Elmira, and the NYS Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival planned a powerful dinner & revolutionary movie night on Monday January, 20, 2025 in honor of Martin Luther King Jr and in continuation of his work as part of the NUH Winter Offensive Organizing Drive.
We met at the historic OFHOPE Church in downtown. We felt it was critical to call our friends and family together to contemplate the war that is happening against the poor. Elmira has seen a change in legislative direction with our own Camping Ban (See more information here: FIGHTING THE CAMPING BAN IN ELMIRA)
We decided that this moment called for a new way of coming together. Dozens of neighbors came together with a great potluck dinner and community. It was our plan to show the film, Takeover, (1991) to discuss the roots of the National Union of the Homeless as well as The Road We’re On (2020), which documented the work of the Homeless Union in Rochester. Sadly, technology robbed us of the films as the audio was not loud enough but this opened the opportunity for discussion, relationship building and storytelling. It was exactly what we needed.
The folks who joined us were a diverse group that crossed the lines of division that typically stop us from talking together. There were folks with lived experiences with homelessness, mental illness, substance use, and…to be honest, the true consequences of systemic poverty in so many of its nastiest and most cruel ways. We spent time talking about the camping ban and how it is impacting our neighbors.
Finally, we walked away with three different entry points for calls to action. We invited people to sign up to join a group to hold a book club, a group to talk about organizing tenants in the community, and a group to explore establishing a chapter of the National Union of the Homeless in Elmira.
We also had people sign up to participate in a book club study we are going to lead based on Aaron Scott’s brand new book, “Bring Your People Back: 10 Ways Regular Folks Can Put a Dent in White Christian Nationalism.” We agreed that White Christian Nationalism (WCN) and the way it has infiltrated so many facets of our community is one of the biggest threats we face. This study will help us to identify the virus that is WCN as well as help us to rebuild the relationships we need to win this battle.
The small groups that met throughout the event discussed many of the barriers that tenants face in the community without an effective group to help them organize. We know that “we only get what we are organized to take” and with some of the troubling issues within the apartments in the City, we need to find ways to come together.
Tanisha Logan-Lattimore reminded us how critical it is to have safe and affordable housing and that organizing will be imperative to meet these goals. Several people have stepped up to explore this avenue within the city. We also offered people to sign up to explore what a chapter of the National Union of the Homeless could look like in Elmira. We talked about the experiences in the city related to the camping ban and the information we have learned by trying to navigate these rough waters.
Jake DeLisle voiced his dedication to pushing forward with organizing to fight poverty, not the poor. Members of the Elmira homeless population also agreed to consider leadership roles. We believe that it is important that these directions are led by the poor. We have a saying, “Nothing About us without us!!” and “Homeless Not Helpless!!” At the end of the night, we believe we filled hearts (with? Put a describing word here) and bellies with good food. We broke bread together and through this we broke down some of the walls that separate us.
When we could hear our stories together, we learned that it will only be together that we can win. We had the opportunity to get to know each other and strategize to build a stronger relationship, so that we can move forward together…not one step back!!