Spare Change News

Category: Columns

  • Central Square, Cambridge, MA

    Central Square, Cambridge, MA

    “The form of a city changes faster than the heart of a mortal.”– Baudelaire The streets teem with activity. There is a giant hole where the building filled with many small businesses, owned by individuals, flourished. There was a clothing store over 90 years old, a breakfast place where one whose pockets contained only a few…

  • New Beginnings (Al Action Loves You)

    Hello Family,  It’s a new year with a new beginning.  Happy Black History Month. Every day should be  Black History Day.    This country was  built upon the backs of people  of color due to the ingenious idea of slavery. In this country the color of my skin should not be a crime.  So where…

  • 13 Ways of Looking At Death

    1. I drive down Highway 80 and gaze at the landmarks you enjoyed when you were still alive. 2. The farm outside of St David, with grazing, tufted llamas behind a chain-link fence. 3. The roadside yucca tree that declined with each passing. It began lopsided, as if slightly drunk, but slumped more each month,…

  • Childhood Realities

    I’m 76 now and things look different to me.   First of all, I don’t run up and down stairways anymore.  I trudge the steps. When I do the laundry, I have to climb down 26 steps and then back up the same 26 steps. But that isn’t the major change. I have clear memories of…

  • 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…

  • Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby: A Book Review

    Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby: A Book Review

    This amazing story is about a Black ex-con father, a white racist ex-con father and two families wracked by the pain of two sons, one white and one Black, who get married and have a surrogate mother gift them with a beautiful female child. Ike Randolph was set free from prison fifteen years ago and…

  • Living the Pandemic Year in Harvard Square

    Living the Pandemic Year in Harvard Square

    Life being homeless on the streets of Harvard Square was tough, but I noticed last year a glimmer of hope.  As cruel winter came upon us, the food supplies were still coming and also water. I remember the first snowfall we got in December was not too bad but the cold could whoop us any…

  • 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…

  • Adam’s Rib: Part Two

    “Click, click, click. What God meant is that it would be the end of all things familiar. Truly, if you ate of this tree you would see with the eyes of God. Then, certainly, He would make for you a mate to keep you company in the times when He would not be here. You…

  • Adam’s Rib: Part One

    Adam sits by the bank of the River Pison, pleased by his thoughts of the evening before. He had spent much time on his knees in front of his Lord and it had been good. Then his Lord had taken him to His bosom and they had wept together and kissed and the salt had…