Past Issues :: 2007 May 18 :: Street Culture: Panagaea finds new Roots
Pangaea finds new Roots on the streets
As I stood there with a paper in my hand, the sun shining, and my optimism in high account, I was ready to sell the most recent copy of Street Roots.
I was selling them with fellow participants of The Pangaea Project and several well-known vendors in a service day set to connect with some of the homeless citizens of Portland, to learn from their experiences, and perception of the many problems brought on by homelessness. I expected people to be generous and caring; to try and connect like my group and I were. I was instead met with mixed regard.
Don't get me wrong, there were warm-hearted residents of Portland who stopped to listen, share, and support the cause of fighting against homelessness. Others who felt sympathy, handed over money in a charitable fashion, merely because they felt sorry, not because they wanted to be part of a solution. Then there were those who ducked, and dodged, and ran in a vain effort to avoid confrontation with a homeless person.
I was shocked and dismayed. Above all I was angry, angry that because of this man's housing status, he was regarded as less then human. That is wrong. I beg your pardon. That is wrong, I say, wrong that flesh and blood means nothing to some.
Why the disgusted and hating faces? I ask myself this question, and I try to put myself in their position. I find it very hard to do. Perhaps it is because I am open-minded, unlike them. Perhaps they stare that way because they don't understand, because they are afraid of what a homeless person portrays. They find themselves wanting to deny homelessness exists, deny that it can possibly happen to them.
This was a vital and valuable experience for the participants of the Pangaea Project. In researching the problem of homelessness, it is altogether necessary and fitting to connect with those who suffer from its effects.
I have learned that there is still a long way to go in the war against homelessness, but a conversation starts with a single voice.
