[When a federal judge approved a class-action lawsuit against the NYPD's racist "stop and frisk" policy, the New York Post got nervous. They ran two op-ed pieces in a row by the notorious Heather MacDonald, full of lies and misinformation and absolutely ZERO legal grounding for her argument in favor of continuing to stop and frisk people of color. Amateur constitutional scholar Jean Rice, a homeless man and member of the Board of Directors of Picture the Homeless, is challenging Ms. MacDonald to a debate on the subject...] Dear Editor, I am responding to Heather MacDonald's op-eds regarding the NYPD's controversial "stop and frisk" policy. It is difficult to follow Ms. MacDonald's line of reasoning, as she cites no legal opinions or scholarly work upon which to lay a foundation for her pro-"stop and frisk" evaluation. Ms. MacDonald's goal of overpolicing high crime areas diminishes the civil liberties and constitutional rights of all of the citizens who reside within these areas. It is over-simplistic and divisive.

By Ryan Gibbs, Member of Picture the Homeless and Co-Chair of the Board of Directors Today Kendall Jackman and I were invited to represent Picture the Homeless at the Mid-Atlantic Community Land Trust convening held at the Ford Foundation to have a discussion with CLT’s in our area. There were four CLT’s represented along with a representative from the National Community Land trust Network and other allies. The goal of the Mid- Atlantic convening were: to understand the work of Community Land Trusts in the Mid-Atlantic region; to share stories of successes and difficulties to identify possible ways to collaborate; and to brainstorm tools we need in area where resources do not yet exist. The four CLT’s then had the opportunity to explain to the rest the group: Why and when CLT was founded; Guiding Values; Major Successes; Top 2 or 3 Challenges; What opportunities do you see where you work; Goals for 1 to 2 years. For a group of homeless people working not only on creating a community land trust of our own, but also fighting to make governments include the CLT model as one important strategy to combat the housing crisis, hearing these insights from four dynamic CLTs was invaluable. Here's some of what we learned from each:

In January 2012, we issued a report, "Banking on Vacancy: Homelessness and Real Estate Speculation" documenting the outstanding amount of underutilized housing stock that is available in just a third of New York City!

Announcing PTH Homeless Organizing Academy Expansion!

The Homeless Organizing Academy is a series of FREE weekly trainings, provided at Picture the Homeless,  to all homeless and formerly-homeless people, designed for them to get the skills and experience they'll need to fight for justice—and pursue employment as community organizers!

1. Honor mothers organizing for justice after losing their children to police violence: http://bit.ly/J2RKpw 

2. "Like" the new "Communities United for Police Reform" Facebook page

Thanks to you.

This Week At The Homeless Organizing Academy!