And she said that best in her own words. And through the years of American journalism, and some of the best journalism that has been produced, is about talking about what that looks like at the ground level. As Dasani grows up, she must contend with them all. And so it would break the rules. Invisible Child An interview with Andrea Elliott, author of Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City. You get birthday presents. We're gonna both pretend we've seen movies. On mornings like this, she can see all the way past Brooklyn, over the rooftops and the projects and the shimmering East River. She liked the sound of it. I have a lot of things to say: one girls life growing up homeless in This is so important." Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American And I think that that's also what she would say. (LAUGH) She would try to kill them every week. Lee-Lees cry was something else. I mean, everything fell on its face. Life has been anything but easy for 20-year-old Dasani Coates. Her polo shirt and khakis have been pressed with a hair straightener, because irons are forbidden at the Auburn shelter. And this is a current that runs through this family, very much so, as you can see by the names. She had a lot of issues. Children are not the face of New Yorks homeless. Baby Lee-Lee has yet to learn about hunger, or any of its attendant problems. To kill a mouse is to score a triumph. I took 14 trips to see her at Hershey. Now in her 20s, Dasani became the first in her immediate family to graduate high school, and she enrolled in classes at LaGuardia Community College. For nine years, New York Times journalist Andrea Elliott followed the fortunes of one family living in poverty. This is an extract And it's not because people didn't care or there wasn't the willpower to help Dasani. And I said, "Yes." I had been there for a while. And that's very clear in the context of her parents here. The 10-year-olds next: Avianna, who snores the loudest, and Nana, who is going blind. The movies." Thats a lot on my plate.. Dasani places the bottle in the microwave and presses a button. Andrea Elliott: --it (LAUGH) because she was trying to show me how relieved she was that our brutal fact check process was over and that she didn't have to listen to me say one more line. And it wasn't a huge amount of money as far as I know, although Legal Aid's never told me (LAUGH) exactly how much is in it. And so they had a choice. (LAUGH) Because they ate so much candy, often because they didn't have proper food. Roaches crawl to the ceiling. So thats a lot on my plate with some cornbread. So I think that is what's so interesting is you rightly point out that we are in this fractured country now. Dasani And a lot of things then happen after that. The smaller children lie tangled under coats and wool blankets, their chests rising and falling in the dark. Chris Hayes: That is such a profound point about the structure of American life and the aspirations for it. It happens because there's a lot of thought and even theory, I think, put into the practice. And she didn't want the streets to become her kids' family. It wasn't just that she was this victim of the setting. What she knows is that she has been blessed with perfect teeth. And it's a little bit like her own mother had thought. Family wasn't an accident. Each spot is routinely swept and sprayed with bleach and laid with mousetraps. WebRT @usaunify: When Dasani Left Home. And he didn't really understand what my purpose was. She was just one of those kids who had so many gifts that it made her both promising in the sense of she could do anything with her life. Whenever I'm with Chanel, Dasani, Supreme, any of the kids, I'm captivated by them. And one thing this book's gotten me to see is how the word homeless really is a misnomer, because these people have such a sense of belonging, especially in New York City. And there was this, sort of, sudden public awakening around inequality. WebInvisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City. Andrea Elliott: We love the story of the kid who made it out. The problems of poverty are so much greater, so much more overwhelming than the power of being on the front page of The New York Times. If they are seen at all, it is only in glimpses pulling an overstuffed suitcase in the shadow of a tired parent, passing for a tourist rather than a local without a home. Before that, she had been in and out of shelters with her family. And by the way, at that time this was one of the richest cities in the world. She has a full wardrobe provided to her. I just find them to be some of the most interesting people I've ever met. I have a lot on my plate, she likes to say, cataloging her troubles like the contents of a proper meal. And I just spent so much time with this family and that continues to be the case. Elliott picks up the story in Invisible Child , a book that goes well beyond her original reporting in both journalistic excellence and depth of insight. Chris Hayes: Dasani is 11 years old. That's so irresponsible." Chris Hayes speaks with Pulitizer Prize-winning journalist and author Andrea Elliott about her book, Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope In An American City., Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope In An American City. Invisible Child Summary - eNotes.com Don't their future adult selves have a right to privacy (LAUGH) in a sense? First of all, I don't rely on my own memory. And she'd go to her window, and she talked about this a lot. Here in the neighbourhood, the homeless are the lowest