Lifestyle
Art and war: Israeli and Palestinian artists reflect on Oct. 7 and the crisis in Gaza
Rana Samara, a Palestinian artist from Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
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Rana Samara, a Palestinian artist from Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR Images for NPR
In Israel’s cultural capital of Tel Aviv, a vibrant artistic community leaves its colorful mark with murals and other art painted throughout the narrow streets of the city’s ancient Jaffa neighborhood and on the walls of businesses within the financial-centered downtown.
Within this same space is a Palestinian community that has long turned to art as a form of resistance, using it to bring light to the struggles of Palestinians in Tel Aviv, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Since Oct. 7, much of this work has turned heartbroken, mournful, angry and fearful, as members of these artistic communities confront heavy, unimaginable emotions that are bleeding into their craft.
More than 1,200 people in Israel were killed on that day and hundreds of others were kidnapped by Hamas. In response, Israel launched a now months-old war in Gaza that has killed more than 22,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly two million others.
Artists are processing the crisis in a myriad of ways: through paintings of the horrors of war, through anguished song and in dance. The work has been shared in places like Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, where protesters regularly gather to demand the release of Israeli captives being held by Hamas, and on social media, where a Palestinian diaspora say they can more safely post their work than those still living under the Israeli government.
“I think that if art can function as something, not only for the viewer, but for myself, it’s to create a space for reflection and reassessing and trying to dissect and process and understand,” said Addam Yekutieli, an Israeli artist based in Tel Aviv.
NPR spoke to Yekutieli and five other Israeli and Palestinian artists on how the war between Israel and Hamas has affected their lives and their work.
Each artist took time to reflect on Oct. 7 and its aftermath, sharing stories of fear, anger, sadness and pain.
Rana Samara
“In times of stress, usually people go for black, people go for dark colors,” said Rana Samara, a Palestinian artist from Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. “I found that now, my stress has come out with very, very, very bright colors.”
Samara’s work frequently uses bright paint to explore topics like sexuality, gender roles and other issues tied to Palestinian life. When war broke out in Gaza, she decided to turn to the images she was seeing on TV and social media and weave it into her work.
Samara is part of a group of Palestinian artists that joined with the Zawyeh Gallery in Ramallah to create work to help raise money for humanitarian aid in Gaza.
“What caught my mind and heart in what I was watching about this war was the issue of children. And so I looked and I concentrated on what each child was carrying” as they evacuated their homes in Gaza, she said.
For one piece, Samara decided to create a type of poster of these different scenes of children fleeing their homes using bright reds and pinks. Using the image of the children’s piggy bank, for example, she incorporated the war.
“My idea was a piggy bank and inside a tank,” she said. At first look, it’s an attractive, colorful, bright picture, “but when you get close to it, it’s the bleak image. It’s the tank.”
Michal Worke—an Israeli artist with Ethiopian roots, shares her studio space and artwork.
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Michal Worke—an Israeli artist with Ethiopian roots, shares her studio space and artwork.
Tanya Habjouqa / NOOR Images for NPR
Michal Worke
Before Oct. 7, many of Michal Worke’s paintings had rich purples and vibrant patterns that reflected her travels in Ethiopia and South Africa.
But now, the colors in her latest works are muted with blues and grays.
“It started with the shock of the kidnappings, and the murders and disasters,” she said of the attack by Hamas militants.
Worke, who is a Jewish Israeli of Ethiopian descent, found that the footage on social media and on the news of the attack wove itself into her psyche.
“I think I responded like everyone to the trauma that we saw. It was really hard for me. I started having dreams that they are coming for me, and they start shooting and I didn’t know where to hide or where to go,” she said.
In the early days after the attack, Worke said she was avoiding the studio and turning more inward to collect her thoughts and take stock of her emotions.
Michal Worke—an Israeli artist with Ethiopian roots, shares her studio space and artwork.
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Michal Worke—an Israeli artist with Ethiopian roots, shares her studio space and artwork.
