Not until the fifth day of the federal government's inept and
inadequate emergency response to the New Orleans disaster did George
Bush even acknowledge it was "unacceptable." "Unacceptable" doesn't
begin to describe the depth of the neglect, racism and classism
shown to the people of New Orleans. The government's actions and
inactions were criminal. New Orleans, a city whose population is
almost 70% percent black, 40% illiterate, and many are poor, was
left day after day to drown, to starve and to die of disease and
thirst.
The people of New Orleans will not go quietly into the night,
scattering across this country to become homeless in countless other
cities while federal relief funds are funneled into rebuilding
casinos, hotels, chemical plants and the wealthy white districts of
New Orleans like the French Quarter and the Garden District. We will
not stand idly by while this disaster is used as an opportunity to
replace our homes with newly built mansions and condos in a
gentrified New Orleans.
Community Labor United (CLU), a coalition of the progressive
organizations throughout New Orleans, has brought community members
together for eight years to discuss socio-economic issues. We have
been communicating with people from The Quality Education as a Civil
Right Campaign, the Algebra Project, the Young People's Project and
the Louisiana Research Institute for Community Empowerment. We are
preparing a press release and framing document that will be out as a
draft later today for comments.
Here is what we are calling for:
- We are calling for all New
Orleanians remaining in the city to be evacuated immediately.
- We are calling for
information about where every evacuee was taken. We are calling for
black and progressive leadership to come together to meet in Baton
Rouge to initiate the formation of a Community Oversight Committee
of evacuees from all the sites. This committee will demand a role in
reviewing and influencing how resources collected on behalf of the
people of New Orleans are allocated.
- We are calling for
volunteers to enter the shelters where our people are and to assist
parents with housing, food, water, health care and access to aid.
- We are calling for
teachers and educators to carve out some time to come to evacuation
sites and teach our children.
- We are calling for city
schools and universities near evacuation sites to open their doors
for our children to go to school.
- We are calling for health
care workers and mental health workers to come to evacuation sites
to volunteer.
- We are calling for lawyers
to investigate the wrongful death of those who died, to protect the
land of the displaced, to investigate whether the levies broke due
to natural and other related matters.
- We are calling for
evacuees from our community to actively participate in the
rebuilding of New Orleans.
- We are calling for the
addresses of all the relevant list serves and press contacts to send
our information.
We are in the
process of setting up a central command post in Jackson, MS, where
we will have phone lines, fax, email and a web page to centralize
information. We will need volunteers to staff this office.
We have set up a People's Hurricane Fund that will be directed and
administered by New Orleanian evacuees. The Vanguard Public
Foundation has agreed to accept donations on behalf of this fund.
The Vanguard Public Foundation has a long history of social justice
activism and also has the staff capacity to manage this level of
effort.
Danny Glover, who was one of the original conveners of the first
national meeting of the Quality Education as a Civil Right Campaign
(QECR) at Howard University in March, 2005 and serves as the
Honorary Chairperson of the QECR Coordinating Committee. Mr. Glover
also is the co-chair of the Board of Directors of the Vanguard
Public Foundation.
Tax-Exempt donations can be made out
to:
The People's Hurricane Fund
c/o Vanguard Public Foundation
383 Rhode Island St., Ste 301
San Francisco, CA 94103
Or
donate to this
fund online.
If you have
comments on how to proceed or need more information, please email
them to Curtis Muhammad (muhammadcurtis@bellsouth.net)
and Becky Belcore (bbelcore@hotmail.com).
Thank you.
