Category Archives: Books and Films

“How I See Homeless People Now”

About being poor, Books and Films, Homelessness, Portraits of Homeless

In the article “ Anderson Cooper: How I See Homeless People Now”, he describes how his perception of homeless individuals has changed because of his encounters with dozens of people living on the streets of Nashville while working on a projects for 60 Minutes. Cooper expresses his surprise at the candidness and honesty shown by these homeless individuals when asked personal questions about their situations. He was stunned by the fact that the majority of these homeless persons seemed more than happy to share their tragic stories, with most of them just being glad to have someone take an interest in what they had to say. These series of interviews quickly proved to be eye-opening to Cooper and his team because of the diversity of stories, with many of the homeless coming from a variety of different backgrounds.

Cooper admits that prior to this project, he was guilty of walking past homeless people and simply pretending that they are not there, something that most people in society do because facing these people has the tendency to make others uncomfortable. He discusses the fact that to the majority of the population, these homeless individuals are invisible and ignored, and that is the way that they feel. This was a lesson learned by Anderson Cooper that he considers a huge source of personal growth. In his interview for 60 Minutes, he explains that there is a man who camps and panhandles in front of his residence and has been there for some time. Before this story, Anderson felt annoyed and uncomfortable with the man being there and never spoke to him at all. However, after completing this project Anderson has since spoken to this man almost daily, at least greeting him kindly as they pass one another. He has also taken an interest in this homeless man and learning about his past and the road that has lead him into homelessness.

This story relates to the course material that we have been covering because it reinforces the key theme shown throughout all the books, that homeless people have a story to tell and these stories are worth hearing. Individuals who take the time to listen to the stories of the homeless grow in understanding and compassion for those living on the streets. Whether these individuals are addicts, suffer from mental illness, have come from backgrounds of abuse, have suffered from a physical injury, or any of the other reasons that they have ended up in the situation of living on the streets, they deserve to be heard and taken seriously. In Morrell’s text Voices From the Street and many other course readings, the stories of homeless individuals and their daily struggles are heartbreakingly portrayed and they definitely change the perspective of outsiders. As Anderson Cooper concluded, homeless people are just like any other individuals that you may meet, they have hobbies, interests, fears, and struggles, the same as everyone else, but they just happen to live without a home and therefore are constantly disregarded and invisible. The opinions of people who discount the homeless as unimportant would undoubtedly be changed if they took the time to listen to the voices of those who are on the outskirts of society.

What if we cared about those living in poverty as much as we care about celebrities?

About being poor, Books and Films, News link, Organizations, People, Portraits of Homeless, Poverty, Uncategorized

I recently discovered through tumblr a project known as Homeward Bound, which is affiliated with Woodgreen Foundation and is a part of United Way Toronto. This particular project focuses on the life of single mothers struggling with poverty, and suggests giving these women’s problems the proper representation and time.

I think these magazine manipulations are powerful, because a significant portion of society does care about celebrity gossip and tabloid news. I think this campaign cleverly critiques our society’s obsession with the wealthy and famous and flips this consumption of popular culture on its head.

No doubt if we were exposed to the reality of poverty on a daily basis as we waited in lines at the grocery store where our eyes inevitably wander, we as a society would be much more enraged about the problem.

[For more examples of the campaign’s pictures, click here: (w) (x) (y) (z).]

Criminalizing Homelessness

Books and Films, Homelessness

The documentary “Taylor’s Campaign” reveals what it is like to be homeless in Santa Monica, CA. As a man runs for local office with the platform to help the poor, the city begins to implement new laws that strip away homeless people’s rights. The new laws create a context where the poor are treated like criminals. One of the opening scenes plays an audio clip of a radio DJ sharing his feelings of the poor, describing them as, “a waste of space” and saying they should be “put to sleep.” Such individuals who live on the street are dehumanized and treated horribly. They are considered to be a burden to the city. These new laws are meant to keep the homeless away and out of sight so that the area will maintain its status as a popular tourist location.

The privileged citizens of the city stated that they do not like seeing homelessness in the city. These same people however, do not support solutions to homelessness. I find these contradictory attitudes quite interesting. People don’t want to see homelessness but they also do not want to help. They do not give money to the homeless in fear that they will be irresponsible with their charity. People want to know what someone will do with their charity. It is a common response to give only if they know it is going to a trustworthy cause, to be spent on something that they approve of. The same people also often do not support public leaders who want to contribute to solutions (as Ron Taylor did not win the election). Voting against or creating a public dialogue about the new laws implemented would also have been an alternate approach to solving these issues. However, many cities are beginning to adopt similar criminalizing laws and strategies for dealing with homeless populations.

 

“Painfully Invisible”

About being poor, Books and Films, Homelessness, Poverty, Reflections on our Reading

In the film watched in class, Taylor’s Campaign, a man who has suffered from homelessness himself is running for city council on a fifty dollar budget. The aim of his film is to show his feelings towards the mistreatment of the homeless population of Santa Monica.  In this film, there were many themes seen that relate directly to the other readings that we have done so far in this course. However, it was also very eye-opening in many ways because it focused on a small group of homeless individuals and allowed an inside look into their daily lives and the stuggles that they face.