Tanya Habjouqa / NOOR Images for NPR
Worke is a painter that has long advocated for the release of Avera Mengistu, a fellow Israeli of Ethiopian descent that has been in Hamas custody for nine years. She regularly paints Mengistu and his family, sharing her work online.
Since Oct. 7, she’s seen the abundance of artwork created in honor of the fallen and the more than 240 hostages taken by Hamas that day, of which more than 100 remain in captivity.
“But not for Avera. He isn’t there, his face isn’t anywhere,” she said.
So, in response she’s worked to continue to amplify Mengistu’s story so that he isn’t forgotten.
Worke has also begun painting other things about the war and the interconnectedness she is finding between the war and her Ethiopian community.
“Many Ethiopian soldiers have died,” she said. “Ninety percent of Ethiopians [in Israel] go to combat units. It’s the highest percentage of any community. So many have died.”
She’s incorporated the untold stories of Israeli soldiers of Ethiopian descent fighting in Gaza into works that also raise awareness for Mengistu.
In one piece, a soldier dressed in his uniform is sitting comfortably by a fence splitting southern Israel with Gaza. On the margins, Worke includes the number of days Mengistu has been in custody. Along the ground of the painting are pieces of bloodstained uniforms.
“This is from a series of larger paintings I’m working on. And you can see the jump between this painting and the others. The difference in the colors and the themes,” she said. “These paintings were done only three months apart.”
Renowned singer-songwriter Bashar Murad on his studio balcony in East Jerusalem.
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Renowned singer-songwriter Bashar Murad on his studio balcony in East Jerusalem.
Tanya Habjouqa / NOOR Images for NPR
Bashar Murad
Bashar Murad has long used pop music as a tool to express his experience as a Palestinian born within the “oppression” of the Israeli government, he said.
“I create pop music that kind of reflects my experience as a human born in this place and all the complexities that come with being born in this place,” he says. “I believe in the power of pop music to reach the masses to help share and spread messages of equality and love, which is what pop music is all about.”
Murad frequently used social media to share his music and thoughts. That all changed shortly after war broke out in Gaza.
He said the feelings of depression and shock that struck him in the hours and days that followed left him homebound and essentially bed-ridden.
“For the first 20 days, I didn’t go out of my room, basically,” he said.
“The sad thing is that for a lot of people in the world, this feels like it’s the first time that these events are happening,” Murad said. “We have gone through a cycle of this ongoing violence. I’ve already written countless songs already throughout the years that actually talk about the same feeling that I’m feeling now. Maybe now it is times 1 million. But it’s the same feeling. It’s the same feeling of powerlessness and helplessness.”
This time there also emerged a new level of fear that Murad and other Palestinian artists hadn’t quite felt before. After the war began, Palestinians in Israel reported discrimination, firings and other threats of violence for simple social media posts criticizing the war.
That scared many Palestinians in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza into silence, Murad said.
“It’s very dangerous for us artists, right now. There’s major censorship that is happening,” he said. “There is a war on the ground, there’s a war on social media, but there’s also a mental war and a war on our identities.”
Murad said he is trying to “be smarter with what I post” — a sentiment that Samara, the painter in Ramallah, also shared.
He said the fighting is not just a war with Gaza, “It’s a war on all Palestinians and all Palestinian identity.” He called it a “continuous struggle,” adding, “it’s not something that starts with an attack and ends with a ceasefire.”
Artist Addam Yekutieli with his dog in his studio. He works with testimonials from Palestinians, Israelis and others, including images of wounds and healing.
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Artist Addam Yekutieli with his dog in his studio. He works with testimonials from Palestinians, Israelis and others, including images of wounds and healing.
Tanya Habjouqa / NOOR Images for NPR
Addam Yekutieli
“In how many ways can your heart break?”
“Whose trauma speaks louder than whose?”
“Can we ever be well?”
These are questions Addam Yekutieli has had rolling around in his mind ever since Oct. 7.
