Film For Social Change

I am taking a class called African and African American Studies 109 "Film for Social Change" and for our midterm assignment, we had to find someone to interview about their job.

Everyone has a story. However, everyone certainly does not have the same chance to tell their story, and some people are outright ignored. Walking across Massachusetts Avenue everyday going to class, a middle-aged man sits, leaned against the hard cement stairs with a plastic cup in his hand. “Help the Homeless” he says to me for probably the hundredth time this year. I divert my eyes, look down, and keep walking, feeling that pang of guilt in my stomach. I watch as other do the same, one girl stepping up to her knee in ice-cold water in an attempt to move herself farther away from having to confront this annoyance. “Well, maybe next time!” he says cheerfully. “Have a good day!” he says to the next person. And this happens everyday to him. Even when a customer does give him money, it is a brief interaction, a shoving of money towards him, a taking of the paper without eye-contact and a mumbled “thanks” before hurrying away.

Then, I met Ken O'Brien. He runs a homeless book stand in Harvard Square, and suddenly all of that guilt just disappears. Ken's bookstand is a place where, homeless or not, people chat and exchange smalltalk, united by the love of books. "Hey Ken, hows business?" people ask as they walk by. It is a place where tourists stop, and where students and natives know well. It is an icon of Harvard Square, and yet it has been an enormous struggle to keep it here. Ken has been arrested twice over a two month period for selling books without a permit, and through years of court battles and issuing of permits only to be later invalidated, he has finally reached an agreement from the city to leave him alone. In the spring until fall, he buys and sells thousands of books and employs other homeless people. In the winter he has to close his bookstand and turn to an-handling, (pictures 3 & 4) but even then, people remember him and the good relations continue.

Thus, I was really excited to interview him and hear his story, and working in the studio was amazing! With state of the art cameras and lights, you feel like a real professional! I interviewed Ken for almost an hour and a half, and I will create a short piece about his job and life. I'll keep you posted! What a cool day.