Week 12

Have the Homeless Become Invisible?

The link above goes to a video composed by the  New York Rescue Mission called "Have the Homeless Become Invisible?" Front Steps posted this video on their blog earlier this week. After watching the video, the message was very powerful and moving. I believe this video was an effective strategy for Front Steps to advocate for the homeless community. The video consists of a series of social experiments, where normal people were disguised and placed on the street at homeless individuals. Unsuspecting people walked by their relatives pretending to be homeless. The experiment was conducted to see if these people would notice their family members or if they would become invisible, like the majority of homeless individuals today. No one person recognized their family members sitting on the side of the street. It was even more interesting to see their reactions when they were shown videos of themselves walking past their relatives and not even recognizing them. These individuals were filled with shock, awe and even saddened. This video was an effective strategy in helping promote the recognition of homeless individuals as people. This video helps promote the dignity homeless individuals deserve. The point of this video is that every homeless person is someone's sister, brother, mother, father, grandparent, aunt or uncle. This is something we tend to forget, which is evident when we walk past a homeless individual without even giving them any sort of recognition. This video helps place us in the shoes of these individuals and helps create empathy. After watching this video, I envisioned myself walking down the street without noticing my brother sitting on the curb. It truly saddened me. At any one second anything can go wrong and an individual can find themselves homeless. This video reminds us this and reminds us to give these individuals the simple recognition they deserve. I believe this was a successful and ethical strategy. We tend to forget about others as we get caught up in our daily routines. This video helps place ourselves in the shoes of those who are normally forgotten and reminds us that everyone deserves to be heard and seen.