The Own It! Handbooks are guide books for a transformative after-school, trauma-informed enrichment program. The 21st Century Health  Challenges & Inequities handbook provides  lessons & activities about essential elements of the American health and healthcare system. In 2020, the strengths and weaknesses of American health care were brought powerfully into each home by  the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Like  prior 20th century health crises --the 1918 flu, polio,   AIDS -- COVID-19 represented a fundamental challenge to all Americsans. This Handbook seeks to help us better understand how our healthcare systems can better serve the American people.Own It! also nurtures academic skills, personal growth and leadership. It uses history to connect our past to our future, as part of the Own Your History® (OYH) Collection. But Own It! is not “school” and it differs from traditional approaches to history.  

This is a discussion-based interactive seminar on the two major issues that affect Sub-Saharan Africa: HIV/AIDS and Poverty. AIDS and Poverty, seemingly different concepts, are more inter-related to each other in Africa than in any other continent. As MIT students, we feel it is important to engage ourselves in a dynamic discussion on the relation between the two - how to fight one and how to solve the other.

OYH Multimedia Anthologies anthologies collect a range of materials for exploring OYH topics. They parallel and supplement the OYHL school modules, available as Open Education Resources. . Groups of all ages can explore & discuss these rich and varied collections for sharing reflections on aspects of U.S. history and deepening historical knowledge. They are also available through the OYH website, https://www.ownyourhistory.us/multimediaresourcesIn US history, land  ownership provides family security and cohesion, wealth accumulation, and social advancement. American law supports  these goals for most Americans, but often not for Black Americans or other communities of color. The 1960s Civil Rights Movement led to some positive changes, but  inequality continues. This module primarily examines housing and financing discrimination affecting urban Black families, in urban areas, it briefly considers rural Black property ownership.The resource focuses on housing and real property ownership because of the important role of a home as a basis for economic security, wealth creation, family relationships and stability.

In US history, land  ownership provides family security and cohesion, wealth accumulation, and social advancement. The American law supports  these goals for most Americans, but often not for Black Americans or other communities of color. The 1960s Civil Rights Movement led to some positive changes, but  inequality continues. This module primarily examines housing and financing discrimination affecting urban Black families, in urban areas, it briefly considers rural Black property ownership.The module focuses on housing and real property ownership because of the important role of a home as a basis for economic security, wealth creation, family relationships and stability. The country has a substantial social investment in existing housing and the color-based housing patterns that still result in significant segregation in most cities. It asks how to move toward a legal system, housing policies and practices of  genuine equality, opportunity, and freedom for all without separation by color in our cities and communities. While not addressing reparations for inequalities from enslavement and segregation, it  asks students to develop proposals addressing such inequalities.

This module takes its name from The Other America by Michael Harrington, a study of 1950s U. S. poverty. From the 1700s, many American white people of European heritage have lacked the land, education, skills, or opportunities for advancement.   White identity movements have  drawn on regionalism, clannishness, racism, xenophobia, fear, and class resentments.  With economic distress, movements have coalesced around feelings that the country is not working for them. Poor and working class whites gave impetus to Populism and insurgent “white identity” movements supporting Huey Long, George Wallace, and recently Donald Trump.Another important element is “race” -- a word and concept developed to justify the colonization and control (and  enslavement) of black Africans by white Europeans and Americans. They used fake “race” science to justify colonization, the slave trade and subordination of Blacks.A complete, objective history requires an understanding of Americans who join in such identity politics.

This textbook provides a survey of statistical methods commonly used in the life sciences, an introduction to statistical theory, and significant exposure to the statistical software package SAS 9.4. The textbook is designed for graduate students and upper division undergraduates, and assumes some familiarity with mathematical notation, functions, and algebra. No previous courses in statistics are needed. For those interested in using the software package R, programs similar in function to the SAS ones are also provided. A unique feature of this textbook is the integration of statistical procedures and theory. Most introductory texts present the statistical procedures and a mechanistic explanation of how they work, without discussing the underlying theory. Some knowledge of this theory is essential for students in the life sciences, especially graduate students, and so the textbook uses likelihood theory to explain how parameters are estimated and statistical tests derived. The statistical models for ANOVA, regression, and other common procedures are also presented. These theoretical concepts are presented in both equation and graphical form. For detailed information on the topics covered in this textbook, see the Table of Contents file in Section 1.  

This lesson provides an overview of the life and work of African American economist Glenn Cartman Loury, one of America’s most provocative thinkers on issues related to race, poverty, and social policy. A technical economist by training, Loury is usually identified as a Black conservative, though his worldview has undergone a series of transformations since he first emerged as an outspoken Reaganite in the 1980s. Born and raised in a working-class neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Loury rose through the ranks of elite academia to become the first Black tenured professor of economics at Harvard in 1982, doing groundbreaking work on “social capital.”The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all. 

The popular economist Walter E. Williams was one of the most prominent libertarian commentators on issues of race, poverty, and prosperity, spreading his message through a weekly syndicated column, scholarly publications, and a variety of media appearances. Born and raised in the Philadelphia projects, Williams overcame personal and political barriers on his journey from blue-collar kid working odd jobs to a distinguished writer and professor. Prolific and provocative, Williams appealed to both specialists and lay people, and his great love was teaching economics. Throughout his life, a network of devoted friends, family, mentors, and colleagues made his success possible. The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

Americans make up around four percent of the world population and yet they control over 25% of the world’s wealth. If that wealth were shared evenly across the globe, couldn’t we solve the problem of global poverty overnight? In this video, Professor Matt Zwolinski of the University of San Diego explores how best to end poverty for good.

