BV Black Spin http://www.bvblackspin.com BV Black Spin http://www.bvblackspin.com/media/feedlogo.gif BV Black Spin http://www.bvblackspin.com en-us Copyright 2010 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Black Voices From New Orleans Talk Life After the Hurricanehttp://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/09/01/new-orleans-life-after-hurricane/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/09/01/new-orleans-life-after-hurricane/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/09/01/new-orleans-life-after-hurricane/#commentsFiled under:



"I have insomnia from the hurricane. I take a pill to sleep at night. I can't talk about the hurricane."

This is the personal story that an older black woman shared with me about her life four years after Katrina. And hers is but one voice. Black Voices went to New Orleans to get the inside story on the aftermath from the black community's perspective, because the general news media has portrayed the citizens of this city as alternately violent during the heat of the tragedy and passive during its rebuilding. But the New Orleans residents I met are survivors who acted with dignity during the crisis and are now eager to participate in the rebuilding.

New Orleans Four Years Later

    A memorial in the traumatized 9th ward commemorates Katrina and Rita survivors and victims.

    Alexis Garrett Stodghill/AOL

    A blighted and abandoned home in the 9th ward. Many of these home owners have gone on to better lives.

    Alexis Garrett Stodghill/AOL

    A blighted and abandoned home in the 9th ward. Many of these home owners have gone on to better lives.

    Alexis Garrett Stodghill/AOL

    A blighted and abandoned home in the 9th ward. Many of these home owners have gone on to better lives.

    Alexis Garrett Stodghill/AOL

    A blighted and abandoned home in the 9th ward next to occupied homes. This situation is terrible for residents who chose to stay there.

    Alexis Garrett Stodghill/AOL

    A rebuilt home.

    Alexis Garrett Stodghill/AOL

    A totally new 9th ward home built to flood insurance standards for height.

    Alexis Garrett Stodghill/AOL

    A totally new 9th ward home built to flood insurance standards for height.

    Alexis Garrett Stodghill/AOL

    A new home and a home in progress that are part of Brad Pitt's Make It Right initiative.

    Alexis Garrett Stodghill/AOL

    A brand new Make It Right home.

    Alexis Garrett Stodghill/AOL



Don't take my word for it. Click below to meet the real people of New Orleans. The responses to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath are as varied as the New Orleans residents themselves, but the one thing that they share is a passionate love for their hometown.

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More Katrina Anniversary Coverage

+See Brad Pitt's Make It Right Homes
+Habitat for Humanity Dedicates Musicians' Village
+Travel to New Orleans: Visit Irvin Mayfield's Jazz Playhouse
+Mayor Nagin Commemorates Katrina Anniversary
+The Ladies of Louisiana Spirit Minister to Katrina Sufferers
+Katrina Anniversary: New Orleans Residents Play Mayor on the Radio

 

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]]>four years laterhurricane katrinaHurricaneKatrinanew orleansAlexis Stodghill2009-09-01T13:04:00+00:00Black Travel to New Orleans: Visit Irvin Mayfield's Jazz Playhousehttp://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/30/black-travel-new-orleans-jazz/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/30/black-travel-new-orleans-jazz/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/30/black-travel-new-orleans-jazz/#commentsFiled under:



Irvin Mayfield is the official cultural ambassador of New Orleans, and he owns a club that represents the style, flair and sensual joy of his city.

Irvin Mayfield's Jazz Playhouse is a showplace decked in purple velvet with a sound system that sends enlivening rhythms through your skin. Attend a jazz set there, and you won't stay in your chair. It's a perfect spot for African American travelers who want to support the city and its black businesses. The entire place makes you want to dance.



Situated in the beautiful Royal Sonesta Hotel (above), located at 300 Bourbon St., this black-owned business retains a refined atmosphere in the midst of a partying mecca. From the perfect drinks to the friendly staff, a visit to Irvin Mayfield's is a must for any New Orleans black travel adventure.



I was lucky enough to attend a charity event for a wide variety of organizations held Friday at the club. The local organizations that benefited are working to restore New Orleans to perfected stability and even greater prosperity. Irvin, pictured above at the microphone, is one of many positive and involved black entrepreneurs I met here who are dedicated to using their resources to help New Orleans in a creative way.

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Creative philanthropy is an amazing hallmark of New Orleans residents in Katrina's aftermath. Over and over, the city's residents spoke to me about their resilience and their love for their town. Mayfield exhibited these qualities that night, as he used his influence to help others at a time when I am sure his business is just beginning to gain its footing.

Coming posts on New Orleans post-Katrina will feature discussions with more black businesspeople who provide their take on what the city needs to improve. But while there is still more to go, black businesses like Irvin Mayfield's make New Orleans a great place to visit now -- for African Americans and vacationers of all colors.

