Reprinted from Teatro de la Tierra (http://teatrodelatierra.net):
Agustin Lira & Patricia Wells sing Lira’s song “Don’t Come to Fresno if You’re Homeless” with the students of their music project “Generaciones” at the November 16, 2012 Annual Fundraiser for the Community Alliance Newspaper and Pacifica Radio station KFCF @ the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno. This video is of the City of Fresno’s demolition of homeless encampments in August and September 2013 .The pictures are by Mike Rhodes and independent photographers/contributors to the newspaper.
I really like this song and the lyrics because it really does reflect the negative stereotypes and views shared by many people, not just those living in Fresno. I though that the clips of photographs was also very powerful because it showed the complete devastation of these homeless individuals as their encampments and possessions were demolished.
I could really relate the lyrics of the song to the views that were expressed in the film “Taylor’s Campaign” that we previously watched in class. Out of everything that transpired in this film, what stood out most to me was the interviews with community members who had disgust and feelings of resentment towards the homeless population.
I think that this is very common among people who are uninformed about the homeless population and how easy it can be to wind up in these unfortunate positions. While residents of Fresno may think that their town appears “cleaner” or “less trashy” with the removal of these encampments, the fact of the matter is that these homeless are left with nothing and are faced with the challenge of finding somewhere else that they can lay their head to sleep.