Spare Change News

Author: James Shearer

  • Where are the Priorities, Massachusetts?

    On Jan. 25, I watched and listened to the final State of the Commonwealth address by Governor Charlie Baker. As usual, there was a lot of chest-thumping. There always is with these things, which is why yours truly typically doesn’t watch. This time around, though, I figured, “Ahh, why not?” It was, after all, his…

  • A CLARION CALL.

    “How about a mother who allows her family to deteriorate, to have no food, to sleep in boxes and in subway stations? Their children would be removed from them immediately, so today we are here to say, we are removing you from the care of our citizens.”  That boys and girls were the words spoken…

  • George Floyd Died One Year Ago. Have We Learned Anything?

    George Floyd Died One Year Ago. Have We Learned Anything?

    It has been a year since the murder of George Floyd. I know, I know. Some of you are still having a hard time with the fact that cops sometimes purposely kill black folks, but it is what it is. What I’d like to know is: have we learned anything as a nation?  Or maybe…

  • Where to Go from Here Depends on Accepting Where We Are Now

    Where to Go from Here Depends on Accepting Where We Are Now

    Finally, Donald Trump is gone. Joe Biden will be our new President, and a woman, a black woman will be our VP.  While there is cause for celebration, there is also cause for concern, as well.  Yes, the game show host and his clown show have been evicted but not before that parting shot, the…

  • Covid-19 and cages on Boston’s Methadone Mile

    Just before all hell broke loose in Minnesota and Kentucky, I happened upon a story shared by a friend and done by Turtle Boy Daily News that said homeless people on Methadone Mile were being locked into a cage. I saw the pictures, but I still couldn’t believe it. Even knowing that I was at…

  • A New Normal

    A New Normal

    In a recent ad by Joe Kennedy, who’s running for one of the U.S. Senate seats in Massachusetts, he talks about how now there’s “talk to go back to normal. Our normal was broken.” As far as political ads go, it’s effective. I began to think: exactly what was normal, and what the heck is…

  • Don’t Lose The Message

    In our first issue back, I wanted to thank folks for supporting us during quarantine because of COVID-19, but because of recent events I find myself angry as many people do and need to address it.  You’d have to be in a coma to not know what I’m talking about: the murders of Breonna Taylor…

  • There are a lot of lessons in this pandemic – will we learn them?

    There are a lot of lessons in this pandemic – will we learn them?

    COVID-19 has taken over all of our lives. It has separated us from family and friends, closed schools, playgrounds, and churches; it’s taken from us all that we take for granted. Simple things like going for walks seem risky, and many of our cities look like ghost towns. It’s  so quiet you can hear the…

  • Is Boston truly ready for Coronavirus?

    Just the other day I was at one of the busiest malls in the Boston area, it was a nice warm pre-spring day, the kind of day you look forward to after a long New England winter. Instead of being packed to the gills like it would usually be on a day like this, the…

  • Believe it when you see it: City promises money it doesn’t have

    Believe it when you see it: City promises money it doesn’t have

    I will probably be in the minority on this but I’m not at all impressed with the Mayor of Boston’s State of the City speech Tuesday night. Especially the new rental subsidy program. First of all, this is clearly politically motivated, and if you don’t think so, well – to each their own.  But look,…