The Homeless In AMERICA

For the third unit of this course "Rhetoric" the assigned project was to choose a important social issue to you and design a art piece, poem or audio/video to present your social issue. The purpose of this action project was to show your artwork and change people's minds of how important the issue you chose is to you. The topic I chose was the homeless in America, because homeless are the most stereotyped human beings in the America's. I want to be able to change the way people think about the homeless, because if I was in their shoes I would want some support or someone to help me, notice me. I am proud of the topic I chose and being able to express the way I feel and helping out the homeless to get the real meaning of what homeless people are and what they go through every single day, where we tend to ignore because our minds are too caught in the fact that each homeless person in America is a drug addict, has domestic violence records, financial issues and are too lazy to get a job. Here is my art piece that I hope will change the way you think about the homeless here in America.

JR (2015). "The Homeless In America Board"

 I am JR and the topic I chose was "The Homeless In America" The reason for choosing this topic is for the way the homeless were stereotyped on websites like Huffington Post and the main stream media. As I read on a website, a statement came up and triggered me to think about the homeless differently. The statement was " Admit it: when you think of a homeless person, a certain stereotype comes to mind. A middle-aged to older man who's addicted to drugs and too lazy to get a job. You think it's their own fault that they're living on the streets." I totally agree with this statement because I have thought like that about homeless people whenever i'm outside. This is the reason why I chose this topic. Homeless people go through so much and I just want to put their mindsets out there so people know that they are not homeless because of what we immediately think when the word homeless comes to our mind. I want to be able to present my artwork and make a change in America.

 The art piece that I created was a cardboard poster with a quote, question, a mirror and facts and take one cards and a suggestion box for the homeless people. The reason why I chose to present my art piece on a cardboard poster was because the majority of homeless people write on card board to speak to people around them instead of going to each person asking for help or money. Some people are not always interested in speaking with homeless people. Some people find it very awkward and weird. The quote is to inspire people who read the quote and to give them a inspiration to change and think of homeless people differently. The mirror is to look at yourself and picture yourself in their shoes. Looking at yourself is to imagine yourself in their same situation and not judge no matter how bad their situation can be at the moment. The about me cards are to take with you and know more about the person and the homeless.

 The question is to make you think deeply, change your mind about the homeless being stereotyped and helping them how they should be helped no matter their situation. The colors that I used are Black, Red and Green. Each one of these colors represent a topic Black is the most written color on a cardboard poster when I see homeless people with their posters. The quote is written in black to make it stand out. The Red is the question of how deep it can be to a person and painful, showing a little bit of pathos. The green is support/ help / important. I have done research on just homeless and the rate of how many people become and actually move on with their lives. It just frightens me to know that young teenagers are also becoming homeless. Like, I definitely don’t want to end up in a situation like that at all. This makes me want to help out more.

Young people often become homeless due to family conflict, including divorce, neglect, or abuse. A large majority of young people experience short-term homelessness, returning back home or to family/friends. The medium that I chose to grab the audience's attention for the social issue. I picked a cardboard poster which resembles everything about what homeless feels like and what we should do to help change that. What inspired me the most was Marvin Gaye and his song “Inner City Blues” which he depict on the ghettos, economic, about the America.

 “The United States government acknowledges four categories of people who qualify as legally homeless:
(1) those who are currently homeless
(2) those who will become homeless in the future
(3) certain youths and families with children who suffer from home instability caused by a hardship.
(4) those who suffer from home instability caused by domestic violence.”

 These are facts that I would like you to know about the homeless in America.

•  "On a single night in January 2014, 578,424 people were experiencing homelessness — meaning they were sleeping outside or in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program.
•  "Of that number, 216,197 are people in families, and 362,163 are individuals." 
•  “About 15 percent of the homeless population – 84,291 - are considered "chronically homeless” individuals, and about 9 percent of homeless people- 49,933 - are veterans.”

Citations:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/uloop/what-homelessness-is-real_b_8094190.html

http://www.endhomelessness.org/library/entry/the-state-of-homelessness-in-america-2015

http://kylyssa.hubpages.com/hub/homelessness-myths-misconceptions