Tiye Sherrod-Robinson
Trainer. Speaker. Educator.

Imagine if you lived in a place where the only stores in the neighborhood sold greasy food, alcohol, and tobacco.  Sounds awful right?  Unfortunatley, living in a food desert is only the beginning for many people of color who live in poverty.  In addition to lacking healthy food, many people of color face working at minimum wage jobs, poor education opportunities, and communities overrun by drugs and violence.  There are many Americans who think that people in this situation are to blame for their misfortune.  After all, America is the land of opportunity if you're willing to work for it.  However, it's not as simple as many Americans, particularly White Americans, may think.  For people of color in dilapidated neighborhoods, access to quality education is a struggle.  This lack of education turns into lack of sustainable job opportunities, which turns into the inability to engage in a more productive lifestyle.  This vicious cycle is the legacy that centuries of racial discrimination has transformed into.  Although there may not be signs saying "White only" in certain neighborhoods, people of color are kept out due to their lack of financial wealth.  The result is increased segregation and continued cycles of poverty.