The ACLU recently reported that the Trump administration has significantly weakened the Head Start program—originally established in 1965 as part of the Civil Rights Movement to support low-income, particularly Black, families—by slashing 60% of its staff, closing regional offices, and banning programs promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). These actions have disrupted services for millions, especially Black women and children, by making childcare less accessible and undermining crucial educational and developmental support. Parents like Desiree Guerra and Osbornique Williams describe here how Head Start has been essential for their children’s growth and their own ability to pursue education and care for their families. In response, civil rights groups have filed a lawsuit demanding an end to these harmful changes and the unconstitutional DEIA ban, emphasizing that preserving Head Start is about equity, opportunity, and the future of America’s most vulnerable families.
The Head Start program is a federally funded initiative in the United States that provides early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. Launched in 1965 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, its core mission is to promote school readiness for children from birth to age five.
Here’s what it does in more detail:
- Early Education: Offers preschool education to help children develop cognitive, social, and emotional skills they need for success in school.
- Health and Nutrition: Provides access to medical, dental, and mental health care, along with healthy meals and snacks.
- Parental Support: Empowers parents through education, parenting classes, and resources to support their children’s development and improve family well-being.
- Inclusive Learning: Celebrates and affirms cultural diversity, ensuring children of all backgrounds feel seen, valued, and included.
- Community Support: Connects families with services like housing assistance, job training, and other social supports to break the cycle of poverty.
Early Head Start, a related program, focuses on infants, toddlers, and pregnant women, providing similar services with an emphasis on child development from birth.
Head Start has served over 40 million children and families, especially helping women access childcare so they can work, attend school, and build stable, thriving lives.
As Christians, we’re called to be the hands and feet of Christ—but what does that actually look like in today’s world? If we take a closer look at Jesus’s life and teachings through the lens of Howard Thurman’s powerful book, Jesus and the Disinherited, we find clear instructions on what our political and personal priorities should be, especially when it comes to poverty.
In the first chapter, Thurman draws a vivid picture of Jesus as a poor Jew living under Roman occupation. Jesus was not part of the ruling class. He was not wealthy. He was not protected by status or empire. Instead, he was marginalized—poor, colonized, and lacking the privilege of citizenship.
Let’s pause to answer a couple crucial questions you may have in this moment:
️ What does “living under Roman occupation” mean?
During Jesus’s lifetime, the land where He lived (Judea, Galilee, etc.) was controlled by the Roman Empire. That means the Roman government ruled over the Jewish people, even though the Jews had their own culture, religion, and traditions.
Being “under occupation” means:
-
Jews were not free to govern themselves.
-
Roman soldiers and leaders had authority, and could enforce laws that weren’t always fair to the local people.
-
Heavy taxes were imposed by the empire.
-
Acts of resistance could lead to imprisonment or execution (like crucifixion).
So Jesus grew up in a colonized society—His people were dominated and oppressed by a foreign empire, which helps explain why He was especially concerned with justice, liberation, and care for the downtrodden. He identified with them.
What does “lacking the privilege of citizenship” mean?
In the Roman Empire, citizenship gave people special legal rights and protections. But not everyone had it.
Roman citizens could:
-
Avoid harsh punishments like crucifixion.
-
Own property more securely.
-
Appeal legal cases directly to higher Roman courts.
Jesus was a Jewish subject, not a Roman citizen, which meant:
-
He could be treated harshly without recourse.
-
He was more vulnerable to abuse, especially from Roman authorities.
-
His community had fewer protections and less power.
His story really speaks to the time we are living right now. I find that it is a guide for how we live our faith in action.
So let’s ask the hard question: Are we, as modern-day Christians, doing what Christ would do? Are we aligning ourselves with the poor and the disinherited? Or are we choosing power over justice and love?
Jesus Was Poor
Thurman reminds us that Jesus himself was poor. And in today’s America, poverty is still a massive issue:
- 13% of the U.S. population lives in poverty.
