Stories and
Poems from the
December 2005
Street Spirit Publication
What is Street Spirit? -Click Here|To read
all articles and poems from this issue of
Street Spirit, please visit Street Spirit's Website at
http://www.thestreetspirit.org/.
Articles, stories,
poems, statements, and such sharing first-person accounts and opinions do
not necessarily reflect BOSS's organizational views. We offer this site as
a forum to share all views, particularly those not generally heard in
mainstream outlets.
To Punish the Poor - “The
welfare system in the United States is increasingly casting a broad net
that gathers poor families into the criminal system.” Opening words
in the Women of Color Resource Center, Working Paper Series entitled To
Punish the Poor: Criminalizing Trends in the Welfare System by Kaaryn
Gustafson.
Divided We Fall: Worker
Solidarity in Katrina's Wake - If Congress' current proposals for
immigration reform pass this year or next, will they help the immigrant
workers now doing reconstruction on the Gulf Coast? What about the
residents hoping to return home - what might these proposals mean for
racial divisions already fanned by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and
syndicated newspaper columnist Ruben Navarette in the wake of the flood?
Rebuilding the Freebox in
People's Park - The University of California may own the land that
contains People's Park, but it doesn't own the spirit that is the Park.
The Last Testament of Mary Jesus
- A year ago, on December 10, 2004, a tragic scene unfolded at Oakland's
Tribune Tower as hundreds gathered to watch Mary Jesus plunge to a
bloody death.
Please Feed Me - "Please
feed me," he said to the slouching, fat, scowling woman, sitting in the
church kitchen chair. "Please, please feed me," he pleaded softly.
Reach Out to the Poor and
Abandoned - How long can one look the other way? Even in my own
hardship I cannot sit still and watch the suffering our nation has long
ignored, and now has forgotten.
San Diego's Massive Assault on
the Poor - Incredibly, like a page from Dickens' horror stories of
the 19th century, police are now arresting the poor for simply being
poor.
The Personal Cost of San
Diego's War on the Poor - As Father Richard Rohr is fond of saying,
we must find those broken spots in our lives, our greatest fears, and
overcome them as individuals if we are to heal and be whole. Likewise,
as a community, we must find the compassion and courage to "just say no"
to the madness of materialism, the madness of increasing our collection
of material junk, designer lives and artificial prestige.
A City Reserved Exclusively for the
Rich - Relentless gentrification and soaring housing prices in San
Francisco trigger an exodus of African-Americans, families with
children, poor and working-class people.
Hurricane Katrina and
the Unnatural Disaster of Racism - When Hurricane Katrina tore up
the roof of my house, it didn't care that I'm black. My white neighbors,
like my black neighbors, saw trees fall on their homes and saw their
refrigerators rot and mold.
back
top