Who We Are

“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

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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.

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