It's part of the reason I stayed on it for eight years is it just kept surprising me and I kept finding myself (LAUGH) drawn back in. They spend their days in school, their nights in the shelter. She loved to sit on her windowsill. And I remember the imam's face was just, like, horrified. Chanel was raised on the streets and relied on family bonds, the reporter learned. She lives in a house run by a married couple. Yeah. Her sense of home has always been so profound even though she's homeless. I want people to read the book, which is gonna do a better job of this all because it's so, sort of, like, finely crafted. We have a period where basically from the New Deal to 1980, inequality in the country shrinks and then the story, as you well know, from 1980 to now is just skyrocketing inequality. And for most of us, I would say, family is so important. And then I was like, "I need to hear this. She felt that they were trying to make her, sort of, get rid of an essential part of herself that she was proud of. So thats a lot on my plate with some cornbread. The pounding of fists. Slipping out from her covers, Dasani goes to the window. WebBrowse, borrow, and enjoy titles from the MontanaLibrary2Go digital collection. And I met Dasani right in that period, as did the principal. I think that what is so striking about the New York that she was growing up in, as compared to, for instance, the New York of her mother Chanel, also named for a bottle of liquid, (LAUGH) is that Chanel grew up in East Brooklyn at a time when this was a siloed community, much like what you are describing about Henry Horner. And that was a new thing for me. They were-- they were eating the family's food and biting. Others will be distracted by the noise of this first day the start of the sixth grade, the crisp uniforms, the fresh nails. (LAUGH) Because they ate so much candy, often because they didn't have proper food. Chris Hayes: Once again, great thanks to Andrea Elliott. Over the next year, 911 dispatchers will take some 350 calls from Auburn, logging 24 reports of assault, four reports of child abuse, and one report of rape. And there's some poverty reporting where, like, it feels, you know, a little gross or it feels a little, like, you know, alien gaze-y (LAUGH) for lack of a better word. And they were, kind of, swanky. Elliott says those are the types of stories society tends to glorify because it allows us to say, if you work hard enough, if you are gifted enough, then you can beat this.. A little sink drips and drips, sprouting mould from a rusted pipe. The bottled water had come to Brooklyns bodegas just before she was born, catching the fancy of her mother, who could not afford such indulgences. Ethical issues. And she wanted to beat them for just a few minutes in the morning of quiet by getting up before them. Some girls may be kind enough to keep Dasanis secret. And just exposure to diversity is great for anyone. Her city is paved over theirs. Her mother had grown up in a very different time. Taped to the wall is the childrens proudest art: a bright sun etched in marker, a field of flowers, a winding path. What she knows is that she has been blessed with perfect teeth. At Hershey, I feel like a stranger, like I really don't belong. And I think that that's what Dasani's story forces us to do is to understand why versus how. Knife fights break out. What is crossing the line? In fact, there's the, kind of, brushes that the boys have with things outside of their, kind of, experience of poverty and class have to do with, like, parking cars (LAUGH) or helping cars and stuff and selling water at the United Center where there's all sorts of, like, fancy Chicago roles through. 3 Shes a giantess, the man had announced to the audience. Paired with photographs by colleague Ruth Fremson , it sparked direct action from incoming Mayor Bill DeBlasio, who had Dasani on the stage at his administrations inauguration in January 2014. Find that audio here. And that's just the truth. ANDREA ELLIOTT, She is sure the place is haunted. By the time most schoolchildren in New York City are waking up to go to school, Dasani had been working for probably two hours, Elliott says. Section eight, of course, is the federal rental voucher system for low income people to be able to afford housing. And I just spent so much time with this family and that continues to be the case. She doesn't want to have to leave. This is the type of fact that nobody can know. And these bubbles get, sort of, smaller and smaller, in which people are increasingly removed from these different strata of American life. The invisible child of the title is Dasani Coates. Dasani keeps forgetting to count the newest child. And then their cover got blown and that was after the series ran. But I don't think it's enough to put all these kids through college. I have a lot of things to say.. There definitely are upsides. The journalist will never forget the first time she saw the family unit traveling in a single file line, with mother Chanel Sykes leading the way as she pushed a stroller. In one part of the series, journalist Andrea Elliott contrasts the struggle of Dasanis ten member family living at a decrepit shelter to the gentrification and wealth on the other side of Fort Come on, says her mother, Chanel, who stands next to Dasani. Tweet us at the hashtag #WITHPod. Elliotts book follows eight years in the life of There's so much upheaval. You're not supposed to be watching movies. The familys room at the Brooklyn shelter, with Dasani, right, sitting on the bed. Invisible Child: Dasanis Homeless Life. And she jumped on top of my dining room table and started dancing. Legal Aid set up a trust for the family. And what really got me interested, I think, in shifting gears was in the end of 2011, Occupy Wall Street happened. And a few years back, there was this piece about a single girl in the New York City public school system in The New York Times that was really I think brought people up shore, 'cause it was so well done. But to Dasani, the shelter is far more than a random assignment. But she was not at all that way with the mice. We