The Campaign to Restore National Housing Rights, Housing is a Human Right and the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI) are proud to announce an upcoming documentary chronicling the trip.

The documentary was shot by volunteer videographers, audio recorders and photographers from around the US.

On Friday March 5, 2010 the Special Rapporteur reported her findings from the US mission to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.  Following her presentation, NESRI and the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, screened this trailer at UN Headquarters in Geneva.

“Inside Stories” is a blog and podcast about the many forms of storytelling — from journalism to genealogy to psychology to film to literature to walking tours and more. The regularly-updated blog features commentary, short interviews, links to current articles on storytelling, and occasional videos. A thrice-monthly podcast of 10-15 minutes features interviews, stories, and more.

Click here to read the article and hear INSIDE STORIES PODCAST 11: HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT

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The following article by Michael Premo was originally published on the New York Times The Local Blog with the title FG/CH Gets U.N. Visit

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing Visits Brooklyn, NY

On Oct. 23, Raquel Rolnik, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, visited Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE) to hear residents from Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and the surrounding area testify to the abuses and disparate housing conditions that exist in the neighborhood.

The Brooklyn visit is part of the first official fact-finding mission to the United States by the office of the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing. During her visit Ms. Rolnik will travel to communities across the country, speaking with residents affected by the national housing crisis, highlighting issues of foreclosure, homelessness, public housing and rental assistance.

A U.N. Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to observe whether governments are protecting the globally recognized human right to housing, advocating for equitable and sustainable housing policies that protect all people, including the poor, indigenous and displaced persons. Selected for the post in 2008, Ms. Rolnik is also an international consultant for urban and housing policies and professor of urban planning in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Ms. Rolnick began in New York and will visit, Chicago, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Washington, as well as the rural communities of Wilkes-Barre, Penn., and the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI), along with the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty and local housing groups, are facilitating the visit.

In speaking about the significance of the mission, Tiffany M. Gardner, Program Director of NESRI’s Human Right to Housing Program, explained that, “We are excited about Mrs. Rolnik’s visit because it allows communities that have been struggling for years to find common ground with those who are newly experiencing these housing challenges.”

“Mrs. Rolnik’s U.S. visit is profoundly important because it recognizes that Americans do have a human right to housing and that right is so deeply imperiled that it merits international monitoring at the moment,” Ms. Gardner said.

The U.S. tour kicked off at a town hall meeting, the night before her visit to Fort Greene, with individuals and advocates sharing passionate and sometimes tear-filled testimonies about predatory banking practices, inadequate homeless services and many other immediate concerns. Rob Robinson, board member of Picture the Homeless, coordinated the New York City leg of the tour along with a broad coalition of organizations from across the city. Mr. Robinson helped organize neighborhood site visits, as well as meetings with city and state officials including city council members and city housing agencies.

Crucial to the fact-finding mission are visits to the neighborhoods and even homes of those affected by the housing crisis. At FUREE’s Willoughby Street office, hosted in part by Fifth Avenue Committee, local residents shared first-hand accounts of civil and human rights abuses they are experiencing including landlord harassment, infestations and the use of housing court, and police profiling disproportionately targeting low-income members of the community.

Some residents believe these abuses are tactics designed to drive them from their homes, making way for luxury development. An example FUREE members point to is the demolition of the Associated Supermarket on Myrtle Avenue. Loss of this neighborhood grocery store has had a tremendous impact on the residents of Fort Greene north of Fort Greene Park.

In the multimedia piece at the top of this post, neighborhood residents share their housing conditions with the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing. Ms. Rolnik will present the findings of her mission to the U.N. General Assembly in a public report on the human right to housing in the U.S. Visit restorehousingrights.org for more information on her visit to Fort Greene/Clinton Hill and the entire U.S. mission.

In case you missed the show check out the Laundromat Show in the news:

The Daily News

The Huffington Post

The L Magazine

Housing is a Human Right kicked off with an exhibit of sights, sounds and stories at Wash and Play Lotto Laundromat in Fort Greene Brooklyn.

The exhibit marked the beginning of this ongoing project.  And the response was overwhelming. We are currently in the process of producing more stories for broadcast and exhibition.  Thank you to everyone who shared their stories with us, our community partners, everyone who came by the coin-op, and The Laundromat Project.

If you would you like to share your story, invite us to exhibit in your community or place of business, or just tell us what you think, please drop us a line at info (at) housingisahumanright (dot) org or by phone by calling, toll free, 1 (888) 955-6653. We would love to hear from you, its an automated system so feel free to just call and leave a message, tell us what you think about the project our share comments about your own experience.

