James "Doc" Doctor shares his early life history and experience of being street homeless in the East 125th St. area of El Barrio/
East Harlem. He describes how and why he decided to get involved with the Picture the Homeless civil rights campaign, where he took on important leadership roles in the work to stop police harassment of homeless folks, including speaking at public events, meeting with the Inspector General of the NYPD and being a named plaintiff in the first complaint filed with the New York City Human Rights Commission under the prohibition of policy profiling New Yorkers based on a range of status - including housing status - the first such local law in the United States.

James "Doc" Doctor March 5, 2020

Rev. Frank Morales is an Episcopal priest, long time squatter and former housing organizer with Picture the Homeless. In this interview Frank shares his early life history on the Lower East Side where he grew up in public housing, his experiences as an Episcopal priest in the South Bronx and the connections between faith, community organizing,  resistance and solidarity with the poor. He reflects on the work and organizing culture of Picture the Homeless where he worked to support homeless New Yorkers to build community and take action to win housing rights.

Rev. Frank Morales February 20, 2020

In this second of two interviews, DeBoRah describes the Crown Heights of her childhood and contrasts that with the neighborhood today, as a result of gentrification and urban renewal. She shares the importance of education in her family and in her life, including in her work with Picture the Homeless and the necessity of doing research so that when they protest that they know what they're talking about - as well as her development as a public speaker.  She reflects on what it means to have a home and shares her experience in shelters and a drop in center, and the stigma attached to being homeless as well as the opportunities she's had as a member of Picture the Homeless to represent the organization internationally and some of the other organizations that she's become involved with in New York City and the U.S.

DeBoRah Dickerson February 13, 2020

Charley Heck joined Picture the Homeless (PTH)as a member in 2004, and has been instrumental in leading the Potters Field Campaign, as well as being a member of the civil rights campaign. 
When Charley joined PTH in 2004 he already had been street homeless for 27 years, mostly in mid-town Manhattan, had successfully won a lawsuit against the NYPD, had been a canner and the founding board chair of the Midnight Run. Charley had been engaged in saving homeless deceased folks from being buried in a mass grave in Potter's Field and inspired us to wage that struggle.

Charley Heck December 12, 2018

Kazembe Balagun was a beloved comrade of Picture the Homeless (PTH) from the mid-2000s. In this interview he shares some of his early life growing up in Harlem, his family history and what shaped him as a thinker, educator, and organizer. PTH met Kazembe when he was working at the Brecht Forum, creating educational programming and reaching out to movement organizations. His radical welcoming helped create space for PTH to engage in the political work happening at the Brecht Forum and in this interview Kazembe reflects on the role and contributions of PTH to social movements in and beyond NYC. Among these reflections are the power of PTH's direct actions and use of visuality, the organizational culture of care and love, how PTH's role in Bloombergville prefigured Occupy, the impact of PTH's participatory action research projects and PTH's political leadership in embodying radical concepts such as intersectionality.

Kazembe Balagun  April 4, 2019

In this first of three interviews Anthony Williams, co-founder of Picture the Homeless shares his childhood and early life experiences which shaped him. Growing up in group homes and foster care in Baltimore he learned how the system treated poor people very early on. In this interview Anthony shares his amazing journey. His is a story of resilience and strength.

Anthony Williams, January 2, 2018

Brooke Lehman is a long-time ally of Picture the Homeless. As a founder of Direct Action Network (DAN) NYC, she met PTH at CHARAS where both organizations began having meetings there in January of 2000. 

Brooke details the political context of the late '90s and early 2000's, during the Giuliani-fication of NYC, and she traces PTH's impact on movement from those early days through organizing around the 2004 RNC, PTH's vacant building and land takeovers, through Occupy Wall Street.

Brooke Lehman, April 11, 2023

When NYPD Commissioner William "Broken Windows" Bratton and the MTA planned to remove homeless New Yorkers from the E Train, Picture the Homeless civil rights campaign organized a fight back with our allies, successfully defending the civil rights of homeless New Yorkers. Narrated by Joo-Hyun Kang (then director) of Communities United for Police Reform and (then)PTH civil rights organizer, Shaun Lin.

Picture the Homeless Civil Rights E Train Action

Homeless New Yorkers provided political education and leadership to Communities United for Police Reform regarding the selective enforcement of Quality of Life violations, resulting in the inclusion of housing status in the landmark legislation, the Community Safety Act. Narrated by PTH civil rights leader Jean Rice, Joo-Hyun Kang (former) director of Communities United for Police Reform and Shaun Lin (former) civil rights organizer, Picture the Homeless.

