Author: James Shearer
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VOICES FROM THE STREETS: Run 'em outta town
From a distance, I’ve been watching the city of Cambridge dealing with the homeless community. It seems that the city council has been thinking of new ways to deal with an issue that has become a lot more difficult, especially with the opioid crisis, which has become more than just a minor annoyance. The area…
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VOICES FROM THE STREETS: Don't forget
It has been one year since the Long Island shelter debacle. For those of you who don’t remember, the shelter was hastily shut down after it was discovered that the bridge—which was used to carry the homeless to the island on buses—was deemed unsafe by the state and was condemned. So why am I calling…
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VOICES FROM THE STREETS: It's about homelessness, stupid
A little over a couple of weeks ago, a homeless man who was sleeping in a subway station in South Boston was beaten and urinated on by two brothers who were drunk and returning from a Red Sox game. When they were caught by the police, one of the brothers made a remark that Donald…
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VOICES FROM THE STREETS: These lives matter, too
On the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown being gunned down in Ferguson, a friend asked me if I was going to the protest in Harvard Square. I somewhat reluctantly said no. When asked why, I didn’t want to get into it. I simply said I was tired and really needed to go home. I just…
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VOICES FROM THE STREETS: Oh hell yeah
On a rare morning last week when I had nothing to do I hastily caught a press conference by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. Let’s cut to the chase. “If committing to signing the (host city) agreement is what’s required to move forward, then Boston is no longer pursuing the 2024 Olympics and Paralympic games,” Walsh…
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VOICES FROM THE STREET: A plan, a census and a fall guy
A couple of weeks ago, the 35th annual Boston homeless census was released. Those of you who know me know how I feel about the census. I have never hidden the fact that I believe it to be inaccurate in every way. And while I hoped that every effort would be made to get this…
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VOICES FROM THE STREET: Celebrating what exactly?
By the time you read this, the Fourth of July will have already passed and we will all be bracing for those dreary dog days of summer. I will do the usual on the fourth: cookouts, partying, blah, blah, blah. It all seems so routine. Going through the motions because we’re taught that we should…
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VOICES FROM THE STREETS: A wake-up call
In an interview for the last issue of Spare Change News, I spoke a little about the last time I was homeless four years ago. It didn’t last very long, about three or four months, but it was just a tad traumatic for me. And yes, traumatic is a bit of a strong word. But…
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VOICES FROM THE STREET: Thinking of you, Willa
It’s maddening as a writer when you’re working on your column and you’re way past deadline. Then something pops up. It makes you stop the presses and restart as I’m doing now. I don’t like it but if I don’t get this out it would be lost. By now everyone on the planet has seen…
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VOICES FROM THE STREET: Voices of the homeless
A few years ago, as I was about to become president of the board at the Homeless Empowerment Project, I found myself walking through Boston’s Back Bay to clear my head and think about the huge responsibility I was about to take on. I was making my way through the T station there when I…