“What
Does a Person Deserve?” – A Film on the Answer to Hunger and Homelessness
by Alice Bernstein
During this holiday time which begins with National Hunger
and Homelessness Awareness Week at Thanksgiving, these injustices, which
affect millions of people, are more apparent than ever. Throughout the
nation, food pantries, churches, community organizations are straining
to make sure that the record numbers of homeless – thousands in overcrowded
shelters – will have the food they need. It is criminal that the basic
necessities of life are denied to hundreds of thousands of people across
America.
I want everyone to know that there
is a solution to this injustice which is hurting and even killing men,
women and children in the wealthiest nation on earth. That answer is in
Aesthetic Realism, the education founded by the American philosopher Eli
Siegel. It is stated in the film, based on his urgent ethical question:
“What
does a person deserve by being alive?” produced by Emmy award-winning
filmmaker Ken Kimmelman,
which is being shown both in English and Spanish nationwide.
"What Does a Person Deserve?” is now airing
on CNN and |
Ken Kimmelman
Photo credit: Vincent DiPietro
|
other major stations, and at airports in our largest cities.
It has won numerous awards including the CINDY Award, and was named Best
Public Service Film for the Year 2000 by the Santa Clarita International
Film Festival.
Through a stirring montage of black-and-white photographs
choreographed to original music by award-winning composer Edward
Green, the crucial question comes alive, “What does a person deserve
by being alive?” As the film passionately shows the devastation of homelessness,
it also reveals the humanity and dignity of men, women and children who
are enduring it. And the answer is in these words by Eli Siegel at the
end:
“The world should be owned by
the
people living
in it….
All persons should be
seen as living in
a world truly theirs.” |
Still of family from “What Does
a
Person Deserve?”
Photo credit: Robin Nelson
|
In his recent keynote address
at Boston University's Community Service Center, Mr. Kimmelman asked, “Who
should own America? – 17% of the people, 10%, 5%?” Every time he asks that
question, to whatever audience – students, teachers, workers, professionals,
homemakers, artists, scientists – the answer is always “No! Everyone should
own America!”
I agree, and I see this film and the solution it points
to as beautifully in keeping with the “inalienable rights” stated in our
Declaration of Independence, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” |
Mr. Kimmelman, who is a consultant on the faculty of the
not-for-profit Aesthetic Realism Foundation, told the Boston University
audience of 700 students, administrators and others participating in a
series of educational workshops and outreach projects of volunteer work
in food banks and shelters:
| “As I saw homelessness becoming a staple in America,
I knew this question – What does a person deserve? – had to be made conscious
in people's minds… honestly asked and answered by Americans, including
our government officials. It means a lot to me that through my work in
film I can be useful to people. I’d always wanted to make films for social
justice, but it was when I began to study Aesthetic Realism that I learned
principles that could really make for change in the world.” |
Still of mother and child from
“What Does a
Person Deserve?”
Photo credit: John McCabe
|
“What Does a Person Deserve?” and
the principles on which it is based, are part of a seminar “Housing
– A Basic Right, an Urgent Need, an Architectural Priority: Aesthetic Realism
Explains America’s Housing Crisis, the Cause and the Solution!” presented
by Mr. Kimmelman, architects Dale Laurin and Anthony Romeo, and New York
City Planner Barbara Buehler. It was first given at the American Institute
of Architects Convention 2000 in Philadelphia, then at Harvard and the
University of Maryland, and this fall at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania
as well as Boston University. |
“What Does a Person Deserve?” is sponsored by
many organizations including National Alliance to End Homelessness, Food
Chain, Aesthetic Realism Foundation, Community Foodbank, and Harburg Foundation.
When it premiered at the National Summit on Homelessness in Washington,
DC, Michael Stoops, Director of Field Organizing Projects of the National
Coalition for the Homeless, an endorser of the film, described it as “awesome.”
He continued: “It has the potential of arousing the conscience of the American
people. Eli Siegel’s statement is a wonderful philosophic point – and practical!”
To learn more about the solution to hunger and homelessness
and to inquire about the film and seminar for your school or organization,
contact the not-for-profit Aesthetic Realism Foundation, (212) 777-4490,
www.AestheticRealism.org
and also visit www.housingaright.org
Related Links
National Alliance to End
Homelessness
Harburg
Foundation
National Coalition for the
Homeless
More
about Homelessness
|
Alice
Bernstein, Aesthetic Realism Associate and Journalist