In May 2022, Stetson University Professor and Jessie Ball duPont Endowed Chair of Social Justice Education Rajni Shankar-Brown, PhD, became the newly elected president of the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), the nation's oldest advocacy and direct service organization supporting people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity. She is the first woman of color to hold this esteemed national position.
DELAND, Fla., June 28, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- In May 2022, Stetson University Professor and Jessie Ball duPont Endowed Chair of Social Justice Education Rajni Shankar-Brown, PhD, became the newly elected president of the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), the nation's oldest advocacy and direct service organization supporting people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity. She is the first woman of color to hold this esteemed national position.
Shankar-Brown has been part of the NCH in various capacities over the past several years and served in numerous leadership roles over the past decade. She has dedicated her life to promoting human and civil rights, and her commitment and passion for the organization is inspiring.
"There are basic human rights that should be guaranteed for all of us, including safe, decent and affordable housing," said Shankar-Brown. "I am proud to serve in an organization that actively affirms diversity, practices inclusion, and advances equity and social justice."
Shankar-Brown has not wasted time since her stint as president began. She is a lead member and visionary of Bring America Home Now, a comprehensive grassroots campaign to end homelessness in the U.S. She works with national recovery and homelessness advocate and NCH's Executive Director Donald Whitehead, a military veteran and Emmy Award winner, and Campaign Director Joel Segal, who a pioneer in the universal healthcare movement. While serving as a key staffer for Rep. John Conyers Segal was a co-writer of the original Medicare for All Bill, which was introduced in Congress in 2003.
"Our campaign has an incredible team of diverse, talented, dedicated experts and amazing human beings," commented Shankar-Brown, who also serves as chair of the campaign's racial equity and education pillars of the campaign.
On June 17, 2022, Shankar-Brown helped with a national vigil at the Lincoln Memorial, along with a peaceful NCH protest that gathered people from across the United States to speak up for housing justice. During the overnight protest, people spoke out against rampant human rights violations that target people experiencing homelessness. Among the chants were "housing justice now," "stop sweeps" and "homes, not handcuffs."
On June 18, Shankar-Brown was a featured speaker and a key organizer, helping to attract numerous housing justice advocates and organizations, at the Poor People's Campaign Moral March on Washington. "We must act with revolutionary love and bend the arc toward justice. Forward together!" said Shankar-Brown, with the Capitol behind her and thousands of individuals cheering and chanting back, "Forward together, and not one step back."
In addition, NCH has launched a campaign called "Sweepless Summer 2022" and is calling on cities to stop the forceful clearing of homeless encampments. As stated in a recent NCH release, Shankar-Brown and the NCH are urging government officials to stop embracing a hardline strategy of "sweeps," which rely on police enforcement to clear homeless encampments — inhumanely destroying the belongings of people who are experiencing homelessness and, in turn, displacing an already marginalized community.
"Sweeps must end," Shankar-Brown said. "Destroying people's belongings and unleashing harassment are forms of violence that are totally unacceptable. It is shameful that we live in one of the wealthiest nations in the world, and we have millions of individual and families — including millions of children and youth — living in extreme poverty and experiencing homelessness in the United States. Targeted harassment toward people experiencing homelessness is criminal. Sweeps are traumatizing, destabilizing, dangerous and beyond cruel."
On June 23, 2022, Shankar-Brown spoke at a congressional briefing organized by U.S Rep. Maxine Waters in coordination with NCH. She delivered compelling remarks, urging Congress to invest in comprehensive solutions and long-term infrastructure to solve homelessness and the affordable housing crisis. Also participating were U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee; Christian Nunes, president of the National Organization for Women; Domingo Garcia, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens; Rev. Rodney Sadler Jr., director of the Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation; and others.
With heat-indexes rising, and with more than half of all heat-related U.S. deaths coming from unhoused individuals (including children and youth), Shankar-Brown called for intersectional approaches to housing justice. Also, she emphasized the significant connections between environmental, public health and housing justice, as well as the importance of prioritizing racial equity.
"And, as we work to push effective affordable housing policies forward, we must dismantle intersectional oppressive forces and intentionally advance racial equity with persistence and intention," she urged. "Black women, many mothers with children, are disproportionately facing evictions and experiencing the violence of homelessness. Homelessness is surging among our tribal nations and in our Latina/Latino and Latinx communities. Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are overrepresented in homelessness in the United States with elevated rates, up to 9 times higher than white individuals. In addition, Asian communities are also disproportionately represented in homelessness and often not captured at all in counts as visible in our Hmong communities. This is collective work, and we must work together to end and prevent homelessness."
Sister campaigns will be taking place in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Nashville, Orlando and Northfield, Minnesota. Follow the events on Facebook, or see more below.
- NCH Policy Against Sweeps: https://nationalhomeless.org/issues/civil-rights/policy-opposing-sweeps/
- Statement Against Anti-Camping Ordinance in Kern County, CA: https://nationalhomeless.org/kern-ca-anti-camping/
- Statement Against Austin Criminalization: https://nationalhomeless.org/sign-on-austin-tx/
- Criminalizing Poverty during a Public Health Crisis: https://nationalhomeless.org/criminalizing-poverty-during-a-public-health-crisis/
- Swept Away: Report on the Encampment Closure Crisis: https://nationalhomeless.org/swept-away/
About Stetson University
Founded in 1883, Stetson University is the oldest private university in Central Florida. Stetson focuses on intense learning experiences in a supportive community that allows students to develop their voice in a connected, inclusive environment. Stetson ranks in the top five on U.S. News & World Report's list of Best Regional Universities (South) and is consistently recognized as one of The Princeton Review's Best Colleges. Stay connected with Stetson on social media.
About the National Coalition for the Homeless
The National Coalition for the Homeless is a national network of people who are currently experiencing or who have experienced homelessness, activists and advocates, community-based and faith-based service providers, and others committed to a single mission: To end and prevent homelessness while ensuring the immediate needs of those experiencing homelessness are met and their civil rights are respected and protected.
Media Contact
Robbie Harper, Stetson University, 3869682020, [email protected]
Michael Candelaria, Stetson University, 3868228861, [email protected]
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