A National Family Portrait
Throughout America's history and still today, children's life chances have always been unequal based on color.
Throughout America's history and still today, children's life chances have always been unequal based on color.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 09.21.2011
As we take stock of the current state of America's children and the desperate need to change direction for the future, some ancient wisdom can give us a blueprint for setting sail and getting our children to safe harbor.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 09.14.2011
As the president and Congress struggle to find a way to lower the budget deficit and to raise the debt ceiling before we default on our debt for the first time in history, I hope they will stay away from further cuts in essential food, health, education, and other supports children need.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 08.31.2011
Right now, many of our elected officials are letting a no-new-taxes pledge take precedence. They are putting this before the pledge to the flag, and to the republic for which it stands, and to the promise of liberty and justice for all.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 08.24.2011
President Obama has called education the civil rights issue of our time. Now is the time for the next transforming freedom moment and movement -- to set our children free from illiteracy, low expectations, and jobless, hopeless futures.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 08.10.2011
The Rev. Dr. Anna Pauline "Pauli" Murray spent a lifetime challenging not only racial segregation, but systems of discrimination in all of their forms.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 08.03.2011
Ramrod straight of posture, unwaveringly principled and caring, keenly intelligent and elegant in speech, Dr. Mays was one of the most important people to me during my college years at Spelman.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 07.20.2011
New York City parent Yvonne works as a home care attendant to help support her 3-year-old son Darnell. Earlier this year she received a letter saying he would be dropped from the program.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 07.13.2011
While the Voting Rights Act and other federal voting laws prohibit discrimination based on race, sex, language, ethnicity, religion and age, there is still no law that affirmatively guarantees citizens the right to vote.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 06.08.2011
"I had never seen so much color," Angelica Salazar recalls of her first days as a Head Start preschooler. Her parents, who spoke mostly Spanish, enrolled her in the program knowing their little girl would need English to succeed in school.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 06.06.2011
Paul Ryan's "Roadmap for America's Future" is less a budget proposal than an ideological assault on the foundation of a fair society, with the least among us poised to become the principal victims.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 06.02.2011
The low cost of covering children compared to the high costs of dealing with the consequences later is a no brainer: An uninsured child costs the local community $2,100 more than coverage for a child with Medicaid.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 05.25.2011
Despite the critical immediate solutions to the pervasive child hunger Dr. King saw, the underlying crisis -- pervasive child poverty -- persists in the Mississippi Delta.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 05.25.2011
"For poor children... poverty means more than money. For them, it can be a life sentence of exile from the larger society... Poor children and children who are not poor live in utterly different worlds."
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 05.25.2011
This Christmas season 15.5 million children in America are living in poverty -- the highest child poverty rate the nation has seen since 1959.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 05.25.2011
Each religious tradition recognizes the sacred charge to defend children and those in poverty. Now is the time to put our faith into action.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 05.25.2011
There are many new tools that can help adults prepare for disasters and help children who have already lived through trauma continue healing now -- including Katrina's children, whom we must not forget.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 05.25.2011
Is your child learning to make a difference this summer? If she is enrolled in a Children's Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools® summer program, you'l...
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 05.25.2011
When Hurricane Katrina hit, it opened people's eyes to a side of race and poverty in our nation that is often hidden. There's no single signature picture of child and family suffering from the BP oil crisis this time around. But the need for help is overwhelming.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 05.25.2011
A child is abused or neglected every 41 seconds. It must be an urgent priority to strengthen the web of child and family supports to keep children safe and prevent problems before they occur.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 11.17.2011
The Children's Defense Fund looks forward to working with the Obama Administration and the new Congress to enact policies that give all children the chance to live and learn and succeed in life.
Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 09.28.2011