Phil Latham

Last year data from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) estimated that the level of child poverty in Middlesbrough had risen to an astonishing 41 per cent since 2019 - the highest rate in the North East. What’s more, it wasn’t just that poverty had widened over the past five years, it had also deepened. This necessitated a new category in the JRF poverty studies, that of “destitution” - a reality that should shock us all.

East Texas is the cradle of power production in Texas because behind the pines lie many of the natural resources the state has to offer. We have the water for hydroelectric power, and the coal for those plants — thankfully disappearing — has come largely from beneath our soil. East Texas natural gas wells have fueled the gas-fired plants.

As a young adult, I spent my summers at a Christian youth camp in East Texas. The camp, founded and run by members of the Church of Christ denomination, is an hour’s drive north of Tyler. Established in 1958 as a summer camp, the acreage is thick with pine trees, creeks, and deer, dotted by rustic cabins. I got in trouble twice during my affiliation with the camp. An elder of the church who was also a camp board member was sent to “talk to me” about my behavior on both occasions.