Picture the Homeless Oral History Project - Incite at Columbia University

Documenting twenty years of organizing that supported the collective political leadership of homeless New Yorkers, this project places their struggles within a broader movement history.

The Picture the Homeless Oral History Project documents an organizing approach that supported the collective political leadership of homeless New Yorkers over a twenty-year period. Picture the Homeless (PTH) waged organizing campaigns that addressed the root causes of homelessness, knowing that doing so could make all of NYC a better place.

PTH members and staff educated themselves and the rest of the movement about real solutions to homelessness, using a diversity of tactics including creative direct action, civil disobedience, street theatre, participatory action research, self-published reports, mutual aid, Know Your Rights and public education, legislation, litigation, media and coalition work, the creation of an organizer trainee program and Homeless Organizing Academy, and an appreciation of celebration, fun, and love. The fruit of PTH's labor reverberates throughout the housing and social justice movement today.

Oral history is a tool for resistance. If movements don't create space for the most marginalized folks to shape social justice struggles and to lead them, we are subject to replicate the systems of oppression that we aim to end. This project is offered in the spirit of mutual aid and solidarity to strengthen the efforts of homeless and poor folks organizing for justice and respect.