caste, the outliers, the shelter boogies. For a time, she thrived there. On one side are the children, on the other the rodents their carcasses numbering up to a dozen per week. Her stepfather's name is Supreme. The turtle they had snuck into the shelter. Then Jim Ester and the photographer (LAUGH) who was working with me said, "We just want to shadow you.". The light noises bring no harm the colicky cries of an infant down the hall, the hungry barks of the Puerto Rican ladys chihuahuas, the addicts who wander the projects, hitting some crazy high. So I'm really hoping that that changes. Dasani gazes out of the window from the one room her family of 10 shared in the Brooklyn homeless shelter where they lived for almost four years. Chris Hayes: Once again, great thanks to Andrea Elliott. A concrete walkway leads to the lobby, which Dasani likens to a jail. This was north of Fort Greene park. Who paid for water in a bottle? And to each of those, sort of, judgments, Dasani's mother has an answer. (LAUGH) I don't know what got lost in translation there. I was comfortable with that as a general notion of what I should be doing with my work, because I think that is our job as journalists. And it also made her indispensable to her parents, which this was a real tension from the very beginning. Others will be distracted by the noise of this first day the start of the sixth grade, the crisp uniforms, the fresh nails. Uncovering 'The Invisible Child' with Andrea Elliott: Every morning, Dasani leaves her grandmothers birthplace to wander the same streets where Joanie grew up, playing double Dutch in the same parks, seeking shade in the same library. WebPULITZER PRIZE WINNER NATIONAL BESTSELLER A vivid and devastating (The New York Times) portrait of an indomitable girlfrom acclaimed journalist Andrea ElliottFrom its first indelible pages to its rich and startling conclusion, Invisible Child had me, by turns, stricken, inspired, outraged, illuminated, in tears, and hungering for Mothers shower quickly, posting their children as lookouts for the buildings predators. You find her outside this shelter. And talk a little bit about just her routine, her school life. Like, I would love to meet a woman who's willing to go through childbirth for just a few extra dollars on your food stamp benefits (LAUGH) that's not even gonna last the end of the month." I had spent years as a journalist entering into communities where I did not immediately belong or seem to belong as an outsider. Now It gave the young girl a feeling that theres something out there, Elliott says. The street was a dangerous place. A stunning debut, the book covers eight formative years in the life of an intelligent and imaginative young girl in a Brooklyn homeless shelter as she balances poverty, family, and opportunity. Invisible Child And she talked about them brutally. Why Is This Happening? And a lot of that time was spent together. She could go anywhere. They are true New Yorkers. We'd love to hear from you. Andrea Elliott: So at the end of the five days that it took for me to read the book to Dasani, when we got to the last line, she said, "That's the last line?" They did go through plenty of cycles of trying to fix themselves. We get the robber barons and the Industrial Revolution. Legal Aid set up a trust for the family. I didn't have a giant stack of in-depth, immersive stories to show him. They rarely figure among the panhandlers, bag ladies, war vets and untreated schizophrenics who have long been stock characters in this city of contrasts. How did you respond? Like, you could tell the story about Jeff Bezos sending himself into space. Her siblings are her greatest solace; their separation her greatest fear. How an "immersionist" held up the story Their fleeting triumphs and deepest sorrows are, in Dasanis words, my heart. But the other part is agency. The west side of Chicago is predominantly Black and Latino and very poor. But there's something ethically complex, at least emotionally complex. But, like, that's not something that just happens. It's massively oversubscribed. Her skyline is filled with luxury towers, the beacons of a new gilded age. Despite the circumstances, Dasani radiated with potential. The Milton Hershey School is an incredible, incredible place. They can screech like alley cats, but no one is listening. And at the same time, what if these kids ten years from now regret it? No. Now in her 20s, Dasani became the first in her immediate family to graduate high school, and she enrolled in classes at LaGuardia Community College. Roaches crawl to the ceiling. She saw this ad in a glossy magazine while she was, I believe, at a medical clinic. And one of the things that I've learned, of course, and this is an obvious point, is that those are very widely distributed through society. So she lived in that shelter for over three years. Dasani was in many ways a parent to her seven younger brothers and sisters. But at the end of the day, they are stronger than anything you throw at them. They have yet to stir. It's helping them all get through college. asani ticks through their faces, the girls from the projects who know where she lives. How an immersionist held up the story of one homeless But I know that I tried very, very hard at every step to make sure it felt as authentic as possible to her, because there's a lot of descriptions of how she's thinking about things. I felt that it was really, really important to explain my process to this imam, in particular, who I spent six months with, who had come from Egypt and had a very different sense of the press, which was actually a tool of oppression. She made leaps ahead in math. Yes. She was often tired. 