On the Black History Month episode of the Activist Files, Center for Constitutional Rights board member Meena Jagannath speaks with Rob Robinson, a formerly homeless community organizer and housing activist who has worked with social movements all over the world. Rob discusses how his personal experiences have shaped his political outlook, how he hopes to change people’s fundamental relationship to land and housing, and how, throughout American history, housing has been a primary means of oppressing Black, brown, and low-income communities. He also discusses efforts to fight back, including the Take Back the Land movement that he helped organize, and the connection of the housing movement both to the broader struggle for Black liberation and to other emancipatory movements. Finally, in keeping with our theme for Black History Month, Rob touches on the rage he has felt – and channeled – in the face of oppression. 

Resources:

Max Rameau Papers

Picture the Homeless

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 25