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
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
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
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.
“Housing first. Community next.”
This blog post from the Huffington Post provides an interesting insight on a possible solution to homelessness. What Joel John Roberts argues is that the key aspect of solving homelessness is a sense of community. Only three weeks into this course, we have already seen several examples of the importance of a simple human connection. A perfect quote regarding this comes from the film “Taylor’s Campaign” (1997): “we are not just looking for a handout, but are looking for just a hand.” Though charity and “handouts” help, people do not want to be seen as a project; something to be fixed and then forgotten about. The homeless want to be a part of the community, just like everyone else. The only way to really help these people is to extend our kindness and humanness to them. The program described in the article has made a lot of progress in housing homeless people, yet the author/agency director even acknowledges that it needs to be taken a step further in order to maintain this progress. As Roberts states, “A weekly visit from a case worker, or an open case management office in the building, does not create an intimate, supportive community for a person who has been isolated on the streets for years.” He stresses the importance of a supportive and warm community that can ease homeless back into housed living. People too often forget how easy it is to make a person feel like a human being. Solutions to homelessness need to take a step further and include humanity and caring.
Giving Homelessness a Voice
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:
Black Techies ‘Hackathon’ honors MLK by supporting programs that help poor people
This isn’t specifically about homelessness, but it is a cool example of how educated people can use tech to help others. Kyle Wanamaker (the son of one of my former students), organized a ‘hackaton’ to develop apps, programs, and other software to solve ordinary people’s problems. One example: an app that helps poor people figure out where to vote — and overcome the hurdles that richer folk have put in their way.
I wonder what the rest of us can do to help poor people, including homeless people, take control of their own lives.
Check it out: http://m.blackenterprise.com/p.p?m=b&a=rp&id=1431813934&postId=1431813934&postUserId=2609744
Film Reaction
I found the movie that we watched today about Ron, the homeless man who was a candidate for the Santa Monica City Council, to be both moving and troubling. What struck me as being the most upsetting throughout the documentary was just how hideously selfish so many of the people who had homes that were interviewed in the film were. For example, when the two young men were asked whether or not they think food donation services should be outlawed, their responses were centered around the notion that people who cannot afford to feed themselves should be left to starve, because “in nature, if you can’t feed yourself, you die.” Another interviewee, a woman on vacation from Kentucky, described the line of homeless individuals in the beach park waiting for a free hot meal as being “disgusting.” I don’t consider myself to be particularly naive, but I honestly was shocked by how insensitive and apathetic these privileged people were about those less fortunate than them. I cannot even begin to fathom viewing another human being as being unworthy of life simply because they have fallen upon hard times or are losing life’s lottery. This film made it clear how easy it is for others to bask in their own good fortunate and ignore the needs and suffering of others.
A quote I found to be interesting from the movie was “we are not just looking out for a handout, but are looking for just a hand.” This was stated by a homeless man responding to the question of how it is that people can assist those on the streets. I fully agree with what he had to say. It’s the idea of helping people help themselves so that longterm solutions can be made. All of the people in the film wanted to get off the streets and were desperately trying to better themselves and their lives, but between the overfilled shelters and the constant mistreatment and harassment from uncaring police offers they were unable to find proper housing. That is what I found most tragic. That even those putting all of their efforts into trying to rectify or improve their situations just couldn’t do so and not because of anything they were doing wrong, but because the city of Santa Monica was failing to uphold their promises to aid the homeless denizens of the area.
Lastly, I found it surprising how unappreciative people were of the homeless people collecting cans to recycle. The movie made it clear that Santa Monica lacks a productive recycling program and so to me, it appeared incredibly helpful and eco friendly of the street people to gather plastic and aluminum refuse and recycle it. This not only provides homeless people with a form of legal income, but it cleans up the streets, and helps Santa Monica become a greener city. It certainly sounds like a good thing to me!
