February, 2007

The Homelessness Radio Marathon, Feb. 20-21

BY PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE STAFF

Food Not Bombs members serve a weekly meal to the homeless in Fresno’s Roeding Park. PHOTO/MIKE RHODES

The Homelessness Marathon is a 14-hour radio broadcast featuring the voices and stories of homeless people from around the U.S. It features live call-ins all night long via a toll-free number. The Tenth Annual Homelessness Marathon will broadcast from Fresno, California. You can participate by tuning into a station in your area. Or listen online. A list of stations and a link to streaming audio will be posted at http://www.homelessnessmarathon.org/.

The broadcast will start at 7 p.m. (Eastern) on Tuesday, February 20. It will end at 9 a.m. (Eastern) on Wednesday, February 21.

Jeremy Alderson, founder and director of the Homelessness Marathon, started the effort by putting a desk outside on the Commons of Ithaca, New York, to dramatize that people are outside in the cold. "I ranted all night about why we ought to care about homelessness. I've been going around the country ever since, originating Homelessness Marathons, and the broadcast has grown and grown. Last year we were on over 110 stations with another 30 or so stations in Canada. I've come to realize that the problem in this country is not with our people, but with our leaders. We wouldn't have hundreds of thousands of people sleeping on our streets if something hadn't gone deeply wrong with our nation. On our broadcast, we're going to be giving experts, callers, and the homeless, themselves, a chance to speak."

Fresno is a good choice for the Marathon. The City has been systematically destroying the makeshift homes and precious few possessions of the homeless. But, the community is speaking out against this immoral act! "The time has come," said Rev. Floyd D. Harris, Jr., "Fresno's Mayor Allen Autry said he was going to bring the city together but has actually destroyed the City's have-not's. Now the have-nots have a chance to tell their story about Fresno -- the All American city called the life of Hell!"

Here are links to Fresno stories about the homeless struggle:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/10/26/18323604.php
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/10/26/18323549.php