Advocate and activist Jeff Singer joins "Rattling the Bars" to discuss the "Grants Pass v. Johnson" ruling, and what it means for America’s poor. The number of homeless people in the United States, either without shelter or in temporary housing, is steadily rising towards a million people. Faced with this crisis, municipalities, counties, and states across the country are responding by criminalizing those experiencing homelessness.

Transcript: The Implications of the "Grants Pass v. Johnson" Ruling

Mansa Musa:

Welcome to this edition of "Rattling the Bars." I’m your host Mansa Musa. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development report, 653,140 people are homeless. Bottom line, sleeping on the streets. Nearly 327,000 people in the United States live in transition housing. They live in situations where at any given moment, they’ll join the 653,140 without having a place to stay. What does this say about the United States of America? What does this say about the world when we have a situation where people don’t have a place to stay for no other reason then they can’t afford to live in certain environments because of the cost of living? Here, joining me to talk about the "Grants Pass v. Johnson" Supreme Court decision, but more importantly, his work in trying to eradicate homelessness and to elevate people’s consciousness about the sense of humanity we should have about people that don’t have a place to stay, is Jeff Singer. Welcome, Jeff.

Jeff Singer:

Thank you so much, Mansa.

Mansa Musa:

Hey, Jeff, tell our audience a little bit about yourself.

Jeff Singer:

I’ve been working on homelessness, poverty, and racism for a very long time, since about 1965, and a lot of that time in Baltimore and some of that time in the District of Columbia, and there’s a lot of work to do. I especially liked what you said about changing people’s consciousness because we certainly need to do that.

Read the full article about the "Grants Pass v. Johnson" ruling at The Real News Network.