Category: Opinion
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Homelessness is not Contagious
On face value, the photo accompanying this article is very funny. Unfortunately, many people are under the impression that homeless people are dangerous, mentally disabled, alcoholic or drug addicted. Yes, that can happen over time, but it doesn’t always happen at the onset of homelessness. Let’s get this issue of homelessness straight. First, homelessness is…
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At The Speed of Life
I was late to graduation, just like I was late for everything. Flying down the right-hand lane on South Livingston Avenue, doing close to 90 miles an hour with my 1958 Plymouth Belvedere convertible top down, when I heard a police car hit the wailers and saw the lights in my rear-view mirror. I pulled…
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Boycotting the NFL Won’t Stop Police Brutality
On the day of the New England Patriots’ first game of the year, a friend asked me if I was going to watch it. I said, “Of course I am,” and he immediately began to lecture me on how I was betraying my people. (He was white, go figure.) As everyone knows—unless you’ve been in…
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Harm Reduction Exists for Heroin Addicts
According to Mike Stobbe of the Boston Globe, there is a safe place where heroin addicts can go to shoot up, and it’s been operating underground in the United States for the past three years. The underground safe place opened in 2014 somewhere in New York. The location has not been revealed because it’s not…
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Musings on Charlottesville from a Black man
As I watched the events in Charlottesville unfold, I thought to myself, how in the hell did we get here? Is this all that is left? What has happened to us? Where did all this hate come from to begin with? And I don’t just mean whites. I’ve seen and heard racist dialogue coming from…
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National Circus Distracts From ‘Trump-like’ cuts in Mass.
In recent weeks, many activists have focused on Donald Trump’s shenanigans. He really can’t help himself, can he? Other activists have been glued to their TV sets, computers and phones closely following the health care debate, as they should. However, while we’re distracted by the antics going on in D.C., things are going on in…
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Safe injection sites could save lives
James Shearer co-founded Spare Change News nearly 25 years ago, and each week he offers up his unfiltered take on issues affecting some of the most vulnerable people in the community. Over the last few months, there have been calls by both medical professionals, activists, and, yes, even politicians for a safe injection site.…
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Do Homeless Lives Matter?
As I write this, people are reacting to Trump pulling us out of the Paris climate change accord. People are talking about what Kathy Griffin did. Earlier in the week, people were all aglow over the new Boston Bridge program, which will send Boston students to college without them having to pay tuition. As usual,…
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Coming together to end homelessness
In the 25 plus years I’ve been involved with homelessness, whether it’s been personal experience or as an activist, the one question I always keep coming back to is: “Why can’t we solve it?” There are probably a million reasons why we haven’t, but it’s not happening, and you’d think that with the wealth of…
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The man vs. the monster: Aaron Hernandez
Photo: Wikimedia Commons When I see the pictures of Aaron Hernandez being taken out of his beautiful house in handcuffs, I’m witnessing a tragedy. I don’t condone the man’s acts, but I know that it all took place in the pursuit of drugs. Addiction lays low the mighty and doesn’t discriminate. As everyone who’s reading…