Rosa Lee: A Mother and Her Family in Urban America

by Leon Dash

Based on a series of Pulitzer Prize-winning articles, this harrowing account of life in the urban underclass offers compelling testimony in the ongoing national debate about welfare reform.

In Rosa Lee, Washington Post reporter Leon Dash vividly chronicles the hardships and pathologies of the daily life of a family in the slums of Washington, D.C. Defying simplistic conservative and liberal arguments about why the black underclass persists, Dash puts a human face on their struggle to survive despite both disastrous personal choices and almost insurmountable circumstances.

The book spans a half-century of hardship, from Rosa Lee Cunningham's bleak early life in the Jim Crow South to her death from AIDS at age fifty-nine. Rosa Lee gave birth to her first child at fourteen, was married at sixteen, and ultimately bore eight children whom she had no legitimate means of supporting. When her welfare checks proved insufficient to feed her family, she turned to prostitution and selling stolen clothes and drugs. Yet Rosa Lee maintained a flickering desire to do what was right. Two of her sons did escape the ghetto to enter mainstream life, and after Dash's series of articles ran in The Washington Post, she made public speeches, hoping to encourage other people to avoid her destructive choices.

Rosa Lee is the worthy successor to such works as Jonathan Kozol's Death at an Early Age. It offers no easy answers, but is instead challenging, thought-provoking, and utterly unforgettable.

Genres: Nonfiction, Journalism, Biography, African American, Poverty, Social Work, Race

279 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 1997

Reviews

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book that really gives some startling glimpses into the lives of an African American family living in Washington, D.C. It examines the lives of Rosa Lee and each of her children and how, while some are able to rise above the lifestyle they are born into, more often they are stuck in it. At times frustrating and infuriating, Rosa Lee is a deeply interesting individual and this book shows us what her life was from the beginning to the end.

[Donnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book hurts

[Sabrina Rutter · Rating 5 out of 5]

What started out as a project turned into a genuine friendship that made me like this book all the more. Mr. Dash as Rosa Lee liked calling the author Leon Dash interviewed several families before settling on Rosa Lee's family. He initially wanted to write about a few other families, but quickly realised that following that many lives was only going to allow him to skim the surface. He wanted to write about the intimate details, so he had to dive deep becoming devoted to only one family.
While reading this book I became aware of just how little I know about African American history, and it has given me a strong desire to learn more. In my opinion this book shows the lasting effects of slavery, a scar that runs deep through many lower class African American families. A scar that until I read this book was invisible to me.
Rosa Lee told the author Leon Dash that she wanted her story to be told so that it could possibly help someone to avoid the mistakes she has made. Leon kindly let her know that the type of people who would be reading this wouldn't be the ones living the same lifestyle as Rosa Lee. She then told him that was fine as long as someone learned something from her story. I feel that I have learned a great deal, and I thank Rosa Lee for sharing her story.

[Emily Curley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most gripping books I've ever read. Taking place in DC, a few miles from where I live, largely at a housing project that I walk by all the time, the story of Rosa Lee and her family is shocking, raw, and honest. The author, in true journalist form, commits himself to presenting the facts - facts that are at times more sad, enraging, and unbelievable than anything he could have made up. MUST READ. I devoured this in a day.

[Kate Nizienski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent book that gave an unembellished look at generational poverty of the urban underclass. Poverty, fear, drugs, illiteracy, violence, prostitution, exasperation, neglect, detention, abuse, and resentment plague the life of Rosa Lee.

There is room for much implication regarding the need for multi-level and multi-systemic interventions for those serving the poor. However there is also great argument that ultimately no intervention will take hold if there is no true desire for change.

A compelling read that I definately recommend.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite portraits of the urban underclass is "Random Family" by Adrian Nicole Leblanc. It's a gripping and fascinating work, similar in many respects to this one. The principal difference is that in "Rosa Lee" the author inserts himself much more (Leblanc is entirely absent from "Random Family"). It humanizes the subject more, but somehow also weakens it (in my opinion). Nevertheless, "Rosa Lee" remains a frank look at the vicious and multi-faceted cycle of poverty; written by a keen and experienced journalist with an empathetic streak.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fascinating story about a woman you kinda want to hate. This woman and her children are born into poverty with little chance to get out of a life full of abuse, crime, drugs...all the bad stuff really. It makes you question how much of our lives we actually control and how much is just based on what type of community you are born into.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot about my own prejudices reading this book.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is for anyone who just simply cannot understand how people live in poverty, and don't do SOMETHING to get themselves out...

