On Saturday, February 27, more than 10,000 people from more than 50 regions across the country marched on Atlanta to call on the presidential candidates to make housing the homeless a top priority of the next administration. Among the speakers at the rally sponsored by the National Coalition for the Homeless and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference were the six Democratic candidates in the running at the time. Sen. Albert Gore Jr. (D-Tenn.) and Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis joined the march, which was led by homeless men, women, and children from Atlanta.
The largest direct-action event for the homeless to date, the rally brought together homeless people, civil rights groups, elected officials, advocates, labor representatives, students, and religious organizations to highlight the national problem of homelessness during the presidential primaries. Although all of the presidential candidates were invited, none of the Republican candidates attended.
"For over 50 years, housing has been a bipartisan issue. In 1981, that changed, and it's time that we had Republican presidential candidates that were involved again," commented Robert Hayes, counsel to the National Coalition for the Homeless. "It is certainly disappointing that [they] chose to sit out on this march."
Representatives from the National Homeless Union, which brought in hundreds of people from Boston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, St. Paul, Oakland, and other cities, spoke at the rally and called on the candidates to put forth substantive programs for jobs and housing. Rally organizers arranged for homeless representatives to speak before each candidate so that, as one organizer put it, "the presidential candidates would be compelled to listen to them."
"We brought together the powerless with the powers-that-be," said Keith Summa, project director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. "Each of these candidates received an education. Instead of learning about homelessness from reports and committee hearings, they got to hear from those people who are directly affected by this problem."
Rev. Joseph Lowery, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), asked, "How can we be the home of the brave, when so many of our brave are homeless?" Earlier in the week, Lowery had predicted that the march would "go down in history as the greatest demonstration against poverty in America." He also said that SCLC's involvement in the march was part of their Poor People's Crusade, which Martin Luther King Jr. had inspired before his death.
Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.) was the first candidate to address the rally, and he received a less-than-warm welcome from the crowd. Cries of "What are you going to do?" met Simon as he expressed in broad terms the need for a government that "once again cares, once again dreams."
"The point of this rally is not to give the candidates a platform," Hayes said. "It's our job to tell them what they have to do as president, and demand that they be specific."
Other candidates, however, received a warmer welcome. Sen. Gore, the principal sponsor of the Homeless Persons' Survival Act, told the crowd, "Not only will I tell you what I'm going to do, but I'll tell you what I've done." The response was clearly more enthusiastic for Gore, who appeared relaxed as he outlined his leadership role in the Senate on behalf of the homeless.
HOWEVER, NONE OF THE candidates could rival the response given to Rev. Jesse Jackson. Jackson, who spoke at the afternoon rally, was in familiar company on the podium roster, which included current and former civil rights leaders such as Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, former Atlanta mayor Maynard Jackson, U.S. Rep. John Lewis, (D-Ga.), and Lowery.
"If birds can build nests for other birds, then people can build homes for other people," Jackson told the thousands of rally participants. Jackson, who arrived at the rally accompanied by former senator Gary Hart and Billy Carter, the brother of former president Jimmy Carter, then went on to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution debate that followed the march. Jackson was the only candidate at the debate who discussed the homeless problem.
Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, who will host the Democratic National Convention this summer, marched and spoke at the rally, calling for increased federal involvement in the housing and homeless issue. The Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless has long lobbied Young to improve conditions for the city's homeless people, estimated to number almost 10,000.
Aside from the large turnout, organizers say that the greatest benefit of the event was that it united many people who are trying to solve the homeless problem in different parts of the country.
"For the first time, people from around this nation who are homeless and people who have been trying to solve this problem were linked arm-in-arm," Summa said. "Thousands of people have been working pretty much solo in their community, and they were able to meet, and talk, and really see that they are not alone. This march and rally can serve as a foundation that we will build on.
"Right now, people are energized on this issue," Summa continued. "This march, which has been hailed as a great success, is only a first step. All across the country, more and more people are involved in direct action around this issue. Students, religious leaders, politicians, and concerned citizens are starting to join hands with the homeless to take this issue to the streets. This is only the beginning."
The National Homeless Union was to be joined by the National Coalition for the Homeless in a series of actions on Good Friday that would focus on the taking of abandoned housing for the homeless in cities across the country. The actions were planned to be an extension of the ongoing activities of the Homeless Union. Additionally, plans are in the works for a national organizing campaign by the coalition that will focus on pressuring federal officials on key committees in Congress who have stalled housing and homeless legislation.
Colleen Harrington was assistant director of the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, D.C. when this article appeared.
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