 

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]]>four years laterhurricane katrinaHurricaneKatrinanew orleansAlexis Stodghill2009-08-30T16:29:00+00:00Habitat for Humanity Dedicates 100th Home in 9th Ward's Musicians' Villagehttp://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/30/habitat-for-humanity-musicians-village/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/30/habitat-for-humanity-musicians-village/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/30/habitat-for-humanity-musicians-village/#commentsFiled under:



Another positive event that took place on the Katrina anniversary was the dedication of the 100th house completed in the Musicians' Village. The brain child of jazz artists Harry Connick, Jr. and Branford Marsalis, this settlement mixes homes for purchase with some rental units to serve the special economic needs of those who express the soul of New Orleans through sound. These music stars have partnered with Habitat for Humanity to create this oasis to help fellow artists return to their beloved home and thrive.

This amazing group of brightly colored houses addresses some very important issues. First of all, as we all probably know, many musicians get paid cash under the table. As a result, many may not have the financial documentation needed to establish credit and successfully apply for traditional mortgages. The negative repercussions of this phenomenon were made worse for these musicians by the national mortgage crisis and the fact that hurricanes Katrina and Rita forced many of New Orleans' musicians to flee their homes in droves. This led to a situation in which the most important residents for the city's cultural life had no means to re-establishing themselves here, because they lacked the credit to rent or buy.



These homes are financed through creative methods that have allowed New Orleans' musicians, many of whom are older masters of their craft, to either buy or rent these homes through non-traditional procedures. In the future, the project will also build on "90 lots in the surrounding Upper Ninth Ward neighborhood," according to the Habitat for Humanity Web site, providing even more low-income homes to people in need. A music educational center is also in the works. This will go a long way toward rebuilding the devastated 9th Ward, making it even better than it was before.

I cannot tell you what it was like to drive through an area dotted with blighted buildings, to turn a corner and see a sea of cottages colored like country flowers standing proudly against the gray surroundings. These homes are a beacon of hope, whose light literally glows with happy, sunny energy. I am sure that the mere sight of these candy hues will continually brighten the spirits of everybody living there, encouraging even more expansion and new development.

To support black musicians and other African American residents in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, please click here.

More BV Katrina Anniversary Coverage
+Katrina Four Years Later: See Inside Brad Pitt's Make It Right Homes
+New Orleans: Four Years Later, Coming Back to Vibrant Black Life
+The Ladies of Louisiana Spirit Minister to Katrina Sufferers
+Mayor Nagin Commemorates Katrina Anniversary at Make It Right Foundation New Homes Site
+Katrina Anniversary: New Orleans Residents Play Mayor on the Radio

 

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]]>four years laterhurricane katrinaHurricaneKatrinanew orleansAlexis Stodghill2009-08-30T15:11:00+00:00Ladies of Louisiana Spirit Minister to Katrina Sufferershttp://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/30/louisiana-spirit-katrina-sufferers/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/30/louisiana-spirit-katrina-sufferers/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/30/louisiana-spirit-katrina-sufferers/#commentsFiled under:



Stacy Phelps, center, attended the Make It Right Foundation Hurricane Katrina commemoration not in any official capacity, but as a friend. Stacy knows how to be a supportive friend, as she has made it her profession. As a worker with the Louisiana Spirit crisis counseling service, she and her colleagues pictured here have been friends to those in need who are suffering psychologically from the effects of the hurricane.

It's great to see African Americans helping African Americans -- another indication that the black community in New Orleans is both sticking together and getting involved in its own recovery, contrary to many accusations. As part of Louisiana Spirit, these black women help their community through counseling and emotional-support services administered over the phone and within clients' homes. And the need for their service is great.

People may not know that four years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans still does not have one mental health hospital. This is a crisis in and of itself, because over and over, I have heard a certain very disturbing phrase used to describe what many black residents are going through: "post-traumatic stress disorder."

The National Institute of Mental Health describes PTSD like this:

Post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. Traumatic events that may trigger PTSD include violent personal assaults, natural or human-caused disasters, accidents or military combat.

Many New Orleans residents are reporting, anecdotally, that they believe friends and relatives are suffering from this disorder. Some even see the persistent state of shock that many are living in as one of the biggest issues in need of healing before economic recovery efforts can be successful.

One native I met in the French Quarter, relaxing after work, talked of "people doing things they wouldn't normally do. Middle-class people who lost everything are ashamed to talk to you in the street. People are getting into things, when they wouldn't normally. I was in two wars, so I know what to expect from living through something like this. People need help to know what to expect and how to deal. If we can't fix that, we'll be in big trouble in the future. People need more than just money."