Increased energy use per capita is linked to decreased poverty rates. Modest energy increases can lead to significant poverty reduction, but the relationship is not always linear. Factors like governance and social policies also influence poverty levels. Beyond a certain threshold, further energy increases have diminishing returns.

Chapter 12 Growth and Transformation is a chapter from a history book for higher education.

This is an update of the 2001 curriculum: Frame, L., Berrick, J. D., Sogar, C., Berzin, S. C., & Pearlman, J. CalWORKS and Child Welfare: Case Management for Public Child Welfare Workers. This newly revised curriculum is designed to help students understand the relationship between family economic well-being and parenting and to raise students’ awareness of the important role poverty can play in interfering with parents’ best efforts to raise their children well. Under extreme circumstances, family poverty can place children at significant risk – these are the families who may come to the attention of child welfare agencies. (215 pages)Berrick, J. D., Helalian, H. S., Frame, L., Fabella, D., Lee, K., & Karpilow, K. (2010).

 These anthologies  parallel and supplement the OYH school modules, available as Open Education Resources.  Groups of all ages can explore & discuss these collections. Also available through the OYH website, https://www.ownyourhistory.us/multimediaresourcesThis anthology focuses on the strategies and methods used in the 1960s by Black Americans to challenge Jim Crow segregation and to  put equal rights and opportunities on the nation’s agenda. They called into question the subordination of Blacks and other people of color based upon racist views. Young, new leaders undertook nonviolent direct-action protests supported by Black religious organizations and studentsin the face of determined opposition and violence by Southern Whites. By 1965, the federal government responded by passing historic civil rights and voting rights legislation.These landmark accomplishments did not address economic inequalities. Urban uprisings in 1967-68 were fueled by these economic inequalities and the assassination of Dr. King. President Johnson  appointed a  commission led  Otto Kerner to examine these uprisings and make recommendations.

Until about 1966, the Civil Rights Movement led by Dr. King and the other national Black organizations focused on ending segregation, changing racist attitudes, advancing equality under the law, and securing the vote. Because of the system of Jim Crow laws, the Movement’s attention was largely on the South. Protests also highlighted economic inequalities and jobs and demanded government responses to effect change. In the “long hot summer” of 1967, over 20 uprisings and disorders took place in cities across the country. This prompted President Johnson to appoint a study commission led by former Illinois Governor Otto Kerner to examine these uprisings and make recommendations. Additional rioting occurred in 1968 in reaction to the assassination of Dr. King. The 1968 Kerner Commission report is a detailed, thoughtful, and clear-eyed analysis of these urban disorders with a comprehensive and bold set of recommendations for addressing systemic racism and its economic and social consequences.

This course will examine literature and practice regarding community-owned enterprise as an alternative means of increasing community participation and development. The use of cooperatives, credit unions, land trusts, and limited stock ownership enterprises for increasing community participation and empowerment will be examined.

Central to our era is the gradual movement of all the world’s regions toward a uniform standard of economic and political development. In this class we will read a variety of recent narratives that partake of, dissent from, or contribute to this story, ranging from novels and poems to World Bank and IMF statements and National Geographic reports. We will seek to understand the many motives and voices – sometimes congruent, sometimes clashing – that are currently engaged in producing accounts of people in the developing world: their hardships, laughter, and courage, and how they help themselves and are helped by outsiders who may or may not have philanthropic motives. Readings will include literature by J. G. Ballard, Jamaica Kincaid, Rohinton Mistry, and John le Carré, as well as policy documents, newspaper and magazine articles, and the Web sites of a variety of trade and development commissions and organizations.

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes His Excellency Kenneth D. Kaunda, the First President of Zambia (1964-1991). President Kaunda discusses the national and international challenges he confronted as a national leader. He also reflects on his current work with NGOs in the global fight to fight disease, poverty and inequality. (54 minutes)

In the trilogy of D-Lab courses, D-Lab: Dissemination focuses on disseminating innovations among underserved communities, especially in developing countries. Students acquire skills related to building partnerships and piloting, financing, implementing, and scaling-up a selected innovation for the common good. The course is structured around MIT and outside competitions. Teams develop an idea, project or (social) business plan that is “ready to roll” by term’s end. Course includes an on-line forum discussion board, student-led case studies and a final proposal or business plan for realizing your dream innovation.

D-Lab Development addresses issues of technological improvements at the micro level for developing countries—in particular, how the quality of life of low-income households can be improved by adaptation of low cost and sustainable technologies. Discussion of development issues as well as project implementation challenges are addressed through lectures, case studies, guest speakers and laboratory exercises. Students form project teams to partner with mostly local level organizations in developing countries, and formulate plans for an IAP site visit. (Previous field sites include Ghana, Brazil, Honduras and India.) Project team meetings focus on developing specific projects and include cultural, social, political, environmental and economic overviews of the countries and localities to be visited as well as an introduction to the local languages.

D-Lab Development addresses issues of technological improvements at the micro level for developing countries—in particular, how the quality of life of low-income households can be improved by adaptation of low cost and sustainable technologies. Discussion of development issues as well as project implementation challenges are addressed through lectures, case studies, guest speakers and laboratory exercises. Students form project teams to partner with mostly local level organizations in developing countries, and formulate plans for an IAP site visit. (Previous field sites include Ghana, Brazil, Honduras and India.) Project team meetings focus on developing specific projects and include cultural, social, political, environmental and economic overviews of the countries and localities to be visited as well as an introduction to the local languages.