Category: Columns
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Shelters Shouldn’t Do the State’s job
When I read that Pine Street Inn was planning to create 140 units of housing by putting up a five to six story building in Jamaica Plain I nearly fell over, and not from joy. For years I’ve been a staunch believer that shelter agencies, including Pine Street Inn, should not double as landlords. Why?…
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‘I Always Came Back’: A Story of Survival
“Hey, baby!” Linda Burston, with an illuminating smile and wide eyes, greets every woman who comes through the doors of Women’s Lunch Place. They always know when Linda is in the room; even among the clink clank of dishes being piled high, the scraping of metal fork against ceramic plate, the hum of conversation among dozens of…
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And the distractions continue
As if I needed more evidence of what I wrote in my last column; the last few days have been a “you can’t make this stuff up” type of week. First up we have one Jussie Smollett, the Empire actor who said he was jumped, beaten, had a noose planted around his neck and doused…
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Opinion: Feeding Social Change through Good Food Purchasing
Each day, every one of us has to make decisions about food for our daily survival and personal health. But the food choices available to us as individuals are shaped by policies we set as a society and economy — policies that currently make healthy foods unaffordable for too many and that exacerbate inequality. Many…
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As MBTA fares increase, so do state house salaries
As news broke this week about the MBTA proposing another fare hike, I found myself thinking about the salary increase over at the State House. Yes, folks, in a move that has went largely ignored by local media and a few others, the State Legislators have once again voted to give themselves pay raises. Gov.…
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I’ll Be At The Movies
The NFL is a national tragedy. It is cockfighting with humans. We in New England have the almost inarguably best quarterback in history and, also almost inarguably, one of the best coaches in history playing together. They’ve proven it to be true over and over again in increasingly remarkable and dramatic victories. I have enjoyed…
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His Name Was Joshua
After I attended the Homeless Memorial Service I came across a story that made me shake my head. A man, Clifton Moore, had been indicted for the murder of a homeless man named Joshua Rivera, age 54, in Charlestown. The crime was committed on Sept. 6 and according to the published details it was brutal.…
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Fifteen-Year-Old Activist Tells Humanity to Step Up
The temperature is soaring. In the Northeast, water tables are going crazy from all the rain we’ve had. The sun, like a malevolent eye, glows hot in a hazy sky as the world’s thermometer climbs; mercury like spinal fluid rising, rising, then bursting through our heads, our brains exploding under pressure. Humans pack the city…
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Remember the Forgotten Before it’s Too Late
As this issue hits the streets many of us will be attending the Homeless Memorial Service in Boston — Dec. 21 will mark the solemn service’s 29th year. There will be other services throughout the country over the next few days. We are once again confronted with the fact that people are dying in the…
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The Teeth of a Fox
For Mary Esther: “The Fox” They meet for the first time at an AA meeting. He sat in the third row, end seat close to the wall. She sat in the middle of the room, tears spilled down her face; she had a tissue crumpled in her fist and her lips quivered. He watched her.…