Lynne Tillman is a homeless mother living in Atlanta with her 13-year old son, Kwadjo. She has worked as a truck driver and as a rigger in the entertainment industry until she sustained a back injury, and now works part-time as a seamstress and at whatever job she can find available. She refuses to reside in a shelter because she is afraid they will take her son away from her. When her purse was stolen, she went through the incredible process that thousands like her go through every day. When you are poor or homeless, it is almost impossible to get your identity back. You become invisible, condemned to a condition of perpetual poverty, outside the system. Lynne tells her story here, and it is the story of what it means to be poor in America.
People's Tribune: You speak of an "identity" crisis for many of the poor and homeless in Atlanta. What do you mean by that?
Lynne Tillman: For whatever reason, when someone who is poor or homeless loses their ID, such as a Driver's license, then they have to get another one, which can be expensive, and then the system sets up all of these roadblocks to deny you ID or to prolong the process. In my own case, I lost my ID when my purse was stolen, I had to send back to Kansas City for my birth certificate, and it had to be a certified birth certificate, not just a copy. My name had been changed, so I had to get a certified name change. It just goes on and on.
In the meantime, you are caught in an invisibility trap. In order to escape from poverty you need to get a job, but without ID you can't get a job. To get off the streets, you need housing, but without ID you can't get housing. To keep from starving, you need food assistance, but without ID you can't get food stamps. It is almost like the system is deliberately setting up all of these roadblocks to keep you permanently locked out.
People's Tribune: What are you doing to survive now?
Lynne Tillman: It is a struggle. I am afraid to stay in a shelter because I have a wonderful son whom I am afraid they could take away from me, and I can't lose him. I am home-schooling him for the same reason. Without ID you also can't get a driver's license, so I can't work as a truck driver anymore. I am skilled as a seamstress, so I do that, but it is only part-time. That doesn't pay enough for us to afford any decent housing. Even with help from friends and the agencies, we have had to live in people's basements, or in housing with no heat, no stove or refrigerator, and with a leaky roof.
People's Tribune: And you say that you are not alone, that there are millions in the same boat as you?
Lynne Tillman: Yes. It's like the whole system is trying to disappear the poor. If you can't see the poor, then they don't exist. The whole perception is that if you are not needed, then you are not wanted. If you don't produce, then you have no value as a human being. The poor and homeless in this country are becoming like a Third World country; we are consumers with no money. But if we have no money, how can we consume? You're outside the gate. This country was founded on slavery, and it looks almost like we are getting back to that. Many of those who lose their ID wind up in prison, where they are forced to work for nothing.
People's Tribune: So what needs to happen?
Lynne Tillman: We need to get our identity back. We do exist, and we do have value as human beings.
Interview conducted by Gloria and John Slaughter.