- 18% of Black Americans live in poverty.
- 15% of children are growing up below the poverty line.
- 34% of those in poverty live in deep poverty—with incomes less than half the poverty threshold.
If Jesus was poor, and if He spent His time serving the poor, then our calling is clear. To follow Christ is to care for the poor—not just with charity, but through systemic change.
Poverty Is a Policy Choice
According to current discourse by concerned citizens, ending poverty in America is not a pipe dream. It’s a policy choice. We have the resources. What we often lack is the political will. Here’s what we actually need to do:
️ 1. Fully Fund and Simplify Anti-Poverty Programs
We already have programs like Social Security, SNAP, and the child tax credit that lift millions out of poverty. But instead of expanding them, we:
- Let them expire.
- Add excessive paperwork and means-testing.
Solution: Streamline access and make these supports permanent.
️ 2. Fix Housing Through Policy
Affordable housing is central to ending poverty. Zoning laws and underfunded public housing have long blocked progress.
Solution: Reform zoning, reinvest in public housing, and prioritize housing as a human right.
3. Expand Child and Family Supports
The expanded pandemic-era child tax credit cut child poverty in half. That should be a wake-up call.
Solution: Bring it back—and make it permanent. Universal school meals and broad family support work better than stigmatizing, means-tested programs.
4. Consider Universal Basic Income
Programs inspired by MLK’s vision—like guaranteed income pilots—have proven effective, especially when directed at women and families.
Solution: Launch national pilots.
5. Invest in People and Infrastructure
We need to fund pre-K, improve school equity, boost job training tied to actual employment opportunities, and raise the minimum wage.
Solution: Treat these as moral imperatives and smart economic investments.
6. Shift the Narrative and Build Political Will
Poverty persists not because we don’t know how to end it—but because powerful interests benefit from its continuation.
Solution: Reframe poverty as a systemic issue that demands systemic solutions—not just personal responsibility.
The DEIB Framework: A Christ-Like Model
Let’s talk about DEI—Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion—and now, Belonging. These are not just corporate buzzwords. They are spiritual mandates rooted in Christ’s life:
- Diversity: Jesus welcomed the marginalized—lepers, tax collectors, women, foreigners. He embodied radical inclusion.
- Equity: He spoke truth to power, flipped tables in the temple, and lifted up the poor and powerless.
- Inclusion and Belonging: Jesus gave people a place to belong, to be seen, and to be loved.
To be anti-DEI is to be anti-Christ in action.
A Historical Call to Integrity
Throughout history, Christians has often failed this test. From the Crusades to the justification of slavery, too many have used Christ’s name to harm rather than heal.
Today, we are at another crossroads. Will we be Christians in name only, or will we act like Jesus—living, loving, and legislating in ways that uplift the disinherited?
Let’s Be Honest: Christianity Requires Action
If you claim to follow Jesus, it’s not enough to go to church or post scripture on social media. Faith without works is dead.
You must:
- Advocate for the poor.
- Support inclusive policies.
- Challenge racism, sexism, and systemic injustice.
- Vote in ways that reflect Christ’s love for the least of these.
Ending Poverty: A Christian Mandate
To end poverty, we must:
- Fully fund and simplify programs.
- Expand universal supports.
- Fix housing through courageous policy.
- Invest in people and infrastructure.
- Reframe poverty politically and morally.
- Build collective will and moral clarity.
As Martin Luther King Jr. said in his speech Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution (March 31, 1968), “…this is America’s opportunity to help bridge the gulf between the haves and the have-nots. The question is whether America will do it. There is nothing new about poverty. What is new is that we now have the techniques and the resources to get rid of poverty. The real question is whether we have the will.”
So let’s answer the call. Not just as citizens. Not just as voters. But as Christians, walking in the footsteps of a poor Jew who changed the world by standing with the poor.
That is our mandate. That is our ministry. That is Christ in action.
Leave a Reply