Throughout the book, Leon Dash explores four generations of Rosa Lee's family, beginning with her mother and father. He interviews Rosa, her children, and grandson frequently, and becomes involved in their lives over the span of many years. Dash's closeness to the family enables him to uncover many contributing factors of their abject poverty: drug abuse and addiction, lack of an education and illiteracy, crime and incarceration, and lack of hope and poor role models.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author was one of my professors in college, and his series on Rosa Lee for the Washington Post(later expanded into this book) earned him a Pulitzer. The stories he told my class about writing this series were fascinating and eventually led me to hunt down a copy of his book.

This is a wonderful piece of immersion journalism and a fascinating look at urban poverty and drug abuse.

[Nay Whatever · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, substance and sexual abuse it ignorant and disgraceful. However, the story was not written to provoke more ignorance by way of hatred of humanity. It was written to enlighten and provoke an intelligent response to action against substance and sexual abuse. The fact is drugs cause people to do the worst. She was brave for tell the truth. So many others, are living a lie.

[Born Uhuru · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I grew up with many Rosa Lee's living in the projects of San Francisco. Living in Washington D.C. now this book gave me a real sense of Rosa Lee, her family and many families who went through this and those still going through this in the D.C. area. This is a must read for people who don't understand the plight of so many black families in this country.

[Christel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author spent years studying Rosa Lee and her family. It gives a great insight into the reasons for poverty, crime and sins. It looks at genealogical roots of the problems. It is a compassionate and stunning, often very troubling, book.

[Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book opened my eyes to the connections between systematic racism, poverty, and drug abuse in America. I read it when I was 15. It forever shaped my worldview and set me onto a lifelong pursuit of justice for all.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmmm. I've lost a lot of thoughts on this book because I had to go to the hospital and had started reading another in the meantime. I'll just go with what I remember, it's all I can do.
I remember thinking Dash did a decent job with his research, reaching out to so many extended family members and friends, etc. I also think Dash gave the family, Rosa Lee in general, far too much leeway and even though he caught her in lies again and again the reader is supposed to just believe her words as the gospel truth? I can't. I think a lot of what was said was true, sure. But not all of it. And more importantly maybe, Dash and/or Rosa Lee and/or anyone else, has no right to ask me to believe the words of a known liar.
I'm supposed to believe that hustlers didn't mind serving the family in front of Dash? Umm, has anyone who read this ever actually known a drug dealer? My question is because I have. And the ones I've known wouldn't take kindly to having someone who looks like Dash sitting there watching him/her serve a fiend. The fact that Dash is black matters not - he's still not a fiend. He's obviously an "authority" which rules out his witnessing anything then and there.
Another thing I didn't like was how Dash said he would "never give her or the family money". Now I'll pull that apart. Have any readers ever been addicted to drugs? I mean seriously addicted - like these people? Had a family member addicted perhaps? Because let's get real for a second, as rosey-happy as Dash was to make this part out to be, every single cent you save a drug addict, be it giving them food, a ride, whatever, is more money they have to get high. The truth is the truth. So, in essence, those morning McDonald's jaunts Dash and Rosa Lee had quite possibly only helped to put her in her grave.
Dash's writing was good and that's saying something because he is a journalist and usually you get "newspaper stories" with a book like this from someone in that career. Did he deserve a Pulitzer for this? No. Certainly not.
Everything Rosa Lee did had an excuse according to Dash. Oh, dope in the baby's diaper? So Rosa Lee could eat. Having her Granddaughter serve fiends on the corner? So her family could eat. Prostituting her daughter (the one who she just loves oh so much)? Oh, never you mind that, we needed to do that to eat. Go fuck yourself. You don't need to do any of that to eat.
There are plenty of people eating right not doing none of that. And even though Dash seems to want to cover over this with an excuse or two, the proof is in the pudding. Two of Rosa Lee's own children, raised in the exact same manner, exact same conditions, with the same exact background, are completely opposite from herself and her other children. They have careers, families, homes. No criminal records, no drug abuse. How can anyone said "it's because of her past", "it's because of her ignorance", "it's because of racism"?
Now, I'll say this, racism is out there and we all know that and it causes many problems. The racism from the past is still an issue if only because it was such an atrocity to many of us alive today that it even happened. But you can not blame everything on one thing. It doesn't work like that. Rosa Lee and her family knew enough to get whatever the hell they could from the government didn't they? They could do that. But they couldn't "eat" without selling pussy or drugs? What the fuck ever.
The sympathy I feel for this family stems from the little bit I feel for anyone going through anything. The simple fact is that they disgust me. For three of her children to be knowingly infecting others with the HIV virus is beyond my mind's ability to comprehend. And this is just glossed over because, hey, they had family who were slaves. Okay.
Well, just about every damn race, religion, color, creed, what have you, in the entire world has been fucked with to some extent over time. Some worse than others. Some more often than others. It's something we all have to deal with. How long though? How long can we use the pain that our ancestors went through for our own advantage? Is that what these family members would have wanted? Maybe. But maybe not.
Regardless, the fact remains that most of this family has done nothing but harm society while society pays them to do it. And Mr. Dash gets a Pulitzer for telling us about it. This, my friends, is the world we live in.
From my words here some many think I hated this book. I didn't. I think Dash did his research, I think he did a fairly good job of writing the family's story. My beef comes with Dash's thinking instead of this actual book.
I hope that any children still in this family's vacuum are able to look at the few family members they have doing right and decide that right looks more glorious than wrong.

