‘Peace House Community Journal’ Archives
Now You See Them, Now You Don’t (But You Should)
from the series Peace House Community - A Place to Belong By MARTI MALTBY Marti Maltby I think everyone is familiar with the magic trick where a coin disappears from the magician’s hand and then reappears out of someone’s ear. When we were little, we believed the coin really had disappeared. As we got older, we knew the magician had simply used a sleight of hand, and they were still holding the coin, but if the magician did the trick well, we were still willing to be fooled. Many of the “solutions” to homelessness and similar problems are just variations of the coin trick. Unfortunately, I find many of the “solutions” to homelessness and similar problems are just variations of the coin trick. The solutions don’t really solve homelessness. Instead, they try to make the homeless “disappear”, and if the solution looks appealing enough, everyone is supposed to applaud. On some level, everyone knows the homeless still walk the streets, trying to find safe [...]
Mosaic or Melting Pot?
Dominant Theologies Denied Marginalized People from the series Peace House Community Journal... By MARTI MALTBY Marti Maltby I recently read The Cross and Lynching Tree by James Cone. Cone was one of the first and most respected Black Liberation Theologians who emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, arguing that the dominant Christian theology denied the experiences of minorities and had nothing to offer marginalized peoples. The Cross and the Lynching Tree was Cone’s final book before his death. He pointed out the similarities between Jesus’ crucifixion and the experiences of Black Americans who were lynched in this country. He also expressed shock that so few theologians, Black or White, could see the similarities. When he laid out the parallels, I was shocked, too, that I had never seen them, nor heard about them in my fifty plus years of attending church. Individual, cultures, and groups can have blind spotsThe experience was a little surreal, and it reminded me [...]
Mayor Frey’s La-la Land
By MARTI MALTBY On July 30, Mayor Jacob Frey sent out a weekly update that claimed, among other things, that “Under Mayor Jacob Frey’s leadership, Minneapolis is seeing meaningful progress in addressing unsheltered homelessness.“ The update went on to tout the lower costs to the City in encampment closures and a reduction in 911 and 311 calls (85% and 87% respectively) involving encampments. Overall, the Update painted a rosy picture of homelessness in Minneapolis under Mayor Frey’s leadership. Marti Maltby I doubt many alley readers agree with Mayor Frey’s message. Yes, the City has cracked down on encampments, reducing many problems associated with encampments. But the problems associated with homelessness . . . well, those are still with us. The crackdown has simply scattered encampment dwellers to other parts of the neighborhoods. And the problems have moved with them. I don’t need to belabor the point. Anyone who lives or works [...]