Yekutieli is a multidisciplinary artist based in Tel Aviv. In his ongoing projects, he has reflected on the ideas of scars and borders and the effect they have on people geographically, physically and psychologically.
“I’ve always dealt with kind of like political or social themes, but for a very long time, they were much more metaphorical than they are now,” he said.
Yekutieli, like Worke, found it difficult to return to his normal workload after Oct. 7. About a month after the attacks, Yekutieli spoke about how his work has changed since the outbreak of the war.
“I haven’t really made any art since October 7,” he said in November. “I’ve been mainly writing since then.”
Artist Addam Yekutieli works with testimonials to make a collage.
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Artist Addam Yekutieli works with testimonials to make a collage.
Tanya Habjouqa / NOOR Images for NPR
And what he’s been writing is a long list of questions he has on his mind and has shared it on social media. He calls these posts “questions with no answers.”
“Over the past month and a half, I’ve had so many internal conversations and dialogues and kind of been really like talking myself into circles,” he said.
He posts questions like “What are your five stages of grief?” and “If you had it your way, what would happen?”
“I think that I just feel more comfortable with asking questions more than making statements. They feel more honest. It feels more of an authentic place to be in. And, I think that it also allows more reflection,” he said.
He said the tragedy shook him on a foundational level.
“I think that there are parts of me that feels very naïve. But it feels like everything is spiraling out of control, and becoming progressively worse and worse,” he said.
Yekutieli acknowledged that as an Israeli artist he has a level of privilege to more comfortably share his thoughts and questions on a public domain like Instagram than his Palestinian artist peers who fear reprisal for doing so.
He believes a lot of the hostility toward Palestinians, activists and Israelis critical of their government comes from a place of deep desperation and grief.
“I think that things are very, very emotional,” he said. “And at the same time, I really think that it’s important, as much as we can, and as much as one feels comfortable with, to keep on being vocal.”
Hanna Tams (left) leads a dance class in his studio in East Jerusalem. Since Oct. 7, Tams says that he’s been able to use dance to express himself amidst the oppression he feels as a Palestinian in Jerusalem. ‘It’s not easy,” he said, “but I believe that it is really an important time to use dance.”
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Hanna Tams (left) leads a dance class in his studio in East Jerusalem. Since Oct. 7, Tams says that he’s been able to use dance to express himself amidst the oppression he feels as a Palestinian in Jerusalem. ‘It’s not easy,” he said, “but I believe that it is really an important time to use dance.”
Ayman Oghanna for NPR
Hanna Tams
Dance has always been a source of healing for Hanna Tams, a professional dancer that specializes in contemporary and dabka styles.
As a Palestinian living in Jerusalem, Tams has faced oppression his whole life, he said. After the war broke out, it became even more complex and tense than before, he said.
“I was lucky to find dance as a friend,” he said. “I can resist through dancing. Other people don’t have this luxury.”
Tams is the founder of Douban Art Studio, which he opened in 2020 to serve his community’s youth to work through their emotions and struggles in a safe way.
But after Oct. 7, he retreated into himself and closed the studio for two weeks.
“I really wasn’t able to do anything and I wasn’t feeling up to dance. I was sick,” he said.
It was the community he’s worked to serve that reached out to beg him to reopen and help the kids stuck at home.
Dancers rehearse in Hanna Tams’s studio in East Jerusalem.
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Dancers rehearse in Hanna Tams’s studio in East Jerusalem.
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They told him, “‘It’s the kids who are suffering. The kids have no school, they are at home and they are watching TV with us. They are afraid,’” Tams said.
He reopened the studio, but not without difficulty. The studio is in East Jerusalem, in an area where Israeli soldiers constantly patrol the streets and stop Palestinian residents.
“It’s really frightening because every time I will be approached by a soldier who starts asking me why you’re coming here and you’re not allowed,” he said.
In November, Tams was able to perform in a timely show in Switzerland called “Last Things Remaining.” The show involved four dancers telling the story of Palestinians and the resilience it takes to live in this region.
He returned saying, “I need to serve this community. I need to serve these people who don’t have anything.”