ABOUT THE LAUNDROMAT PROJECT:

The Laundromat Project is a community based arts organization committed to promoting the well-being of low-income communities of color. Understanding that creativity is a central component of healthy human beings; vibrant neighborhoods; and thriving economies, The LP’s programs bring art to where people already are: the laundromat. Its two core programs, Works in Progress and Create Change Public Artist Residency Program, focus on making art education broadly accessible for all ages and skill levels, as well as providing professional development opportunities for artists of color looking to build or deepen a community-engaged art making practice by creating new public works in their own neighborhoods.

Each year, The Laundromat Project sponsors three artists of color to develop neighborhood-specific artwork through its Create Change Public Artist Residency Program. Following selection by a juried process, participating artists are charged with creating socially-relevant works using the space of their local laundromat to engage their neighbors.

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Housing is a Human Right is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of Housing is a Human Right may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Donate now!

We are a lean and mean operation working hard to help people to tell untold stories. Housing is a Human Right accepts commissions to record stories and develop exhibitions.  Contact us today to find out more, email: info (at) housingisahumanright (dot) org

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What is Home to You?

Homeowners, Tenants, Landlords, Displaced . . .

We all Have a Story to Tell.  What’s Yours?

Housing is a Human Right creates a space for people and organizations to share memories of Home, community and ongoing efforts to obtain or maintain a place to call home

To Share Your Story

Call us toll free: (888) 955-6653

or

E-mail: info (at) housingisahumanright (dot) org

If you would like to record your story anonymously, we will work with you to do so.  Our toll free number is a voice mail service and we invite comments about your housing, your home or the project.

We work with a growing list of Community Partners.  Visit our Community Partners Page to learn more about what they do and how to help support their campaigns

We need your help to continue to create a space for people to record stories of home, community and there effort to maintain or obtain a comfortable place to live. Consider donating today.

Housing is a Human Right is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of Housing is a Human Right may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

“Housing is not just a roof; it’s not just walls. It’s much more than that. Housing must have a community attached to it, and a territory. A territory where people can have access to the means of livelihood–to land, to water, to resources, to sources of income–and not only being sheltered somewhere.”

-Raquel Rolnick, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing

Housing is a Human Right is an ongoing multi-platform documentary portrait of the struggle for Home. Composed of oral narratives and photographs, along with testimonies and memories of Home – woven and remixed – this collection of viscerally honest, first-person narratives aims to illuminate the complex fabric of community.

The project creates a space for individuals and organizations to record stories, in your own words, of Home, community and ongoing efforts to obtain or maintain a place to call Home. Stories are recorded in sound in the tradition of oral history. We present stories and photographs in public exhibitions & broadcasts via traditional and new media outlets.

Movement Building Media . . .

CONTACT US TO SHARE YOUR STORY

OR

FIND OUT HOW TO BECOME A PARTNER

info (at) housingisahumanright (dot) org Call us toll free at (888) 955-6653

Housing is a Human Right accepts commissions to record stories and develop content for exhibitions, campaigns, organizations and institutions.  Contact us today to find out more.

Housing is a Human Right is a collaborative effort born out of the perceived need to explore and articulate – through first person stories – the human right to HOME.  We have had the opportunity to talk and build with so many wonderful people.  For a window into our process and motivation please check out the following interviews:

INSIDE STORIES PODCAST 11: HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT

SOTRU Examines the Project “Housing is a Human Right”

The Team:

Created and Produced by Rachel Falcone & Michael Premo

Photography by Michael Premo

Remixed Testimony and Additional Mixing/Mastering by DJ Oja Vincent

Jennifer Carr MacArthur, Borderline Media, Program Consultant

Laila Petrone, Development Assistant
Kevin Worthington, Research Assistant
Anne Bozack, Research Assistant

Bios:

Rachel Falcone is an oral historian and audio artist whose work seeks to create a stage for the expression of stories from neglected communities and marginalized perspectives. Working on such interview-based projects as StoryCorps, EarSay Inc. and independently, Rachel has recorded hundreds of stories across the country, honoring experience through listening.

