Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City

Dasani arrives at her new school, McKinney, but is reluctant to go in because she fears being ridiculed for living in a shelter. Dasani’s parents have been on the wait list to live in buildings in the projects many times. Chanel tries to console Dasani about their living situation by stating that it is a “pit stop” while “the projects are forever” (29). Chanel wants Dasani to be successful, so she works to make her look nice and hopes that she will strive to do well in school.

Dasani’s homeroom teacher, Miss Hester, is an eccentric and outgoing person. The school’s principal, Miss Holmes, projects power. Most of the students at the school are Black; Dasani’s grandmother Joanie also went to school here. Enrollment has dropped, and the school’s budget has been cut. A charter school is hoping to co-locate at the school, which is a very polarizing topic. Proponents argue that charter schools can help fix the many issues with public schools, while critics contend that they tend to take resources away from public schools without taking on children who need more support.

Miss Hester prompts her students to take ownership of their lives by having them write their own obituaries. When she was in school, Black students were bused to a predominantly white school and had to overcome experiences of racism. Miss Hester teaches her students to define a word by looking at it in context. She identifies with her students, and she wants them to see themselves in her as well so they can imagine better lives.

Chanel and Supreme met at a shelter for the unhoused nine years ago, when Chanel was recovering from addiction. Chanel had Avianna and Dasani at that time, and Supreme had Khaliq and Nana from a previous marriage; his first wife died unexpectedly. Supreme and Chanel had four more children together, because Chanel wanted to make sure her children all had each other to depend on. They survive off public assistance, which includes welfare, food stamps, and survivors benefits for Supreme’s first two children. The total equals about $6.50 a day for each child. Chanel and Supreme both have been in jail for minor offenses. Because of their histories of having drug addiction, they must attend drug clinics to maintain custody of their children. They struggle to hold down jobs.

Rumors circulate at school about where Dasani lives. She responds with physical challenges. She knows only a few white people, and they are all professionals that seem distant from her immediate life. Elliott met Dasani on October 4, 2012, while trying to investigate the Auburn Shelter.

Dasani regularly arrives to school late and hungry, but is a promising student. Dasani enjoys dancing, and sometimes she and her sisters dance on public transportation to try to get money. Dasani is enthralled by Sahai, a popular girl who does well in school and dances well.

Dasani’s biological father hasn’t been around much since she was a baby, and she refers to Supreme as “Daddy.” She is obsessed with crime shows and imagines becoming a prosecutor though she pretends to be a newscaster sometimes. While Dasani is pleased that she is the same color as the president, her mother reminds her that the White House is still not for them.

Chanel is big and has “copper-hued hair,” which she attributes to enslavers. She would like to have someone else’s life and expresses that she doesn’t really love herself.

Supreme’s welfare money arrives, and he plans to reclaim his gold teeth and buy boots for the children. Dasani gets in more frequent trouble at school, and her grade average has dropped to a B.

During a performance at the school’s dance studio, some audience members protest the charter school proposal. Sahai dances gracefully; Dasani has some stage fright. She does well, and the audience applauds, but afterward her mother critiques her performance. Dasani shows off Baby Lee-Lee to a teacher, declaring it is her baby.

Chanel comments that their neighborhood is kept dark on purpose to keep the inhabitants “dim.” She knows from her mother that Fort Greene, which is south of the shelter, was the sight of the first battle in the American Revolution. A third of Brooklyn’s population was enslaved at one point. Chanel now believes that this area, which includes Auburn, is haunted by the spirits of those that lost their lives.

The family stays with Chanel’s 65-year-old godmother Sherry Humbert. The power is out, but the lights are on because of an illegal connection to the neighbor’s power. The family sleeps on foldout cots. A few nights after Christmas, their uncles, Josh and Lamont, who live in the basement, get in a fight over a teenage girl. Josh is arrested.

In January, the family gets ready for tax season, hoping the Earned Income Tax Credit will allow them to rent a home of their own. Dasani understands the city in relation to the various organizations she must navigate, including the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) located in the Bronx, the Human Resources Administrations (HRA or “welfare”) located in Queens, and ACS, or “child protection,” located in Brooklyn.

The system “profits off the poor, says Chanel, while punishing them for that very condition” (63). The family could access more money for disability benefits because two of the children might be eligible. However, Chanel refuses to try because she doesn’t want her children to identify with the “special needs” label (65).

ACS has been monitoring Dasani’s family since about 2004, after claims that Chanel and Supreme physically disciplined their children. No real evidence of abuse was found. ACS mostly investigates neglect, which often means investigating poor parents who lack resources to provide for their children.

