New Orleans Part 1-ish
I'm not sure If anyone who might read this has much money or knows anyone who might be able to help but I'll give it a shot.
I'm currently in New Orleans volunteering with an anarchist/grassroots organization called Common Ground Relief. The organization was founded by a man named Malik Rahim who is a resident of New Orleans and a survivor of hurricane Katrina. After the storm Malik saw great injustices when it came to the relief effort and the different ways that the residents were being treated by the police.
The priority during the days and weeks following the flood seemed to be to help out the rich and the white. They received food and shelter almost immediately whereas the black and the poor were made to fend for themselves. You may also be familiar with the media coverage during the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. When white people were breaking into stores to feed themselves they were portrayed by the media as some type of hero. When the black people were doing the same they were said to be looting and were shot.
Malik saw all this and decided to take action. He put out a call for volunteers and emergency street medics to help and snuck into locked down neighborhoods and went to work.
The 9th ward which is pretty much known as the poor black neighborhood was one of the hardest hit. It's separated into the upper ninth and the lower ninth by an industrial canal that is supposed to be kept contained by 15 foot levees. During the hurricane these levees were either broken by the force of the water or blown up in an effort to save the French Quarter (the rich part of New Orleans). It sounds like a crazy government conspiracy but it has happened before and it's actually not all that crazy. The water actually washed away a lot of homes in the lower ninth and left nothing but cement foundations. People, especially those in the 9th ward were left with nothing. That's where Common Ground was started, right in the 9th ward to help those people in need.
Malik, along with a few brave volunteers and a few guns snuck past the military police and began to help people. They set up an emergency clinic and a distribution center where people from the community could come and get food and clothing. Malik and his volunteers worked for weeks without support from outside sources. When the city was finally opened back up and people could start to return to their homes volunteers flooded into the city from all around the U.S. and the rest of the world to help in the recovery effort.
At some point after the city was opened back up, Common Ground set up a couple emergency shelters to house and aid the homeless in New Orleans. The first shelter being the 7th ward family shelter and the second being the women's shelter in the 8th ward.
In February of 2007, almost a year and a half after hurricane Katrina, I come into the picture. When I got here I was very surprised to say the least. It looked like almost nothing had been done. People who were displaced because of the storm were still living in other parts of the country and houses were abandoned and in the same state that they had been in a year and a half before when the hurricane hit. Common Ground had set up a great network of relief resources but without the dedicated support of the government repairing this city is next to impossible.
I'm currently in New Orleans volunteering with an anarchist/grassroots organization called Common Ground Relief. The organization was founded by a man named Malik Rahim who is a resident of New Orleans and a survivor of hurricane Katrina. After the storm Malik saw great injustices when it came to the relief effort and the different ways that the residents were being treated by the police.
The priority during the days and weeks following the flood seemed to be to help out the rich and the white. They received food and shelter almost immediately whereas the black and the poor were made to fend for themselves. You may also be familiar with the media coverage during the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. When white people were breaking into stores to feed themselves they were portrayed by the media as some type of hero. When the black people were doing the same they were said to be looting and were shot.
Malik saw all this and decided to take action. He put out a call for volunteers and emergency street medics to help and snuck into locked down neighborhoods and went to work.
The 9th ward which is pretty much known as the poor black neighborhood was one of the hardest hit. It's separated into the upper ninth and the lower ninth by an industrial canal that is supposed to be kept contained by 15 foot levees. During the hurricane these levees were either broken by the force of the water or blown up in an effort to save the French Quarter (the rich part of New Orleans). It sounds like a crazy government conspiracy but it has happened before and it's actually not all that crazy. The water actually washed away a lot of homes in the lower ninth and left nothing but cement foundations. People, especially those in the 9th ward were left with nothing. That's where Common Ground was started, right in the 9th ward to help those people in need.
Malik, along with a few brave volunteers and a few guns snuck past the military police and began to help people. They set up an emergency clinic and a distribution center where people from the community could come and get food and clothing. Malik and his volunteers worked for weeks without support from outside sources. When the city was finally opened back up and people could start to return to their homes volunteers flooded into the city from all around the U.S. and the rest of the world to help in the recovery effort.
At some point after the city was opened back up, Common Ground set up a couple emergency shelters to house and aid the homeless in New Orleans. The first shelter being the 7th ward family shelter and the second being the women's shelter in the 8th ward.
In February of 2007, almost a year and a half after hurricane Katrina, I come into the picture. When I got here I was very surprised to say the least. It looked like almost nothing had been done. People who were displaced because of the storm were still living in other parts of the country and houses were abandoned and in the same state that they had been in a year and a half before when the hurricane hit. Common Ground had set up a great network of relief resources but without the dedicated support of the government repairing this city is next to impossible.