The Struggle is the School

Jean Rice (October 20, 2017)

I guess being homeless gave me the opportunity to see how the criminal justice system is subverted. I mean, being an Afro American, I had an idea about the subversion of the criminal justice system. The idea came from so many male, Afro Americans capital punishment, lynching—without due process of law.

Charley Heck (2018.12.12)

Well, my association with Picture the Homeless deals with the Potter’s Field Campaign and effectively, through my earlier work with Joe Gilmore and the Midnight Run in burials of persons that we knew that lived on the street. In fact, a close friend of mine— Bill Phillips, a person that I had slept beside in hallways and doorways and banks, he died, and we held the funeral service for him, and he is now buried in Calvary Cemetery in Queens. And so that was just one person. We buried several other people that we knew on the street through the Midnight Run. So, because of that experience, I jumped at the opportunity to become chairman of the Potter’s Field Campaign.

Marcus Moore (November 13, 2017)

Once I learned what the community was doing to sustain itself, that kind of like took me to another level as far as homesteading and community land trusts, because we was no longer waiting for institutions or individuals. You kind of learned how to do these things and get resources with community, or with individuals. You're educating the community, individuals are educating themselves, and learning how to live guerrilla.

William Burnett (November 16, 2017)

Well one of the things that I learned, was how homeless people related to each other. I had already seen it in the sense of—usually when, not even homeless but just poor, and you have nowhere to turn and you really need some help, it's usually another poor person who'll be the one to respond.

William Burnett (January 19, 2018)

It was Rogers who pointed out that homeless people are pushed out of society while they’re living and then when they’re dead, they’re put on an island that nobody can see. And so they’re pushed out of society when they’re dead too. And that’s a pretty touching point.

Frank Morales (February 20, 2020)

There was the intellectual side, people like Jean [Rice], with the library, and the wisdom that was in the room. And it’s not only in terms of intellectual stuff, but just the street smarts of people.

Frank Morales (February 20, 2020)

I just learned a lot just being around people, and hearing the way they articulate their experiences, and to be educated to the kind of work that people were doing, and some of the other issues that I was not familiar with. I’d never had those experiences, you know? Going to the intake center, and what that’s about, and people getting jerked around. The promises being made that they’ll get some kind of supplementary income, or maybe they’ll get a house here, and all of that—Kafka-like insanity that people are put through—who are already suffering. I had never had any experience with any of that! When you don’t really live in that day to day, it’s an education to meet people who do live that, day to day.

Everyone is a Teacher and a Learner

Anthony Williams (January 3, 2018)

I went to check on Lewis [Haggins] one night, in his room with Russell and he’s sitting on the bed, writing. He goes, “I’m writing a mission statement. Want to help me write a mission statement?” I said, “What is that?” He goes, “Well, we need a mission.” I was like, “A mission for what?!” He goes, “Well, you need a mission statement to say what you do and how you do it, and why you’re doing it, so that people can understand what you’re doing.

Jean Rice (October 6, 2017)

So, because I knew about the Fourteenth Amendment, and ba-baba, Lynn and Emily and Anthony just drafted me! Like, you need me! I got drafted to the civil rights committee, which is the first committee my beloved Picture the Homeless ever established. But I loved it because seriously, it gave me the opportunity to use knowledge that I thought I would never be able to use in a positive way. I was able to use that knowledge to contribute to progressive social change and equal justice, and I'm still doing that.

Lynn Lewis (January 25, 2018)

One of the things that I loved about Picture the Homeless was the welcoming, which meant knowledge was passed, not just shared in meetings but when people were sitting around reading the newspaper, or having a cigarette break, or standing outside.

Marcus Moore (November 13, 2017)

Jean Rice, he has taught me to say, “ecological engineer.” So, when I go to different places, I'm often introduced as an ecological engineer. I have learned how to build my economy by recycling cans and bottles, and making it work for me from time to time.