Chanel only temporarily lost custody once in 2011. The family meets regularly with a caseworker who sometimes stops by the shelter unannounced. Miss Hester is critical of this surveillance. Dasani meets with a white counselor named Roxanne who has recently graduated. Chanel is initially against Dasani being in counseling because of her fears of mandated reporting, but Roxanne’s supervisor convinces Chanel to keep Dasani in counseling.

Dasani prepares for a running race that could lead to future opportunities. She trips in her poor-quality running shoes, but manages to catch up. The narrative cuts to a description of Fort Greene, the neighborhood in Brooklyn where Dasani lives. It has been heavily gentrified, and there is a lot of wealth surrounding areas of extreme poverty.

Much of Fort Greene’s history has been erased. For example, a recently renovated building was once the nation’s first school for Black children. While the Draft Riots of 1863 typified racist attitudes in Manhattan, Brooklyn was home to elite Black families for much of the 19th century. By Dasani’s time, the city is considering closing her “failed school.” The Black history of the neighborhood is threatened by historical erasure as gentrification intensifies, and many of the buildings bear the names of white families with slaveholding histories.

At the race, Dasani comes in second. This isn’t enough to move up, but she and Chanel feel good about this accomplishment. On their way back to the shelter, a white woman eyes them suspiciously. They go to a corner store where Chanel gets in an altercation. The owner intervenes, warning Dasani against turning out like her mother.

Thought they don’t look alike, Avianna and Dasani have the same estranged father, Ramel, and are the only children in the family not fathered by Supreme. Avianna had an asthma attack at the shelter a few months ago, and Dasani had to carry her upstairs. She used to think her grandmother Joanie’s refusal to use elevators was proof of her strength, but Joanie was afraid because she got trapped in the Auburn elevator as a teenager, before Auburn was the shelter. Dasani’s favorite subject at school is English.

Dasani fears getting her period because hygiene products are expensive. She imagines designing a video game she calls “Live or Die” with “social workers in the guise of angry pirates” (84). If she wins the game, she gets a new house. At school, Miss Holmes gets Dasani a snack because she knows she has not had breakfast.

Miss Holmes and Dasani’s grandmother were born around the same time, but Miss Holmes had a strong family support network with more resources. She works hard to mentor both children at the school and children who have graduated.

Miss Hester’s students prepare to visit NYC’s mayoral residence. The current mayor is Michael Bloomberg, who supports charter schools in New York. Success Academy will co-locate at McKinney in 2013 despite the community’s objections.

On the way to the mansion, Dasani gets angry with a student who comments on her shoes, and she has a discussion with a teacher about choosing words carefully. The mayoral residence became a museum when Bloomberg chose to remain in his own residence after election. Under Bloomberg, rates of those who are unhoused in New York rose by 80%. Dasani is aware of politics because she tends to experience them directly, as when the mayor tried to ban sugary drinks. There have been many renovations at Auburn, but it is still in disrepair, issues related to sexual abuse go unaddressed, and the staff seems largely indifferent.

The visit to the mayoral residence comes to an end. Bloomberg is stepping down as mayor after 12 years. The more progressive Bill de Blasio’s campaign focuses on the wealth gap and the crisis of unhoused people in the city. The children pose for a group photo on the steps of the mayoral residence. Dasani acknowledges that the mayor doesn’t live there.

Because of a bus drivers’ strike, Dasani has to walk her siblings to the local Walt Whitman Library, a favorite location. When it is closed, they must go to Auburn’s recreation room instead, which is crammed and poorly supervised. Back at school, Dasani’s class prepares for state exams. Dasani dislikes an assembly on Black History Month because she feels the same poems are always used. A group of boys recites Langston Hughes’ “Harlem.”

Chanel receives her tax refund. She always keeps the money on her. She thinks about the things she could buy but won’t. Supreme learns that his own tax refund was seized for overdue child support for his two children from relationships before his first marriage. As a result, the family cannot afford to leave the shelter.

Dasani doesn’t comment on this disappointment, but she gets in a fight after school. Chanel doesn’t think this is a big deal. Dasani worries that her rival, Star, will challenge her next. On a walk with the children, Chanel runs into someone she knew from her previous life, when she ran a trap house selling illegal drugs and was known as “Lady Red.” She gestures proudly to her children. Chanel escorts her daughter to school to ensure that she doesn’t get jumped, but when another child challenges her daughter at school, Chanel allows the fight to take place. Dasani is suspended.