Louisiana Spirit is one of the few organizations I've heard about that is attempting to do something to soothe the souls of traumatized residents in this much-needed manner.

Unfortunately, the work of these women is financed by a grant that will be ending soon. These beautiful black angels who have been ministering to the emotionally wounded are hoping for a miracle of their own -- that money will come allowing them to continue their work with the Louisiana Spirit crisis counseling service until a permanent mental health hospital is established.

Four years later, the hurricane and its aftereffects are still burned in the minds of many who need support that is not just financial. I hope that government agencies will take the needs of these souls more seriously and budget effectively for citizens' emotional healing in their wide-scale planning.

More BV Katrina Anniversary Coverage
+Habitat For Humanity Dedicates 100th Home in 9th Ward's Musicians' Village
+Katrina Four Years Later: See Inside Brad Pitt's Make It Right Homes
+New Orleans: Four Years Later, Coming Back to Vibrant Black Life
+Mayor Nagin Commemorates Katrina Anniversary at Make It Right Foundation New Homes Site
+Katrina Anniversary: New Orleans Residents Play Mayor on the Radio

 

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]]>four years laterhurricane katrinaHurricaneKatrinanew orleansAlexis Stodghill2009-08-30T13:17:00+00:00Katrina Four Years Later: See Inside Brad Pitt's Make It Right Homes http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/29/brad-pitt-make-it-right/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/29/brad-pitt-make-it-right/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/29/brad-pitt-make-it-right/#commentsFiled under:



When residents of the 9th ward were forced to flee their homes, I doubt many imagined they would eventually be moving back into houses designed by esteemed architects. Actor Brad Pitt has made this possible through his Make It Right Foundation, which is not only building these homes according to post-flood standards (such as elevated height); it is also making sure all the homes are as "green" as possible, with extremely affordable financing as a plus. (To learn more about the designs and financing, visit Nola.com.)

Volunteers, government officials and well-wishers gathered here on the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina to celebrate the completion of the foundation's 14th house. Black Voices spoke briefly with the owner of the house above about his experiences:


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The gorgeous abodes completed thus far sit on their original lots, and are occupied by the original owners. In the near future additional homes will be created on more lots purchased by the foundation for this project. They are all built to withstand hurricane-force winds. Future residents will also have the option of creating two-family duplexes, rather than re-creating the space they had before. These owners will have the option of using the second unit to house relatives, for rental income, or even as two-unit co-op/condos.

The commemoration of Katrina's fourth anniversary here was a very friendly affair. The outside of this house, decorated for the occasion, is crisp and simple in design:



And we can see from the inside how spacious and airy it is:



This home also has a personal Katrina family memorial in its front yard:



Make It Right made great efforts to make each home sustainable, affordable and beautiful. The residents who applied for this program, many of whom are elderly, had their choice of style of home, height, color -- all the design details. They also worked very closely with the design team and builders. Thus, each house is a perfect match for each resident, leading to very satisfied customers in this revitalized district.

All these homes are now occupied with original area residents. Please note the astounding variety of colors and the high-end level of design:











Here we can see more building in progress:





 

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]]>four years laterhurricane katrinaHurricaneKatrinanew orleansAlexis Stodghill2009-08-29T19:11:00+00:00Mayor Nagin Commemorates Katrina Anniversay at Make It Right Foundation New Homes Site http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/29/mayor-nagin-katrina-anniversary/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/29/mayor-nagin-katrina-anniversary/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/29/mayor-nagin-katrina-anniversary/#commentsFiled under:


Mayor Ray Nagin, second from right, prepares to address commemoration crowd.

Today is the fourth anniversary of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. Over a 1,000 lives were lost, and millions of lives were changed forever. Help, support and pure love poured out toward the citizens of New Orleans from across America and around the world to help rebuild this special city and all those displaced lives. One of the more famous people to bring his soul to the rebuilding efforts is movie star Brad Pitt, whose Make It Right Foundation is making major waves through the success of its home-building initiative.


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Part Two of Video With Whole Commemorative Speech Coming Soon

Mayor Ray Nagin chose the site of the Make It Right Foundation houses to mark his commemoration of the Hurricane Katrina anniversary. New Orleans city council members, state legislators and other city officials joined him in thanking Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie for all they have given the city. But more than anything, the strength of the Ninth Ward residents who stayed behind and returned to rebuild were most highly praised.


A resident enjoys the porch of her new Make It Right home.

A representative of Make It Right remembered that as little as two years ago the location still had residents living in FEMA trailers. Now, 14 families are back. Nineteen new homes are under construction. One hundred and fifty families are scheduled to return to brand-new homes by the end of the year. The foundation has done a lot but credits the determination of the people of the Ninth Ward with the program's success.