Picture the Homeless Civil Rights and the Passage of the Community Safety Act

The passage of the Housing Not Warehousing Act by Picture the Homeless in December of 2017 was the result of over ten years of collective analysis and collective action by PTH's housing campaign. Narrated by Rogers, Ryan Hickey and DeBoRah Dickerson.

Picture the Homeless Housing Campaign and the Passage of The Housing Not Warehousing Act

Picture the Homeless members and allies describe the power of the takeover of a vacant lot in East Harlem owned by JPMorgan Chase, in protest of the warehousing of vacant buildings and lots while community members remain homeless and warehoused in the NYC shelter system and pointing to land use policies that benefit speculation at the expense of communities. Narrated by ally Brooke Lehman, former staff Anika Paris, former housing campaign leader Rob Robinson, former civil rights organizer Shaun Lin, former housing organizer Frank Morales, and Jean Rice, former PTH board member and civil rights leader.

Picture the Homeless Housing Campaign:Tent City and Civil Disobedience

Picture the Homeless Housing campaign leader Rob Robinson shares his reflection on PTH's vacant lot takeover and the power of civil disobedience on PTH members and allies.

Picture the Homeless Housing Campaign Tent City and Civil Disobedience 2

Picture the Homeless organized to improve access to shelter for homeless families and physical conditions in the Emergency Assistance Unit, the only intake center to apply for shelter in NYC, located in the South Bronx. Narrated by ally and former PTH board member Sue Lob, Rental Subsidies and Housing Campaign leader, Maria Walles, former EAU organizer, Tyletha Samuels and former Housing campaign organizer, Sam J. Miller.

Picture the Homeless EAU Campaign Heart Transplant Protest

Picture the Homeless members, former staff and allies reflect on PTH's practice around educating members, including PTH members who graduated from PTH's organizer trainee program and joined the staff and board of PTH and continue to serve as movement leaders. The organizer trainee program began in 2006 and evolved into the PTH Homeless Organizing Academy a couple of years later. Narrated by housing campaign leader Kay Samuels, organizer trainee graduate and housing campaign leader DeBoRah Dickerson, organizer trainee graduate and civil rights organizer Nikita Price, organizer trainee graduate and former board member Rob Robinson, civil rights and housing campaign leader and PTH board member Marcus Moore, for PTH board member and housing and civil rights leader Andres Perez, ally James Tracy and founding board member and civil rights leader Jean Rice.

Picture the Homeless Education for Liberation and the Homeless Organizing Academy

Reflecting on the office vibe and the Picture the Homeless organizing  methodology, being welcoming and supporting collective analysis and action were deeply connected. Narrated by James Doctor, William Burnett, Frank Morales, Andres Perez, DeBoRah Dickerson, Arvernetta Henry, Shaun Lin, Sam J. Miller, Rob Robinson, Rev. Liz Maxwell and Dave Powell.

Picture the Homeless and Building Resistance Relationships

PTH successfully waged a campaign to end the cluster site program, putting at least a dent into slumlords profiting off the homeless and creating a model for the use of eminent domain for the benefit of homeless New Yorkers. Narrated by former PTH housing organizer, Ryan Hickey, former housing campaign leader Charmel Lucas, and Jenny Akchin, former PTH housing policy staffer.

Picture the Homeless Housing Campaign: Cluster Sites

Picture the Homeless played a critical role in catalyzing the NYC Community Land Trust movement as one strategy to create deeply affordable housing for homeless and other extremely low income folks. Narrated by PTH housing leader DeBoRah Dickerson, ally Kazembe Balagun, PTH housing leader Arvernetta Henry, former PTH CLT organizer Raquel Namuche-Pacheco, ally Dave Powell and former PTH housing organizer Ryan Hickey.

Picture the Homeless and Community Land Trusts

The Picture the Homeless Potter's Field campaign was catalyzed by our discovery that Lewis Haggins, PTH co-founder was buried there as a John Doe, in a mass grave as hundreds of thousands of others had been and continued to be buried there. Narrated by PTH Housing, Civil Rights and Potter's Field campaign leader Rogers, ally Reverend Elizabeth Maxwell, PTH Housing leader and Potter's Field Faith Ally organizer William Burnett, PTH Civil Rights, Canners and Potter's Field campaign leader Charley Heck, former civil rights organizer and ED of PTH Lynn Lewis and ally Reverend Liz Theoharis.

Picture the Homeless and the Meaning of Potters Field

PTH allies and former staff describe the impact of PTH's practice of celebration and having fun with the folks we organize with. Narrated by allies Kazembe Balagun, Joo-Hyun Kang, Dave Powell, Lynn Roberts and former PTH staffer Anika Paris.

