Category: Voices from the Streets
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VOICES FROM THE STREET: Two dogs and a kitten (part one)
The first thing I noticed after hugging the kids and wiping the tears away was the mound of plastic garbage bags in the middle of the living room—and the smell. The two big dogs circled around the garbage pile. I saw my daughter creeping under a coffee table. The dust swirled around her small body…
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VOICES FROM THE STREET: Well, Charlie?
In my zeal to crucify the Mayor Marty Walsh administration for what happened with Long Island shelter and its aftermath, it was brought to my attention and also to the attention of other activists that, while we were busy roasting the mayor, the state had emerged unscathed from our criticism. Well, for my part, let…
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VOICES FROM THE STREET: Why the bridge to Long Island blew up
When Victory Program, which runs a variety of types of care for addicts in different stages of recovery, took out a mortgage on a building on Boston’s Long Island, they had no idea that the bridge leading to their drug recovery program would be demolished without warning. So now Victory Program must pay a mortgage…
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JAMES SHEARER: Six months … really?
As I write this, I’ve just returned from a rally at Boston’s City Hall with my compadres from the Boston Homeless Solidarity Committee. For those of you who don’t know, the committee was formed in October by a group of homeless and formerly homeless activists in response to the closing of Long Island Shelter in…
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BOOK REVIEW: 'The Water Knife' by Paolo Bacigalupi
This book is about water. Imagine the United States fragmented. Texas has fallen away and there’s a fence, much like the one we now put up to block immigrants from Mexico. Angel is what they call a “Water Knife.” He does the dirty work for the power brokers who are fighting for the water rights…
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The Adventures of Casey and Seth, Part Three
Larry laughed again. “It doesn’t matter. Profits are what count. My wife and kids have a nice place in another suburban town not far from here. The money I save on the drainage buys them plenty.” “But we’re talking about poisoning the world here, the world that your children will inherit in the future.” Larry…
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We Can Do Better
“We can do better.” That was part of the opening speech given at the beginning of the 25th Interfaith Homeless Memorial Service that is held annually at the Church on the Hill in Boston. It’s a somber event, as the names of those who have passed away on the street in the previous year are…
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The Adventures of Casey and Seth, Part Two
Now maybe you’re wondering where I’m going with this story and what things are about. It is much later now, later than we all think. Casey joined the service and went to Vietnam. I stayed here and grew my hair long. Casey fought for his life and his sanity in a world that made all…
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The Adventures of Casey and Seth, Part One
Papaver somniferum defies agricultural advances. Poppy cultivation remains a time-consuming gamble, opium extraction a tedious, manual exercise. To produce enough opium for just one viss (about 1.65 kg) requires the scoring and scraping of three thousand seedpods for their alkaloid-rich opium ‘tears.’”—from “Chasing the Dragon” by Charles Cox. Way back when, we were friends from…
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Ban This, Ban That
As I write this column, it’s a very frigid, cold day and the night will be even colder. Naturally, I can’t help but think of those who have nowhere to go, and as I think of them I wonder why people are trying to run away or even hide the homeless. I say that because…