People Power - Homeless Hero - 03 Feb 08 - Pt 1
par DJ DemonAngel
2 vues
http://www.bignoisefilms.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=41&Itemid=1
The elections dominate the headlines of American media. But elsewhere in the US, farfrom the glare of the media, another group are fighting daily for their lives - America's 3.5 million homeless people.
Despite all the candidates' talk on the economy, helping working-class families, and pledges to fight poverty, the issue of the homeless has been largely removed from the campaign trails.
While the majority of homeless people are men, 41 per cent are families, and more than 500,000 are children.
But things could change, with a political movement led by a determined single mother, Cheri Honkala.
A homeless mother when she was in her teens, Cheri is the founder of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, an organisation designed to help the poor and homeless in Philadelphia.
Cheri argues that for too many Americans the homeless are invisible, often being pushed out of cities as part of urban redevelopment plans. The prosperity and progress of shiny new downtown, or city districts, she says, is an illusion that ignores the economic causes of poverty.
With the erosion of US manufacturing jobs, Americans are filing for bankruptcy in record numbers and credit card debt is soaring - leaving more workers just a paycheck away from homelessness.
"In this country there is no safety net and there is no security. You can be ok for one minute and the next day you can be living out on the street and nobody will give a damn about you," Cheri says.
Homeless Hero is the story of a true American rebel.
http://babylonburn.blogspot.com/
The elections dominate the headlines of American media. But elsewhere in the US, farfrom the glare of the media, another group are fighting daily for their lives - America's 3.5 million homeless people.
Despite all the candidates' talk on the economy, helping working-class families, and pledges to fight poverty, the issue of the homeless has been largely removed from the campaign trails.
While the majority of homeless people are men, 41 per cent are families, and more than 500,000 are children.
But things could change, with a political movement led by a determined single mother, Cheri Honkala.
A homeless mother when she was in her teens, Cheri is the founder of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, an organisation designed to help the poor and homeless in Philadelphia.
Cheri argues that for too many Americans the homeless are invisible, often being pushed out of cities as part of urban redevelopment plans. The prosperity and progress of shiny new downtown, or city districts, she says, is an illusion that ignores the economic causes of poverty.
With the erosion of US manufacturing jobs, Americans are filing for bankruptcy in record numbers and credit card debt is soaring - leaving more workers just a paycheck away from homelessness.
"In this country there is no safety net and there is no security. You can be ok for one minute and the next day you can be living out on the street and nobody will give a damn about you," Cheri says.
Homeless Hero is the story of a true American rebel.
http://babylonburn.blogspot.com/