II,mr..,I1Mn-,IMII,{
REPOR TRESUMES
E) 018 195 UD 004 954 VISTA VOLUNTEER, VOLUME 31 NUMBER 111 NOVEMBER 1967. OFFICE or ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, WASHINGTON, D.C. PUB DATE NOV 67 EDRS PRICE MF-$0.25 HC-$1.32 31P.
DESCRIPTORS- *VOLUNTEERS, *DISADVANTAGED GROUPS, *COMMUNITY PROGRAMS, GHETTOS, JUVENILE GANGS, HOUSING DEFICIENCIES, LEGAL AID PROJECTS, MIGRANT WORKERS, MIAMI,' FLORIDA, NEW YORK CITY, SAN JON, NEW MEXICO, VISTA
PUBLISHED BY VOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE TO AMERICA (VISTA) , THIS JOURNAL ISSUE CONSISTS OF FOUR ARTICLES WHICH DESCRIBE LIFE AMONG THE URBAN AND RURAL POOR. THE ARTICLES DISCUSS (1) A SLUM AREA IN MIAMI, FLORIDA,(2) GHETTO GANGS,(3) AN ORGANIZATION OF ARCHITECTS AND LAWYERS COMMITTED TO IMPROVING SLUM HOUSING CONDITIONS IN NEW YORK CITY AND TO ADVISING TENANTS OF THEIR LEGAL RIGHTS, AND (4) INADEQUATE HOUSING CONDITIONS PROVIDED FOR A NAVAJO MIGRANT FARM WORKER IN SAN JON, NEW MEXICO. (LB) R E P O R T RE SUME S
ED 018 95 UD 004 954 VISTA VOLUNTEER, VOLUME 31 NUMBER 111 NOVEMBER 196/. OFFICE Or ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, WASHINGTON, D.C. PUB DATE NOV 67 ERRS PRICE MF-$0.25 HC-31.32 31P.
DESCRIPTORS- *VOLUNTEERS, *DISADVANTAGED GROUPS, *COMMUNITY PROGRAMS, GHETTOS, JUVENILE GANGS, HOUSING DEFICIENCIES, LEGAL AID PROJECTS, MIGRANT WORKERS, MIAMII.FLORIDA, NEW YORK CITY, SAN JON, NEW MEXICO, VISTA
PUBLISHED BY VOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE TO AMERICA (VISTA), THIS JOURNAL ISSUE CONSISTS OF FOUR ARTICLES WHICH DESCRIBE LIFE AMONG THE URBAN AND RURAL POOR. THE ARTICLES DISCUSS (1) A SLUM AREA IN MIAMI, FLORIDA,(2) GHETTO GANGS,(3) AN ORGANIZATION OF ARCHITECTS AND LAWYERS COMMITTED TO IMPROVING SLUM HOUSING CONDITIONS IN NEW YORK CITY AND TO ADVISING TENANTS OF THEIR LEGAL RIGHTS, AND(4) INADEQUATE HOUSING CONDITIONS PROVIDED FOR A NAVAJO MIGRANT FARM WORKER IN SAN JON, NEW MEXICO. (LB) 1111111111.1
HEALTH, EDUCATION &WELFARE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF 4*. OFFICE Of EDUCATION
)44. N.
EXACTLY AS RECEIVEDFROM THE THIS DOCUMENT HASBEEN REPRODUCED OR OPINIONS ORIGINATING IT.POINTS Of VIEW PERSON OR ORGANIZATION OFFICIAL OFFICE OFEDUCATION STATED DO NOTNECESSARILY REPRESENT POSITION OR POLICY. Cover photo and photos accompanying the story on page 10 were taken by VISTA Paul Sentner in the Southeast Bonx and on the Lower East Side of Ne York.
VOLU R Published Monthly by Volunteers In Service ToAmerica Office of Economic Opportunity. 1111 18th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20506 Susan Dooley, Editor
Use of funds for printing this publication approved by the Directorof theBureauof theBudget,July11,1967.
CONTENTS FOR NOVEMBER, 1967, VOL. 3, NO. 11
Where People Go Lack 3 The glitter of Miami provides a bitter contrast to the city's slums
Gangs 10 Ghetto teenagers, rejected by society, form Are You Moving? a sub-society that providesdiscipline If you are, please let us know your new address so that you'll continue to receive the and security VISTA Volunteer. Print your name and old address here and mail to VISTA, Washing- 18 ton, D.C. 20506 ARTICLE 7A: A Weapon For Tenants In New York City tenants are using the legal
Name means available to improvehousing
Address Condemned 2 _ State Zip Code A migrant farm worker describes the boxcar where he lives Print new address here:
Address
City State Zip Code
2 The VISTA Volunteer November, 1967 t
)0,
4 O
*VW . 111 * ,
4* 40 * .11
70. 1 AYSey - Wig lot aller, Owl0.0.. nY ..*
law
'90
0 S
Miami, likean3.large city, has its of deprived and ghettos, its enclaves % depressed 'people.In this 'city ofglitter there is a sharpc9ntrait betweenthe lei'sure sovietfat play andthplaces. hre,
eople ri Story byEllen Urvant PhotographedThy Bob.East, jr. CONTINUED
Thp VISTA Volu'eteer November ,1967 3 I I
The sun, and magic aura of the ocean make Miami, Fla., a year-round , vacation land, attracting vacationers and tourists whose money and credit There is a certainty that cards support the city's economy. The same things attract the poor, who come looking for better luck things will always be this for a bit of the magic. People from harsher climates to the north con. tinuously come to Miami, thinking way-that there life will be easier. Ow the years there has been a steady migration of Negroes from places like Bermuda and is nothingone can do Georgia, many of whom are unskilled and ill-equipped to live in a competi- tive urban environment or to take ad-
