Ben Dawson, Author at Children's Defense Fund

Voting for the Future

Every third weekend of October congregations across the nation join Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) in participating in the annual multifaith National Observance of Children’s Sabbaths® Celebration.

October 18, 2024 | National

Hope and Help After Storms

Once again, the aftermath of the recent hurricanes and storms has left children and families across the Southeast reeling as they work to repair homes and rebuild lives.

October 11, 2024 | National

Immigration

TODAY: U.S. Fifth Circuit Court to Hear Oral Arguments in Key Immigration Case that will Impact Hundreds of Thousands of Children

AUSTIN, TX—Today, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in two cases that will largely determine the futures of hundreds of thousands of children and their families in Texas.

October 10, 2024 | Texas

Children’s Defense Fund President & CEO Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson Joins 'Vote Our Future’ Bus Tour with Nuns on the Bus & Friends

Dr. Wilson is joining the “Vote Our Future” tour because he and Children’s Defense Fund share NETWORK Advocates’ vision of an inclusive, multiracial, multi-faith democracy that equips everyone to vote in the 2024 election and beyond.

September 30, 2024

Education

Championing the Freedom to Read

Banned Books Week, which is typically observed the last week of September and this year is September 22-28, brings together the entire book community – including librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all ages – to support the freedom to read.

September 27, 2024 | National

Gun Violence

Rejecting Hate

Eleven-year-old Aiden Clark was killed in a traffic accident in August 2023 in Springfield, Ohio, when the school bus he was riding in on the first day of school was hit by a minivan. The van’s driver was a Haitian immigrant, and Aiden’s death has become part of a larger hate- and conspiracy-filled campaign targeting his community’s immigrant residents.

September 20, 2024 | National

Lessons After September 11

As the nation and world commemorate the anniversary of September 11 this week, I remember again that it was a gloriously beautiful morning in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 11, 2001.

September 13, 2024 | National

Child Poverty

U.S. Census Data Shows Need for Increase in Social Support Investments as Child Poverty in America Continues to Increase; 1 out of 7 Children Still Impoverished

Significantly more Black and Brown families also continue to suffer from poverty compared to their White peers, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

September 11, 2024 | National

Gun Violence

A Back to School Prayer

This year, the first week of September was disrupted by a terrible tragedy that has become its own all-too-familiar routine in our nation: headlines about another school shooting.

September 6, 2024 | National

The passing of CDF Board Emeritus Leonard Riggio

Children’s Defense Fund mourns the passing of our dear friend and emeritus board member, Leonard Riggio.