and assistance from a career coach. It's a one-on-one environment that's made all the difference for many students. Click here to read a feature story that profiles several CNM students: http://www.aecf.org/initiatives/fes/newmexico/nm1.htm |