According to the authors, the real conditions of poverty and homelessness in America remain obscure. The homeless, contrary to popular belief, are not homeless by choice. 25% of the homeless are employed full-time in low-wage jobs, 25% are war veterans of one kind or another, and 25% are emotionally disturbed. According to the Rand Corporation, the most powerful predictor of personal and professional failure among children in the United States is not test scores, parental income, or parental education levels, but poverty. This article contends that the radical traditions of humanities can create a context out of which the poor can reinvent themselves and eventually transcend their economic limitations. The authors delivered the Clemente Course in Humanities on Moral Philosophy and Literature, a course based on the work of Earl Shorris. The class was offered, through Valencia Community College, at two locations in Orlando, Florida. Some of the goals of the course are to nurture a discovery or rediscovery of unlimited potential in students, to move students from reactive to reflective thinking, to instill in students the advantages of negotiation over the use of force, to demonstrate the psychological benefits of working in a group, and to emphasize the importance of family involvement. (NB)