When B. Morrison’s marriage dissolved, she found herself with one young child and another on the way, no job, no health insurance, and no child support. Despite a college degree and prior work experience, the pregnant 24-year-old could not land a job to cover the cost of childcare, let alone food, rent, clothing, and transportation. Disowned by her family and abandoned by her husband, she realized that welfare was the only way for her family to survive.
Morrison uses her experiences as a welfare recipient to illuminate a system that demonizes poor people and to explore what actually works to help families escape from poverty. Innocent offers a powerful personal narrative on important social issues. Part coming-of-age story and part immersion in a foreign culture, this book puts a human face on poverty. It is a must-read for anyone interested in social justice, women’s issues, or the truth behind the headlines.
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Innocent Audiobook
Read by the author
Publication Date: 15 July 2022
ISBN: 978-0-9789253-4-5
Available: Most streaming services & libraries
Publisher: Cottey House Press
In this new audiobook version of her compelling memoir, named best nonfiction audiobook by the Independent Press Awards, B. Morrison describes her experience when a failed marriage sends her plummeting from a prosperous middle-class life onto welfare. Morrison shows what life is like on public assistance and explores what actually works to help families escape from poverty. Innocent offers a powerful personal narrative about important social issues. Part coming-of-age story and part immersion in an unfamiliar culture, this book puts a human face on poverty.
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Praise for Innocent by B. Morrison
“I am grateful to you for sharing your personal story and demonstrating the positive impact that social assistance programs make upon families, communities, and our country. Yours is a vital story to tell.”
—Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State
“(This) book is a wonderful and moving testimony to the strength and power of women as individuals and as sisters, to change themselves and their worlds.”
—Marita Golden, author of After, Migrations of the Heart: An Autobiography, and Saving Our Sons: Raising Black Children in a Turbulent World.
“Barbara Morrison writes with insight and compassion about her plummet into poverty and her climb back up. The memoir is a story for now.”
—Carol Brennan, author of Headhunt, In the Dark, and Full Commission.
“Ms. Morrison eloquently refutes the notion that there is a ‘typical’ welfare recipient. With compassion and moxie, she pulls back the curtain and shows us a more complex picture.”
—Mark Vidor, Assistant Director for Family Services, Department of Human Resources, Baltimore County Department of Social Services
Acclaim for Innocent
Winner IPPY Bronze Medal for Regional Memoir/Autobiography
Finalist ForeWord Review’s Book of the Year for Memoir/Autobiography
Finalist USA Best Book Award for Memoir/Autobiography
Honorable Mention New England Book Festival for Memoir/Autobiography
Winner, Best Nonfiction Audiobook, Independent Press Awards
Media
Innocent book trailer
(YouTube video)
B. Morrison speaking about Innocent at the Gaithersburg Book Festival
(C-Span video)