When asked how he could still turn to art and especially dance in such a hard time, he said, “For me, the only way I can really help and I can really kind of connect, it’s [through] dancing.”
He continued, “I think art is kind of the language of every culture, and it’s the language of hearts. So if you want to [get at] every heart, I think art is needed.”
Oren Fischer—an Israeli artist—shares his sketch book in a park outside a cafe. He is from a kibbutz in the south of Israel, and creates political commentary on recent events.
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Oren Fischer—an Israeli artist—shares his sketch book in a park outside a cafe. He is from a kibbutz in the south of Israel, and creates political commentary on recent events.
Tanya Habjouqa / NOOR Images for NPR
Oren Fischer
After the war started, Oren Fischer said he reached a point where he just couldn’t deal with any more words.
“So I started painting,” he said.
In the first two weeks after the attacks, Fischer said he slept horribly and had nightmares based on what he was seeing on TV and social media.
He decided to make a change: Instead of doom scrolling each morning, Fischer would instead wake up and meditate on his feelings and “just try to puke it on the papers.”
Fischer, an artist who uses different mediums in his work like video, illustration and textiles, has been using paint and crayon in his sketchbook for these daily pieces. He describes his paintings as “childish” and “naïve” in a way even as it portrays horrors of the Oct. 7 attacks and the war.
“I thought, okay, if it’s bothering me, it’s probably something people really relate to. It’s probably not just me thinking about this,” he said.
“It helped me to heal myself. I made sort of a routine that I wake up and for a few hours I paint and upload on social media,” he said. “So I created my own world inside the catastrophe.”
Oren Fischer’s political cartoon of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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Oren Fischer’s political cartoon of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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Like much of his past work, this series of paintings has been deeply critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, blaming their policies as the spark that led to the attack.
Fischer painted a sketch of Netanyahu with vibrant reds, yellows, oranges and blues of the prime minister with blood on his hands. In the background are Hamas attackers shooting people and homes burning. The image was later used on the cover of an Israeli newspaper.
Fischer said his work has been criticized by some people who misunderstood his sketches as him attacking Palestinians, when the work is really turning criticism to the Israeli government.
Ultimately, Fischer said the impact of the attacks and the ongoing war “is everywhere. You cannot hide from it.”
NPR’s Jaclyn Diaz reported from Tel Aviv, Ramallah and Jerusalem. Freelance producer Eve Guterman contributed to this report.
Lifestyle
His portrait of MLK in a hoodie went viral. Now he shares a message in his Downtown Disney art
There’s a hidden door in Downtown Disney. Only this one isn’t meant to be walked through.
Flanking a stage near the monorail station, you’ll find a glistening white tower, the work of artist and activist Nikkolas Smith, who has adopted the term “artivist.” At first glance, the tower — one of Downtown Disney’s most striking works — appears to be a nod to Disneyland’s Midcentury art, for its curved lines and space-age optimism wouldn’t be out of place in Tomorrowland.
That’s there, says Smith, but there are also a number of more subtle inspirations.
The tower is a nod to five Black architects, trailblazers whose creations sometimes went unnoticed or overlooked. And that’s why at the base of the structure is a looping opening meant to signify a half-open doorway.
Downtown Disney’s Legacy Tower touches on the styles of different Black architects as it rises into the sky.
(Gary Coronado / For The Times)
Smith shares a distressing anecdote. “They had to learn how to read drawings upside down, because they weren’t allowed to sit next to the white clients,” Smith says, adding they also had to endure unequal pay. “So I was incorporating things like the half doorway to symbolize their struggle.”
Officially designated as the Legacy Tower, Smith himself fixates on that word — “legacy.” The term, he says, represents a thematic constant across his work. A regular collaborator on a number of Walt Disney Co. projects and a former architect with Walt Disney Imagineering, the division of the company focused on theme park experiences, Smith is something of a connector. His canvas art, full of fast-moving brush work, is often rooted in the past while urgently seeking to draw links to the present.