While some of the residents of Santa Monica who were interviewed expressed extreme negative opinions towards the homeless population, saying that they are a waste of life, shouldn’t be allowed to live in their nice neighborhoods, and all-around lazy individuals who are looking for a hand-out, this is not what the footage revealed. On the contrary, these homeless individuals worked hard daily, collecting cans and doing what they could to make the money necessary to buy essential items. This example illustrates how the mainstream society passes judgement on the homeless population without knowing their stuggles or understanding how many times, it is outside forces that have pushed them into the homeless situation. One homeless woman expressed that she wanted out of the situation she was in but that it seemed impossible. Time and time again through this film  well as other readings, the homeless population expressed that they are not looking for a handout, as many people belive.

In many ways, the themes seen in this film directly correlate to the book Voices From the Street: Truths about Homelessness from Sisters of the Road (Morrell 2007). In this text, Morrell writes “when you become invisible to mainstream society, the myth is that you stop being human, that you’re somehow made up of different stuff. But you’re not. Your humanity doesn’t go away because society doesn’t see it” (Morrell 105). This shows how mainstream society treats the homeless as if they are outcasts to which they cannot relate. It is not surprising that many homeless persons feel a strong sense of not belonging when they are ignored or clearly looked at with disgust by those not in their situation and unwilling to try to understand their plight. This is recalled by Morrell when she discusses the homeless and poverty-striken population, stating “they feel painfully invisible to others in the larger society” (Morrell 35).

Shelter Staff or Prison Guards

Books and Films

After reading, Tell Them Who I Am, I got a new insight to the way homeless people feel about shelter life.  The book goes into detail about the different struggles within shelter life and explains different reasons why people may be homeless.  What really got to me was the section about the staff at shelters.  The book talks about how women are constantly afraid to be exited from the program because the staff makes sure they are on perfect behavior.  The residents can be exited for a variety of reasons, but the staff’s opinion of the person has a big influence.  It is hard to think that someone can live their life homeless, with no money and no place to go during the day when the shelter is closed, and being happy and chipper all the time.  It makes sense that someone may be grumpy when they get home from a long day in either the heat or the cold.  If a person is in a bad mood, however, they will risk the chance of being kicked onto the street with sometimes no remorse.  It makes sense that there are rules, but for the shelter to be “jail-like,” doesn’t seem right.  They have not committed a crime.  They are without a home and need a place to stay for the night.

http://www.amazon.com/Tell-Them-Who-Am-Homeless/dp/014024137X

Priorities in the Wrong Places

Books and Films, Government programs, Homelessness

This week in class, we got the opportunity to see a very informative documentary called “Taylor’s Campaign”. This followed around a man by the name of Ron Taylor while he was in the process of running for council on a platform of improving the lives of homelessness. He himself was once homeless for a period a little longer than ten months and decided to take a stand and make an effort to help improve the lives of the other homeless in the city of Santa Monica, California.
Not only does this movie just follow Taylor around while he campaigns, but gives an inside story of the struggles of homelessness in the city of Santa Monica with. The city has more than enough power to improve the lives of the homeless, but they choose to focus their time on trying to cut services for them while trying to hide them away from tourists, to not scare them away and ultimately increase revenue. There are many instances that the movie shows that the city could be doing more. A housing structure had to be built, but the problem was that there were only three-to-five beds for women while there were at least forty-to-fifty for the men. The services put in place to serve and protect the people are putting unnecessary time into harassing the homeless around the city. The police cite misdemeanors for shopping carts and kick others out of spots they found for the night to sleep in. It was also interesting to see how much time the police use to pointlessly hassle the homeless. In Lee Stringer’s book, Grand Central Winter, the cops use arresting the homeless for their own personal gain. One example of this is when the main character and his friend are woke up to an officer who was “calculating the overtime it will be worth to arrest the two of [them].” (44 Stringer) And these are people who are not trying to cause trouble to begin with. They are down on their luck and are doing anything they can to survive. A few of the homeless have a system to collect cans and bottles for money, and at the same time they are “doing a service for the city” by recycling, but the city would just rather bother and hassle them in hopes that they leave and go back to the shadows away from the residents and the tourists.

