BLACK LIVES MATTERS is a slogan burned into the American media. BLACK LEADERSHIP MATTERS might be another slogan added to the mattering map.

The awful remnants of racism still exists in a few southern cities.

The furthest she's ever been is 20 miles from her neighborhood.  She cleans houses, talks fast, and squanders the time away.  

The "new" woman stands at the bus stop, alone but far from lonely.

To passing pedestrians, a homeless person of color could just as well be a garbage can, a dark alley or a vacant storefront.

In the big city, there are many choices of hairdos.  

I asked Jason where he was from, how long he’d lived homeless. He said, slurring, “I’m from all over, but I been on the streets since I can remember.” I said, “Where do you sleep at night?” He closed his eyes. I left him alone, a brick wall for his bed. 

Daryl lives on the streets. In his lifetime, he'd spent 11 years in four different prisons for robbing a drug dealer. Back in the 1980s, he was shot in Los Angeles by a Blood Gang member who accused Daryl of stealing his girlfriend. 

With the advent of cell phones, it's getting harder to save sinners on the street.

Nineteen year old Taylor was raised in a small southern town north of Atlanta.  A year ago, she met a guy, traveled around on box cars, hitchhiked, slept in alleys, in parks, in abandoned apartments, and under bridges, eating where food was free, then finally dumped the guy and landed on a city street where she plays banjo for dollars.  

Some people don't even pretend to work.

In 1985, Mark Greve was a Marine in Beirut, Lebanon. He was passing out food to poor people when one of them suddenly stabbed Mark in the neck and shoulder. Mark grabbed his own gun and shot the guy through the head. This led to a dishonorable discharge, although he still gets disability money.

He calls himself The Minister of Truth. His body is riddled with cancer, and he panhandles to keep himself in cigarettes and drugs.  The police often remove him from his begging spot, but eventually he returns, the Minister of Truth retelling his story.

Miranda calls herself a hobo. When she was 16, her dad was murdered, and her mother is in prison for dealing heroin. Miranda herself is a wanted felon for jumping bail in California. She travels by rail across America with her boyfriend, Tyler, and her dog, Ava, who is dying of cancer.

Marijuana is often the drug of choice among street people.  The drug seems to chase away the fears they live with daily.

Cities are filled with the hip and the unhip, but it is rare to find them in the same location.

Shannon's husband had died a couple months before, and her dad is a stoner who drives truck cross-country. Shannon seems perpetually angry at God and at anyone who might not care. 

Madeline is a singing advocate of legalizing marijuana.

Cuba's government provides every adult citizen a job. This Havana street sweeper, for instance. The monthly salary? About $30.

The Dispossessed:  A snapshot of their lives.

This burning concept is so controversial, leading newspapers can’t even spell out the complete word.

Mr Grundman is an angry man. “I’m a Jew from New York City," he said. "I got no place to sleep. Never get my social security check. No money. Nobody to help.” Later, I stopped a cop and said Mr. Grundman needed help. The cop said Mr. Grundman had been helped too many times, that he was beyond help.  

Dwayne might love you, depending on his mood.

Why you should be a Socialist.