Jean Rice
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jean Rice (July 1, 1939 – March 12, 2025) was an American advocate for the homeless in New York City.[1] He lived on the streets for three decades.[2][1] He was on the board of the homeless rights organization Picture the Homeless.[1]
Born in Anderson, South Carolina, Rice moved to Harlem as a young child in 1944.[1][3] They later moved to Brooklyn, where he attended school before joining the United States Army.[1] In the 1960s, he served time in Attica state prison after shooting and injuring a man in Manhattan.[1] He became homeless in 1987, after the aunt he was living with was murdered.[1][4]
He earned money picking up cans and bottles, which he redeemed for the five-cent deposit; he also panhandled.[3] He studied at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and was a founding Poverty Scholar at Union Theological Seminary.[3]
His story is documented by the Jean Rice Project.[5] The Jean Rice Homeless Liberation Reference Library in Fordham, Bronx, is named after him.[2]