[Myrtede Alfred · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, informative, and eye-opening but also depressing. It's very well-written and it draws you in but it can be a hard to read about the drug abuse, criminal deviance, and child sexual abuse.

[Karl H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rosa Lee is a remarkable look into the urban poor underclass in America. This book resolutely captures a portrait of poverty, crime and drug addiction without dehumanizing, searching for any easy answers, or assigning any blame. It simply captures the realities of Rosa Lee’s life, and allows us to make our own judgments. This is mandatory reading for anyone who wants to understand American poverty.


Rosa Lee was born the daughter of a slave. She began stealing and shoplifting at an early age. Her mother, who would regularly beat Rosa Lee for failing to do chores and backtalk, voiced her disapproval but let Rosa continue her criminal behavior. Rosa gave birth to her first child at fourteen. She dropped out of school at a young age and never learned to read. She would go on to have eight children, nearly all by different fathers. To support her family Rosa continued her stealing and fell into drug dealing, prostitution, and eventually drug addiction. The majority of those children would also wind up having children at an early age, dropping out of school, committing petty crime, prostituting themselves and becoming drug addicts in a vicious cycle.

But Rosa Lee is no mere statistic or faceless stereotype. We get to know her vivacious personality. She’s loyal to the family she admits she raised poorly, always putting food on the table for her family and bailing her children out when they need her. She wants to provide for them. She has a flair for fashion. She’s intelligent, managing to adeptly navigate the maze of bureaucracy required to get housing and welfare in spite of her illiteracy. And we learn about these positive qualities as we learn about the circumstances in her life she claims lead her down a bad road. Her lack of education, her terrible upbringing, the legacy of poverty that slavery left her family with, the need to put food on the table, are all factors that contributed to the choices she made. Rosa Lee is smart enough to know this. She is also smart enough to sometimes manipulate us with those facts as well. For some of the horrifying choices she makes, particularly with her daughters, I thought her justifications that her choices were “for survival” just don’t fly. Ultimately it is up to the reader to decide to what degree Rosa Lee was culpable for her decisions.

In 1997, the time this book was published, there were 2.7 million members of what is called the “underclass”- households headed by a single mother, welfare dependent, chronically unemployed and engaged in repeated patterns of criminal behavior. This number makes up 15-20% of the prison population, and accounts for 60-75% of crime. Since the economic downturn I imagine that number has increased. Rosa Lee’s story won a Pulitzer Prize for journalism, but it was perhaps inevitable that Leon Dash would also receive criticism from readers of Rosa Lee’s story. Many claimed that Rosa Lee was a negative stereotype; that Dash should’ve focused on inspirational stories of people rising out of poverty instead. But I think Dash made the right decision to tell this story. Rosa Lee is not alone. There are millions of Americans like her. And it’s only by taking a hard look at her and the people like her that we the people can decide what we will do about it.