4 Thu VISTA Ve funfair Ncsvembor, IMEIWAL.
.001.41kipt
.1111 vo.-411,
.t" to keep them from sittingaround unbelievingthroughthein vantage of the jobopportunities that jumbo of asking for a job, unf are beginning to openfor Negroes in idle.. .They need to be in a group and to learnthe need of fled by confidence or ability;shacks the area tenements where warm Migration from Cuba and Puerto culturing themselves. or apartment intimacy can't make up for the rats, population "If the mother seems to be care- Rico has swelled the city's the leaks and the lack of a place to with thousands of Spanish-speaking less in the way she does, the think; young girls who jump on people who, trained or untrained, edu- children will catch the same habit Miami's and the home will just go lack. other's stomachs to stop the babios cated or illiterate, vie with from coming; and a certainty that and housing. But the home can become a place own poor for jobs things will always be this waythat The words of a neighborhoodwork- where the individual will want to beor a place that is not even there is nothing one can do. er forEconomic Opportunity Program, The poor's attitude of defeat Is organiza- appetizing..." Inc., (EOPI), an umbrella understandable to anyone who have tion that covers the 25 0E0 programs The problems touched on by the ever encounteredthe too prevalent in Dade County, point to someof theEOPI worker are those common to the feeling that a generous welfare pro- problems of the area: poor in most large cities.In addition, "The teenagers need something there are the young people who go CONT MUSD
The VISTA Volontio Novslaborr, 1,67 Where People Go LackCONTINUED
gram encouragesidlenessandde- pendency. The aged, the permanently disabled, the blind, the motherswith dependent children, the people who comprise the majority of welfare re- cipients are overlooked in aneffort to find welfare cheaters. Dade County, which includes Miami, has a limited emergencyfund which is used to supplement the regu- lar state welfare payments. Even so, $120 a month is the maximum com- bined welfare sum any family can be paid. And to qualify, the family must have lived in the state for a year. Once a month, poor families get free surplusfoodsuppliesflour,corn meal,peanutbutter,canned meat. What they get varies according to what happens to be surplus that month and the supplies must be picked up in one trip. Beggars cannot be choosers, and for people who have been taught that their role is the equivalent of beggar, the choices are not many. "People see no use in contacting public officials, such as the police or health department," said VISTA Terry Klaf t, assigned to EOPI. "Sometimes, when they call for a serviceto have accumulated garbage removed from the streetnothing happens. So they get the idea these services are not for them." An abrupt dismissal is enough, in many cases, to get the poor person to VISTA Terry Klaft withdraw his complaintto live with the problem instead of asking help in "Everything is takenin solvingit. And an angry, accusing landlord is enough to make a slum . ..eviction, serious dweller draw back and accept, if bit- stride terly, his environment. physical injury,loss The slum dweller will look with curiosity and tolerance at hisfriend of the breadwinner . .." and neighbor, the young VISTA, who is outraged at the ratsat the lack of official action.
6 The VISTA Volunteer November, 1967 J
fence along aout-of-town real estate corporations. "If we call about garbagepick up,tioning the city for a children. VISTA Ralph Hergeat,who lives in we get courteousattention,ifnot canal that was a hazard to Getting a thing like a fence canstimu- a Negroghetto apartment building immediate action," said MissKlaf t. City area, said, insults. late a desire to pressfor additionalin Miami's Liberty "The poor person often gets "Mention the word blockclub and It is as much in the toneof voice ofimprovements. But while the poor are encotvaged by middle-incomepeoplenobody here will talk to you or come the authority they aretalking to as One tenant to improve theircondition, they arearound. They are afraid." what they say. It is a toneof dis- getting at the same timediscouraged by thoseorganization was successful in respect." the landlord to make repairs on ade- calling inwith whom they dealdirectlysuch as When a VISTA does the teriorating building but alongwith the in need, thea landlord. the presence of the person repairs came a raise inthe rent. Un- person issometimes able to identify NALhough the housing code in Miami be tightlyable to get people to organizearound with the aggressive, confidentVISTA is a rigid oneroofs must secured because ofhurricanesthethe need for housingimprovements, and put the sound ofself-confidence Hergeat now plans to try tobring he does thatDepartment of Code Enforcementand in his own voice. Once people together to create afood co- and gets results, he is neverthe sameRehabilitation has neither the money with the two- operative. again. If he seems a little over-aggres-nor the staff to cope shacks (if you shoot a VISTAs Suzanne Chopot andVir- sive about hisnew-found strength androom, shotgun bullet through the front doorit willginia Bradley found that asmall day- urreness ofhis rights, it is to be under- the back door)that housecare center soappealed to a slum land- stood. go out run-downlord that he lent them a roomfree A block dub in Miami'sLarclunonthundreds of families, or the owned by CONTINUED Gardens area was successfulin peti-ghetto apartment buildings
