Skid Row

It was a good thing I watched these videos because this was a huge shock for me. After taking the initiative to watch ALL 5 videos, its hard to believe the overwhelming amount of homeless individuals living in the Los Angeles district alone. There is a rough estimate of 9,000 people living in a 50 block area including numerous drug dealers, sexual offenders, and war veterans. It takes videos like these to make our eyes aware of what goes on behind our naïve eyes. The majority of us live in a society where we have nice clothes and new cars therefore we do not see the need to stop and appreciate the things we have. These videos opened my eyes to see the reality of having nothing. People on skid row live on streets and make a living by selling drugs only to be used on buying more drugs for their own personal pleasure. The director appeals to your logic (logos) through his use of statistics. He also appeals to the audiences morals and values.

Video one was basically the introductory video to Skid Row. It summarize the many issues that occur on a daily basis and how the government have made false promises for this “prosperous” community. Skid Row is just miles away from the tall skyscrapers and the riches that is Rodeo Ave and what is primarily considered the real Los Angeles. Although, the video was not made to point out the racial differences; its undeniable that the majority of the homeless in skid row from the black community. This particular video was the first shock to me because I did not know that there were that many homeless people let alone the 9,000 plus individuals residing in Skid Row alone. I did not feel that the directors purpose was to manipulate us in any way. I think it was more to inform us of the reality in which we try to stay away from. Los Angeles is the top fist world cities in the nation yet it is also one of the top economies in the country.

Part two focused more on the kids in Skid row. The average age for a homeless child is 9 years old. Approximately 3.5 million are homeless and 1.5 of them being children. This video primarily focused on Franklin Arburtha which is one of the kids that has spoken on numerous talk shows about his experience as a homeless in Skid Row. To have been through all of that at such a young age must be life changing. It makes me stop and realize how spoiled I am. Children all over the world are sleeping on the streets not knowing when they will get a plate of food. This video hit me the hardest because innocent children are left to live such a horrible life at the expense of their parents mistakes. It disgust me because they have to live such horrible lives. They are probably caught up in this warped world where drugs, rape, and abuse is normal.

Part three talks about drugs. Drugs is a big part of the homeless community. For most of them it’s the reason why they are homeless. Skid Row is a 24/7 drug store where people can get drugs at any time and for a good price. Some the “rich” even come to Skid Row to purchase these drugs. Part four talks about the homeless connection to their religion. It was nice to see that even through the worst of times; the homeless still have faith in God and seek his guidance to get through life. Part five talked about the “after word”, which was basically the law enforcers and the governments response to the homeless. They talked about the conditions and how their false promises to help their community when in reality they are helping Skid Row by getting rid of the homeless. This video frustrated me the most because the government is avoiding the real issue. Homeless people have no place to go and by placing them in jails or getting rid of them they are not helping them.