Airing tomorrow night (Monday July 28) on MTV at 10:00 pm will be a documentary called Choose or Lose & Kanye West Present: Homecoming. In the show Kanye West and “Sway” Calloway visit three veterans who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan and now suffer difficulties reintegrating into society. Problems highlighted range from post-traumatic stress disorder to struggling to pay off debts that mounted while the vets were out of the country. Sway and West on behalf of MTV and the Dr. Donda West Foundation (named in memory of Kanye’s late mother) supply the three vets highlighted, with money to pay their rent and other monetary help as they acclimate to the life of a citizen again.
The show looks to be a well-made personal interest piece and MTV along with Kanye are to be commended for their efforts to highlight a pressing social issue. BUT, we simply don’t believe it is enough. Helping just three veterans out of 1.7M that have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan falls terribly short of making a noticeable impact in the problem overall, save for any carryover benefits that arise from highlighting the issue. Three out of 1.7M. Even if you were to estimate that only 10% of veterans face serious problems reintegrating into society this homecoming program has helped only .0018% of those who need support. At alldaybuffet we believe in establishing models that allow the willing and able to help themselves, with a goal of reaching everyone affected, not just a select few.
What would we have done differently?
In a clip of the homecoming show Lorenzo, one of the veterans, describes writing and recording music as being the one thing that gives him hope. Suffering from PTSD and unable to work, he is struggling to find enough money for studio time and meals, forcing him to make tough decisions. Kanye and Sway give Lorenzo a new mic for his home recording studio, a week’s time at a professional studio, an internship at a local radio station as well as pay his rent.
What if instead the money had been used as a way to leverage the talents of the veterans struggling to re-enter society? Certainly Lorenzo isn’t the only veteran using a creative outlet to help cope, so take that passion and therapeutic power and make it work harder.
Music + Arts Lab
Start a record label for recording, distributing and promoting the musicians among the group. Foster those with artistic talents through an art book, traveling show and auctions. Kanye and others would still be encouraged to give their time as mentors to these budding musicians and artists. Products of the creative outlets could be integrated into and supported by an online media channel. Operated as a for-profit business some veterans would now have jobs, getting paid for pursuits that serve as a release.
Online Support Tools
In an effort to impact the lives of all affected, online tools would also be developed to establish channel of communication among veterans for group therapy sessions as well as provide career opportunities and counseling for those struggling to find jobs.
Documentary
As an additional outlet, monies would be used to connect current Iraq/Afghanistan veterans to veterans from Vietnam. Video cameras would be present at these ongoing sessions across the nation and footage used to create a documentary comparing and contrasting the experiences between these two groups.
Giving
Part of the proceeds from all of these efforts would go to help veterans unable to help themselves. We aren’t against getting something for nothing as a general rule, and in circumstances such as this it makes sense.
Thank you to MTV and Yezzy for placing a spotlight on a very timely issue. With innovation, creativity and fun we believe that the efforts and money used here could have been used more effectively to reach maximum social value. We hope to see more long lasting and sustainable initiatives in the future.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Keeping the good work going « Southern Planner // Jul 29, 2008 at 12:28 pm
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2 RT // Aug 1, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I find it interesting that there’s no mention at all of MTV using the plight of the three veterans for profit motives, which is of questionable ethical value. They probably made more off the ads that ran during the show and product placement than they spent helping out the veterans. But, that’s not the point.
The Music and Arts lab is cool, but how are you going to run a million veterans through there? It would be much better to have a veterean coordinator in a smattering of cities around the country that are pretty well connected in their respective city, and aren’t afraid to make phone calls, who work to provide opportunity for veterans. As opposed to “giving a mike and a week of studio time” it seems like it would be better if he had been given a job at a radio station, and exposed to the local community involved in that sort of thing, so he could start to make headway.
The online support tools is a good idea.
I think most veterans would be a little uncomfortable with having the video being made, and you’ll find that Vietnam veterans may be reluctant to help because many of them had bad feelings about the war, and their reception back to the states was a different experience.
It might be helpful if you have the coordinator find vets in their respective city that are in various classifications of job, so that the returning vet has a network he can kind of “plug in” to.
But heck, there’s my three cents.
3 Michael Cox // Aug 8, 2008 at 2:31 pm
RT–
I see that you question the ethics of MTV profiting off the plight of these veterans. I agree with you that this isn’t the point, but see it differently. If MTV turns a profit from the program that is great. Regardless of the efficacy of the help, in the end MTV did support three veterans. If they turn a profit on this show, then that gives them a strong incentive to replicate, thereby creating a sustainable system of support.
I like your system of local veteran coordinators, it seems like a good way of extending the online tools into the virtual world and establishing a network of assistance for veterans.
I don’t disagree with your assessment that many Vietnam Veterans had bad feelings about the war, but I couldn’t speculate about their participation. Some may be willing, some not, but I feel it would be a worthwhile effort to try. I still remember a high school government class that gave the students the opportunity to meet Vietnam Veterans one-on-one. The personal interaction and stories were easily the most powerful experiences of my educational career. I believe that bringing personal stories of veterans, regardless of the war, to as wide an audience as possible is an effective way to generate awareness and support.
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