Homeless People vs. Human Beings

Books and Films

Watching “Taylor’s Campaign” in class was a big eye opener for me. This documentary was released in 1998 and showed how a homeless man wanted to run for city council in Santa Monica. Ron Taylor was an ex-truck driver who showed us the stories of just a few homeless people in Santa Monica whom are potentially representing the rest of the country. Even though Ron Taylor was unsuccessful with his campaign, it was astonishing how much knowledge I have gained through watching this video and getting a better perspective of how the homeless live. These hard working homeless people live their lives in a way that I never imagined they would. Questions came up such as “Are homeless people human beings?” However, with this video it made me question if “we” the society/government/cops are human beings. The way that these homeless people are being treated is not fair. The video showed us how these people would find an area where they could stay and live and they would basically set up their camp but it wouldn’t be long before they were asked to leave by the police and potentially be cited for something. From the video, I did not see any harm that these people were causing for staying in the places they were, and for cops to come in and make them leave is a question that sits in my mind. It is as if our society makes these homeless people feel like they are a burden to the society as if they are a waste, however, I believe that society needs to remind themselves that they are human beings too.

Here is a quick video clip from the documentary:

One Man’s Reality Put Into Perspective

Books and Films

After watching the movie “Taylor’s Campaign” in class on Thursday (1/30), which was about the homeless man running for city council in Santa Monica, I was able to see and understand how the government plays a role for homeless people. This man wanted to make a difference for his local homeless community. He wanted to show people that just because he is homeless does not mean he is helpless.

In this movie, we saw how homeless people banded together to make a home on the streets. But we also saw police taking that temporary home away from them. We saw hospitals dropping off elderly people on the street, a woman trying desperately to find a safe place to stay for her and her young child, and a group of people who became family getting there safe place taken away from them. All of these things seem to be normal occurrences in our society today. This movie put these situations into perspective.

Most importantly, this movie showed the power of one’s voice. You are just one person, but you can make a huge difference in your society, just like Ron Taylor. He used his voice and his candidacy as a quest for equality and hope. We saw members of the homeless community spending their days searching for bottles and cans to have some sort of income. It shows the struggles that homeless people endure everyday and gives insight to those who maybe turn a blind eye to the homeless. Ron Taylor wanted to see a change for the homeless and even though he did not win, his courage, bravery, and his outspoken heart made people aware of what is happening and shed light on the lives of the homeless and how we can all make a difference.

To watch a clip of Taylor’s Campaign, follow the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GeoTK5SQEQ

 

Trials and Tribulations

Books and Films

Taylor’s Campaign is a film we watched in class that spoke on a homeless man’s campaign for City Council in Santa Monica in the early 1990’s. His story  portrayed through the film showed the trials and tribulations that he went through as well as many other stories of the homeless people he interacted with. One of the most interesting concepts to wrap map my head around was about the two black women and the other people that followed them around. They set up their belongings as if the side of the street was their actual home. This contrasts the perception of homeless people living in a box or in a tent. Also, the bonds that all the homeless people had for one another was so strong and exemplified what they were willing to do for each other. Additionally, one woman in the film describe three types of homeless people: those who want to be homeless, those whose addiction leads them to homelessness, and those who are stuck and trying to get out. It is so confusing to me that many people are so close minded to the first and third types of homeless people. In the film, there were many reactions to the fact there were organizations who were trying to give to the homeless in Santa Monica. All the people they interviewed were negative and made it seem like we should rid the Earth of homeless people because they “don’t deserve to live.” When in fact there is much that homeless people do to positively impact the cities they are in. Since most of them collect recyclables, they help keep the streets clean. In addition, homeless people are also a type of security for businesses and establishments to keep criminals away.

It is people like Taylor who help create change and develop new perspective on society. Unfortunately, the town of Santa Monica was unable to reap the benefits of his experience and life story as he was not elected. Santa Monica has laws in place that prohibit giving food to the homeless and have increased its enforcement since the 1990’s. This film opened up my viewpoint to many facets of homelessness and lead me to lose a bit of hope in humanity.

Giving Homelessness a Voice

Books and Films, Local organizations, Solutions to Homelessness

In the film, “Tayor’s Campaign” Taylor, a homeless advocate tries to run for city council in Santa Monica. I appreciate the effort that Taylor took during the campaigning process. Improved communication with the homeless community is one way in which solutions can be created. In my hometown Fullerton, there is a group that meets monthly called the Fullerton Homeless Collaborative. Their mission is to open communication and strengthen understanding with the homeless. This group was created after the death of Kelly Thomas, a homeless schizophrenic man who died after being beaten by the police in 2011.  I wish that it did not take a horrible event to create the group. Yet, I am satisfied because so far the Homeless Collaborative has met their mission.

In Voices from the Street there is a quote that suggests, “let’s not just transform those in need, we can also find ways to help transform those in power” (51). The people in power have access to resources; they have the ability to enact change.  If we educate those in power we can create change. The Fullerton Homeless Collaborative is one group that seeks to maybe not transform those in power, but to establish understandings and better relationships. There are a number of nonprofits that work with the homeless as well as police officers who seek to improve relationships and understanding during the Homeless Collaborative meetings. When the groups listen to each other they can gain understandings of problems and offer solutions.

To purchase Voices from the Street:

http://www.amazon.com/Voices-Street-Truths-Homelessness-Sisters/dp/0976926164/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391384632&sr=8-1&keywords=voices+from+the+street