The relationship between wages, poverty, and family
Link to article discussed below:
Last week we read an article called, “This Is Why Poor Peoples Bad Decisions Make Perfect Sense”, by Linda Tirado. This article brought up some truly compelling and deeply saddening truths about what the reality of being poor is, and the downward spiral that it can promote in one’s life. Linda beings the article by stating that very rarely do people actually have poverty described to them by poor people. This fact immediately stuck out to me, because the reality of the matter is that poor people hardly ever are the ones advocating for themselves. Government officials, policy makers, and political figures are constantly bombarding the television, newspapers, etc. telling the American people what it is like to be poor in the United States and how we should or should not address it, yet very rarely do you see a person who is actually experiencing and trying to overcome poverty doing the talking. As Linda continues to write she begins to describe poverty as a “day by day” lifestyle. She describes how, “… planning isn’t in the mix”, and while exhaustion, sickness, depression, etc. are all very real factors of existing in poverty, the “lifestyle” itself does not permit such physical or emotional stressors. Linda describes feeling defeated when she tries to change things in her life. She says that trying to become middle class when you have been living in poverty, “…never works out well and always makes you feel worse for having tried and failed yet again”.(Pg. 1) This aspect of poverty is one that the people of the United States need to hear about first hand from people who are living it. To be told poverty renders people helpless, hungry, cold, etc. is one thing, but to actually here the ways in which is creates this sense of hopelessness that attaches itself to the foundation of a person’s existence and self-worth is so much more. Tirado goes on to describe her life while being pregnant, and how when you are poor, your options in regards to birth control, abortion, pregnancy, etc. are all defined and limited by either money or the perceptions and misguided notions of, for the most part, strangers. She says, “Nobody likes poor people procreating, but they judge abortion even harder”.(Pg. 1) This left me feeling heartbroken for her and other women living in poverty who find themselves pregnant and in most cases, at a loss with what to do. The thought of having to tackle motherhood without the support of a family or even remote financial stability seems daunting enough, but to have the ever present understanding in your head that society does not approve of the life you are bringing your child into is a whole different aspect to motherhood that so many women face but don’t discuss. Towards the end of the article she admits that she doesn’t specifically have a problem with being a “Poor Person”, but that she has acknowledged that it is all she will ever be. The way she describes existing in poverty was so exhausting and defeating, but for her to actually write that she understands that it is all she will ever be was more than I can describe. I cannot imagine being in a situation like hers and being able to see no real way out. She does not ask for sympathy, but instead asks for understanding on a human level. I think her article truly conveyed that understanding that poverty is not a life created through bad decisions, but a life that in so many ways requires a different way of thinking, survival techniques, and a real understanding of self-defeat. This article truly stuck out to me and I think it really provided me with some of the more personal realities of homelessness that I hope this class will continue to provide.
For this class we then read an article called, “The Minimum We Can Do”,, by Arindrajit Dube. I felt that these articles provided the exact contrast and confusion surrounding this issue that we have been discussing in class. There is this huge percentage of the population existing in this crippling hopelessness that is poverty, and then there are policy makers, economists’, authors, political figures, etc. who write about ways in which these things could be fixed. I always find it strange to read about a problem that you know is currently taking place, and then reading something else that offers a way to fix it. Setting a wage standard, as suggested by Dube, is something that I believe would seriously improve the quality of life for so many Americans, yet due to various examples of how power and money dictate most of American culture, society, and policies, it has yet to be done. Dube’s article shows studies that suggest that raising the wage standard to a price that is closer to 10 dollars an hour, would in fact end up benefitting companies and corporations that feel threatened by it. The reality is that teens are no longer the majority that is existing on minimum wage. A large percentage of adults are the ones receiving minimum wage pay for the work that they do, and yet, as stated by Dube, “… the popularity of minimum wages has not translated into legislative success on the federal level”.”(Pg. 3) Of course the reality of truly being able to change the quality of life for Americans who are living in poverty would require more than just raising and indexing the minimum wage in the U.S., I would love to discuss in class the ways in which everyone thinks it would assist the overall issue.
The last thing that I have to comment on is the activity that we did for class. We had to find the cost of living for a single parent with two young children in Redlands. After really getting to look at how much the reality of living costs, it was clear that minimum wage is not enough to raise a family on, or even live off of for that matter. I was discouraged that I was unable to make the budget that we were given work and for just a moment was able to feel that type of anxiety that was being described in Tirado’s article. I look forward to getting to see if anyone in the class was able to make the budget work.
Hazardous Living Conditions
“You grab a bit of connection wherever you can to survive. You have no idea how strong the pull to feel worthwhile is.” Says activist Linda Tirado in her essay “This is Why Poor People’s Bad Decisions Make Sense.” As humans we all share the same needs such as safety, love, care, support, shelter, food and purpose. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, given equal rights and opportunities to succeed. Instead, “Individuals are born into a society that neither treats people nor distributes opportunity equally.” Stated the Prevention Institute, which published a Trajectory of Health Disparities. Root factors of this issue include many forms of oppression and discrimination, which lead to poverty and homelessness. These communities are forced to live in unhealthy conditions because safe housing is not affordable. Minority neighborhoods are targeted with toxic waste, landfills, and polluted sites unsafely placed next to their homes. This is unethical because is creates major health risks including “contamination and greater exposure to viral or microbial agents in the air water, soil homes schools and parks.” (Prevention Institute). This is unethical. No people should be living next to dangerously polluted areas. This inspired me to investigate low-income neighborhoods in Redlands. Is this happening in our College town? And if so, what can I do to spread awareness to this issue? As a local student, and part of the larger Redlands community, I feel responsible to be an activist for social justice and change, to support my neighbors and not turn a blind eye to unethical disparity. “We don’t plan long term because if we do we’ll just get our hearts broken. It’s best not to hope. You can just take what you can get as you spot it.” (Tirado). All people deserve a safe environment to live, and no one should be forced to live in toxic and unhealthy conditions.