Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women

by Elliot Liebow

Overview

He observes them, creating portraits that are intimate and objective, while breaking down stereotypes and dehumanizing labels often used to describe the homeless. Liebow writes about their daily habits, constant struggles, their humor, compassion and strength.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781439107461
Publisher:	Free Press
Publication date:	03/12/1993
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	339
Sales rank:	455,590
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Elliot Liebow was an urban anthropologist and ethnographer.

Table of Contents

Preface: A Soft Beginning
Introduction: The Women, the Shelters, and the Round of Life

PART ONE: Problems in Living
1. Day by Day
2. Work and Jobs
3. Family
4. The Servers and the Served

PART TWO: Making It: Body and Soul
5. My Friends, My God, Myself
6. Making It Together
7. Some Thoughts on Homelessness

Appendixes
A. Where Are They Now?
B. Life Histories
C. How Many Homeless People?
D. Social Service Programs
E. Research Methods and Writing

Bibliography
Index of Names

Editorial Reviews

In 1984 Ellet Liebow, an urban anthroplogist and author of Tally's Corner, an earlier work on Black streetcorner life, left his job at the National Institute of Mental Health and began volunteering at The Refuge, an emergency shelter for homeless women. Elliot became increasingly drawn to these women, spending more and more time in it and other shelters, making notes and getting to know the inhabitants. This book is is the result. Unveiling the problems inherent in the current system of providing for the homeless is only part of the dynamic at work here. Tell Them Who I Am gives real voice to these women and theie stories. They are clearly human beings, and Elliot does nothing to strip them of their dignity or humanity. If any criticism could be made I suppose it might to suggest that Elliot is too close to his subjects. Perhaps this is an apt counter to most of the distancing, impartial-observer accounts of the homeless common to social science texts. There is no feelings of these women as bugs under a microscope. We see their world, as we should, through their eyes.
—Ilene Rosoff

WomanSource Catalog & Review: Tools for Connecting the Community for Women

This puts faces, stories, and histories to an otherwise anonymous group of homeless shelter residents. Part man, part anthropologist ("He's the Manthropologist!"), Liebow introduces subjects who range from very bright to rather dull and whose often profoundly sad histories are rife with all kinds of substance addictions and abuse. Notable is that the concept of family (biological, marital, chosen) is huge to these women and that they are incredibly loyal to one another. Perhaps this is because they function as the only source for giving and receiving human dignity. It's a provocative, sobering series of observations that served to let me know how friggin' lucky I am and how strong these women are. ." Douglas Lord, "Books for Dudes," Booksmack! 10/7/10

Library Journal - BookSmack!