Mr Avery

I stopped to talk to a homeless man after work on November 8 2016.

We talked for an hour about, life in America.

Mr Avery was in prison for 2 1/2 years for assault. He was realeased, with a felony record that will not allow him assistance in housing or most any assistance. Nobody wants to hire a felon and some of our laws allow for further exclusion of previously incarcerated humans from society, but where will they go, how-will they live. Frank had some deep insight into life as he has experienced it. He pointed out corruption in assistance facilities. homeless shelters, and encampments used as political tools.

When the city closed down “the jungle” every thing frank had was unceremoniously tossed in the bin. The last pictures he had of anyone he had held dear, brought tears to his eyes. I was surprised at the points we agreed on, political corruption at all levels has left us with a society that discards larger and larger numbers of people.

I left thinking of WEB Dubois “How hard a thing is life to the lowly, and yet how human, and real.”

And thus, sadly musing, I rode to the suburbs, in an overcrowded train.