Spare Change News

Category: Personal Essays

  • Desmond Tutu writes a letter to his younger self

    If you could write a letter to your 16 year old self, what would you say and what advice would you give? South Africa’s beloved Archbishop Desmond Tutu picked up his pen and took a trip down memory lane. Desmond Tutu The Big Issue UK As a teenager I looked like my mother – stumpy…

  • If You Don't Demand Change then It Never Will Be

    Beatrice Bell Spare Change News Many people today don’t stand up for human rights or civil rights because they don’t feel that they will be heard. The truth of the matter is that if you don’t vote for a candidate or a particular issue and if you don’t demand change, then it never will be,…

  • An Appreciation Deferred

    Anthony Thames Spare Change News On April 4, 1968, the day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in Memphis, Tennessee, I was a five-year-old boy, unable to fully grasp the enormity of the situation. I do remember the somber mood both in school as well as at my home. I distinctly recall my mom…

  • ‘Unarmed truth … will have the final word’

    Chris Mesfin Spare Change News Let us mark the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., one of the greatest Americans who ever lived. The 1960s saw a few great men hard at work in America, trying to end the injustices that infected America. Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, and John F. Kennedy knew…

  • Helping The Planet, Saving Money: Non-profit Helps Others Go Green

    Jonah Comstock Spare Change News Tucked into the back corner of the modest kitchen, the Energy Star refrigerator still manages to dominate the room. It’s huge, it’s shiny, and it’s new the Cambridge Community Center near Central Square just purchased the unit in July. The new fridge, which will save $3,862 in energy costs and…

  • Detox Made Difficult

    James Shearer Spare Change News A couple of weeks ago I spent the better part of two days trying to get a friend into a detox program. For those of you who have no idea what that is, it’s a place where people who are looking to get off of drugs and/or alcohol go first,…

  • As the Sun Sets Over Port-au-Prince

    Jacques Fleury Spare Change News In honor of my mother Marie-Evelyne, an iconoclast in her own right In Haiti I grew up taking blood baths, basking in the epoch of oppression. My nation was occupied by the French, and despite my French influence, I consider myself a Creole poet and not a French Creole poet.…

  • Poetry At Occupy Boston

    Following this short piece is a poem I read at Occupy Boston Poetry. As I walked into the camping area I was impressed at the organization of the occupation. The people had a logistics tent, a media tent and a staging area where they would hold meetings and entertainment. It was truly an honor to…

  • Fight Addiction Your Own Way

    Aaron James Spare Change News Fourteen months since a lick of alcohol has touched my lips! There have been many close calls. I have actually opened a can, only to end up flushing it down a thirsty toilet. I have had many nights of hell, bringing myself to the breaking point, nights where I truly…

  • History Repeats Itself: Witches Still Outcasts in Salem

    Norman Watne When you think of Salem, Massachusetts, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Witches? goblins or perhaps ghosts? This is the time of year when Salem explodes with all kinds of excitement—Halloween!—with parades and parties galore. But let me tell you, there is a part of Salem much darker than…