Devon Gray

United States

Contributor at Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity

President @EndPovertyCA | Former campaign policy wonk | @StanfordLaw and @StanfordEd alum

Articles

Why Won’t the Federal Government Reimburse People Whose Food Stamps are Stolen?

Jan 22, 2025 | thenation.com | Devon Gray

Society / January 22, 2025 Why Won’t the Federal Government Reimburse People Whose Food Stamps are Stolen? The disastrous consequences for working-class families. Ad Policy A sign on the door of a Walgreens refrigerator in Queens, New York.
There is no Scarcity: Afrodiasporic Artists are Always, Already There

Dec 9, 2024 | icareifyoulisten.com | Devon Gray

Last month, I spent a week in Berlin. There was a happening – a very Black gathering that pulled participant-artists from across the African diaspora, including Guadeloupe, Toronto, Johannesburg, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Kenya, the U.S., Berlin, and more. George E. Lewis, who worked to convene us, knows how to instigate a party. He shared that the name of the conference, “Always, Already There,” came from literary theorist James A.
A guaranteed income program in Fresno could change the Central Valley for generations | Opinion

Jul 23, 2024 | fresnobee.com | Devon Gray |Andy Levine

Fresno and the Central Valley are often in state and national news for high rates of poverty and inequality. With few exceptions, what’s not recognized are the local community leaders and campaigns that have been fighting for years to change that reality.
False Narratives Fuel California's Failure to Address Poverty

Oct 25, 2023 | northcoastjournal.com | Devon Gray

New Census data recently confirmed what many advocates saw coming: We squandered one of the greatest achievements in antipoverty policy this nation has ever known. In one year, we went from a record low poverty rate of 7.8 percent — and child poverty being cut nearly in half to 5.2 percent — to the largest ever single-year rise and the child poverty rate increasing by a stunning 138 percent. In California the poverty rate for children under age 18 rose from 7.5 percent to nearly 17 percent.
Another View: The human cost of California's Wine Country

Oct 9, 2023 | napavalleyregister.com | Devon Gray |Greg kaufmann

Napa County is the ninth wealthiest county in California — a state with the fourth largest economy in the world. It has a mean income of more than $135,000 and its wine industry yields $7.7 billion annually.
Opinion: Poverty Persists in California Because False Narratives Drive Policy

Oct 1, 2023 | timesofsandiego.com | Devon Gray

New Census data recently confirmed what many advocates saw coming: We squandered one of the greatest achievements in antipoverty policy this nation has ever known. In one year, we went from a record low poverty rate of 7.8% — and child poverty being cut nearly in half to 5.2% — to the largest ever single-year rise and the child poverty rate increasing by a stunning 138%. In California the poverty rate for children under age 18 rose from 7.5% to nearly 17%.
CalMatters Commentary: False narratives drive poverty

Sep 29, 2023 | davisenterprise.com | Devon Gray

New Census data recently confirmed what many advocates saw coming: We squandered one of the greatest achievements in antipoverty policy this nation has ever known. In one year, we went from a record low poverty rate of 7.8% — and child poverty being cut nearly in half to 5.2% — to the largest ever single-year rise and the child poverty rate increasing by a stunning 138%. In California the poverty rate for children under age 18 rose from 7.5% to nearly 17%.
Columna: Las narrativas falsas de la pobreza en California

Sep 28, 2023 | ivpressonline.com | Devon Gray

Los nuevos datos del censo confirmaron recientemente lo que muchos defensores veían venir: desperdiciamos uno de los mayores logros en política contra la pobreza que esta nación haya conocido. En un año, pasamos de una tasa de pobreza histórica del 7.8 por ciento (y la pobreza infantil se redujo casi a la mitad, hasta el 5.2 por ciento) al mayor aumento jamás registrado en un solo año y la tasa de pobreza infantil aumentó en un sorprendente 138 por ciento.
McCarthy’s Medicaid reforms could doom millions

May 3, 2023 | thehill.com | Devon Gray

Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s recent proposal to strip Medicaid coverage away from people who do not meet new work-reporting requirements puts more than 10 million people in Medicaid expansion states at high risk of losing coverage. The proposal, which House Republicans passed last week, is extreme and undoubtedly harmful, yet entirely in sync with entrenched attitudes long held by policymakers about people living in poverty who seek government assistance.