Spare Change News

Author: James Shearer

  • The Real 47%

    James Shearer Spare Change News As I watched the Presidential debate, the one thing that struck me was not how bad the president looked, but how neither one of the candidates talked about the subject that neither of them seems to want to address. The only exception was of Mitt Romney’s inane remarks at a…

  • Fathering: A Short Story

    When I was asked to write something about my father, I first thought to myself, “That will be a short story.” See, there isn’t much I can tell you about my old man because I never really knew him. I don’t remember him as a child, and I only saw him once or twice when…

  • A Founder's Reflections

    All my life, heroes, both real and imagined, have influenced me from books, movies, television and music. Even those whom I have met in person, and, yes, even those costume ones from comics (no, I have no desire to run across rooftops, though that may be fun). Though I don’t consider myself a hero like…

  • Racism: A Personal Meditation

    Racism has been a constant companion all of my life. I, first, met him in the first grade in Richmond, Kentucky. During this tender time, I had developed a crush—or whatever 6 and 7 year olds call it—on a girl in my class who happened white. Somehow, my teacher, who was white as well, caught…

  • An Underdog’s Approach

    James Shearer Spare Change News The other day a student who was doing a project on Spare Change asked me why I do what I do? Meaning helping the homeless, and why I’m so dedicated to it? And what led me to sticking with Spare Change? Even though I was vocal about how it wouldn’t…

  • Just Don’t Go

    James Shearer Spare Change News Not that anybody asked me … but all this noise about the Chick-Fil-A controversy is, in a word, just noise. The owner of this fast food chain, one Mr. Dan Cathy, made some remarks several weeks ago that his company is all about “family values” and that he himself is…

  • After Aurora, Questions That Need to be Answered

    James Shearer Spare Change News Late last week, an unassuming gentleman walked calmly into a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. With the exception of his outlandish clothing, nothing seemed out of place. It seemed to the folks who were there that he was just part of the show, which happened to be a special midnight…

  • Thanks, Tim

    James Shearer Spare Change News Recently after our 20th anniversary celebration there were some comments uttered about how the creation of Spare Change, or rather the way it was created, was a mistake. These comments were made by those who were either crying over spilt milk or were jealous of our success. Some would say…

  • Looking Back

    By James Shearer SPARE CHANGE NEWS It’s hard to believe that it’s been 20 years, two decades, since Spare Change News was created. Yes, much has happened since then. We’ve had our ups and downs, the paper has more than once been declared dead, but as one of the founders once said, “Spare Change is…

  • Why Are Gay Rights Still Disputed?

    James Shearer Spare Change news Over the past few weeks, discussion has once again come up about gay marriage. It all began with conversations about North Carolina’s proposal to ban not only gay marriage but also civil unions. Somehow, this absurd proposal became state law. (Hey, can we just annex the South and move on?…