A basis for citizenship is education. Everyone needs education in a community to contribute to the prosperity of the country. Lacking the right education results in a deficiency to make the right decisions and be successful. Throughout Kozol’s Amazing Grace, he discusses the miserable environments these families inhabit. How are these citizens in South Bronx expected to make the best decisions for themselves, the environment, their children, and the country with impoverished, appalling schools and education systems? Kozol's purpose for writing Amazing Grace is to make people aware and inspire a change. They lack the substantial schools and hospitals. With the stuff they grow up in and with, they might think it's normal and in some cases, even right. For example, seeing dirty needles to them, they don't think anything of it, but to someone outside of the picture, it is heartbreaking. In chapter one, it states, “Virtually every child at St. Ann's knows someone, a relative or neighbor, who has died of AIDS, and most children here know many others who are dying now of the disease.” These children are immune to the drugs, diseases, and illnesses because for most, it is all they have ever known. I couldn't even imagine having to qualify to get treatment. It opened up my eyes that not everyone gets medical attention. I'm very fortunate to just be able to go to the doctor whenever and these kids suffer and go through the worst with no help. I also think that we are very sheltered from this. Like yes, we are aware over the impoverished but we aren't exposed to what Kozol demonstrates in his book. We know people a huge percentage of our country, and even the world are struggling, but what are we doing to change this and/or help them? The community is dispiriting with a large number crying often and facing fear, anxiety, and depression. The houses get so cold in the winter that the government has to pass out blankets, heaters, and sleeping bags. In the summer, they fear rats and roaches. The area has been noted as "the deadliest blocks" in "the deadliest precinct" of the city. The people fear being shot, murdered. They are drafted by violence and disease. I can't even imagine their thoughts and feelings towards the media stereotyping them to those whose conditions they would be grateful to have. To defend his case on the absence of essentials of the education systems, Kozol says, “More money is put into prisons than into schools. That, in itself, is the description of a nation bent on suicide. I mean, what is more, precious to us than our own children? We are going to build a lot more prisons if we do not deal with the schools and their inequalities.” In his quote, he is fighting for better education systems in South Bronx because otherwise, these children are not going to make the right decisions for not only themselves but the country. Education is substantially more than setting people up for the workforce and careers. It is used to make educated decisions to resolve and prevent problems. On the other hand, the children of the impoverished, disappearing town are citizens for the way many of them go about their daily lives. Kozol shares, “There are children in the poorest, most abandoned places who, despite the miseries and poisons that the world has pumped into their jives, seem, when you first meet them, to be cheerful anyway.” These children still find happiness in lives being grateful for what they have. Similarly, one of the quotes we discussed in class from Washington Post supports this claim. For example, “Not all the powerful are happy. Not all the children of this neighborhood are sad." The paragraph after this quote proceeds to tell about how Alice, a mother who contracted AIDS and was beat by her husband, and her son. The son showed great citizenship by still managing to work hard in school. This story of Alice and her son was very inspiring to me because I guess you would think her son wouldn't have any motivation because of all he has experienced and seen. It demonstrated the character of these people, how although they experience the worst, they are still presenting themselves the best they can. Another example of citizenship is impacting the country in a positive way. Martin Luther King Jr. was an important figure in leading the country in a positive direction. In his Letter from Birmingham, he says, “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights. “ MLK is fighting for the rights declared in the constitution that everyone is created equal. This demonstrated citizenship because he is impacting the enormous number of citizens that aside with him.