Michael Premo is dedicating to drawing on the rich traditions of oral history to illuminate the experiences of people living in the darker corners of society. His goal is to modernize traditional methods of oral history by “remixing” the findings—audio narratives, photographs, —into audience-friendly presentations that speak back to the neighborhoods from where these stories come from. He is a theater producer, theater consultant and multi-disciplinary artist. Most recently he has worked with the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, EarSay, Inc, StoryCorps and The Civilians Brooklyn at Eye Level, the latest project of the award winning theater company that develops original work from investigations into real life. Along with Penny Arcade he was a founding producer and curator of The Globesity Festival: Hunger Strike Theater, a festival commissioning and presenting original performances exploring the objects and ideas we buy and buy into.  Michael is a recipient of a New York State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Award, and The Laundromat Project’s Create Change Public Artist in Residency Program. Create Change is a six month public art residency program that invites artist of color to mount site-specific, socially relevant installations at their local laundromat. www.michaelpremo.com

Oja Vincent is a producer, DJ, and educator whose life work is to create, connect & be part of the global movement to build community. University trained (at NYU and The Newschool) and self-taught in the music business and the art of electronic music production, he has been a part of the Earthdriver, a progressive live arts collective since 2002 (www.earthdriver.org) as the group’s dj/samplist, engineer, arranger  and co-producer of two albums bearing the Earthdriver imprint (Sharrif Simmon’s “The Echo Effect” and “Earthdriver”). Sun Sound/Sunchild Productions, Mr. Vincent’s DJ & production company, has been responsible for providing kenetic song selection/blends, sound design & ambiance for everything from live theatre performances (“Tongan Paint,” “Osage Avenue” & “Committing The Black On Black Crime Called Blackface,” visual art shows, benefits (for Palestine, Hispanola, Chiapas, ect.), live musical performances (3BB, Toni Blackman, Nemiss, DAM, Metrosonics & Brwn Bflo) festivals and conferences (CR10, USSJF2007, Red Hook Waterfront Festival) to radio programs (89.1FM’s “The Subterrain” & “The Hip Hop Shop,” & WBMB 87.9FM’s “Homecookin” & “Pangea Radio”). As an educator, Oja coordinated, developed curriculum, and taught youth at the City Parks Foundation’s first ever After School Technology Initiative Program, Hook Productions, in Red Hook Brooklyn from February 2004 to September of 2008. Currently, Oja is the coordinator/facilitator of The Red Hook Initiative’s “RHI Radio,” a youth produced radio program in Red Hook (www.rhicenter.org/rhiradio), and continues to work as both a part of  Earthdriver & the sole proprietor of Sun Sound to document, produce, collaborate, create and perform all over the globe.

Jennifer Carr MacArthur, Borderline Media Program Consultant, is a media professional with over 12 years of experience in programming, licensing, distribution, marketing and outreach for independent, alternative and social issue media projects. She recently produced StoryCorps Griot’s national oral history tour in partnership with NPR and the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian. Jennifer has also held positions at Village Voice Media, Scholastic Entertainment and Link TV. Her outreach firm, Borderline Media, handled the national outreach campaign for the P.O.V. documentaryTraces of the Trade . Current clients include Emmy(R) award‐winning filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris’ Digital Diaspora Family Reunion Roadshow, and Washington Koen Media’s national outreach campaign for their documentaryBeyond the Bricks . Jennifer has a BA in liberal arts and a certificate in film production from The New School for Social Research. Borderline Media.

Housing is a Human Right has a growing number of community partners.  Through organizing, advocacy and equitable community development these organizations labor tirelessly to preserve and improve the conditions of our neighborhoods.

Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE) is a Brooklyn-based, multi-racial organization made up of almost exclusively women of color. We are organizing low-income families to build power to change the system so that all people’s work is valued and all of us have the right and economic means to decide and live out our own destinies. We use direct action, leadership development, community organizing and political education to win the changes our members seek. Our guiding principle is that those directly affected by the policies we are seeking to change should lead the organization. www.FUREE.org

Pratt Area Community Council (PACC) embraces a vision in which people strive together to build an equitable, diverse, engaged, and flourishing community in central Brooklyn. In our work as a community development corporation, PACC pursues five major goals: 1) preserve and develop safe and affordable housing, a basic human right; 2) support a vibrant local commerce through which small businesses serve the market needs of community residents: 3) third, to sustain and develop an economic, racial, and cultural diversity that can enrich the lives of all 4) fourth, to promote knowledge, initiative, and concerted action that can advance individual and common interests; 5) to foster an ethic that all members of the community bear personal responsibility to contribute to the greater good. www.prattarea.org

Picture the Homeless is an organization founded on the principle that in order to end homelessness, people who are homeless must become an organized, effective voice for systemic change. We have a track record of developing leadership among homeless people to impact policies and systems that affect their lives and our efforts have created space for homeless people, and their agenda, within the broader social justice movement. www.picturethehomeless.org

The National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI) promotes a human rights vision for the United States that ensures dignity and access to the basic resources needed for human development and civic participation. Towards this end, NESRI works with organizers, policy advocates and legal organizations to incorporate a human rights perspective into their work and build human rights advocacy models tailored for the United States. NESRI takes a partnership approach to building a human rights culture in the United States, and prioritizes partnerships at the community level. www.nesri.org