Author: revsekou
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An Elegy for Innocence
“It is not suppose to happen here.” This phrase is uttered after every mass killing in pristine and pure suburban America. The latest casualty in American gun culture was described by the Consoler-in-Chief as a “quiet town full of good and decent people.” Six and 7-year-old bodies riddled with military grade bullets fired by an…
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Outside In
On Saturday, December 15, a group of volunteers created an unusual photography exhibit on the Palmer Street façade of 8 Brattle Street in Harvard Square. With the help of a cherry picker they pasted 35 posters, 3 by 4.5 feet each, on the brick wall, all of them portraits of homeless youth by photographer and…
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The Meaning of Barack Obama
I know your image of me Is what I hope to be I’ve treated you unkindly But darlin’ can’t you see These lyrics are from the classic, A Song for You. Though originally written and recorded in 1970 by Leon Russell, a white rocker-singer-songwriter, these lyrics were ushered into the American songbook by soul music…
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Letter From the Editor: Arts & Activism
After the re-election of George W. Bush, I was done with America. Less than a year into Bush’s second term, I left the United States for the first time. At the tender age of 34, I moved to Paris to be like James Baldwin. With money from a writing fellowship, I was confident that I…
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Danny Glover: Artist & Activist
SCN caught up with Danny Glover walking down Flower Street in Downtown Los Angeles. The 6’4’ actor is towering and humble at once. His salutation is a standard greeting that is southern hospitality mixed with California cool—“How you doing, baby?” Glover is most widely known for his role in the Lethal Weapon franchise Since 1979,…
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Letter From the Editor
For twenty years, we have published Spare Change News with limited money and staffing. In that time, we have published over 500 issues and have never missed an issue. Spare Change News is the nation’s oldest continuous street paper. SCN pioneered the homeless writer and leader model that has been emulated by papers throughout the…
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Cornel West: A Voice in the Wilderness
“I come to you tonight with a heavy heart,” Cornel West began. “I just buried my grandmother,” he continued at the crowd gathered at West Park Presbyterian Church in the New York, which caused a collective “ahhh.” Dr. West cancelled a number of speaking engagements in early March, pausing his whirlwind schedule to deliver the…