C-SPAN via Goodable/Twitter
April 16, 2021, 12:00 pm*
The late Robin Williams was a passionate advocate for the homeless, and he testified before the U.S. Senate in 1990 to address the issue.
Featured Video
Hide
The @Goodable Twitter account shared a clip from C-SPAN of Williams on Tuesday, calling it “the most powerful two minutes you’ll see today,” and it’s getting a whole new round of viral views, many from people who weren’t even born when it first happened.
Advertisement
Hide
In the speech, Williams said, “What we’ve been doing for the last four years is basically putting a band-aid on a very gaping wound. But this program has incredible possibilities to deal with basically keeping people in their homes. The problem cannot be denied anymore, we cannot be a kinder, blinder nation.”
Advocating for homeless legislation, Williams noted, “I do believe this can work in an incredible way, from a grassroots level, that the money can get to that and prevent, truly prevent, homelessness, that’s where it lies. You can’t keep picking people up, you have to stop them from falling.”
He told some jokes in the process, including likening being a comedian in a Senate hearing to being a “porcupine in a hemophiliac ward.” But he also has a very serious message about a problem that continues to persist in the U.S., even this long after Williams addressed it on the Senate floor.
Advertisement
Hide
Zelda Williams, an actress, director, producer, and writer who also happens to be Robin Williams’ daughter, sent a tweet responding to the Goodable share:
“Folks wonder why I bring up charities like homeless shelters on his birthdays,” she noted. “This. He loved the homeless & hated homelessness, [the] same way he loved our soldiers (of whom a tragic amount wind up homeless) but hated wars. This was 1990. It’s gotten worse. We have to do better.”
In case this takes off while I’m sleeping like some of these posts do, if you’re a news agency that’s gonna try to turn this into a clickbaity story, at least link to some related charities he loved, like @GLIDEsf or @wwp. Check on your local emergency food pantry. Please.
— Zelda Williams (@zeldawilliams) April 14, 2021
She also observed, “In case this takes off while I’m sleeping like some of these posts do, if you’re a news agency that’s gonna try to turn this into a clickbaity story, at least link to some related charities he loved, like @GLIDEsf or @wwp,” referring to San Francisco-based organization GLIDE and the Wounded Warrior Project. She also added, “Check on your local emergency food pantry. Please.”
*First Published: April 16, 2021, 11:59 am
0 Comments