I've been following the Ted Williams story (the homeless man with the golden radio voice), and it's definitely been having an effect on me. But this video, where he finally reunites with his mother after so many years, really is causing me to tear up.
Good luck, Mr. Williams. We're all rooting for you.
Showing posts with label homeless. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homeless. Show all posts
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Homeless TV
A cool story about a Minneapolis program that gives homeless people job skills by having them produce a local-access television program. The show, in turn, raises visibility about the plight of the homeless and helps give them a voice. Synergy: it's a good thing.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Homeless to Harvard
I saw a movie about a girl who went from being homeless to going to Harvard (based on a true story). As I recall, the girl had trouble adjusting and ended up transferring to a school in NYC. They buried that fact in the epilogue, as if it was an embarrassment -- ruining the fairy tale ending they'd put out (it turns out the school was Columbia, so hardly a step down anyway). I disagree. Being smart enough to go to Harvard (from any background, much less that one) is a victory in of itself. There is no failure in struggling to adopt to that cultural shock; and there is no reason why one can't be every bit as successful coming out of any other school in the nation, so long as you work hard and show the passion and intelligence that got you accepted in the first place.
So that's when I think when I read another story about a girl who is going from homeless to Harvard. I wish her all the best, and hope that she thrives in Cambridge. But I also want her to remember that no matter what happens, she has already shown herself capable of great things.
So that's when I think when I read another story about a girl who is going from homeless to Harvard. I wish her all the best, and hope that she thrives in Cambridge. But I also want her to remember that no matter what happens, she has already shown herself capable of great things.
Friday, April 17, 2009
More Fun With Statutory Intent
Maryland may become the first state to make targeting homeless persons for violence into a hate crime under a bill headed to Gov. Martin O'Malley's (D) desk. The fun part? The clause was added by Republican who was seeking to demonstrate that the whole idea of hate crimes laws is absurd.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
CNN Covers Michelle Malkin Being an Asshole
I've been chewing over this CNN article about a homeless woman, Henrietta Hughes, whose plea for help from President Obama sparked an outpouring of support from Florida neighbors in the Ft. Myers area. Obviously, I'm glad to see the community respond so quickly once they heard of this woman's plight. At the same time, it's abundantly clear that individual acts of charity are not a systematic solution to the problems people like Ms. Hughes face, and I'm uncomfortable with the triumphalist tone the article is putting out. If she really is the "face of the economic crisis," then we need a policy solution that addresses these issues as a totality. The Florida politicians who are racing to help Ms. Hughes, personally, should likewise be racing to their legislative offices to get some useful bills passed.
Meanwhile, CNN cites extensively to the reaction from conservative bomb-thrower Michelle Malkin, who seems to determined to reenact the Graeme Frost fiasco:
Malkin's ability to try and slime poorer Americans for having the temerity to ask anything of their government is apparently boundless. But while the nation recoils in disgust from Malkin's sludge, the media is finally starting to catch on that for the Republican base, Malkin's words are standard operating procedure, and worthy of coverage on that ground alone.
Meanwhile, CNN cites extensively to the reaction from conservative bomb-thrower Michelle Malkin, who seems to determined to reenact the Graeme Frost fiasco:
Blogger Michelle Malkin, in a story on the conservative Web site TownHall.com on Wednesday, said that if Hughes "had more time, she probably would have remembered to ask Obama to fill up her gas tank, too."
"The soul-fixer dutifully asked her name, gave her a hug and ordered his staff to meet with her. Supporters cried, 'Amen!' and 'Yes!' " she added.
One reader blasted Hughes' motives and questioned how the homeless woman got to the rally at all.
"How does a 61-year-old homeless woman who's living in a pickup truck with her son JUST HAPPEN to get a ticket so she can VERY PUBLICALLY ask Prez. Obama for a HOUSE? Anyone? Who pushes her up on stage? She's right at the front of the crowd. Did she just happen to get a seat there?" asked reader Erik E.
Malkin responded: "Silence! Do not question Dear Leader. ... Like Mighty Mouse, President Obama is here to save the day. The government is here to help -- and it is your patriotic duty to pay for it all without preconditions."
Malkin's ability to try and slime poorer Americans for having the temerity to ask anything of their government is apparently boundless. But while the nation recoils in disgust from Malkin's sludge, the media is finally starting to catch on that for the Republican base, Malkin's words are standard operating procedure, and worthy of coverage on that ground alone.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Civil Rights Roundup: 11/29/08
Your daily dose of civil rights and related news
The White House is asking its (now totally apolitical!) Justice Department to hamper 200,000 Ohio residents from voting.
Black voters are really nervous about the integrity of this election.
A Black Brazilian immigrant gets a lesson in racism upon arriving in America.
Lawyers have finally secured access to a top-secret Guantanamo Bay camp where we hold high-ranking terrorist suspects.
The total number of hate crimes dropped slightly this year, with falls in race and religion-based attacks making up for rises in targeting based on sexual orientation and ethnicity/national origin. As far as I can tell, this means we're no longer hating based on being Black or Muslim, now the problem is being Gay or Latino.
It's also not a great time to be a Jew.
A judge in Ohio has required the state to allow the homeless to register with addresses that are not buildings.
The LA Times calls for the re-enfranchisement of ex-felons.
Anita Hill (of all people!) says racial amnesia may be the cure for our racial ills.
Nearly 20% of New York City's Asian population lives in poverty.
Criminals are targeting illegal immigrants, whom they see as easy marks because they're afraid to go to the police.