Picture the Homeless: Celebration and Fun in Movement Building

Anthony Williams is the surviving co-founder of Picture the Homeless (PTH).  In this second of three interviews he details the founding of Picture the Homeless with co-founder Lewis Haggins, the values that Picture the Homeless was founded upon, their meaning for homeless organizing, and key milestones of PTH's early organizational development.

Anthony Williams January 3, 2018

Mrs. Arvernetta Henry has been a civil rights and housing campaign leader at Picture the Homeless (PTH) for over 10 years.  The audio quality doesn't do her brilliance justice but I'm learning!

Arvernetta shares her early life history in Harlem and the Bronx, including stories about the public school system, the positive role that NYCHA played in the lives of working class New Yorker's, the importance of church and why education is so important to her.   She also details life in the NYC shelter system and the challenges she faced working as a NYC school teacher while homeless.  Arvernetta describes her first visit to the PTH office, her first meetings and how the importance of being welcoming what made her stay.  Arvernetta's stories about the importance of PTH's Homeless Organizing Academy and education offer a window in PTH's organizing methodology. She also tells us about her first side walk sleep outs and the importance of direct action as a member of the housing campaign and the role that PTH played in the development of Bloombergville and Occupy Wall St. and the Community Land Trust movement in New York City and beyond.

Mrs. Arvernetta Henry September 28,, 2017

Jean Rice joined Picture the Homeless in 2002, and is a founding board member and civil rights leader and was foundation in the formation of past campaigns including the Canners campaign, and the Potters Field campaign.  In this second of five interviews, Jean tells the story of how he heard about PTH and decided to join the organization, the alignment of the PTH mission statement and the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and how PTH was crucial in supporting homeless New Yorkers to organize.  Jean provides a detailed history of the evolution of the Canners' campaign and the work of canners, or Ecological Engineer as he prefers to be called.  In this interview, he explains how Giuliani criminalized homeless New Yorkers through the selective enforcement of Quality of Life offenses and how the decisions of the Bloomberg administration attempted to make work more difficult for canners until Picture the Homeless and our allies organized and fought back.

Jean Rice October 13, 2017

Rogers has been a civil rights and housing campaign leader at Picture the Homeless (PTH) for over 15 years and played a pivotal role in PTH's Potters Field campaign.  He initially became aware of Picture the Homeless fighting gentrification in Harlem in the early 2000's, and when he became homeless, joined PTH as a member of the organization.  Rogers shares his early life history as a Trinidadian immigrant in E. Elmhurst Queens and the importance of community elders who kept their Caribbean culture alive.  He shares how his faith, his long history of political activism and homeless experience converges, and why PTH is important to him and to social movements, solidarity among homeless folks, and how he and others weren't only concerned with getting housing for themselves but were willing to fight for housing for all; weaving together many struggles: immigration, low wage work, racism, and gentrification.

Rogers January 18, 2018

Anthony Williams is the co-founder of Picture the Homeless

Anthony Williams January 22, 2018

This collection of shorts is our contribution to Imagining De-Gentrified Futures.  In this piece you hear from some Picture the Homeless Civil Rights and Housing Campaign Leaders, current and former board members and former staff.

In order of appearance:
DeBoRah Dickerson
Anthony Williams
Willie Baptist
Rogers
Anthony Williams
Charley Heck
Jean Rice
James Doctor
Floyd Parks
Arvernetta Henry
Marcus Moore
Sam J Miller
Anthony Williams
Marcus Moore
Rev. Frank Morales
DeBoRah Dickerson
William Burnett
Ms. Kay Samuels 
Arvernetta Henry
Rogers
Nikita Price
DeBoRah dickerson
Anika Paris
Nikita Price
Rob Robinson
Nikita Price
William Burnett
Anika Paris
Marcus Moore
DeBoRah Dickerson

Picture the Homeless Oral History Project Shorts

The Picture the Homeless Oral History Project documents how collective homeless leadership was supported over 17 years of deep relationship building and creating space for radical solutions to the housing crisis, discriminatory policing, and punitive social service systems. Long form oral history interviews with homeless leaders, the staff diaspora and movement allies combine to offer a history of Picture the Homeless as well as lessons for future organizing work.  This is a work in progress. The oral history interviews began in September of 2017 and extend through April of 2023. Audio is available for listening here while we build our website which will include complete transcripts, links to the audio, popular education materials to support organizing by homeless and poor folks and archival materials.

The Picture the Homeless Oral History Project

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