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Between December 1936 and February 1937, auto industry laborers in Flint, Mich., stopped working and occupied the GM factories that employed them until their right to unionize was recognized.

“They called it slums but it was never a slum to me.”

“My father went to work in a chocolate factory. When he'd come home, his hair was all full of chocolate; his pillows were all brown.”

“I wasn't like other kids.”

“I remember a private swim club...”

“I just needed a little bit of help...”

“I couldn't understand why all the black men had signs that said 'I AM A MAN.'”

“He asked me, 'How many black jelly beans are in the jar...'”

Jordan's poem takes on an sarcastic tone as she describes the duties, punishments, emotions and false promises endured by African Americans since slavery in response to Bill Clinton's description of affirmative action as "a psychologically difficult time for the so-called angry White man."

This 2010 news segment considers the cause and impact of the rising poverty level in the United States.