The VISTA Volunteer November, 1967 7 Where People Go LackCONCLUDED for that purpose. But when the VISTAS talked about making a survey of hous ing code violations in the building where theylived, across from the center,theywere evicted and the "Education" or "Learning center closed. Taking care of children is fine. But askill" are dream matters encouraging people to complain about backed up sewage is making trouble. The VISTAs could not rent another fine sounding words.. apartment in that area. They moved to a nicer and cheaper apartment on the The poor have had fringeoftheghettowheretheir former black neighbors could not rent. Unable to accept defeat in their at- experiences that have taught tempt to help the housing situation, the VISTAs are making surveys and defeat not success helping to inform people about meet- ings for the Liberty City Community Council (LCC), which is an organiza- tionrun bythreepeoplewitha Negro man, experienced at commun- ity organizing, at its head. Although the LCC has not been able to directlyformulate and carry through a planto apply for welfare or how to find influence the actions of the big ab-for the future. out about public housing or help with sentee landlords, it has been effective, Peopleareashamedtotalkto relocation,"said Miss Kla ft."She through rent strikes, in getting smallerstrangers about their problems. Andhad a very limited idea of how to cook landlords to make repairs. sometimes they don't know what towith the surplus food. Yet, she took Through programs in special edu- askfor. To many people in need,the eight grandchild: en in as a matter cation for both adults and children,money or a job or a place to live isof course. jobplacement and training, home'the answer. "Education" or "learning "The incredible thing is the way management, consumer education, rec- askill"aredreammattersfineeverything is taken in stride.,' said reation,daycareand communitysounding words. For the words toMiss Kla ft. "Eviction, serious physical organization, EOPI .is trying to instillmean more it is necessary for a per-injury, loss of the breadwinnerno a feeling of pride in the communityson to believe he can learn and thatone gets excited, even when the police to teach the people the skills neces-he has a right to learnbeliefs mostcome around. It happens too often." sary to survive in an urban environ-of us gain from successful experi- Visiting with the woman on the ment. In addition, through nine multi-ences with parents and teachers. Theporch of her house, a fragile-looking service centers, it is bringing variouspoor have had experiences that havestructurecrowdedinwithother city services closer to the neighbor-taught defeatnot success. houses on the same lot, the VISTAs hoods. VISTAs Dian Huff and Terry Kla f twatched small boys playing in the The neighborhood centerasnotvisited a woman in the Central Dis-narrow, grassless space between the meant to be a last recourse for peopletrict who had .no income but hadhouse and the fence and noticed a gash in trouble but a first recourse fortakeneight grandchildren into heron the foot of a toddler. people who plan and want to w.nkhome when their mother, who was When they mentioned the cut, the their way out of poverty. The poo resttheir sole support, was convicted ofwoman said defensively that she hadn't don't plan. They don't have the con-robbery and sentenced to eight yearsnoticedit,but that she would put fidence or the knowledge necessary toin prison. "She had no idea of howMercurochrome on it. "You have to
8 The VISTA Volunteer November, 1967 let her see that you know she is try- ing," said Miss Klaf t. "Atthe same time, you can't forget thebaby's foot." The Miami VISTAs feelthatif more peoplefrom middle-income areas could meet and talk to the poor,the ghetto dwellers, they would seepeople r-- who have dignity and pride,and who don't want to be dependent onothers all their lives. They would seethat there are people who want helpbadly, but who don't want to beg.But the VISTAs have found it hard toshare the experiences they havehad. They keep looking for new ways. VISTA Jenny Stark is seekingthe help of radio stations inbroadcasting "voices from the ghettos" to letmiddle- class listeners get some ideaof what life in the ghetto is like andhow people feel. VISTAs Jim Stophel andVirginia Bradley have been successful in get- tingarea women'sclubs,citizens' groups and amusic school to help out with such projects as musiclessons for deprived youngsters, aplayground ina povertyneighborhood and a drama group for children. On a Saturday night at aVISTA house you might meet apoliceman, a woman incharge of recruiting for Job Corps, a priest, a manreleased from jail through theVISTA Bail Bond project, a bail bondsman, acity official, a public defender, anEOPI VISTAs feel iforepeople official, a social caseworkerand some young peoplefrom thz neighborhood. The riS 1'Ab and thattheirguests could meetthe poor usuallyleavewithlessstereotyped ideas about people. they would seepeople The Miami VISTAs have seen many homes in the ghetto where"an indi- vidual would want tobe" and many who don't wantto be that "go lack." "The people are so proud,"said dependent onothers. the EOPI worker."They've got to learn to work together."
