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A report from a New Orleans Green who is also a personal colleague. Subject: report from a New Orleans green
by Malik Rahim
Malik Rahim, a veteran of the Black Panther Party in
New Orleans, for decades an organizer of public
housing tenants both there and in San Francisco and a
recent Green Party candidate for New Orleans City
Council, lives in the Algiers neighborhood, the only
part of New Orleans that is not flooded. They have no
power, but the water is still good and the phones
work. Their neighborhood could be sheltering and
feeding at least 40,000 refugees, he says, but they
are allowed to help no one. What he describes is
nothing less than deliberate genocide against Black
and poor people. - Ed.
New Orleans, Sept. 1, 2005 - It's criminal. From what
you're hearing, the people trapped in New Orleans are
nothing but looters. We're told we should be more
"neighborly." But nobody talked about being neighborly
until after the people who could afford to leave left.
If you ain't got no money in America, you're on your
own. People were told to go to the Superdome, but they
have no food, no water there. And before they could
get in, people had to stand in line for 4-5 hours in
the rain because everybody was being searched one by
one at the entrance.
I can understand the chaos that happened after the
tsunami, because they had no warning, but here there
was plenty of warning. In the three days before the
hurricane hit, we knew it was coming and everyone
could have been evacuated.
We have Amtrak here that could have carried everybody
out of town. There were enough school buses that could
have evacuated 20,000 people easily, but they just let
them be flooded. My son watched 40 buses go underwater
- they just wouldn't move them, afraid they'd be
stolen.
People who could afford to leave were so afraid
someone would steal what they own that they just let
it all be flooded. They could have let a family
without a vehicle borrow their extra car, but instead
they left it behind to be destroyed.
There are gangs of white vigilantes near here riding
around in pickup trucks, all of them armed, and any
young Black they see who they figure doesn't belong in
their community, they shoot him. I tell them, "Stop!
You're going to start a riot."
When you see all the poor people with no place to go,
feeling alone and helpless and angry, I say this is a
consequence of HOPE VI. New Orleans took all the HUD
money it could get to tear down public housing, and
families and neighbors who'd relied on each other for
generations were uprooted and torn apart.
Most of the people who are going through this now had
already lost touch with the only community they'd ever
known. Their community was torn down and they were
scattered. They'd already lost their real homes, the
only place where they knew everybody, and now the
places they've been staying are destroyed.
But nobody cares. They're just lawless looters ...
dangerous.
The hurricane hit at the end of the month, the time
when poor people are most vulnerable. Food stamps
don't buy enough but for about three weeks of the
month, and by the end of the month everyone runs out.
Now they have no way to get their food stamps or any
money, so they just have to take what they can to
survive.
Many people are getting sick and very weak. From the
toxic water that people are walking through, little
scratches and sores are turning into major wounds.
People whose homes and families were not destroyed
went into the city right away with boats to bring the
survivors out, but law enforcement told them they
weren't needed. They are willing and able to rescue
thousands, but they're not allowed to.
Every day countless volunteers are trying to help, but
they're turned back. Almost all the rescue that's been
done has been done by volunteers anyway.
My son and his family - his wife and kids, ages 1, 5
and 8 - were flooded out of their home when the levee
broke. They had to swim out until they found an
abandoned building with two rooms above water level.
There were 21 people in those two rooms for a day and
a half. A guy in a boat who just said "I'm going to
help regardless" rescued them and took them to Highway
I-10 and dropped them there.
They sat on the freeway for about three hours, because
someone said they'd be rescued and taken to the
Superdome. Finally they just started walking, had to
walk six and a half miles.
When they got to the Superdome, my son wasn't allowed
in - I don't know why - so his wife and kids wouldn't
go in. They kept walking, and they happened to run
across a guy with a tow truck that they knew, and he
gave them his own personal truck.
When they got here, they had no gas, so I had to punch
a hole in my gas tank to give them some gas, and now
I'm trapped. I'm getting around by bicycle.
People from Placquemine Parish were rescued on a ferry
and dropped off on a dock near here. All day they were
sitting on the dock in the hot sun with no food, no
water. Many were in a daze; they've lost everything.
They were all sitting there surrounded by armed
guards. We asked the guards could we bring them water
and food. My mother and all the other church ladies
were cooking for them, and we have plenty of good
water.
But the guards said, "No. If you don't have enough
water and food for everybody, you can't give
anything." Finally the people were hauled off on
school buses from other parishes.
You know Robert King Wilkerson (the only one of the
Angola 3 political prisoners who's been released).
He's been back in New Orleans working hard,
organizing, helping people. Now nobody knows where he
is. His house was destroyed. Knowing him, I think he's
out trying to save lives, but I'm worried.
The people who could help are being shipped out.
People who want to stay, who have the skills to save
lives and rebuild are being forced to go to Houston.
It's not like New Orleans was caught off guard. This
could have been prevented.
There's military right here in New Orleans, but for
three days they weren't even mobilized. You'd think
this was a Third World country.
I'm in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans, the
only part that isn't flooded. The water is good. Our
parks and schools could easily hold 40,000 people, and
they're not using any of it.
This is criminal. These people are dying for no other
reason than the lack of organization.
Everything is needed, but we're still too
disorganized. I'm asking people to go ahead and gather
donations and relief supplies but to hold on to them
for a few days until we have a way to put them to good
use.
I'm challenging my party, the Green Party, to come
down here and help us just as soon as things are a
little more organized. The Republicans and Democrats
didn't do anything to prevent this or plan for it and
don't seem to care if everyone dies.