Artist Nikkolas Smith went viral for his portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. in a hoodie, a tribute to slain teenager Trayvon Martin.
(Nikkolas Smith)
His 2025 children’s book, “The History of We,” tells the story of how humanity can trace its roots to Africa. And one of his best-known pieces is of Martin Luther King Jr. in a hoodie, meant to evoke the image of Trayvon Martin, the slain 17-year-old whose death inspired a social justice movement. The work went viral in 2013 while Smith was still working for Imagineering. It altered his career trajectory.
“It was like, ‘I cannot just make art about churros and rides right now,’” Smith says. “There’s a time for that, and there’s also a time to talk about this.” He references his portraits related to the killings of Black men, many at the hands of police officers, such as Philando Castile and Michael Brown.
“At the end of the day, Disney understood that,” Smith adds. “They understood that I needed to make art that was extremely important at the moment, about justice or the lack of justice.”
Smith left Disney in 2019 after 11 years but has maintained a close relationship with the company, so much so that Imagineering called upon Smith to design the tower, which opened in 2023.
Artist Nikkolas Smith, left, chats with guests Ricky Yost and Martina Yost of Aubrey, Texas, who recognized Smith from a recent Disney cruise excursion.
(Gary Coronado / For The Times)
As the Legacy Tower spirals toward the sky, its patterns and and lattice work nod to the likes of James H. Garrott, Robert A. Kennard, Roy A. Sealey, Ralph A. Vaughn and Paul Revere Williams. All were active in Los Angeles — Williams, for instance, was a pivotal designer on the LAX Theme Building — and Smith interlaces decorative flourishes in varying styles that twist around one another to work up the Legacy Tower’s pointed spheres.
The door of the Legacy Tower symbolizes perseverance, Smith says. “They made it through, despite all of the obstacles they had to go through.”
Smith had studied the architects while a student at Hampton University, and has documented on his Instagram their various stylings, which range from restrained to whimsical to ornate. A section referencing Vaughn is modern minimalism, whereas an area dedicated to Sealey is full of jagged, pointed linework. All of it is held together via a coiling design that feels full of movement.
The patterns of the Legacy Tower are nods to the likes of James H. Garrott, Robert A. Kennard, Roy A. Sealey, Ralph A. Vaughn and Paul Revere Williams.
(Gary Coronado / For The Times)
“How can I show humanity’s interconnected future? That’s the idea,” Smith says. “There’s this African theme of Sankofa. If we look toward our future, we have to look at the past and value and appreciate the past. I thought it would be great if I could really commemorate some Black designers and architects as the foundation and backstory of the tower. And I was also thinking about these breezeway block patterns that you see in Leimert Park.”
And yet it also feels like something that belongs in the park. Smith says he looked at some Tomorrowland designs.
“A Midcentury Modern vibe was Walt,” Smith says, referring to park patriarch Walt Disney. “That was Walt’s thing. It all connects. I love that people can hopefully now connect both things. You can connect Tomorrowland and Walt with Paul Revere Williams.”
It’s clearly Smith’s favorite design of his for Disney, although it’s not the only space at the resort that features his artistry. During his decade-plus with Imagineering he regularly worked on teams that focused on projects at Disney California Adventure, which this year is celebrating its 25th anniversary. He was heavily involved, he says, in the evolution of Avengers Campus, contributed to a small promenade stage in Pixar Pier and helped envision the facade of Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout!, which transformed the former Tower of Terror into a sci-fi structure.
Nikkolas Smith says elements of Downtown Disney’s Legacy Tower symbolize perseverance.
(Gary Coronado / For The Times)
Smith looks back fondly at his years at Imagineering, specifically calling out his time on the Guardians project. The former fake hotel is now full of glistening bronze pipes, a retro futurist look that former Imagineer Joe Rohde, who led the design, has said takes influence from the high-tech aesthetic of architect Renzo Piano, who worked on France’s Pompidou Centre.