The VISTA Volunteer November, 1967 9 . The children, of thesedisillusidned colored pioneers irtherited the.to'tat lot of their parentsthe, STORY BY disappointments, the anger. To KATHERINE ZIHLMAN DAVIES add to-their misery, tifi)y- had little hopc, of delitTrance: For Where PHOTOGRAPHED BY PAUL SENTNER does one run to when, he's in A the pribmised land? Claude Brown Mar/child. In The Promised Lcritd CONTINUED The VISTA V;iunteer November, 1967 11 CONTINUED
In the world these boys know, nothing is stable, not family orschool or employment.... They join the gang to find the stability the world has not given them
The "promised land"isan empty Theybandtogetherinteenage phrase for much of today's youth. gangs and choose names with the Those whose parents immigrated to same intent that Detroit christens its the United States from Puerto Rico,newest sports carnames that imply from Mexico, whose families left theirpower. In the world these boys know, small Southern towns to move to thenothing is stablenot family or school Northern metropolis, who live in ghet-or employment. With nothing else to tos throughout the country, see onlygrab onto, they join the gang to find tooclearlythatsociety'sstandardsthe stability the world has not given have failed for their family and for them. them. The gang also provides its mem- They see the painful contrast be-bers with a code of ethics which is tween their hungry, filthy, crowdedstringently enforced. Thus the mem- lives and the America portrayed onbers look to the gang for the discipline television, in movies or visible on thethat would normally come from fam- other side of town. ily, church or school. In one Phila- And so the youths reject the stand-delphia gang, the leaders and members ards of a society that has rejectedheld a ?:angaroo court session for a them. Instead, they form their ownmember who drank wine instead of sub-society, in which success or fail-participating ina gang fight. The ureisdetermined by their own cri-court found him guilty and sentenced teria criteria within their reach. CONTINUED
12 The VISTA Volunteer Novimber, 1967 Y .1 ;} '10
.. . , him tothe"line." As he passed through a line of his peers, each ad- VISTA Stephen Delinsky: ministered physical punishment. A VISTA working with gangs in Chicago said "Most of the boys in the "Violence was the only way gang have little or no security in the home. There's no place he feels he wants to go home to.That'sthe they could tell society reason he's on the streethe doesn't dig what home he has. "Last fall, the gang was recruiting at large they were unhappy." and the exception was the kid who was the right age in the neighborhood and wasn't in. If the kids don't join
14 The VISTA Volunteer November, 1967 ( 0 CONTINUED
down into smaller groups so that theonly way they could tell society at youngsters could be reached,"saidlarge they were unhappy." Michael. The growth of gangs seems to run The dozen boys Michael has triedin cyclical patterns. There wasmuch to help are 14 to 18 yearsold. All areinter-gang violence in Chicago during from families who have incomesofthe summer of 1966very little inthe $2,000 to $3,000 a year and havesummer of 1967.At the height of their an averageof six to seven children.power, theBlackstone Rangers in Chi- In explaining why the boys band to-cago had massmeetings,a police gether, Michael said, "They have nosquad and their own system of justice self-confidence and the group givesand punishment. them personality." In1963, when Brother Godfrey "Most kids were forced tojoinfirst began to work with the gang gangs,"saidStephenDelinsky,aleaders in Santa Fe, he said, "Few VISTA who served for a year in Newpeople knew how structured the gang York City working with youths fromsystem was in town. There were gangs 21 to 23 years old. "But," he con-numbering in the hundreds. The larg- tinued,"alotreallyenjoyedtheest gang, and the one stimulatingthe violence." violent activities, had a core group of However, after completing a two-35 to 40 members; then an inner year study of 700members of 21sanctum of four that reallycalled the gangs, The President'sCommission onshots. These four couldpull together Crime found that only 17 percent of150 boys in an hour for a fight." theoffensesrecorded by observers At one point, gangs in New York included an element of violence. AboutCity had not only leaders but "war half of these were committed againstlords," who planned the gang's fight- rival gang members. Most observersing activities. Gang members took sub- might find the offenses meaninglessmachine guns to school and members but VISTAs working with the youthsof other gangs were forced to with- felt that it was an emotional reaction.draw from school for safety. "Seeminglymeaninglessviolence The Chicago VISTA feels that the may have meaning to thekid in hiscivilrights movement has beena emotionalstate,"saidthe Chicagomajor factor in the lessened interest VISTA. "It's associated with feelingsin gangs. "When you speak of gangs, they have to leave--or they can't walkof power." you're writing about past history in "Inter-gangac- down the street safely." "They have no feeling of family orChicago," hesaid. Rolland Michael serves as a VISTAself-worth," said Michael. "They har-tivities are of minor interest now. The of being in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a tourist bor strong feelings of guilt. They holdchange isa consequence town where even the statecapitol isitinuntilthey explode and thisblack and living in a black area. It's brother to built in a Spanish adobe style. Yet,usually results in violence. The groupmore important to be a said Michael, "At one time Santa Feis negative and the boys are a nega-black people now than to quarrel with was literally 'gangland' with gangs 200tive influence on each other. Whenthem." Delinsky feels that the main change members strong." you see them walkingtogether, a feel- Michael works with Young Citizensing of panic runs through you." in the New York City gang struc- for Action, an organization formed "There were a lot of fights for noture has been brought about by the by Brother Godfrey Reggio, S.S.C., areason," said Delinsky. "But the vio-increased use of narcotics. "If a kid former high school teacher in Santalence pointed up the internal turbu-gets high on narcotics," he said,"he's Fe. "Brother Godfrey broke the gangslence in the ghetto. Violence was the CONTINUED
