aisha

Next City Podcast

A village is what sustains you when the emergency is not an emergency at all but just your life, over and over again.

Every society runs on stories it mistakes for facts. In America, those stories shape who gets help, who gets blamed, and who is left out. Not My Narrative is a Next Citypodcast and essay series that debunks the pervasive myths that have been used to justify neglect, inequity, and the status quo — and elevates the people proving those myths wrong.

This week, in “Pull Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps! vs. It Takes a Village,” our CEO Aisha Nyandoro is a guest on the podcast to share the story of how we examine the impossibility of the “bootstraps” narrative.

Check out the podcast on Apple and Spotify.

Forbes: The Time Tax

In a conversation with journalist Annie Lowrey, we discuss her new book focused on the “time tax” imposed by bureaucracy and what it actually costs Americans.

“I have spent years working alongside mothers who are doing everything they can to provide for their families while navigating systems that often make that work harder. Through the Magnolia Mother’s Trust, I have seen how the cost of poverty is not only financial. It is also measured in time, energy, dignity and the endless paperwork required to receive support.

That is why Annie Lowrey’s new book, “The Time Tax,” resonated so deeply with me. In this conversation, we discuss why people with fewer resources are asked to spend so much time proving they deserve help, how the social safety net sucks people into a paperwork vortex and what it would mean for the government to actually place a value on people’s time.”

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE

Forbes: Child Care Proposal

A Child Care Proposal That Pits Struggling Families Against One Another

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

“For too many American families, child care is not simply a line item in the monthly budget. It is the deciding factor in whether a parent can take a job, stay in a job, pursue a degree or credential, or build the financial stability their children need.

That is why a new proposal reportedly being drafted by the Trump administration, pushed by Vice President J.D. Vance, should concern anyone who believes work should be a viable path to economic security. The proposal would allow married couples with a stay-at-home parent to receive federal child care subsidies, using funds from the Child Care and Development Fund — one of the country’s primary sources of assistance for low-income families who need care in order to work or attend school.

Families who choose to have one parent stay home deserve to be respected and supported. Raising children is work, whether it is paid or unpaid. But supporting stay-at-home parents should not mean taking limited resources from parents who rely on child care assistance to earn a paycheck, and our government should not be in the business of creating a hierarchy of family structures by only allowing the benefit to married couples.

That is the fundamental problem with this proposal: It treats child care assistance as a fixed pie of resources and invites policymakers to divide struggling families into competing camps. It does not create new resources for families. It risks redirecting existing resources away from low-income working parents — many of them single mothers — who already face impossible choices every day.”

Forbes: Federal Borrowing Limits

The Quiet Shift That Could Redefine Who Gets To Go To College

“As federal borrowing limits tighten, policymakers and colleges must confront a basic question: Will higher education remain a pathway to mobility, or become increasingly reserved for families with wealth?“

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

Forbes Q&A

A conversation with Kimberlé Crenshaw

READ THE FULL CONVERSATION HERE

I’ve long been interested in the relationship between power and policy, and few scholars have shaped that conversation more than Kimberle Crenshaw, who coined the terms intersectionality and Critical Race Theory. In her new memoir, Backtalker, Crenshaw reflects on the origins of those ideas, how they’ve been distorted in public debate and why Black women remain central to any honest conversation about economic justice. In this conversation, she talks about the limits of race neutral approaches, the ways Black women are left out of policymaking and why she decided to tell this story now.

The Root

New polling shows Black women are asking for economic policies that prioritize dignity and financial security.

“Black women understand that success is holistic. It is spiritual. It is relational. It is grounded in family, faith and the ability to live without constant financial strain. That is not a narrow definition of well-being. It is a fuller one than many of our public policies are designed to recognize.” – Aisha Nyandoro

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE