Today's moderator: Rick Badie

Rick Badie joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as an education reporter in 1997. A South Georgia native, he's covered the region's immigrant communities, was a feature obituary writer and opinion columnist for the AJC's Gwinnett edition.

Nelson Mandela said that poverty, like slavery and apartheid, was man-made and unnatural. Meanwhile, President Lyndon B. Johnson pledged a war 50 years ago to fight this nation's poverty. Today, we offer three perspectives — two regional (one here, the other here), and one national — on an issue that continues to endure.

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Julian Conley listens during opening statements in his trial at Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. The 25-year-old is accused of fatally shooting 8-year-old Secoriea Turner in July 2020. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com