MSNBC takes a long look at the cycle of poverty in Philadelphia

Approximately 26.3 percent of Philadelphians are fighting to escape the cycle of poverty.

Those 407,500-odd citizens — particularly people of color — are suffering from social ills ranging from poor education, limited healthcare, unemployment, hunger, family instability, addiction, crime, incarceration, recidivism, homelessness — intractable problems that, more often than not, bleed into one another.

It’s far from a secret. Recently, MSNBC reporter Trymaine Lee and photographer Matt Black took a long, hard look at the city’s struggle with poverty for their ongoing series Geography of Poverty. The series aims to document “70 cities and towns connected by the simple fact that more than 20 percent of their residents fall below the poverty line.”

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The long read highlights a number of Philadelphians, each battling a personal struggle with poverty from a different, interconnected angle. The story touches on gun violence, incarceration, unemployment, the impact of President Bill Clinton‘s 1994 crime bill and more.