The VISTA Volunteer November, 1967 15 CONCLUDED not interested in fighting. Instead of gangs, there is narcotics. It's hard to believe how far down it seeps into ghetto life." Most of the youthful gang mem- bers are school drop-outs. Some left at16, the age when a youth can legally withdraw in most states; but one 16-year-old boy in Santa Fe had been a drop-out since he was 8 years old. There are few jobs available for the unskilledanduneducated,sothe youngsters spend their day at the local meeting place, usually a street corner. Often, not living at home and unable to find a job, they hustle for a living maybe picking pockets of subway passengers on a crowded trainor pushing narcotics to children 10 or 12 years old. Most of the youths have criminal records. Their reasons for leaving school are not the old onessupporting a family or taking a laborer's job to make their way in the world. There are few jobs available to unskilled youth. They leave because they can- not keep up with the schoolwork; be- cause the language of the ghetto and the language of the school are different and there is little communication. "Schools have convinced him he's dumb," said Michael."And as far as academics go, he may be. But he "You may work for six knows what he's thinking. I'm tutoring one boy in English secretly. He thinks the others will laugh at him. The months," said the school system doesn't welcome prob- lem kids. If they're a problem, they Chicago VISTA, "and if try to get rid of them. I'm trying to get one 16-year-old boy into special education classes. When schooloffi- they think you betrayed cials found out he was 16, they said that he should get a job. But he wants them once, that's it." to go to school. "The kids are bitter toward school," Michael concluded. "It's a matter of
16 The VISTA Volunteer November, 1967 re-educating them to the value of it, no matter how bad it is." "You just can't pit them all in jail" The VISTAs become involved in gang life by meeting a few members mightkillme.IadmittedIhadhad negativeeffects by creating a on the street, talking to them, meet-weaknesses. Guys who were respectedvacuum too likely to be filled by such ing their friends. "Because we wereon the street were guys who outhustled destructive activity as using narcotics." the same age, we had much in com- others verbally. They finally called 11113 "We need to open new jobs, provide mon," said Delinsky, "the same yearn-a hustler because I couldn't be talkedfundingfor counseling,improve ings, the same questions. But it wasout of what I wanted to do." police-community relations," said the difficult to work with the gang mem- "You may work for six months,"VISTA in Chicago. " 'If you try, you bers. A lot of it is just trying to re-said the Chicago VISTA, "and, if theycan succeed' doesn't work here. When lateto them that all white peoplethink you betrayed them once, that'syou're 15, have been out of school aren't monsters. it." for three years and have a recordtry "They see the worst parts of our Most of the VISTAs agreed thatto get a job." society and they adopt the very thingsto work effectively with the gang, the All agree, though, that itis im- they hate. The tragedy is that that's allindividual and not the gang organiza-portant for the worker to retain his they see on a day-to-day basis. We'retion must be stressed. "You've gotstandards. "The pitfall of youth work- breeding an element of youthful crim-to always debunk, play it down," saiders is to try to adopt the standards inals, and you just can't put them allthe Chicago VISTA. "When some catof the group," said Delinsky. Michael in jail." comes up to you to tell about a fight,agreed. "You always have someone in "Except for me, all white peopleyou've got to say, 'Yeah...yeah... the group mad at you because you they see are in positions of authority,"tell me about it later. First tell mewon't concede to them." said the Chicago VISTA. "Every timeif you made it to the job interview.' The VISTAs know they're playing they've had a bad experience, they canThat cat knows then that the onlywith dynamite. "The testing is con- point to a white person. Knowing oneway he'll get recognition is by workingtinual," said Michael. "They wait to white person who doesn't treat themor staying in school and passing upbe rejected. They test you to see if nasty can make a difference.Beforetrouble." you'll let them down." they could correlate color with lack Delinsky feels that the gang mem- "There have been times when 1 of virtue." bers could be helped most effectivelythought I was going to be sick, I was Michael found that to work into thethrough a form of the Job Corpsso scared," the Chicago VISTA said. group he had to demonstrate a genuineextended over a longer period. "Over"I got jumped three times when I interest in them as a group first andtwo or three yearswith the youthfirst came. There was one fightI then as individuals. "It boils downout of his old environmentyou couldcouldn't walk away from I beat him. to a way of loving," he said. "Theybe successful," he said. "And VISTAsHe was drunk. The most important put up a fight because they're afraidcould ideally be front-line recruitersthing is not to show your fear." to trust me, afraid to respond to aon the street. But you can do a dis- The VISTAs who have worked with genuine emotion. Once you really con-service in this work. You can't in-street gangs are concerned about other vince them that you're for them aid creasetheiraspirations,give themVolunteers taking on the same job. they're worthwhile, they're with you.pie-in-the-sky dreams and then have"We needed skills and training," said They want something to hold on to.them go on job interviews and fallDelinsky. "I got them involved with a They don't want to be violent, butflat on their faces." therapist and it was damaging to some violence is a means of expression. If "Street workers haveoftensuc- because they weren't ready forit. you put them into a creative setting,ceeded in their immediate objective ofOnce they began recalling the horrors they'resurprised at themselves andaverting gang violence," wrote theof their lives, it terrorized them." suddenlyafightisdistastefultoPresident's Crime Commission in their "VISTAs are soidealistic,"said them." report. "But with little more perma-the Chicago VISTA. "If you can't There are as many techniques fornent to offer than bus trips and ballopen yourself up to these kids, they'll working with gang members as theregames, they have rarely managed touse that and use you. You can't come are VISTA workers. "I usedhonesty convert boys from total gang involve-into this work in any escaping way for both a defense and an offense,"ment to more socially acceptable pur-or use it to clear up personal hang- said Delinsky. "I was honest for selfishsuits.Indeed, there are indicationsups. These boys have more hang-ups reasonsif they caught me lying, theythat street work has in some placesthan we'll ever have."
