When I came to Boston 40 years ago the first place I stayed was at the old Harbor Lights shelter on Shawmut Ave in the South End. Back then the South End was one of the few neighborhoods in Boston where a young black man could feel safe. At the time Boston was still dealing…
Running On Empty In Vermont: Part One
I kept drinking the wine so the withdrawal from the Klonopin wouldn’t hit me. I didn’t want to have a seizure out here in the boondocks. My wife, Debbie, has already gone into detox at a place called Scatterberry Farm. St. Dismas House said they had a room for me, but it would not be…
Violence on the Mile
Last week was quite a busy week on what has become known as Methadone Mile, a line of city blocks that goes down Melina Cass Blvd., where Southampton Shelter and many other shelters for the homeless are located. For quite some time now, there have been complaints about people openly using drugs on the mile,…
Opinion: Feeding Social Change through Good Food Purchasing
Each day, every one of us has to make decisions about food for our daily survival and personal health. But the food choices available to us as individuals are shaped by policies we set as a society and economy — policies that currently make healthy foods unaffordable for too many and that exacerbate inequality. Many…
I’ll Be At The Movies
The NFL is a national tragedy. It is cockfighting with humans. We in New England have the almost inarguably best quarterback in history and, also almost inarguably, one of the best coaches in history playing together. They’ve proven it to be true over and over again in increasingly remarkable and dramatic victories. I have enjoyed…
Letter to the Editor Regarding Trump’s Presidency
I was one of the millions of people who did not vote for Donald Trump. In fact, during the inaugural event, I was discomfited as the “historic” crowds of supporters were described, since Trump lost the popular vote by about 3,000,000 votes. Be that as it may; the die is cast. The question is what…
Faith Without Works is Dead
I held back the tears because I knew that if I cried, it meant that I didn’t have faith and that things were actually over. I was disgusted. I heard loud chanting and cheering through my dorm walls and it was then that I realized that I was not safe. I knew that going to…
Bob Dylan Spoke for Me in the Refugee Camp
Photo: Xavier Badosa If you want to change the world, all you need is a guitar, some courage and a voice that could cut the still night air. Bob Dylan’s naked words in songs like “Masters of War” were close to that reality. As they left his lips in 1963 and drifted in the wind pushed by…
Lost Causes
This election season has brought a degree of polarization that surpasses any previous election I can recall. Beyond politics, there seems to be an increased tendency to judge one another as being worthy or unworthy. The two leading candidates have paid lip service to visions for an America that serves all citizens, but that idealistic…
Don’t Feed the Homeless, It Only Encourages Them
Keith McHenry, co-founder of Food Not Bombs, in 1988. “Street feeding programs without comprehensive services actually increase and promote homelessness”—Marbut Consulting. Over 70 cities in the United States have passed laws banning or restricting the sharing of free food with the poor outside. A new theory being used to justify limits to the sharing of meals…