[Marinde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bizar verhaal over een arme underclass vrouw met haar gezin in Amerika. Rosa Lee heeft acht kinderen bij zes verschillende mannen, is verslaafd aan heroïne, verdient de kost door te dealen, te stelen uit winkels en zichzelf te prostitueren. Ze heeft al meerdere keren in de gevangenis gezeten en een indrukwekkend strafblad opgebouwd. Ze is van school gegaan op haar 13e, toen ze zwanger was van haar eerste kind. Zes van haar acht kinderen leven nu net als zij, verslaafd, om de zoveel tijd in de gevangenis, zeer jong vader of moeder en vroeg van school waardoor ze niet (goed) kunnen lezen en schrijven. In hun leven draait alles om geld bij elkaar zien te krijgen voor het volgende shot. Alles draait om de drugs, en veel lijdt daaronder.

Het boek laat zien dat het milieu waarin je opgroeit en het voorbeeld dat je van je ouders krijgt heel veel invloed heeft op hoe je je ontwikkelt. Maar daarnaast zien we ook twee zonen van Rosa Lee die het wel voor elkaar hebben gekregen een eigen leven op te bouwen, te ontsnappen aan de vicieuze cirkel van criminele activiteiten, drugs en verwaarlozing. Vanaf dat ze jong waren wisten ze al dat ze niet aan de drugs wilden beginnen, ze zagen hoeveel het kapot maakte. Ze hebben allebei wel de nodige problemen meegemaakt, maar uiteindelijk vonden ze iemand die er voor hen was, ze duidelijk maakte dat ze belangrijk waren en iets konden bereiken, dat onderwijs daar een cruciale rol in speelde. Met behulp van respectievelijk een leraar en een maatschappelijk werkster zijn zij uit dit uitzichtloze leven gekomen en hebben een goede baan, een huis en een gezin opgebouwd.

Dit betekent niet dat Rosa Lee geen hulp kreeg van de overheid, of dat ze niet haar best deed. Het betekent wel dat het systeem voor hulp aan arme, verslaafde, hulpbehoevende mensen absoluut niet aansluit bij hun belevingswereld en behoeften. Rijke blanke mensen kunnen zich dan wel heel goed voelen dat ze af en toe iets voor de minderbedeelden doen, het maakt geen verschil wanneer het niet op de juiste manier gebeurd. We moeten kritisch kijken naar ons systeem van hulpverlening en niet zo gauw onszelf op de borst kloppen omdat we zo goed bezig zijn.

Dash brengt een paar jaar veel tijd door met Rosa Lee om een serie artikelen te schrijven voor The Washington Post. Hij heeft haar duidelijk gemaakt dat hij er niet is om haar te helpen, maar om haar leven te observeren zodat hij erover kan schrijven. Toch zijn er veel situaties waarin hij het moeilijk vindt dit patroon vast te houden, en waar Rosa Lee het ook probeert te doorbreken. Op sommige momenten functioneert hij misschien niet meer als journalist, maar ik vind persoonlijk dat t hem alleen maar siert. Dat Rosa Lee's levensverhaal hem raakt en hij in een aantal zeer schrijnende situaties niet anders kan dan zijn hulp aanbieden maakt hem tot een mens, niet een slechte journalist.

Na het lezen van dit boek voel ik me een verschrikkelijk verwend, naïef, blank, hogeropgeleid, rijk meisje. Vergeleken met Rosa Lee is mijn leven een makkie, zijn mijn problemen een lachertje en heb ik vooral heel veel geluk dat ik in een liefhebbend, relatief rijk, westers, gelukkig gezin ben geboren. I count my blessings.

[Mario · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rosa Lee is more than the story of a underclass family, it is the story of a generation of families that came out of the South after slavery was abolished. It is a story that explains how children and grandchildren from migrant sharecroppers have become stuck in lives marked by persistent poverty, drug abuse, prostitution, crime and periodic imprisonment. Those migrating out of the South with farming skills had almost no education and employment opportunities were extremely limited. This legacy was passed down, the lack of education has trickled down from generation to generation buying these families a permanent membership to the underclass. Even though some have escaped and triumphed against the immense difficulties that await any effort to overcome poverty, illiteracy, drug abuse, and criminal activity; these circumstance still keep a large portion of the black population in the underclass. Illiteracy and lack of a decent education in a society where basic education is needed to succeed is what causes the people in urban and rural ghettos to become unemployed and/or underemployed causing them to turn to a life of crime. Many of the underclass are severely restricted by the circumstance of their birth. The circumstances and lifestyle of the black underclass, although African Americans have had nothing to do with it, is what keeps them in the underclass. We need to recognize that America's long history of discrimination and segregation, in terms of unequal access to jobs, denial of a quality education is what has kept an numerous amounts of blacks in ghettos.

