- Addison Saieg (current BMCC student) – I wanted to tie together the concepts of poverty, belongingness, class issues, and Queerness. Drawing on my own experience as a Queer person who has moved around from place to place, facing conflict with family and institutions in various geographical locations, I have felt the pervasiveness of two-ness frequently. However, through the absence of belonging and the excess feelings of “being a problem,” I’ve discovered and reimagined new realities of belonging, family, and home. Part of what I’m conveying here (without explicitly stating it) is that the heterosexual world and the wealthy world have something to learn from the expansive definitions of family/ home that emerge when a person loses housing or is shut out by their parents/guardians/relatives. Queerness should be discussed as a class issue. Unfortunately, popular media continues to depict stories of white gay and lesbian assimilated affluence OR queer suffering, disease, and suicide (usually applied to the bodies of trans and Black and Brown folks). I wanted to tell a different story that encourages creative rethinking.
- Auset Caceres (current BMCC student) – This is a story about poverty and how it impacts women. Poverty created a person who was unrecognizable and she struggled with health issues as a result of it. This story is about my about my mother who has struggled all of her life. Before and after having kids.
- Chaewook Lee (current BMCC student) – In this article, I didn’t focus on money-related poverty, but rather on food and healthcare-related poverty. Globally, we have enough food and medicine, but there are many people who don’t benefit from it due to the skewed distribution of goods. I wrote about the imbalance in the distribution of food and medicine in this article. The reason I am studying in BMCC is to be a nurse who could give people in the poor surroundings a hand. I’m significantly interested in global healthcare and food problems.
- Channing Creager (current BMCC student) – Daily on my way to school, work, and in my life I was confronted with extreme wealth and poverty. My own life was much closer to the later. I have never seen such disparity as I have in New York. On the same street as people getting out of 200k dollar cars were people passed out sleeping or on drugs living on the street. The rich would often act as if they (and sometimes myself when I was in this situation) did not exist, as it was not convenient for them. The woman with shopping bags is a symbol of these experiences that I had. Unfortunately as the economy has gotten even worse, this phenomenon is not unique to New York any longer. I have seen it in San Francisco, Austin and Dallas where I live, but no where is the contrast as great as Manhattan. The skyline is juxtapose with housing project buildings to the left and an apartment building on Upper East side in upper right corner. You can see a stack of college books on this side, next to a limo. I see college, especially through the CUNY system, as the biggest variable in escaping poverty for the poor and working class of New York City and beyond. Before I went to BMCC I was homeless and I put myself through school with full time work cleaning apartments for people who were very rich which also caused me to experience this feeling of being other (poor). On the bottom of the lower 3 quarters of the collage you can see streets paved in gold. I see this as a lie that is sold to people about living in New York yet it is somewhat true that college (symbolized by the books) is a way that this lie can become true. The drugs and money to the left side along with the tents contrast with the college books, representing the despair that often come along with homelessness and keeps people trapped. The pigeon represents the fact that all people are essentially the same (animals), just experiencing different circumstances in life.
- Jan Itor (current BMCC student) – This essay is about the current state of my mental health as a result of living through poverty for most of my childhood.
- Luciana Fisher (current BMCC student) – This is an autobiographical story of a child growing up alone
- Mery Osorio (current BMCC student) – The sun represents my inner light and identity. The sun is often associated with warmth, brightness, and life. In some spaces and with some people, I feel whole and empowered, like the radiant sun, where my economic circumstances do not define me. This part of the painting reflects moments when I feel at ease, empowered, focused, and curious.The sun is not always shining brightly. It has patches of darkness and turbulence around it. These areas symbolize the moments and spaces in my life where I feel uncomfortable, invisible, or too visible. My economic circumstances collide with other parts of my identity, causing inner conflict and a sense of “twoness”. My artwork beautifully encapsulates the concept of “twoness” and the emotional complexities associated with it. It invites viewers to reflect on their own experiences and the spaces in their lives where they may also feel like a problem, highlighting the importance of empathy and understanding in addressing the social issues of poverty and inequality.
- Shannon Foster (former BMCC student and KCC student) – This poem offers a perspective on my experience growing up in underprivileged through pursuing a college education in healthcare administration.
- Steven Peregrina (former BMCC student) – I am a 2022 graduate of BMCC and I currently attend Columbia University. I am also a Student Instructor at BMCC for the fourth semester for Introduction to Philosophy.
- Touma Sakawaki (currenct BMCC student) – I feel guilty when I walk past a homeless family, even if I don’t have any money left in my bank account. As a privileged bicultural person (Japanese and native New Yorker), I feel a responsibility to help others in need through art. I am a creative multidisciplinary artist majoring in art.
