Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City

A political movement that emerged in 2013 as a response to several killings, often by police officers, of unarmed Black people. The movement represents a loose coalition of groups and consequently has a wide variety of approaches to addressing the systemic mistreatment of people of color by law enforcement.

Broadly, charter schools are schools that “are publicly funded but privately operated” (32). The specifics of how charter schools operate and how they are used can vary widely by state to state and city to city and sometimes even political administration to political administration. In the context of Invisible Child, “charter schools” refers to schools supported by Mayor Bloomberg in an effort to improve education.

Generally speaking, code-switching refers to the ability to move between various cultural expectations and linguistic expressions. It is exemplified by Miss Hester and Mr. Ackers. Many of Dasani’s teachers and mentors urge her to develop this skill.

DHS is one of the three systems Dasani and her family must learn to navigate to obtain resources under the constant threat of being separated. The organization has a headquarters in the Bronx and operates over 200 shelters around the city.

The movement embraced by Supreme and later by Chanel, it is an offshoot of The Nation of Islam. The movement regards Black people as the first people and teaches that true knowledge of the universe can be acquired through mastery of numerological and alphabetical systems called the “Supreme Mathematics” and “Supreme Alphabet.”

Refers to the process by which a neighborhood changes in response to an influx of wealthy residents. There is clear evidence of gentrification in Brooklyn when Dasani lives there, creating tensions for longtime residents and highlighting the wealth gap.

Mentioned indirectly throughout the book this term refers specifically to the relocation of approximately 6 million Black Southerners to the North states in search of better opportunities and better conditions. June, Dasani’s great grandfather, moved to Brooklyn during this period, after his service in WWII.

Learning “grit,” like code-switching, is an unofficial part of the curriculum at Hershey. Elliott points out that grit is often thought of as an innate quality. However, among educators, grit has taken on a distinct meaning—a combination of passion and perseverance that can be learned. This meaning largely stems from a 2013 Ted Talk by psychology professor Angela Duckworth, who based some of her ideas on research done with Hershey students (372-73).

Welfare is another one of the three government agencies Dasani and her family must navigate in order to gain access to resources. Elliott details the historical context in which welfare emerged as a modern concept and how its focus shifted from supporting children for as long as they needed it to providing temporary support for parents until they could find employment.

Elliott describes herself as an “immersionist” (294), referring to a style of journalism in which the reporter seeks to “immerse” themselves in the communities and conditions on which they are reporting. Proponents generally argue that this approach enables them to provide more detailed firsthand accounts of events and experiences. Critics argue that this kind of journalism is easily distorted by the bias of the journalist.

This refers to the perception that Black parents are being criminalized as a strategy for separating children from their parents. The children are placed into foster care with the eventual aim of terminating parental rights. “Jane” is a recognition that the parents most often directly affected by this policy are mothers (356).

Refers to someone in a professional role, such as a teacher or counselor, who is legally obligated to report incidents of suspected abuse or neglect or if someone indicates they plan to hurt themselves or someone else. Chanel is wary of them because she believes that false accusations can cause problems.

An emerging field of research that seeks to examine how the experience of poverty shapes children’s brains in ways that might have lifelong consequences. Elliott describes a study conducted in 2013 in which child psychologist Seth Pollak found that poor children as young as four had significantly less gray matter than their peers (339).

A term that comes up frequently in Invisible Child to explain the emotional and psychological harms that occur when children are forced to take on parental roles. Educators and professionals in the book often speak of the need to “de-parentify” these children so they can learn to be kids. The term is most often applied to Dasani, but the concept is applied to many of her siblings, implicitly and explicitly, throughout the book.

Redlining refers to a segregationist practice common in the mid-20th century in which lenders would refuse mortgages to neighborhoods with large percentages of nonwhite people. June is directly affected by this policy, as he is unable to secure a mortgage to purchase a home.