The VISTA Volunteer November, 1967 17 I
Irmo*. 11k X
e
4
'4 4
a A Weaponfor Tenants
STORY BY SHARON DENNIS PHOTOGRAPHED BY JAMES PICKERELL
A tall young man in a business suit made his way down New York's E. The Architect's Renewal 131st St., bending his head now and then to listen more carefully to the Committee in Harlem is middle-aged Negro woman who walked with him. She was describing the poor plastering, leaky roof and teaching tenants how bad plumbing conditions in her apart- ment building that had prompted her to use legal means to seek help at ARCH (Architect's Renewal Committee In Harlem). The to improve housing man,24-year-oldDavid Pravda,a VISTA Volunteer and lawyer assigned to ARCH, was going to the woman's home to speak to other tenants in her building. The tenants had decided to force their landlord to make needed repairs.Pravda was goingtotell them some of the ways they could do it. Thecasewasnotunusualfor Pravda. Since June, he has worked with ARCH, an organization in which lawyers and architects combine their efforts to get new housing and re- habilitate old buildings in Harlem. Since ARCH was founded in 1964 by the American Institute of Archi- tects, the 15 lawyers and architects who comprise itsstaff have worked out of a skinny, brown office building CONTINUED
The VISTA Volunteer November, 1967 19 A Weapon for Tenants CONTINUED
on Lenox Ave. Thearchitectural and legalservicestheyprovideenable residents to take advantage of city laws to solve their housing problems. ARCH is mainly concerned with the enforcement of Article 7A of the Real PropertyActionsandProceedings Law. Uniqueto New YorkCity, Article 7A provides that, given proof of conditions in a building which are dangerous to life, health or safety, a court may order that rents be paid to an administrator instead of to a landlord and that the administrator use the rents only for the purposeof making repairs to the building. Although the 7A provision is one of the most effective weapons against theslumlord,itscomplicatedand costly procedure has prevented many tenants from enforcing it. Li presentingI/ 7A case, tenants must first petition the court to set a hearing to establish whether hazard- ous conditions really exist andwhether they are due to the landlord's negli- gence. In conjunction with this peti- tion, however, an official inspection of the building must be made by an architect, an engineer or a contractor. The inspector must make an itemized list of needed repairs and their esti- mated costs, which he must submit to the court on the day of the hearing. Court action is usually immediate, since under 7A there cannot be an adjournment of longer than five days without the tenants' consent. At the hearing, if the court is convinced that hazardous conditions do exist in a building, he will appoint an admin- istrator, who collectsall rents until the itemized repairs have been made and who is under order to use the money to make the repairs. 7A stipu- latesthata publicaccountant, an attorney, a real estate broker or any- one hiving an economic interest in the building may be appointed as an An apartment on Home .Street administrator. ARCH's role in the 7A proceedings isto provide the free architectural and legal services to Harlem residents who could not otherwise afford them but need them in order to take ad- vantage of the law. Courts tend to look Funded by 0E0,the relatively small ARCH staff has come to rely kindly on property owners greatly on volunteer architects and lawyers in New York City to meet the growing demand of Harlem residents a judgewill often who are aware of 7A and want to use it. appoint the landlord Pravda, who hasrecentlytaken over the coordination of7A cases in ARCH; explained that 7A proceedings as theadministrator are even more difficult inpractice than they are in theory. "Courts tend to look kindly on CONTINUED
The VISTA Volunteer November, 1967 21 A Weapon f"r Tenants CONTINUED property owners," Pravda said. "A "Itis hard for people to under-ing is flooded," he said. "People have judge will often appoint the landlord,stand why it is taking so long to getholes in their ceilings and most toilet himself,as the administrator, sinceresults,"Pravdasaid. "Even Alicefacilities are broken. The 'super' has the law says that anyone with an eco-Delk, a tenant leader who lives in thedeclared himself on a strike, even nomic interest in the building may bebuilding,is beginning to voice herthough his union is not striking, and appointed. doubts of the procedure." refuses to service the boilers or col- "This gives the landlord time for "We've gone to court and gone tolect the garbage. He has even pre- stalling, since the tenants must waitcourt and still he (the landlord) ain'tvented residents from entering the 20 days in order to establish that nodone nothing," Mrs. Delk said. "It'sboiler room so that they could light effort has been made to make repairsbad enough that some people werethe boiler themselves. and that a new administrator shouldafraidtosign a petitionthefirst "The rats in the back of this build- be appointed." time, three months ago. Now a loting are a foot long," Pravda con- One group of tenants working withof them don't thinkit makes anytinued. "They can rip a cat in two Pravda is now seeking to have thesense. I guess I'll just have to keepand chew a child's leg off." Court appoint their third administra-knocking on doors, telling them not All 7A cases are not as long and as tor. The first two administrators, theto be afraid of the landlord, to signdifficult as the one pending at 800 landlordandthemortgagee,hadanother paper." Home St. The Addie Mae Collins Com- made no effort to even start on the According to Pravda, the situationmunity Center in Harlem, working estimated $10,000 worth of repairsat 800 Home St. has gotten progres- witharchitectsand lawyersfrom needed in 800 Home St., the buildingsively worse. "The roof is worthlessARCH, has forced action in 7 out of in question. and each time it rains the entire build- 10 buildings they have taken to court
