I was first drawn to work on homelessness more than 20 years ago through the actions of Mitch Snyder, a visionary leader who understood the power of direct action. Snyder built a militant movement around the criminal reality of mass homelessness in America and knew how to get average people to take personal risks in the pursuit of a just cause.

The anniversary of Snyder’s July 5, 1990 suicide reminded me of a memorial we held in Boston at Park Street Church across the street from the Boston Common. There were the all too predictable eulogies and reminiscences of poignant or revealing moments. Then my friend Lisa Kuneman — a line-worker at Pine Street Inn and an activist with our Homes Not Bombs group — walked up to the pulpit. She broke down as she talked about how much we needed Mitch, and how angry she was that he’d done something so selfish. Hers is the only speech I remember. She was right. She still is.

A few weeks ago I was talking to poor people’s lobbyist Tony Lee and he said the cooptation and management of homelessness by the White House ultimately wouldn’t work, because they were about to be outflanked by the broader anti-poverty movement.

This week brings evidence that he is right. A consensus statement on the 20th Anniversary of the McKinney-Vento Act puts 10-Year Plan mania in its place. See mckinney20th.org for more.

For daily posts by Tim Harris see www.apesmaslament.blogspot.com