take the sticks and smash they eyes out! But what about the ones who dont? It's available wherever you get your books. She didn't know what it smelled like, but she just loved the sound of it. Dasani Coates photographed in September last year. So Chanel is in Bed-Stuy. And she would stare at the Empire State Building at the tower lights because the Empire State Building, as any New Yorker knows, lights up depending on the occasion to reflect the colors of that occasion. WebBrowse, borrow, and enjoy titles from the Pioneer Library System digital collection. She was doing so well. asani ticks through their faces, the girls from the projects who know where she lives. I mean, I have a lot of deep familiarity with the struggle of substance abuse in my own family. She irons her clothes with a hair straightener. And by the way, at that time this was one of the richest cities in the world. It's something that I have wrestled with from the very beginning and continue to throughout. She attacked the mice. And I had read it in high school. And it's not because people didn't care or there wasn't the willpower to help Dasani. And There Are No Children Here, which takes place in what's called Henry Horner Homes, which is in the west side of Chicago right by what is now called the United Center, which is where the Bulls play. She has a full wardrobe provided to her. They dwell within Dasani wherever she goes. They were in drug treatment programs for most of the time that I was with them, mostly just trying to stay sober and often succeeding at it. Beyond its walls, she belongs to a vast and invisible tribe of more than 22,000 homeless children in New York, the highest number since the Great Depression, in the most unequal metropolis in America. Their sister is always first. And so I also will say that people would look at Dasani's family from the outside, her parents, and they might write them off as, you know, folks with a criminal record. Clothing donations. Webwhat kind of cancer did nancy kulp have; nickname for someone with a short attention span; costa rican spanish accent; nitric acid and potassium hydroxide exothermic or endothermic Any one of these afflictions could derail a promising child. Alexander Tuerkproduced and edited this interview for broadcast withTodd Mundt. Then she sets about her chores, dumping the mop bucket, tidying her dresser, and wiping down the small fridge. I was comfortable with that as a general notion of what I should be doing with my work, because I think that is our job as journalists. The other thing I would say is that we love the story of the kid who made it out. They rarely figure among the panhandlers, bag ladies, war vets and untreated schizophrenics who have long been stock characters in this city of contrasts. It's, first of all, the trust, which continues to exist and is something I think people should support. But she saw an ad for Chanel perfume. Editor's note: This segment was rebroadcast on May 16, 2022. A movie has scenes. And that's very clear in the context of her parents here. Shes tomorrows success, Im telling you right now.. Born at No. And so I have seen my siblings struggle for decades with it and have periods of sobriety and then relapse. How you get out isn't the point. And, you know, this was a new school. (LAUGH) You know? And she said that best in her own words. And yet, in cities, the fracturing happens within really close range. Offering a rare look into how homelessness directs the course of a life, New York Times writer and Pulitzer Prize winner Andrea Elliott was allowed to follow Dasani's family for almost 10 years. And welcome to Why Is This Happening? It's a really, really great piece of work. Anyway, and I said, "Imagine I'm making a movie about your life. This is where she derives her greatest strength. She made leaps ahead in math. And I think that that's what Dasani's story forces us to do is to understand why versus how. The turtle they had snuck into the shelter. They have yet to stir. She's just a visitor. How did you feel, you know, about the pipe that's leaking?" I think that when you get deeper inside and when you start to really try your best to understand on a more intimate level what those conditions mean for the person that you're writing about, so you stop imposing your outsider lens, although it's always gonna be there and you must be aware of it, and you try to allow for a different perspective. By the time Dasani came into the world, on 26 May 2001, the old Brooklyn was vanishing. Others will be distracted by the noise of this first day the start of the sixth grade, the crisp uniforms, the fresh nails. Used purple Uggs and Patagonia fleeces cover thinning socks and fraying jeans. She's at a community college. It is on the fourth floor of that shelter, at a window facing north, that Dasani now sits looking out. And there was this, sort of, sudden public awakening around inequality. All you could buy at the local bodega at that time was Charlie. Even Dasanis name speaks of a certain reach. Its stately neo-Georgian exterior dates back nearly a century, to when the building opened as a public hospital serving the poor. 11:12 - She's passing through. She was such a remarkable and charismatic figure, and also because her story was so compelling. This is a pivotal, pivotal decade for Brooklyn. And to each of those, sort of, judgments, Dasani's mother has an answer. When braces are the stuff of fantasy, straight teeth are a lottery win. And so they had a choice. IE 11 is not supported. We often focus on the stories of children who make it out of tumultuous environments. I do, though. You can see more of our work, including links to things we mentioned here, by going to nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening. This is so important." I mean, that is one of many issues. Delivery charges may apply, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Why Is This Happening? is presented by MSNBC and NBC News, produced by Doni Holloway and features music by Eddie Cooper. Andrea Elliott is a investigative reporter at The New York Times, (BACKGROUND MUSIC) a Pulitzer Prize winner.