Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie.

The man on the grate

This is a sad story — and far more typical than care to admit: Melvin Jenkins was a diesel mechanic who badly injured himself on the job, found himself in thrall to drugs and living on the streets. He died earlier this month at age 58 of a heart attack after seemingly cleaning himself up.

Some might look at Jenkins and blame him for his failings. They’ll say he could have cleaned himself up sooner, that he should have resisted the demon of drug and alcohol abuse, that he had a skill and he should have used it and remained productive. There is some truth to these claims. That Jenkins failed to stay clean and productive is mostly his fault, though he probably had an assist from a society that has little patience for those battling substance abuse and mental health issues.

Even if we accept that his failings were his own, doesn’t the fact that Jenkins is just one of hundreds of thousands of homeless men and women in this country say something about the way we view productivity and usefulness, about how little we regard people living on the edge of the economy?

Lakewood is forcibly closing Tent City this week, which is part of an agreement between the township and the homeless that resulted in a year of housing for those in the camp last year. It is doing so in an aggressive manner that treats those remaining as animals — rooting them out and chasing them away, caring little about what happens to the last of them.

And, perhaps more importantly, no one has addressed the issues that resulted in the tent encampment sprouting in the woods along Cedar Bridge Avenue in the first place — the lack of quality affordable housing or even emergency shelter in the region in a region known for having a high cost of living, a lack of jobs that pay a living wage to the unskilled or moderately skilled, and a broader economic attitude that assigns value only to those who can help businesses create profits.

As my friend Ken Wolman points out on Facebook: “I’m sure that not so long ago, he didn’t think he’d become the Man On The Grate either. Avoiding that fate doesn’t require strength of character, just good fortune and being able to avoid painful injuries.”

It also may require a reconsideration on our part of how we value our fellow human beings.

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Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

UPDATED: Losing count, but winning on marriage equality

A federal judge overturned Indiana’s same-sex marriage ban yesterday, while an appeals court did the same in Utah today — part of a tidal wave of decisions that show that momentum is on the side of equality.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard L. Young ruled that there was little difference between a so-called gay marriage and a heterosexual one and that treating couples differently based on orientation was unconstitutional.

“It is clear that the fundamental right to marry shall not be deprived to some individuals based solely on the person they choose to love,” Young ruled. “In time, Americans will look at the marriage of couples such as Plaintiffs, and refer to it simply as a marriage – not a same-sex marriage. These couples, when gender and sexual orientation are taken away, are in all respects like the family down the street. The Constitution demands that we treat them as such.”

The decision follows rulings in other Republican-led states that have been hostile to gay rights and brings the number of states that have either legally enshrined marriage equality or had their bans overturned to — well, I’ve lost count. And that is the point. What started as a steady trickle of pro-equality rulings and votes in the wake of Prop. 8 in California, which was probably the last major victory for the so-called marriage-protection side, has turned into a full-on wave that has washed over not only blue states like New York and Massachusetts, but red states like Utah, Kentucky and, now, Indiana.

Does this mean the battle is won? No. But momentum is in the right direction.

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Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

Now entering the game for the Sixers, Benjamin Franklin

Deadspin offers this report on the Sixers’ decision not to use what it calls “Ballin’ Ben Franklin” as an alternate logo — based on this tweet:

Bad move, as the Deadspin post makes clear:

I usually dislike secondary logos, as they aren’t much more than an excuse for the team to double dip on merchandise sales, but I am 100 percent in the tank for this logo. Look at how hard Ben Franklin is balling! I imagine he’s splitting a double team at the top of the key, using that right hand for a LeBron-style push off (no ref is gonna call that foul on Ben Franklin, man) before crashing his way to the rim for the hoop and the foul.

For the sake of the fans, the Sixers should reconsider their decision not to use Ballin’ Ben Franklin. This team is probably going to select seven feet worth of damaged goods with the third pick in the draft later this month, and then fans are going to spend yet another season watch crap basketball while waiting for the potential savior to get healthy. You know what would make a season like that easier to endure? Ballin’ Ben Franklin.

Plus, there is some history. Pictured is a bobblehead I won at the Jersey Shore in the summer of 2002, after the NBA All-Star game was played in Philadelphia. Notice the resemblance?

Tip of the hat to Larry Hirsch for alerting me to the new. He suggests George Washington suit up for the Wizards. My question is this: What historical figure should be reborn in alternate logo form?

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Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.