The 11th Circuit upheld sectarian prayer hosted by local governmental agencies, so long as the process was open to people of all faith backgrounds. Amazingly, this is actually an improvement over the 4th Circuit, which held that the state could host prayers and then proactively exclude those from disfavored minority faiths.
An Orthodox Catholic group is protesting Fordham University (a Jesuit school) giving an ethics award to pro-choice Justice Stephen Breyer.
The White House is asking its (now totally apolitical!) Justice Department to hamper 200,000 Ohio residents from voting.
Black voters are really nervous about the integrity of this election.
A Black Brazilian immigrant gets a lesson in racism upon arriving in America.
Lawyers have finally secured access to a top-secret Guantanamo Bay camp where we hold high-ranking terrorist suspects.
The total number of hate crimes dropped slightly this year, with falls in race and religion-based attacks making up for rises in targeting based on sexual orientation and ethnicity/national origin. As far as I can tell, this means we're no longer hating based on being Black or Muslim, now the problem is being Gay or Latino.
It's also not a great time to be a Jew.
A judge in Ohio has required the state to allow the homeless to register with addresses that are not buildings.
The LA Times calls for the re-enfranchisement of ex-felons.
Anita Hill (of all people!) says racial amnesia may be the cure for our racial ills.
Nearly 20% of New York City's Asian population lives in poverty.
Criminals are targeting illegal immigrants, whom they see as easy marks because they're afraid to go to the police.
The 11th Circuit upheld sectarian prayer hosted by local governmental agencies, so long as the process was open to people of all faith backgrounds. Amazingly, this is actually an improvement over the 4th Circuit, which held that the state could host prayers and then proactively exclude those from disfavored minority faiths.
An Orthodox Catholic group is protesting Fordham University (a Jesuit school) giving an ethics award to pro-choice Justice Stephen Breyer.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Civil Rights Roundup: 10/20/08
Your daily dose of civil rights and related news
The US Supreme Court will resolve a circuit split on identity theft by illegal immigrants. The question is whether aggravated identity theft requires knowledge by the user that the documents he obtains are those of a real person, as opposed to fabrications.
Immigrants with family members on both sides of the US/Mexico border are dreading increases in border fortifications, as they may interfere with simple visits to the border to share pictures, food, or just conversation together across the line.
Meanwhile, the dance between border patrol agents, and those who are waiting for their chance to make it back over, continues along the edge of the fence.
In spite of all this, immigration has been a surprisingly quiet topic on the campaign trail. The Bishop of Orlando reminds the candidates, however, that it is not an issue they'll be able to ignore once in office.
DC is switching strategies on homelessness, trying to get the homeless permanent housing first before proceeding to crack the underlying causes of their plight.
More former DOJ officials are coming out with the obvious: the Bush administration's investigations into "voter fraud" are entirely politically motivated.
Unsurprisingly, the Wall Street Journal comes out in full support of the efforts to ban affirmative action, which they describe as "the same kinds of discrimination they were designed to prevent" (right down to the lynching, no doubt). Moral relativism, anyone?
Dog bites man in Cleveland, and Black defendants in low-level drug cases are treated substantially worse than their White counterparts.
Nebraska is changing the rules on its "safe haven" law, to allow only infants up to three days old to be dropped off without penalty.
Several luminaries, including Desmund Tutu and Sandra Day O'Connor, showed up at Harvard to speak at a conference on race relations.
Steve Chapman writes for Reason Magazine that "the people", not the courts, should decide when gay people are equal human beings.
The US Supreme Court will resolve a circuit split on identity theft by illegal immigrants. The question is whether aggravated identity theft requires knowledge by the user that the documents he obtains are those of a real person, as opposed to fabrications.
Immigrants with family members on both sides of the US/Mexico border are dreading increases in border fortifications, as they may interfere with simple visits to the border to share pictures, food, or just conversation together across the line.
Meanwhile, the dance between border patrol agents, and those who are waiting for their chance to make it back over, continues along the edge of the fence.
In spite of all this, immigration has been a surprisingly quiet topic on the campaign trail. The Bishop of Orlando reminds the candidates, however, that it is not an issue they'll be able to ignore once in office.
DC is switching strategies on homelessness, trying to get the homeless permanent housing first before proceeding to crack the underlying causes of their plight.
More former DOJ officials are coming out with the obvious: the Bush administration's investigations into "voter fraud" are entirely politically motivated.
Unsurprisingly, the Wall Street Journal comes out in full support of the efforts to ban affirmative action, which they describe as "the same kinds of discrimination they were designed to prevent" (right down to the lynching, no doubt). Moral relativism, anyone?
Dog bites man in Cleveland, and Black defendants in low-level drug cases are treated substantially worse than their White counterparts.
Nebraska is changing the rules on its "safe haven" law, to allow only infants up to three days old to be dropped off without penalty.
Several luminaries, including Desmund Tutu and Sandra Day O'Connor, showed up at Harvard to speak at a conference on race relations.
Steve Chapman writes for Reason Magazine that "the people", not the courts, should decide when gay people are equal human beings.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
The Homeless Vote
Some folks at TMV asked about whether homeless people have the right to vote, given that they don't have a home (and thus, perhaps, a permanent address). The National Coalition for the Homeless has a state-by-state chart detailing the rules. The verdict seems to be "theoretically, they can vote, but some states there are higher practical barriers than others."
Incidentally, the NCH site is a great resource on the entire issue of homeless voting -- not to mention other important aspects of aiding the homeless.
Incidentally, the NCH site is a great resource on the entire issue of homeless voting -- not to mention other important aspects of aiding the homeless.
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