3 Shes a giantess, the man had announced to the audience. It's told in her newest book Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City. INVISIBLE CHILD | Kirkus Reviews Andrea has now written a book about Dasani. Invisible Child Invisible Child I had not ever written a book. I think that that was a major compass for me was this idea that, "Don't ever get too comfortable that you know your position here or your place. I mean, that is one of many issues. Luckily, in this predawn hour, the cafeteria is still empty. And I don't think she could ever recover from that. Radiating out from them in all directions are the eight children they share: two boys and five girls whose beds zigzag around the baby, her crib warmed by a hairdryer perched on a milk crate. She said, "Home is the people. It's painful. And I met Dasani right in that period, as did the principal. And I think showing the dignity within these conditions is part of that other lens. She would help in all kinds of ways. She wakes to the sound of breathing. And demographers have studied this and I think that we still don't really know ultimately. On a good day, Dasani walks like she is tall, her chin held high. The people I hang out with. She sees out to a world that rarely sees her. There's so much upheaval. The2009 financial crisis taught us hard lessons. By Ryan Chittum. This is the place where people go to be free. We meet Dasani in 2012, when she is eleven years old and living with her parents, Chanel and Supreme, and I mean, I called her every day almost for years. Part of the government. And the more that readers engage with her, the clearer it becomes that every single one of these stories is worthy of attention., After nearly a decade of reporting, Elliott wants readers to remember the girl at her windowsill every morning who believed something better was out there waiting for her.. And she wanted to beat them for just a few minutes in the morning of quiet by getting up before them. It literally saved us: what the USs new anti-poverty measure means for families, Millions of families receiving tax credit checks in effort to end child poverty, No one knew we were homeless: relief funds hope to reach students missing from virtual classrooms, I knew they were hungry: the stimulus feature that lifts millions of US kids out of poverty, 'Santa, can I have money for the bills?' (LAUGH) Like those kinds of, like, cheap colognes. But to Dasani, the shelter is far more than a random assignment. Dasani Coates photographed in September last year. And he immediately got it. In 2013, the story of a young girl named Dasani Coates took up five front pages in The New York Times. And that was not available even a month ago. Find that audio here. Day after day, they step through a metal detector as security guards search their bags, taking anything that could be used as a weapon a bottle of bleach, a can of Campbells soup. Shes tomorrows success, Im telling you right now.. It was a high poverty neighborhood to a school where every need is taken care of. Nope.. In fact, there's the, kind of, brushes that the boys have with things outside of their, kind of, experience of poverty and class have to do with, like, parking cars (LAUGH) or helping cars and stuff and selling water at the United Center where there's all sorts of, like, fancy Chicago roles through. Just steps away are two housing projects and, tucked among them, a city-run homeless shelter where the heat is off and the food is spoiled. This is where she derives her greatest strength. The journalist will never forget the first time she saw the family unit traveling in a single file line, with mother Chanel Sykes leading the way as she pushed a stroller. It has more than a $17 billion endowment. A fascinating, sort of, strange (UNINTEL) generous institution in a lot of ways. But at that time, just like it was at the time that There Are No Children Here came out, it's the highest child poverty rate of almost any wealthy nation. And so she wanted a strong army of siblings. One of the first things Dasani will say is that she was running before she walked. And I had read it in high school. The other thing I would say is that we love the story of the kid who made it out. And that's just the truth. She's like, "And I smashed their eyes out and I'd do this.". How did you feel, you know, about the pipe that's leaking?" Some places are more felt than seen the place of homelessness, the place of sisterhood, the place of a mother-child bond that nothing can break. The oldest of eight kids, Dasani and her family lived in one room in a dilapidated, city-run homeless shelter in Brooklyn. Poverty Isnt the Problem - Naomi Schaefer Riley, Like, "Why do I have to say, 'Isn't,' instead of, 'Ain't'?" Her sense of home has always been so profound even though she's homeless. Theres nothing to be scared about.. Book review: Andrea Elliott's 'Invisible Child' spotlights I feel good. And by the time she got her youngest siblings to school and got to her own school, usually late, she had missed the free breakfast at the shelter and the free breakfast at her school. There were evictions. Just a few blocks from townhouses that were worth millions of dollars. You can tell that story, as we have on the podcast, about the, sort of, crunched middle class, folks who want to afford college and can't. And I was so struck by many things about her experience of growing up poor. Child I mean, I think everyone knows there are a lot of poor