Linking to blogs about homelessness, environmental justice and Western Mass. happenings

I'm eighteen months into writing this blog and one of the resources I hope my readers take advantage of is the extensive list of links that I've compiled and try to keep updated.

The biggest list is I keep is of blogs that write about homelessness-- in particular those written by homeless and formerly homeless people themselves, although they're not that easy to find. I could put in many more links to agencies that work to end homelessness, but most of them already have a voice; still, I've added a couple that are particularly well-done-- L.A.s Homeless Blog, for example.

Some homeless blogs come and go quickly, but many writers have made a long-term commitment to their blogs. Homeless Man Speaks describes life on the streets in just a few lines of dialogue a day. Oldtimer Speaks Out is dedicated to homeless and other veterans, and is currently deep into a tutorial about house-building by Habitat for Humanity. Michael at SLO Homeless speaks with thoughtfully and experience about the struggles homeless people face and how hard it can be sometimes to get housed people to understand.

Rare and valuable are those blogs that follow the people's movements for housing around the world. Squatter City posts about the resiliance and tragedy of squatter communities in Afghanistan, Brazil and elsewhere; Save Feral Human Habitat covers tent cities, homeless activism, and saving the Canadian environment.

Unlike blogs about homelessness, environmental blogs are easy to find and there are so many good ones that my link list is more representative and more about what I find and like than it is comprehensive. Native Harvest, the home of the White Earth Land Recovery Project, promotes indigenous autonomy as well as a catalogue of products including wild rice, organic coffee and native arts. It was founded by poet and warrior Winona LaDuke. Inhabitant is about "forward design for the world we inhabit."

Last but not least I like to collect Western Mass blogs or blogs by Western Mass. authors, even when they run in a different political gamut or aren't political at all. Grace the Dog tells odd little stories loosely about journalism and the media. Exploring Western Mass blends the past and the present with exquisite photographs of our region. Springfield Intruder takes a passionate and acerbic view of Springfield's neighborhoods and politics.

Do take the time to check out the variety of visions in the blogging world today.

Graphic from the International Alliance of Inhabitants