“How much can we add to it? How much can we get away with gluing onto this thing?” Smith says of the Guardians facade. “What is the right amount of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ without being too much? Without scaring people on the freeway?”
Today, Smith continues to focus on social justice work, and has also collaborated with filmmaker Ryan Coogler, such as completing concept designs for his Oscar-nominated film “Sinners.” Smith’s 2023 children’s book “The Artivist” documents the importance of creating art that’s in conversation with the world, believing it’s not only a source for education but for empathy. Smith’s weekly paintings speak out often against the current administration, and Smith has been particularly vocal on the ICE raids.
A selection from “The Artivist,” an illustrated book from Nikkolas Smith.
(Nikkolas Smith)
“Some people say that all art is activism, but I feel that some of the best art that is created is art that has a message,” Smith says. “And hopefully that message has to do with the humanity of all people, and for me, I like to focus on marginalized communities, and how we can value the humanity of everybody. That’s why I make picture books about the origins of humanity and the origins of this country.”
The Leimert Park resident says his wife and young son regularly visit the Disneyland Resort. And when he does, Smith says, he always takes a moment to stop by the Pixar Pier stage that he contributed to, which is often used for character meet and greets.
“They were team projects, and I do go up to them with so much pride,” he says. “I go up to the Pixar Pier promenade stage, and I just go up to it and touch it. … The beautiful thing about Disney is these creations are usually around for a lifetime.”
It turns out you can take the artivist out of Disney, but you can’t fully take the Disney out of the artivist.
Mara is a single mother of two in Minnesota. She and her family have depended on SNAP benefits to make ends meet.
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Although Mara is unemployed, she is busier than ever.
When she is not taking care of her two children, Mara is at her desk applying for jobs. She is surveying her belongings to see what she can pawn off to buy toiletries. Or she is sifting through bills, calculating which ones can wait and which need to be paid right away.
Soon, Mara, a single mom in Minnesota, may have another task on her busy schedule: figuring out how to afford food for her and her family.
That’s because of new work requirements for people receiving aid from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP or food stamps.
“It would be so beyond hard” to lose SNAP benefits, Mara said. “Without SNAP, there’s no funds for food.” Mara asked for her last name to be withheld given the stigma tied to receiving government assistance. She is also worried that speaking publicly will affect her chances of getting a job.
Previously, SNAP recipients with children under 18 were exempt from work requirements mandating that recipients work, volunteer or participate in job training at least 80 hours a month. But now, under President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, that exemption only applies to those with children under 14 — which is how old Mara’s youngest child turned in December.
“It would be so beyond hard” to lose SNAP benefits, Mara said.
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The Trump administration has argued that the mission of the nation’s largest anti-hunger program has failed.
“SNAP was intended to be temporary help for those who encounter tough times. Now, it’s become so bloated that it is leaving fewer resources for those who truly need help,” the White House said in a statement in June.
But policy experts say the SNAP changes do not fully take into account the unique challenges faced by single parents like Mara or the sluggish job market in many parts of the country. They argue that losing food assistance will only create more barriers for recipients struggling to find work.
The timeline for implementing the new SNAP policy varies based on state and county. In Mara’s home state of Minnesota, recipients who don’t qualify for an exemption or meet work requirements will be at risk of losing assistance as early as April 1. Others may have more months depending on when they next need to certify they are eligible for benefits.
Over 100 job applications
Mara imagined she would have a job by now.
It was August when she was let go from her part-time administrative assistant role due to her workplace restructuring. Since then, Mara estimates that she has applied for over 100 positions. She has also attended job fairs and taken free workshops on resume writing.
She has been working since high school, she said, but “ I’ve never been out of work for more than one month, so it’s very difficult.”
Mara spends time working at the computer at CareerForce, a resource for job seekers in Minnesota, on March 4.
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Although she misses her old job, Mara said it didn’t pay enough to support her and her kids, so she relied on SNAP benefits.
Many recipients are part of the low-wage labor market, where job security is often unpredictable and turnover tends to be high, according to Lauren Bauer, a researcher at the Brookings Institution who has studied SNAP extensively.
