Month: July 2013

July Poetry of the Streets

Poetry
there are angels sitting cross-legged on the sidewalk/ trading stories and confessions and some lies/ trading cigarettes and sandwiches and comfort/ with their whole lives in their little angel eyes/ angels who look nothing like the pictures/ in the big museum paintings on a wall/ hoping there’s somebody who remembers/ how far a little angel child can fall

The Professor

Fiction
He had been a professor of classics at a small southern college before the nightmare frame-up and 10 years on prison. A model inmate, he received an early release, but not early enough to attend the funeral of his only son, Isiah, an innocent bystander killed in a crossfire of gang violence.

Here Come the Men in Gray

Fiction
The men in gray uniforms arrived and restrained the errant man. One of them jabbed him in the neck with a hypodermic needle and pushed the plunger home. The violator immediately went pale and rigid. The two men roughly threw the now deceased violator into the back of their truck and drove away.

The Military-Internet Complex and the Surveillance State

Opinion
“The capacity of the government to engage in constant surreptitious monitoring of all civilians has been greatly enhanced by the commercialization of the Internet,” said media analyst Robert McChesney. “The commercialized Internet, far from producing competition, has generated the greatest wave of monopoly in the history of capitalism.”

The Rapacious Investment Schemes of the Rich

Opinion
Let’s demand a law that protects us from the rapacious investment schemes of the rich, and limits their investments in housing. The rich can go on speculating in the racehorse market, the art market, the market for big diamonds and fancy boats, but not our housing, which is a human necessity.

A Homeless Woman Stands Up for Free Speech and Freedom of the Press

Features
Those of us out on the streets, who are fighting for our lives, are at the heart of what this country stands for — the right to be “We the People.” We are the reason this country exists. It was on our backs that the 1% built their empires, with our hard labor, blood, sweat and tears.

New Momentum Around the Nation to Pass ‘Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights’

News
More and more cities across the country are criminalizing homelessness by outlawing sitting and lying on sidewalks, panhandling, sleeping outdoors and other essential, life-sustaining acts. In order to protect homeless people from discrimination, lawmakers in Connecticut and Illinois are following Rhode Island’s lead in passing Homeless Bills of Rights.

The Fast Against the Firings and ‘Silent Raids’

News
“These families have done nothing wrong. They’re being punished for working, which is what people in our community are supposed to do. We will not allow workers to be treated as though they are invisible. Being terminated because of immigration status is a violation of their human and civil rights.” — Rev. Phil Lawson

Fallout from Sequestration: Massive Budget Cuts Jeopardize Public Housing

News
At a time of rising poverty, the huge federal budget cuts known as sequestration will eliminate many units of low-income housing desperately needed by the nation’s poorest people. At the same time, the salaries of nonprofit housing executives continue to rise ever higher, reducing the scant funds available for housing.

How Green Was My Peninsula: Homeless People Face Mass Eviction in Albany

News
Despite their efforts to keep the land green, homeless people once again face eviction from the Albany Bulb. Advocates argue that Albany officials cannot evict the homeless encampment without providing alternative shelter. Yet, for the past 15 years, Albany has had no homeless shelters at all for its unsheltered citizens.