Words: 1861
The Video I decided to choose for my Ethnographic Paper Is “Denver Homeless”. The video is a collection of interviews from people who are homeless in Denver. Created by “Isaac, John, Steven and Austin: the video goes to show a lot of things. They go on to ask a series of questions including: How do you view Denver life? Why are you here? What is urban peak? How do kids end up here? What leads to kids being homeless? How do programs build relationships? How is life outside of these programs? What where your dreams as a kid? Are you out on the streets every day?
Are people gluing on the streets? What Is your biggest struggle of not having a safe place to sleep? Do you take advantage of the shelters? Do you know any other people you can communicate with? Do any programs help on job search? Do you have a criminal record? How is the weather? What made you come back to Colorado? Do you have any plans on getting a house? How long have you been without a meal? By asking these questions these students help to gain Information on the homeless population In Denver, a subculture within the united States. It also helps them to feel how it might be in the shoes of a homeless person.
Growing up we are encouraged to trivet for the best and that everyone has a potential to better or worse their life. Len this video we learn that not everyone is put on the same starting points and some face hardships which challenge their opportunities to succeed. The video begins with them driving in a car on what looks to be a highway. They arrive to what I believe to be downtown. There Is a lot of older big buildings. They start the Interviews with “Keenan” and how he views Denver life. Keenan Is a white male who seems to look In his ass’s-ass’s.
He’s wearing a black leather jacket on top of his sweater and grey vest. He has hat on with a bright green head band. Keenan has both his ears and lip pierced and has short dreads. He goes on to answer “how life in Denver is” while he stands almost slanted on the busy street of Denver. The road is loud with the sound of cars honking. There are deferent types of vehicles like small ones and buses. The weather looks windy and the temperature seems to be on the cooler side, as I see people who are passing by from a distance wearing mostly sweaters. Keenan speaks on how life in the end, is a choice”.
The next question was “what is you reason for staying in Denver He goes on to say “love and weed”. Then lastly they sashimi “how o you feel about the Jobs in Denver and money”. Keenan says “money is made in Denver, dude” “the meds right here”. Next is “Adam” from Urban Peak. Adam is a white male who looks Like he might be about 20 years old. He’s wearing a whitish T- shirt with a black sweater on top. They are standing In a semi busy road. Looks Like again they are located in down town area. The sun is shining bright. Adam comes off as an enthusiastic person, in hopes for a better place in life.
He has a great level of understanding for rules and regulations. The interviewers ask Adam what is urban peak and why are you here? He goes on to say “urban peak is a day shelter that helps us kids get on our feet, and I think has really good resources” “It’s a really good youth organization”. They go on to ask Adam “Why do you think these kids are homeless”. Like they are misfits; like black sheep’s”. Next they go on to ask “how do they help”, Adam states that urban peak has a GEED program that helps kids to get their GEED because a lot of them drop out of high school. The interviewers than ask “do they offer rehab” Adam says “yes”. Then they asked him if he needed to go through that. He says “no, I wasn’t really into drugs or alcohol, I didn’t really like when people mocked around me”. The interviewers next ask “how do these programs build relationships”. Adam goes on to say “yes a lot of us are a tight net community, and usually go to other places after urban peak and associate with each other and gather with each other”. Adam lets us know that after urban peak they usually head to the shelters that are provided. He says mainly some of us mains go to “mission”.
In the end of Adams interview we learn that he has an associate degree in business and is working towards his bachelors. Next is “Sammy’, he is an African America male in about his ass’s. Sammy is wearing a black hat with a black sweater. He mentions how its chiller today. The road sounds busy and you can hear cars passing by. You can also see people walking around and they are looks a little poorer. At 9:35 in the video you can see garbage moving along the street on the left side. They ask Sammy if it’s hard being homeless. He said “yes”. He lost his parents at a young age.
After moving in with his aunt she kicked him out when he turned 18. They then asked Sammy “what was your childhood dream, what you want to become”. He said “a firemen but I didn’t get any education”. The interviewers asked “are people giving”? Sammy lets us know that some people are and some are not. What is the hardest part about not having a place to stay? He says “everything, sometimes I want to commit suicide. ” He lets us know that he doesn’t stay at the shelters too much because they have a lot of bed bugs. Do you communicate with any other people? He said “he doesn’t and that he does sometimes wish he did”.
In the end we learn that the convictions Sammy has on his records are things like “robbery’. Even though most of the things which the interviewers consider “necessities”. Sammy says he moved back to Colorado to be “home”. He came from Texas which he says is “hot”! The church helped pay his way to Denver. Value Diary: After watching the video on Denver homeless I realized that a lot of people suffer in this population. The video was a great visual on understanding more into this population. Being homeless can mean foodless, cloths less, and sometimes friends or family less for many people.
Homelessness in a way is a put down for many. It stops them from being able to accomplish their goals and ambitions. Some people are in a daily struggle of survival that it becomes their only struggle. In the video Sammy talks about Just being able to survive, taking life day by day. Adam talks about going to complete more of his schooling and getting a BAA. Keenan looks for love. They all have struggles and ambitions. I think that the interview shows us a good view point on how this population lives. I’m proud of these student being able to interview people and learn more into the homeless population.
I have been in that place before. Not having a home is a big thing. Just knowing you don’t have anywhere you can rest your head at night and relax. Most people don’t understand that being homeless can having anything to eat. It’s sad because even if you have stuff, you don’t have anywhere to leave it, it often means carrying it or hiding it in public places. I think hat homeless people need a more resources and help. Watching this video I can sometimes remember my struggles. When Sammy mentioned feeling “cold” I kind of felt sad. With the weather changing all the time you have to struggle threw all types of weather.
Theoretical Applications: Life Chances: a social science theory of the opportunities each individual has to improve his or her quality of life In the video Adam speaks about “those who want to do better and those who don’t. He also speaks about going to better his life with continuing his education. After receiving an Associates in business he hopes to now obtain his Bachelors. Acculturation: Acculturation is the replacement of the cultural traditions, material culture, and/or values of a cultural group with those drawn from another cultural group. This process usually occurs with prolonged contact and a power imbalance.
In video acculturation was a big factor because none of them where born homeless, it was something that overtime with misfortune ended up in. Generalities:Features that are common to several but not all human groups. In the video about homelessness, they had to worry about where to sleep. Where most people that are not homeless don’t have to worry Limitability: The quality of ambiguity r disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of rituals, when participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status but have not yet begun the transition to the status they will hold when the ritual.
In the video when Sammy talks about moving from Texas he talks about how he was homeless in Texas. But now in Denver he is again in the situation. He mentions how he doesn’t move beyond certain blocks. Minority Groups: subordinate with inferior power and less secure access to resources. They were minority people in the video, homelessness would also be considered as minority. With less resources to access. Leveling Mechanism: practice that acts to ensure social equality, usually by shaming or humbling members of a group that attempt to put themselves above other members.
In the video Adam talks about there are those who follow the rules and there are those who don’t. I think that because someone might be homeless they are sometimes automatically considered to be lower than those of other groups. Conclusion: In the end I think this video is a great visual way to show people that society needs to stand up and feel sympathy. I think that often times we look at homeless people on the street like we are better and almost gross of them. Majority of the time we say that often times we forget that we are all humans with struggles and hard times.
I think that society demonstrableness people. Even though these same people could be those we work, or go to school with. I think that more resources needs to be provided for those who lose their parents and those who are kids in education. In the end we learn about these three men with different goal. Some have more ambitions then another but in the end they all have a common struggle; homelessness.