“SNAP is supposed to be there to help people smooth that and not let the bottom fall out when they experience job loss,” she said. “And this policy doesn’t account for that at all.”
Mara’s lowest point came in November when the government shutdown led to disruptions in SNAP benefits. Not only was she searching for a new job, but she was constantly figuring out where to get her family’s next meal.
“I might be looking for food stuff during the day when I should have been looking for a job,” she said. “Then, I’m trying to make up that time in the evening after my kids go to bed.”
During the pause, Mara turned to food banks, which revealed other challenges. First, food pantries do not always provide enough for an adult and two growing teenagers, she said. Second, they often lack gluten-free foods, which is essential for her daughter who has celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that causes digestive problems if gluten is consumed. Gluten-free products tend to be more expensive.
If Mara loses access to SNAP again because of the new work requirements, she fears another stretch of long days spent looking for the right food and enough to feed her family.
“I would be so reliant on looking for food shelves or food banks,” she said. “There would not be time to even live.”
“We’re going to see increases in poverty. We’re going to see increases in food insecurity”
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that roughly 2.4 million people will lose food benefits in a typical month over the next decade as a result of the new SNAP requirements — including 300,000 parents like Mara with children 14 or older.
Gina Plata-Nino, the SNAP director at the nonprofit Food Research & Action Center, says many of the affected recipients will be single mothers who make up a majority of single parent households in the U.S. She added that the changes target a group that often lacks or struggles to afford a support system to help care for their children.
“How can they have a full-time job when they need to pick up their children [for] various activities?” she said. “And they are working — just not enough hours because they need to be there present for their children.”
Mara shops for groceries at a local discount grocery store.
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The new law also imposes work requirements on veterans, homeless people, young adults aging out of foster care, and able-bodied adults without dependents from ages 55 to 64.
It also toughened the criteria for waiving work requirements for recipients in areas with high unemployment. Previously, there were multiple ways to determine a weak labor market and secure a waiver. Now, it only applies to places with an unemployment rate above 10%. (Alaska and Hawaii have a different measure.)
For those who fail to meet the work requirement, SNAP provides assistance for up to three months within a three-year span. But Bauer from the Brookings Institution argues that it is not enough and the impact of SNAP changes will be widespread.
“We’re going to see increases in poverty. We’re going to see increases in food insecurity. We’re going to see increasing strain on the charitable food sector,” she said.
Mara holds her favorite anchor ring, which carries the inscription, “God for me provide thee.”
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As anxiety hangs over her head, Mara tries to put on a brave face for her children. She does not want them to worry, explaining that her recent struggles have reminded her how tough life can get as an adult.
“I remind them it’s not their responsibility and they’re not accountable for me or for what’s happening,” she said. “I say, just know you get to be a kid.”
Dylan Dreyer
Savannah Will Likely Come Back … Just Not Sure When
Published
TMZ.com
Dylan Dreyer is giving a small update on her embattled “Today” co-host, Savannah Guthrie, as the search continues for Savannah’s mom, Nancy — telling TMZ she does believe she’ll likely return to the show at some point.
We caught Dylan leaving NBC Tuesday afternoon, and she said while she thinks Savannah will come back, the timing is totally unclear — adding everyone at the show is simply giving her the space she needs because they care about her so much.
TMZ.com
Dylan also reflected on Savannah’s emotional visit to the “TODAY” studio last Thursday, saying the hug they shared was something they both really needed in that moment.
Catch the full clip — Dylan says the visit was incredibly emotional, adding Savannah clearly wants to get back to some sense of normal life … she just doesn’t quite know how yet.
Still, Savannah managed a few smiles during the brief stop by the studio, doing her best to keep moving forward during an incredibly tough time.
TMZ.com
As we reported, Nancy was taken from her Tucson home in the middle of the night on February 1. She was last seen entering the house just before 10 PM on January 31 after dinner with her daughter Annie and Annie’s husband, Tommaso Cioni.
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