No Shame in My Game: The Working Poor in the Inner City.

"It's time to honour and reward people who work hard and play by the rules....No one who works full time and has children should be poor any more."

--Bill Clinton and Al Gore, Putting People First, 1992.

Obviously, to this day, the issue has not been attended to satisfactorily as shown by Katherine Newman's book - No Shame in my Game. The study is about examining the experience of the people living in Harlem - in a world that is vastly different from ours compared to society's customary notions regarding them. These people are visible even if the others choose not to acknowledge them.

This research was conducted in Harlem (New York City) from 1993 to about 1995. However, this time period does not include the 1989 cab ride the author rode in during which she experienced a sudden rush of epiphany about Spanish and African American neighbourhoods in the central and west Harlem.

English: Looking south at Malcolm Shabazz Mosque o...

Newman Anniversary

Map of Harlem

From then on, until she started her field research, took a total of four years. Katherine Newman's field research led her to study "the invisible poor" (39), otherwise known as the working poor in the urban city. She concluded that several factors of inequality such as age, race, ethnicity, gender, and education led to their obstruction in failing to rise above the poverty line. Such social inequalities are at the forefront of the differences in the lives of people in Harlem compared to rest of the city, the barriers between these social groups, the obstacles they encounter in life with respect to work, friends, family, loved ones, and how to overcome the stereotyping. These issues encompass the concerns the author wishes to address. By doing so, this book helps to reshape the image of the city - especially Harlem - and serves as a...