Category: Voices from the Streets
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Tea
By Arnie King Tea was born at Cambridge City Hospital 44 years ago and lived his entire life in the Metro region. The early education experience began at home with his mother, a teacher for Cambridge Public Schools. Elementary classes were initiated through the Montessori curriculum, with the circular seating arrangement, at the Friends School…
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Frankenstein in Central Square, Part Four
Frankenstein yearns for a shot of heroin. He wants to stop thinking just for a few hours. An eternity of thoughtlessness would be even better, he thinks, and he makes a croaking sound. This is the way he laughs. A dwarf with an overly large head scurries past him and disappears into the coffeehouse. Sirens…
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Farewell to a Friend
Much has already been written and said about my contributions to Spare Change News over the years, and as I prepare to retire from the Board of Directors, the only thing I can think of is my friend, mentor, and fellow Spare Change News co-founder Tim Hobson. Tim passed away on August 19, just a…
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Frankenstein in Central Square, Part Three
She runs so fast. Her brown shimmering hair sprays its kinks out behind her in the wake of her own wind. Rogue has never felt so late before. Time slips away. She thinks, it is almost too late. And then she breaks out in laughter and the bubbles of it tickle her cheeks as she…
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It’s Called Accountability
I can’t say that I was the least bit surprised when I read Shawn Musgrave’s article on Boston public housing and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). I’ve always had issues with them, starting with how they operate their low-income housing program known as Section 8. I have known people who, for…
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Sun of Mercy and Kindness
By Arnie King Sun of Mercy and Kindness, Barthesda was born in New York (Jamaica – Queens) 34 years ago to a Christian father and a Muslim mother. His mother died in a car accident five years later and his father departed two years after that. It’s quite difficult to imagine any degree of mercy…
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Book Review: “The Doubt Factory” by Paolo Bacigalupi
“The Doubt Factory” is advertised as a book for young adults. Not only is it for young adults, but anyone who can comprehend corporate cover-ups intended to make money will absolutely be enthralled by this tense thriller. Alix and Jonah Banks attend a private school named Seitz Academy for two reasons. First, they are both…
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In Memory Of
On July 31, we here at SCN lost an old friend, Jerome Frazier. I met Jerome just as SCN was starting. He, along with his brother John and their friend, Tony Kelly, were real street salesmen. I didn’t know much about Jerome. His dad was a preacher, and Jerome always looked and presented himself that…
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Transitions
Have you ever been tempted to deck someone who responds to a struggle you were having by saying “every time God closes a door, he will open a window?” Arguments about the gender of God notwithstanding, you know how useless that advice is. Say you just lost a job, or a relationship,or a place to…