http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/10/what-if-black-america-were-a-country/380953/
If Black America were a country

The 2015 National Urban League report on The State of Black American was just issued.
Here is a summary of the report with good charts.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/25/state-of-black-america-infographic_n_6905594.html

As we learned from the DOJ report, its always best to see the full report
http://soba.iamempowered.com/

Here's an article on how policy, the systems under which we live, directly shape one's opportunities and place some in a life of poverty.
http://www.thenation.com/article/201089/should-criminal-record-be-life-sentence-poverty

this article addresses many of the criticisms that we often have of how poor people live and manage their money.
http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/

Here are several articles on the Department of Justice recent report on the police department in Ferguson.  The first is an article on the report, the second is an editorial and the third and fourth underscores the vulnerability of poor and working class people to police systems.
You can also find the DOJ report online.  Reading just the table of contents is instructive.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/04/us/justice-department-finds-pattern-of-police-bias-and-excessive-force-in-ferguson.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/05/us/us-calls-on-ferguson-to-overhaul-criminal-justice-system.html
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-robinson/the-shocking-finding-from-the-doj-ferguson_b_6858388.html
http://www.thenation.com/article/200345/its-not-just-ferguson

Here is whole DOJ report
 http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_report.pdf

I raised this in class in reference to the retreat from national citizenship and political action that Fine et al found in their study of alienated poor and working class high school students.