Speech at Legal Assistance Foundation Annual Luncheon, Grand Ballroom, Palmer House Hilton, June 23, 2008

Thank you, Diana. It is an honor for us to be part of this occasion. The Legal Assistance Foundation is a necessary organization. I know how LAF attorneys are regarded in abandoned communities throughout city. For the residents of those communities, they embody the possibility of justice. For my own part, I am grateful for all the ways, large and small, that you and your colleagues have enriched my understanding of the issues facing public housing residents.

During my years of immersion at Stateway Gardens, a practice developed that came to be known in certain circles as “the Jamie walk.” Journalists, academics, civic leaders, foundation executives, and assorted others would come down to South State Street ostensibly to see what I was up to but in fact to get a glimpse of life in public housing. I didn’t give them a formal tour; rather, they would tag along as I made my rounds. We would talk, as we walked. I welcomed these visits. So much more information could be conveyed on site than in a conversation in a downtown office. I recognized that for many the visit was not without its anxieties. It entailed crossing a significant threshold—stepping away from the official narrative about public housing (that hallucinatory mix of folklore, fear, and highly charged symbols) and stepping forward to see for themselves the conditions of life in a particular community. For some this proved a memorable and enduring experience. It removed the husks from what they thought they knew about high-rise public housing to reveal the questions inside.