Podcast 3 Bud Osborn
Bud Osborn is a true revolutionary. He is a survivor. A real shit disturber. He doesn't back down from a fight. With a pen in his hand every word is a weapon against indifference and injustice. He is a brilliant poet. He has lived through abuse and addiction. He is a brilliant activist and an individual who exudes warmth and compassion. Nathan and I spent an hour talking with Bud about everything from how the government and the Hells Angels quashed his plans for a unique resource centre run by and for drug addicts to his anti poverty work in Harlem and being sought by the FBI before moving to Canada. His tireless advocacy and volunteer work with the Richmond Health Board led to the declaration of Vancouver's first medical emergency in 1997 when drug related overdoses and HIV rates reached epidemic proportions in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. You cannot discuss harm reduction in Vancouver without Bud's name being mentioned! The interview with Bud has been split into 2 parts due to its length. The first contains the poem "No Matter how Vicious the System Is." Bud read this poem from his new collaborative book of Poetry and prints with artist Richard Tetrault. You can hear the urgency in Bud's voice. "And Life is Good if we realize that our lives are not alright if the lives of others who we fear are distressed or degraded." In the second part of the interview Bud talks about his life, writing, and reads a poem that he wrote for the opening of The Portland Hotel Society’s unique housing project. Bud Osborn Photo by Nathan Interview by James and Nathan The Kinship Of The Down And Out track is by John Smith and was used with permission from http://www.peanutsandcorn.com/.
Bud Osborn is a true revolutionary.
