Heads Up

A Powerful Voice Weaves Stories of Change

‘Those people don’t need homes… We give them turkeys at Christmas
and Thanksgiving.’

That statement, made to a group of low-income mothers who had banded together to try to create affordable housing in the early 1990s, inspired Julia K. Dinsmore to write the poem, My Name Is Not “Those People”. It is a powerful poem that challenges commonly held notions about poor people and can be found in her compelling book, My Name Is Child of God ... Not “Those People”: A First-Person Look at Poverty (2007, Augsburg Fortress Publishers).

Building Changes was first introduced to Ms. Dinsmore through her creative work, which was featured in a video presentation at our recent annual benefit luncheon. We have had the pleasure of getting to know her a little better since then, through e-mails, phone conversations and through her book.

Julia Dinsmore has known poverty all of her life and is no stranger to homelessness. As she writes in a poem:

I call myself…
Storyteller, artist, social change maker of twenty-five years,
Working to end poverty and homelessness

Her childhood was marked by frequent moves, chaos, and episodes of violence—her mother struggled with mental illness, her father with alcoholism. As an adult, she has struggled to support herself and her three sons through insurmountable medical needs and expenses. Two of her sons, now in their 20s, continue to suffer from the devastating effects of mental illness, traumatic brain injuries, and other crippling health conditions. Although her poem My Name Is Not “Those People” has become famous worldwide, and she is a published author, she has never lived above the poverty line. “My dream is to earn enough money so I can get myself situated and help my kids and grandkids,” she reflects.

These days, Dinsmore is “camping out” in the living room of a friend’s house and taking each day as it comes, thankful for the opportunity to touch and inspire people through her poetry, songs, and stories. She is as passionate about helping others understand the effects of classism and poverty, as she is about helping people heal from the “wound” of generational poverty and systemic abuse. She is also a champion of the youth spoken-word movement, mentoring and teaching young people about poetry and creative storytelling, intertwined with social teachings. “Even though I don’t get paid much, and I have to sacrifice to keep doing this work, I know that I’m planting seeds for the future,” she says, “and that makes me feel hopeful.”

…I am not the problem, but the solution.
And … my name is not “Those People.”