YOU ME AND EBT:
Behind the Swipe
A Book by Jahi Kweli
BOOK CHAPTERS
Chapter 1: Before The Swipe
Chapter 2: Orientation
Chapter 3: From Cerritos to L.A.
Chapter 4: Now Hiring
Chapter 5: The Big Four
Chapter 6: Application
Chapter 7: Resumes
Chapter 8: Interviews
Chapter 9: Ernie & Luisa
Chapter 10: A Warm Cup of Latte
Chapter 11: A Refill Cup of Hot Latte
Chapter 12: It Feels Like Vegas
Chapter 13: The Audacity of His Story
Chapter 14: Forever Family
Chapter 15: Bring On 2009
Chapter 16: Let's Play Job Search
Chapter 17: Diamonds in the Rough
Chapter 18: Just a Few Thoughts
Chapter 19: Empowerment
EXCERPTS
1
This book will chronicle a period from 1995 to the present while giving you a personal behind the scenes account of how a significant percentage of our able-bodied Los Angeles County welfare-to-work recipients are capable of working and earning a legal legitimate living; however, they aren’t genuinely, authentically, professionally, and sincerely (GAPS) making an honest job search effort———
2
From the INTRODUCTION
And, of course, we’re standing in a grocery store line. We look over at the register, and the forms of payment include: Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, and EBT. I’m sure by now, most of us across the United States of America, the State of California and, in particular, the county of Los Angeles, have grown accustomed to seeing these EBT advertisements on a regular basis. However, many hardworking federal/state taxpayers may not be fully aware of how their public assistance tax dollars are being spent of California’s welfare-to-work system———
"California has the friendliest welfare-to-work system nationwide. Are we too welfare friendly?" / You Me and EBT Book Artwork
3
From CHAPTER 9: Ernie & Luisa
Our main contact at this company was Big Ernie. Now, Big Ernie was the nicest big teddy bear kind-of-guy that you would ever want to meet. He always had a HUGE smile on his face, was a married family man with three teenage children, and expressed compassion for helping out our welfare-to-work PT’s with employment opportunities. However, don’t get it twisted for one minute! Ernie had a checkered past. He was once an active gang member with one of L.A.’s biggest notorious Mexican gangs that had direct Mexican Mafia connections. He served over 20 years of his life in the Youth Authority system and San Quentin Prison for some pretty heinous crimes———
*All names are fictitious.