Hotel workers and members of UNITE HERE Local 26 marched through the Seaport on Friday, September 21 to rally against Marriott-owned hotels in the area. The march of 100 plus workers was a continuation of a march held on Labor Day, where union members announced they would force a strike vote if contract negotiations did…
Top Stories
-
Workers rally in the Seaport prior to talks with Marriott hotels
-
Can homelessness happen to anyone? Don’t believe the hype
-
UN Report a Blistering Indictment of Myanmar’s Crimes Against Rohingya
-
Respect: Saying Goodbye to the Queen of Soul
-
Boston Area Prisoners Join National Hunger Strike
News
The Suboxone Withdrawal Diaries, Part 2
“Late last night and the night before, Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers, knocking at the door. I want to go out, don’t know if I can, ‘cause I’m so afraid of the Tommyknocker (dealers) man.” — The Tommyknockers, by Stephen King; a book, that helped me get through this. August 21 This is day 8 of my…
Massachusetts Housing Program is Finalist for $100,000 Prize
The Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance’s “Pay for Success” program is one of the top 10 finalists for the $100,000 Drucker Prize award. The Drucker Institute recognizes non-profit organizations at a national level. Peter Drucker helped create philosophical and practical base for contemporary business and established the institute that has awarded the prize over the…
Can homelessness happen to anyone? Don’t believe the hype
Suzanne Fitzpatrick speaks to delegates at the 2018 INSP Global Street Paper Summit Credit: Jack Donaghy It’s a well-worn trope: we are all “two pay cheques away from becoming homeless”. The evidence to back up such claims is thin, says Suzanne Fitzpatrick, the keynote speaker on day three of the 2018 INSP Global Street Paper…
Workers rally in the Seaport prior to talks with Marriott hotels
Hotel workers and members of UNITE HERE Local 26 marched through the Seaport on Friday, September 21 to rally against Marriott-owned hotels in the area. The march of 100 plus workers was a continuation of a march held on Labor Day, where union members announced they would force a strike vote if contract negotiations did…
Boston sees continued success housing the homeless, but still more work to do
Mayor Marty Walsh at the 2014 opening of Southampton Street Shelter. Photo: Zengzheng Wang. On Thursday, Boston officials announced that their push to end chronic individual homelessness has resulted in housing 301 individuals since the start of 2016. This is in addition to the 846 veterans they have housed since 2015. The new numbers reflect…
Respect: Saying Goodbye to the Queen of Soul
Aretha Franklin (Courtesy of Atlantic Records) “All I’m askin’ for, is a little respect,” sings Aretha Franklin in what would become her signature tune. But by dint of her swaggering, sweltering, church-wrought performance, she’s not just asking for respect: she’s demanding it. And she got it, on an unparalleled level, winning 18 Grammys, a lifetime…
Cecile Richards on Planned Parenthood
It started with a relatively small action: A black felt armband worn to her Texas grade school as part of a nationwide protest against the Vietnam War. Cecile Richards was only 13 at the time, and it was her first big leap into the resistance. As a result of her act of rebellion, she was…
Arts & Culture
If They Come For Me
Tell them I was here a while, that I loved some good women, but that the ones I loved best left. If they try to break down my door, tell them I wrote a lot of poems, too many, perhaps, and some plays, and two novels. Tell them none of this paid my rent or…
If They Come For Me
Tell them I was here a while, that I loved some good women, but that the ones I loved best left. If they try to break down my door, tell them I wrote a lot of poems, too many, perhaps, and some plays, and two novels. Tell them none of this paid my rent or…
Respect: Saying Goodbye to the Queen of Soul
Aretha Franklin (Courtesy of Atlantic Records) “All I’m askin’ for, is a little respect,” sings Aretha Franklin in what would become her signature tune. But by dint of her swaggering, sweltering, church-wrought performance, she’s not just asking for respect: she’s demanding it. And she got it, on an unparalleled level, winning 18 Grammys, a lifetime…
Live Review: Green Day Brings a Revolution to Xfinity Center
All Photos by Jason Greenough Green Day always seems to have the perfect timing when it comes to their politically charged music. The band of Oakland natives brought the summer leg of their Revolution Radio tour to Xfinity Center in Mansfield on Monday night, and with it, they brought a feverish angst that showed their…
David Tennant: ‘I was told acting was a daft idea.’
In this letter to his younger self, ex-Doctor, Jessica Jones villain and Broadchurch star David Tennant looks back on life, loss and cracking the big time in acting I didn’t really enjoy adolescence; I was always aware that I was waiting for adulthood to start. I found the lack of control over your own affairs…
Columns
Healthcare is a Human Right
By the time you read this, I will have had my second surgery to plant a fistula in my arm for my eventual dialysis treatment. But that is not what I want to talk about today. After all, I’m fine, and I’m reasonably healthy because I have been lucky. I have great healthcare, and I’m…
Bizarre Boston: Raising Hell at Harvard
When I think about college students raising hell, I picture kegs of beer, red plastic Solo cups and loud music. Oh, and maybe a beer funnel or two. In my mind, the phrase “raising hell” is just a metaphor for having a wild time. However, maybe it’s not always just a metaphor. For some Harvard…
A running diary of suboxone withdrawal
August 12, 2018 I’m in the third day of my Suboxone withdrawal and starting to feel it. I have night sweats, my appetite is diminishing and I’m only sleeping five hours at night. I’ve gone from three Suboxone a day down to one-half of a Suboxone a day. It’s a familiar feeling because I used…
LAST WORD: Christina Sukghian Houle
About a month ago, an artist called Christina Sukhgian Houle dropped into the Spare Change News’ headquarters to meet with some of the vendors. Christina has joined forces with the newspaper’s co-founder, James Shearer, with the goal of making a documentary on homelessness in the Boston area. Christina is a relatively recent transplant to Greater…
Healthcare is a Human Right
By the time you read this, I will have had my second surgery to plant a fistula in my arm for my eventual dialysis treatment. But that is not what I want to talk about today. After all, I’m fine, and I’m reasonably healthy because I have been lucky. I have great healthcare, and I’m…
Holidays and Gray Hair
My birthday flew by, squashed between three holidays—Thanksgiving, Christmas/Chanukah and New Year’s Eve. While time was having its way with me, I had to go to the dermatologist to have various blemishes checked out. The older I get, the more I hate going to the doctor, even though, as my wife Mary Esther says, it’s…
The Avoidable Crisis
Stanley Forman: 40 Years After the Soiling of Old Glory
The photo was chilling. Before a crowd of onlookers, a white man appears to be attempting to stab a black man with the tip of a flagpole. “It really showed racism,” said photographer Stanley Forman 40 years after he took the Pulitzer Prize-winning snapshot of an anti-busing protest that had turned violent. “It was whites…