Columbia Center for Oral History Portal > Oral history interview with Rodney Allen, 2014Biographical NoteRodney Allen was born in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1954. When he was seven years old, his family moved to Long Island City in New York City. He attended public elementary school, a Catholic school, and Hunter College. When he was eighteen, he moved to Rego Park, and worked a variety of jobs including at a pizza shop and messenger service. He met his wife at the newsstand she worked at in 1977, and their daughter Roxanne was born in 1978. He started work as a truck and messenger dispatcher in 1979. Around the same time, his brother was murdered and his mother developed and ultimately died from cancer. Allen adopted a partying lifestyle, and his marriage faltered. They divorced in 1984. In 1991, he started dispatch work for a different company, but by the mid-2000s conditions had deteriorated there. He quit and did piecework, but this was unstable, and he was ultimately evicted for nonpayment of rent in 2007. He lived in Madison Square Park, on the subway, and in Penn Station. Through Bob Moore, he began connecting with social services through All Angels' Church. In 2009, he graduated in 2009 from the Panim el Panim life skills empowerment program, and that same year he found housing in South Jamaica, Queens
Scope and ContentsIn this two-session interview, Rodney Allen discusses his life story, his experience with homelessness, and his Christian faith. Many topics are revisited across both sessions of the interview. He discusses different aspects of faith including: the role of Christ in his life, participation in a faith and wellness circle, participation in a house church, the role of religion in his youth, his closer connection with Christianity following homelessness, and the influence of Christine Lee and Eric Mull. He describes his youth and education. He contrasts the rural life of relatives in North Carolina with his experience growing up in Long Island City, Queens. He describes family dynamics, as his mother remarried and he got stepsiblings. He analyzes his relationship with his parents and brother Stanley. He describes his school experiences at public and Catholic schools. He recalls the impact of learning of the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. He discusses his love of football and rock and roll music. He gives an extensive description of his life in the 1970s-1990s. He describes meeting his wife at the newsstand where she worked and the birth of their daughter Roxanne. He discusses tragedies that hit his family in 1979: the murder of his brother after a dice game and his mother's death from cancer. He began a partying lifestyle, which led to the dissolution of his marriage in 1984, and he discusses this and the custody fight that followed. He describes working as a dispatcher and the ultimate end of this career. He describes the story of becoming homeless, and his experiences living in Madison Square Park, on the subway, and in Penn Station. He describes connecting with Bob Moore and programs and employment opportunities through All Angels' Church. He analyzes the shame and independence that prevented him from leaning on family and describes reconnecting with his daughter. He also discusses Panim el Panim and Open Door, programs that helped him restabilize his life and find housing
SubjectsAccess ConditionsCopyright by Rodney Allen. The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York hold a non-exclusive license to enable library activities
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