Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
-
Homeless teen graduates in two years, heads to college
While most teens are spending their summers pursuing a driver’s license, hitting the beach and preparing for another year of high school, one Washington, D.C. native is headed down a different road — the one toward college. Destyni Tyree, 16, graduated high school in just two years, was class president, successfully lobbied for the school’s…
-
State makes it easier to fight opioid epidemic
For many years, AIDS Action Committee has been on the forefront of advocating for sound policies to protect those struggling with addiction. A decade ago we worked for passage of syringe decriminalization, pharmacy access to syringes without a prescription, and the Good Samaritan Law to empower those dealing with overdoses to seek help from law…
-
The downfalls of buying a car when you are poor
Over the next few issues, we are going to look at several different issues regarding financial dilemmas that affect everyone on a daily basis. The first one we will look at is auto financing, and it’s a very difficult issue for many people. Most people put a small amount down. Some people pay nothing upfront…
-
Spotlighting women’s stories of hope
On June 21, four women read stories they’d written about their lives to a crowd at the Writer’s Spotlight Reception at Rosie’s Place, a Roxbury-based nonprofit with a mission to provide women with shelter and opportunities. One woman, Francesca, spoke about rebuilding her life in America after having left her home country of Honduras. “My…
-
See What I See
The morning after the night I spent on the streets, I found myself walking into Downtown Crossing in Boston. It was about 5 a.m. I grabbed a cup of coffee at the 7-Eleven and started walking toward the train station. I was walking by Millennium Tower and I suddenly wished I had a camera. I…
-
HUD supports low-income job training in Massachusetts
HUD awarded $3.4 million to assist public housing agencies offering job training and employment to low-income residents Monday, the department said in a press release. The funding is part of $75 million in grants provided through the department’s Family Self-Sufficiency Program, HUD said. The grants will be used to assist public housing agencies participating in…
-
Leadership Institute Helps Eight More Women Find Their Voice
This past Wednesday saw eight women enter the sunbathed Boston afternoon with liberating confidence after Rosie’s Place—a renowned sanctuary for the local female homeless population—deemed them graduates of the shelter’s Leadership Institute. The ceremony, which marked the end of the program’s summer session for this year, showcased what each woman had learned and how it…
-
Massachusetts to address emergency assistance confusion, but not through budget
Photo: Emmanuel Huybrechts Massachusetts’s State Senate and House of Representatives toyed with introducing language that would clear up the eligibility requirements for the state’s emergency assistance program, but ultimately they did not include the clarification in their FY 2017 budget proposal. Massachusetts is the country’s only right-to-shelter state, meaning that through the Department of Housing…
-
Changing the conversation: SCN talks to Gloria Lucas, founder of Nalgona Positivity Pride
An estimated 30 million people in the United States have eating disorders. It would seem as though ample resources should be available to a demographic this large, but Gloria Lucas says this is not the case. Lucas fought for years to validate and treat her disorder, which began when she was only 10—a daunting battle…
-
Christian, White Male: Acton native Finnegan talks race and new show “Black and White”
Christian Finnegan, the stand-up comic seen in a number of TV shows including VH1’s “Best Week Ever,” TBS’ “The Chappelle Show” and his own comedy special “The Fun Part” on Netflix, is back at it on TV, questioning racism in his own way, the way he knows best: with comedy. “Black and White,” the newest…
Got any book recommendations?