Videos from Poverty Tour of the US

Posted by on October 24, 2011

This past summer members of the Media Mobilizing Project traveled the country alongside PBS broadcaster Tavis Smiley and Princeton professor Dr. Cornel West on a Poverty Tour of the US.

Watch Episodes 1-3 Now Online:

“Suffering to Speak”, is the first in a five-part series focused on framing the importance of showing the face and hearing the voices of the poor (new and old) that has been missing from mainstream media for much too long.

http://mediamobilizing.org/poverty-tour-episode-one-suffering-speak

“I Had Everything.” This segment focuses on the emergence of a new poor in America that were formerly of the middle class.

http://mediamobilizing.org/poverty-tour-episode-two-i-had-everything

“No Room at the Inn,” details the struggle of people throughout the country who do not have adequate housing. Spanning from Madison Wisconsin to West Virginia, this episode also highlights communities fighting back under the banner that “Housing is a Human Right.”

http://mediamobilizing.org/poverty-tour-episode-three-no-room-inn

Running through Friday, October 14th PBS’ Tavis Smiley will broadcast the fruits of this outing in a 5 part documentary called “Understanding Our Struggles and Changing Our Conditions:  A Poverty Tour Documentary”

The five-part documentary reveals the conditions of poverty facing the majority of Americans across the country (who some have recently called “the 99%”) and shares the story of brave everyday people who are fighting back, organizing and empowering their communities to come up with solutions.

MMP’s mission is to build a movement to end poverty led by poor and working people united across color lines. We see media and communications as a vital tool in this. Thus we were excited and honored to be part of this groundbreaking documentary that will show the nation real-life effects of the ever widening divide between the rich and the poor in this country–and more importantly, how different organizations and individuals across the nation are fighting back.

“I want to salute my magnificent brothers and sisters at the Media Mobilizing Project; the world can now see the humanity of poor people and the reality of poverty-ridden conditions. It was a blessing to work with them, as they use their art as a form of service that inspires me and the world to muster up the courage to fight poverty,” said Dr. West.

In Philadelphia, Tavis Smiley airs on WHYY weeknights at 11:30pm and re-broadcasts at 12pm the following day. For timeslots in other locations, or to watch the show online, visit http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/about/.