======
Malik's phone is working. He welcomes calls from old
friends and anyone with questions or ideas for saving
lives. To reach him, call the Bay View at (415) 671-0789
by Malik Rahim
Malik Rahim, a veteran of the Black Panther Party in
New Orleans, for decades an organizer of public
housing tenants both there and in San Francisco and a
recent Green Party candidate for New Orleans City
Council, lives in the Algiers neighborhood, the only
part of New Orleans that is not flooded. They have no
power, but the water is still good and the phones
work. Their neighborhood could be sheltering and
feeding at least 40,000 refugees, he says, but they
are allowed to help no one. What he describes is
nothing less than deliberate genocide against Black
and poor people. - Ed.
New Orleans, Sept. 1, 2005 - It's criminal. From what
you're hearing, the people trapped in New Orleans are
nothing but looters. We're told we should be more
"neighborly." But nobody talked about being neighborly
until after the people who could afford to leave left.
If you ain't got no money in America, you're on your
own. People were told to go to the Superdome, but they
have no food, no water there. And before they could
get in, people had to stand in line for 4-5 hours in
the rain because everybody was being searched one by
one at the entrance.
I can understand the chaos that happened after the
tsunami, because they had no warning, but here there
was plenty of warning. In the three days before the
hurricane hit, we knew it was coming and everyone
could have been evacuated.
We have Amtrak here that could have carried everybody
out of town. There were enough school buses that could
have evacuated 20,000 people easily, but they just let
them be flooded. My son watched 40 buses go underwater
- they just wouldn't move them, afraid they'd be
stolen.
People who could afford to leave were so afraid
someone would steal what they own that they just let
it all be flooded. They could have let a family
without a vehicle borrow their extra car, but instead
they left it behind to be destroyed.
There are gangs of white vigilantes near here riding
around in pickup trucks, all of them armed, and any
young Black they see who they figure doesn't belong in
their community, they shoot him. I tell them, "Stop!
You're going to start a riot."
When you see all the poor people with no place to go,
feeling alone and helpless and angry, I say this is a
consequence of HOPE VI. New Orleans took all the HUD
money it could get to tear down public housing, and
families and neighbors who'd relied on each other for
generations were uprooted and torn apart.
Most of the people who are going through this now had
already lost touch with the only community they'd ever
known. Their community was torn down and they were
scattered. They'd already lost their real homes, the
only place where they knew everybody, and now the
places they've been staying are destroyed.
But nobody cares. They're just lawless looters ...
dangerous.
The hurricane hit at the end of the month, the time
when poor people are most vulnerable. Food stamps
don't buy enough but for about three weeks of the
month, and by the end of the month everyone runs out.
Now they have no way to get their food stamps or any
money, so they just have to take what they can to
survive.
Many people are getting sick and very weak. From the
toxic water that people are walking through, little
scratches and sores are turning into major wounds.
People whose homes and families were not destroyed
went into the city right away with boats to bring the
survivors out, but law enforcement told them they
weren't needed. They are willing and able to rescue
thousands, but they're not allowed to.
Every day countless volunteers are trying to help, but
they're turned back. Almost all the rescue that's been
done has been done by volunteers anyway.
My son and his family - his wife and kids, ages 1, 5
and 8 - were flooded out of their home when the levee
broke. They had to swim out until they found an
abandoned building with two rooms above water level.
There were 21 people in those two rooms for a day and
a half. A guy in a boat who just said "I'm going to
help regardless" rescued them and took them to Highway
I-10 and dropped them there.
They sat on the freeway for about three hours, because
someone said they'd be rescued and taken to the
Superdome. Finally they just started walking, had to
walk six and a half miles.
When they got to the Superdome, my son wasn't allowed
in - I don't know why - so his wife and kids wouldn't
go in. They kept walking, and they happened to run
across a guy with a tow truck that they knew, and he
gave them his own personal truck.
When they got here, they had no gas, so I had to punch
a hole in my gas tank to give them some gas, and now
I'm trapped. I'm getting around by bicycle.
People from Placquemine Parish were rescued on a ferry
and dropped off on a dock near here. All day they were
sitting on the dock in the hot sun with no food, no
water. Many were in a daze; they've lost everything.
They were all sitting there surrounded by armed
guards. We asked the guards could we bring them water
and food. My mother and all the other church ladies
were cooking for them, and we have plenty of good
water.
But the guards said, "No. If you don't have enough
water and food for everybody, you can't give
anything." Finally the people were hauled off on
school buses from other parishes.
You know Robert King Wilkerson (the only one of the
Angola 3 political prisoners who's been released).
He's been back in New Orleans working hard,
organizing, helping people. Now nobody knows where he
is. His house was destroyed. Knowing him, I think he's
out trying to save lives, but I'm worried.
The people who could help are being shipped out.
People who want to stay, who have the skills to save
lives and rebuild are being forced to go to Houston.
It's not like New Orleans was caught off guard. This
could have been prevented.
There's military right here in New Orleans, but for
three days they weren't even mobilized. You'd think
this was a Third World country.
I'm in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans, the
only part that isn't flooded. The water is good. Our
parks and schools could easily hold 40,000 people, and
they're not using any of it.
This is criminal. These people are dying for no other
reason than the lack of organization.
Everything is needed, but we're still too
disorganized. I'm asking people to go ahead and gather
donations and relief supplies but to hold on to them
for a few days until we have a way to put them to good
use.
I'm challenging my party, the Green Party, to come
down here and help us just as soon as things are a
little more organized. The Republicans and Democrats
didn't do anything to prevent this or plan for it and
don't seem to care if everyone dies.
======
Malik's phone is working. He welcomes calls from old
friends and anyone with questions or ideas for saving
lives. To reach him, call the Bay View at (415) 671-0789