[Margo Lalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! What a story. Another good book that people should read if you're a social worker/mental health/counseling/addictions or just want to learn about people. I thought maybe this book might be political or push a certain "agenda" but it didn't. This was an eye opening book!

At one point the author says "This isn't stuff you'll find in History books". That one line had such an impact on me when I read that. He was 100% correct.

Obviously this story is heartbreaking, I'd say some downfalls to this book, would be sometimes I felt like I was keeping track of so many people/characters it was tough to read since it was bouncing around from many people. (Rosa Lee had 8 kids, multiple husbands, many drug dealers, her children's drug dealers and boyfriends/girlfriends etc.) The story was difficult to read sometimes just because of the content, I found myself having to re-read it just to comprehend what was really happening.

I'm definitely going to hang on to this book, and I see myself re-reading it and applying it to my job.

Also- this book chronicles from years 1930s-1990s, and it sounds like not much has changed within our country. So sad.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rosa Lee is a glimpse into an uncovered world of what it means to be an older poor black woman in the urban streets of the country's capitol. Leon Dash, Pulitzer winner and journalist, had the honor of being invited into Rosa's world for 4 years.. Alongside her and her 8 children Dash observes, without judgement, what it means to be tangled in the ever tightening ropes of the underclass in America. Dash respects the boundaries of his unusual task, maintaining the dignity of each participant. As a white middle class reader I was moved by the complexity of the hardness of her life; the generational impacts of slavery, Jim Crow attitudes and poverty are stunning. This is not a 'white-washed' story, but a real and current picture of how many live. Though the book was published in 1999, my personal observation of what life is like for many on the south and west sides of Chicago aligns with this portrayal. Entering into this experience by reading is a journey that all mid and upper class whites need to take. Never again would any use the simplistic chant of "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps."

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is the life story of a woman, her children, and grandchildren living in poverty in Washington DC. Most of the family seems caught in a cycle of drugs, crime, violence, and abuse, but some of the family members are well-adjusted and living in the mainstream. Parts of the book were difficult to read when I thought about how many of my students and former students are living similar lifestyles. The author makes an interesting point in the epilogue. He states that readers can find, within the book, confirmation of any political viewpoint. One reader might see the horrendous living conditions these children were born into and be convinced of the need for social welfare programs to end the cycle. Another reader may see the assistance given to the family, and the poor choices they continue to make as evidence that welfare should be done away with. This has me thinking about what shapes political viewpoints and how people can be influenced to see another side of an issue.

[Carissa Beard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating read that offers a unique perspective into the culture of inner city poverty and drug use and the role race plays.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another utterly depressing book about the experiences of poor black people in America. This exercise in hopelessness focuses on the miserable life of Rosa Lee, a mother of eight who is addicted to drugs and living in squalor in Washington, DC. It's a real pick me up. If you are looking for reasons to give up on life and enter into a spiral of existential meaninglessness and despair, this one's for you.

Couldn't finish it.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very in depth and interesting story which the journalist committed a great deal of time & money to exploring, developing and raising awareness of. This is the tale of one family and of a particularly clever woman who was able to manipulate her situation, however bad it got, in order to make it work for her. Harrowing in places and still shocking knowing there will still be families struggling through similar situations.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The police never found anything. Rosa Lee kept her stash at a friend's house nearby. But the raid continued, sometimes as often as once a month. The younger children had no idea why the police kept breaking down the door. But the older children knew too well what was going on. "They raided us often," Ronnie said. "We were so hot."

[Heather]

Being from DC I wanted to read this book yet it disgusted me to the core. I grew to hate Rosa Lee and her ignorance for what she did to her children - selling her daughter's virginity at age 11 to support her crack addition, etc. This book will have you thinking years later about it, that is for sure.

[Shannon Weaver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating true story about the lower class African American culture and how the problems perpetuate themselves. It was a bit much to take at times and quite graphic at others, but very interesting to read about how much there is going on in areas of our country that people are so unaware of or afraid to really think about.

[Megan Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this book for my collage English class and I liked it but its very heart felt and sad at times. it's horrible the way Rosa Lee grew up and the way that she continued to live her life and raise her kids and grand kids. At times she did the best she could and at other times she did what she thought was best.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a true story about a woman growing up in poverty and the cycle of poverty that continues in the younger generations of her family. It facilitates awareness of the low income urban situation. Rosa Lee and several of her children are plagued by herion addiction.