" V as 7A cases. With the rentsthey have more, tenants canalsoobtainde- collected, the administrators of these creases in rent if they canshow that buildings have done painting and plas- there have been decreases in services tering jobs and, in one instance, re- and facilities in their buildings. placed the entire boiler system. "I'll have to keep Pravda also sees the tenants' lack Pravda has found thatin many of knowledge of their rights as one cases landlords would nothave been ofthe major contributorstothe able to take advantage of tenants ifontelling them creation of slums. "In many instances, the tenants were more aware of their when a landlord sees people accus- rights under the law. "Many buildingsnot to be of tomed to being downtroddenlike the in New York City are rent controlled many Southern Negroes who come to and have a maximum rent price," Harlemmove into his neighborhood, Pravda said. "Some landlords haveof the landlord, he immediately begins to milk his been overcharging unsuspecting ten- building and the people initdry. ants for years." to sign Instead of helping to educate tenants According to Pravda, many tenants to the ways of urban living, he takes do not know about rent control or advantage of their inexperience and that they may obtain a confidentialanother paper." concerns himself only with getting the statement from the Rent Commission most money he can immediately get telling them the maximum rent their out of the building. He starts to cheat landlords can charge them. Further- CONTINUED "We want actionand rapid change, ourultimate goal being torid Harlem ofthe poverty and other conditionsthat insult ourhumanity." A Weapon for Tenants CONCLUDED
ness of ARCH canonly be felt if theIn addition, Pravda hopes that this community accepts the organizationsurvey will give ARCH theevidence and takes advantage of the profes-they need to petition the city and state sionalabilities here:: Pravda said.governments to broaden existing hous- "This can only come by workinging laws. , with grassroots people." In order to reach the Harlem com- Pravda works closely with MENDmunity, ARCH publishes the Harlem (Massive Economic Neighborhood De-News, a monthly newspaper which velopment), an association of localgives local people and organizations people who head sub-community or-a chance to express their ideas.This ganizations. He also works with thefall, ARCH is undergoing an expan- heads of tenant associations. sionandreorganizationthatwill identify it even more fully with the "Thereisnothing ARCH likes more than to be used bythe com-community. The majority of the pres- ent ARCH staff, who are white profes- munity,"the VISTA said."When people come to us with cases that aresionals, will move to another office notdirectlyinvolved with massiveoutside of Harlem and maintain their housing rehabilitation, ARCH does notaffiliation with ARCH as a research branch of the organization. A Board turn them away. ofDirectors,expandedtoinclude "One woman who came to the officeHarlem residents, and a larger staff, wanted to sue her landlord for in- on the maximum rentclause and cuts comprised mostly of black profession- juries she had suffered from a fallingals, will remain in the office on Lenox corners on the upkeepof the building.ceiling," he continued. "Even though "For example, a landlord who cares Ave., and will work more closely with I did not take this case myself, I took about the state of his boiler system the community. Pravda is one of the the tenant to another lawyer, outside five yeas s from now pays to have few white staff members who will re- of ARCH, and I am following the case someone service it regularly.A land- main at the Lenox Ave. site. through. lord who is interested only in getting a Harvardeducated "When I visited this woman in her Max Bond, money out of his buildingtoday never justreturnedfrom building, I met some of her neigh-architectwho has his boiler serviced.Itis often Ghana, where he taught architecture bors, who also have housing com- things like this that can assurt., a slum for three years, will be the new ARCH plaints. Now they are thinkingof neighborhood." director. He explained the new con- To inform Harlem residents of theirbringing a 7A case against their land- text in which ARCH is to function as housing rights under this law, ARCHlord to force repairs." form has published Tenant Action. "It is part of "the emergence of a new To ascertain the housing needs inin the struggle for freedom." the bible of the tenant associations,"Harlem as a whole, ARCH is plan- "We want action and rapid change, Pravda said. "1 used it before I camening a survey of the entire community. rid Harlem to ARCH." Tenant Action not onlyStaff members hope to learn throughour ultimate goal being to tells tenants what they can demandthe survey not only the housing in-of the poverty and other conditions of the landlord but what the landlordadequacies but the results of all 7Athat insult our humanity," Bond said. can demand of them.It lists housing "We want to work with these issues cases that have been triedin the com- laws and the procedures for following munity. Furthermore, the survey willand develop a combined approach them through. Inaddition,itlists pinpont the needs of certain neigh-consistent with the new forms of the places like ARCH, where tenants may black community's struggle. get assistance in bettering their hous-borhoods according to their popula- "We will not dictate these forms ing conditions. tions; i.e., neighborhoods with a high ARCH staff members become as concentrationofelderlyor youngbut rather work with the community involved as possible in the Harlempeople. This information will be useful in discovering them and the solutions community. "The ultimateeffective. in planning future housing in Harlem.they suggest."
