To answer this question, I sought out the perspective of Knoxville’s homeless population. These are the people who live throughout our community but whose voices go unheard, and these are the people whose perspectives I wanted: Did they consider themselves citizens? What did they see their role as in society? Loaded with these questions and a video camera, I began looking for the voices that society chooses to ignore.

What I found amazed me, especially their perspectives on citizenship.  They did not think that you needed to run for public office, vote, or even have an income in order to be a citizen. For the people I interviewed, citizenship boiled down to taking care of your neighbors.  Citizenship is about people, not positions or things.

About the creator, Tom Pierce

In making this film, I did not set off to end homelessness or even bring greater awareness to their plight. Instead, my point was to show citizenship from a different perspective than we normally see it, and I thought this was a valuable opportunity to learn about ourselves from the outside looking in. In addition, perhaps some viewers may be inspired to change their perspectives on the homeless. I know my experience has done both for me.