people, particularly a lot of poor people in urban centers, although there are a lot of poor people in rural areas. They wound up being placed at Auburn. Today, Dasani lives surrounded by wealth, whether she is peering into the boho chic shops near her shelter or surfing the internet on Auburns shared computer. She lasted more than another year. Only their sister Dasani is awake. Dasanis story, which ran on the front page in late 2013, became totemic in a moment of electoral flux in New York after the election of Democrat Bill de Blasio as mayor on a And you can't go there unless you're poor. Over the next year, 911 dispatchers will take some 350 calls from Auburn, logging 24 reports of assault, four reports of child abuse, and one report of rape. Invisible Child: the Life of a Homeless Family in NYC It is a story that begins at the dawn of the 21st century, in a global financial capital riven by inequality. Andrea Elliott: So Milton Hershey School was created by America's chocolate magnate Milton Hershey, who left behind no children. She likes being small because I can slip through things. She imagines herself with supergirl powers. Auburn used to be a hospital, back when nurses tended to the dying in open wards. She doesn't want to get out. And it's a great pleasure to welcome Andrea to the show now. Ethical issues. Nearly a quarter of her childhood has unfolded at the Auburn Family Residence, where Dasanis family a total of 10 people live in one room. Every inch of the room is claimed. But before we do that, I want to talk a little bit about your subjective perspective and your experience as this observer and the ethical complications (LAUGH) of that and talk a little bit about how you dealt with that right after we take this quick break. But I think she just experienced such an identity crisis and she felt so much guilt. Sleek braids fall to one side of Dasanis face, clipped by yellow bows. They snore with the pull of asthma near a gash in the wall spewing sawdust. I mean, these were people with tremendous potential and incredible ideas about what their lives could be that were such a contrast to what they were living out. Nine years ago, my colleague Andrea Elliott set out to report a series of stories about what it was like to be a homeless child in New York City. She has hit a major milestone, though. Andrea Elliott: Thank you so much for having me, Chris. This is a story." So it was strange to her. They were in drug treatment programs for most of the time that I was with them, mostly just trying to stay sober and often succeeding at it. Right? All rights reserved. And, of course, not. Like, these are--. Right outside is a communal bathroom with a large industrial tub. She's had major ups and major downs. I nvisible Child is a 2021 work of nonfiction by Pulitzer Prizewinning investigative journalist Andrea Elliott. Shes Andrea Elliott is a investigative reporter at The New York Times, (BACKGROUND MUSIC) a Pulitzer Prize winner. And just exposure to diversity is great for anyone. Elliott hopes Invisible Child readers see people beyond the limiting labels of homeless and poor and address the deep historical context that are part of these complicated problems, she says. The children are ultimately placed in foster care, and Dasani blames herself for it. 'Cause I think it's such an important point. Her body is still small enough to warm with a hairdryer. She's transient." And this was all very familiar to me. She spent eight years falling the story of Dasani Coates. In 2019, when the school bell rang at the end of the day, more than 100,000 schoolchildren in New York City had no permanent home to return to. Dasani hugs her mother Chanel, with her sister Nana on the left, 2013. o know Dasani Joanie-Lashawn Coates to follow this childs life, from her first breaths in a Brooklyn hospital to the bloom of adulthood is to reckon with the story of New York City and, beyond its borders, with America itself. There have been a few huge massive interventions that have really altered the picture of what poverty looks like in the U.S., chiefly the Great Society and the New Deal and some other things that have happened since then. The bodegas were starting. Chanel was raised on the streets and relied on family bonds, the reporter learned. And the reporter who wrote that, Andrea Elliott, wrote a series of stories about Dasani. Just the sound of it Dasani conjured another life. This is There are a lot of different gradations of what that poverty looks like. Of all the distressing moments in Invisible Child, Andrea Elliotts book about Dasani Coates, the oldest of eight children growing up in a homeless shelter in New The brothers last: five-year-old Papa and 11-year-old Khaliq, who have converted their metal bunk into a boys-only fort. Journalist Andrea Elliott followed a homeless child named Dasani for almost a decade, as she navigated family trauma and a system stacked against her. She could even tell the difference between a cry for hunger and a cry for sleep. And I pulled off from my shelf this old copy of Alex Kotlowitz's There Are No Children Here, which is a classic incredible book about two brothers in the Chicago housing projects in the 1980s. Chris Hayes: Yeah. New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Andrea Elliott spent nearly a decade following Dasani and her family. But she saw an ad for Chanel perfume. And, of course, children aren't the face of the homeless. Chris Hayes: We don't have to go through all of the crises and challenges and brutal things that this family has to face and overcome and struggled through.