The VISTA Volunteer November, 1967 25 Richard Helgeland, 21, irs a VISTA assigned to New Mexico's Home, Education and Livelihood Program (HELP) to work with Navajo Indian migrants in the town of San Jon. Every autumn for the past six or seven years, 500 to 1,000 Navajos have come from their reservation to harvestSanJon'smajorcrop, broomcorn, a grass used for broom bristles. The Indians remain about four months, working 10-hour days STOR* AND PHOTOGRAPHS and livinginold farmhouses, BY RICHARD HELGELAND turkey barns and occasionally box- cars in farm labor camps. A farmer's son, Helgeland under- stands many of the problems of a ruralcommunity andissympa- thetic with the San Jon farmers. They needcheaplabor, since broomcorn is selling at only $300 a ton, but he thinks that some of them could improve their migrant camps. Recently he prepared an elabo- rate report on four different camps housing Navajo workers. The state- ments on each camp were docu- mented with photographs. Follow- ing is a report on one of the camps Helgeland visited, the one which he found to be the worst of the four. CONTINUED
26 The VISTA Volunteer November, 1967 I,
rig
At,
1 ONDEMNEIL,
An Indian farmhand voiced his dis- content with the general living situ- ation the Indian faces in the San Jon area during the broomcorn harvest. He was particularly disgusted with the living quarters he and his wife were given to stay in for two weeks. He repeatedly made the statement,"It must be changed." The farmhand left San Jon and re- turned to Brimhall (the Navajo Reser- vation) two days after I had talked to him. His reasons for leaving were IE that there were inadequate housing and facilities; the farmer he worked for was mistreating him and the days were too long and the work too hard for the amount of pay he was re- ceiving. The following is our discussion. I attempted to keep it as close as pos- sible to the actual questions I asked and the answers he gave me. The conversation lasted nearly four hours in total, much of the time being lost by me trying to make my questions understood or by the farmhand trying tomake himselfclearinbroken English. I did not influence answers to par- ticularquestions. The conversation was quite free. VISTA: Tell me about your living quarters. FARMHAND: Ilivein a boxcar. "Somebody has tocome It's coldno refrigerator,no stove, no electricity. Just two single beds. What I say? I been mistreated. Just hereseehow people are got a kerosene lamp. VISTA: What do you mean when living here. It has to you say you've been mistreated? FARMHAND: The way we'reliv- ing thereit's justlikea chicken house. Outsideabout fifteenyards be changed." awaythere's a pipe for water, no warm water. We had to buy our own bucket and carry the water into the boxcar. We were given two old quilts,
28 The VISTA Volunteer November, 1967 me and my wife. They were all torn up. There's nothing thereno sink, no shower, nothing. We've stayed here about two weeks. I would be ashamed to keep my people in there. They should put that boxcar on the tracks and send it some- place. Yes, they should. VISTA: Where are the toilets? FARMHAND: Aboutfiftyyards awayfull offlies.In the Navajo way, it wouldn't be like that. There's no doors. There's too many mice. VISTA: Did youtellthefarmer that you were working for about the mice? FARMHAND: Yes, he said we would havetobuyamousetrap.They eat our cheese, potatoes, bread, meat everything. Next door it's the same way. I borrowed the mousetrap from next door. That's all. That's it. I'm mad. It's got to be changed. VISTA: What about your work? Tell me what you do? FARMHAND: I pick the pile. Start work at 6:30that's too early. We work until 2:15. We make 86 to 100 bales a day. No break during the day. VISTA: How much do you get paid an hour? FARMHAND: $1.25 an hour. No overtime. We are paid by the weekWe live in a house. We got a ranch.changed by next year. on Saturday afternoon. Sometimes weWe got horses and sheep. Our ranchVISTA: Do you want an investiga- have to work until night. We have tois about 16 miles square. It's not liketion? do what the farmer says. Too muchhere. The living is not good here. FARMHAND: Yes. Somebody has to work for $1.25 an hour. VISTA: What are you going to tellcome heresee how my people are VISTA: Do you think the prices arethe council? living here.It has to be changed. high in San Jon? FARMHAND: Everything I told you.Right now. The Tribal Council will FARMHAND: Yes, a little highnotI don't like to live in a boxcar. Itdo something. I'm trying to help my as high as on the reservation. Lardmust be changed. We don't like it. people. All my people are being mis- is cheaper there, so is meat. A lotVISTA: Do you think these peopletreated. of things are higher. can do anything about the way it isVISTA: Getting back to the Indian VISTA: Do you plan to do anythinghere? camps, is there any garbage disposal? about what you've seen? FARMHAND: Yes.I'lltellthemDoes anyone pick it up? FARMHAND: My grandfather is athe same thing I told you. They'll getFARMHAND: No. It's just outside councilman.I'lltellhim.On themad. Write report. Someone will havein a can. reservation we don't live in a hogan. toinvestigatehere.Ithastobe CONTINUED
The VISTA Volunteer November, 1967 29 111111.116.. CONDEMNEDCONCLUDED
VISTA Richard Helgeland with Indian workers, who, after ten hours in the fields, return to old farm houses, turkey barns orboxcars
VISTA: How far is it from the box-VISTA: Where do you shower in car? Tucumcari? FARMHAND: It's about five yardsFARMHAND: At one of the motels. away, on the west side of the door. VISTA: How would you compare VISTA: Does it smell? the?lyingconditionsof the camp FARMHAND: Yes. That's where allyou were at in San Jon toall the the flies are and the mice. If I had aother places you've lived? shovel I'd dig out a holepush it inFARMHAND: That boxcar isthe therecover it up. worst place I've been in. I've had it. VISTA: What do you do about theIt should be investigated by our own garbage back on the reservation? tribe. In Arizona, they gave us mat- FARMHAND: We got a place. Wetresses and blankets.It was alot keep it about 150 yards away. I digbetter there. That boxcar had no win- a hole. I push it inpush dirt overdowsthere was no fresh air. The it.I burn the paper with kerosene.mice came in from a hole in one end This way there are no fliesno fliesand run all the way throughevery and no mice. night. VISTA: In the camps, how do youVISTA: Would you and your wife wash? swearbyeverythingyou'vesaid. FARMHAND: No. Don't. You meanWould you put your name on this clothes? report? VISTA: I mean your clothes andFARMHAND: I'llsignit.I'lltell yourself. people everything I told you. You can FARMHAND: I wash my clothesget me back on tinereservation. If here at the HELP Center.It's goodanyone comes to see me, I'll talk the here. I took showers in Tucumcari. same way.
The VISTA Volunteer November, 1967 31