May the hundreds of thousands of heroic Katrina survivors continue to forge ahead with the spirit of growth exhibited in abundance on this day -- even as we mourn all that was lost on this date four years ago.

More BV Katrina Anniversary Coverage
+Habitat For Humanity Dedicates 100th Home in 9th Ward's Musicians' Village
+Katrina Four Years Later: See Inside Brad Pitt's Make It Right Homes
+New Orleans: Four Years Later, Coming Back to Vibrant Black Life
+The Ladies of Louisiana Spirit Minister to Katrina Sufferers
+Katrina Anniversary: New Orleans Residents Play Mayor on the Radio

 

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]]>four years laterhurricane katrinaHurricaneKatrinanew orleansAlexis Stodghill2009-08-29T18:05:00+00:00Katrina Anniversary: New Orleans Residents Play Mayor on the Radiohttp://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/29/katrina-anniversary-new-orleans-mayor/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/29/katrina-anniversary-new-orleans-mayor/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/29/katrina-anniversary-new-orleans-mayor/#commentsFiled under:

Waking up this morning in my lovely room at the Westin New Orleans Canal Palace, looking out over the glorious Mississippi River, I listened to locals from New Orleans on the black talk radio show 'The Real Talk.' The host, Wayne on Q93 Jams, was playing an amazing game with his listeners: "Who wants to be the mayor?"

Mayor Ray Nagin is currently in his second term and cannot be re-elected. And you may or may not know that the local and national perception of his performance is definitely controversial and mixed. So this topic was a hot one with listeners, who called in to talk about what really needs to be changed in the city and how black residents can improve their lives four years after Katrina. What a unique way to commemorate the memory of the devastation -- by looking forward.

I was really happy to hear the desire expressed by residents to focus on self-responsibility, rather than blame or government support. One male "mayor" said that he wants to bring in water and amusement parks with nice hotels and golf courses outside the city but still nearby to attract another type of traveler. A female mayor said owners of the blighted homes should be forced to sell them to low-income locals so that the renters displaced by Hurricane Katrina can move back to the city center. This would solve both the blighted home problem and the displaced renters issue that my fellow blogger Carmen Dixon mentioned in her post. With 60,000 blighted homes in the city, this idea is great. Talk about a brilliant woman.


A blighted Ninth Ward home. Should it be sold to a low-income resident?

Right now, I am listening to an impassioned listener who wants public housing residents to have to enter a self-improvement program before they are allowed to move back into the vastly improved units that are being built. She is saying: "These places are not meant for you to live in forever. What are you doing this year to get yourself back on your feet? Before they move back in, make sure they have a plan to get a better job and get out. We can't have people living there for decades again." Tough love. Genius!

Radio host Wayne also implored residents to recognize that right now is an excellent time for entrepreneurs in New Orleans. He said: "It's not going to be fast, it's not going to be easy, but there is a lot of opportunity if you take it." A caller concurred: "Start a grass-cutting business, open a corner store. Do something."

This hardly sounds like a city of victims or lazy people to me -- which is how the national media has often represented the black residents affected by Katrina. I am seeing positive people who love their city, love their communities and are ready and willing to think and act creatively to see it improve.

What would you do if you were the mayor?

More BV Katrina Anniversary Coverage
+Habitat for Humanity Dedicates 100th Home in 9th Ward's Musicians' Village
+Katrina Four Years Later: See Inside Brad Pitt's Make It Right Homes
+New Orleans: Four Years Later, Coming Back to Vibrant Black Life
+The Ladies of Louisiana Spirit Minister to Katrina Sufferers
+Mayor Nagin Commemorates Katrina Anniversary at Make It Right Foundation New Homes Site

 

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]]>four years laterhurricane katrinaHurricaneKatrinanew orleansAlexis Stodghill2009-08-29T09:17:00+00:00New Orleans: Four Years Later, Coming Back to Vibrant Black Life http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/28/black-new-orleans-katrina-travel/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/28/black-new-orleans-katrina-travel/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/28/black-new-orleans-katrina-travel/#commentsFiled under:


When Toni Rice clicked a link on Black Voices to see our Katrina anniversary coverage, the first thing she saw was a dead body. As the director of the New Orleans Multicultural Tourism Network, it's Rice's deepest hope that this image changes to reflect the city's positive new reality.

Even though myths persist, there are no piles of rubble lining the streets even in the most damaged neighborhoods. And the few remaining FEMA trailers left are being phased out by law, on a parish-by-parish basis. The main tourist areas are clean and sparkling, and in other areas, there is growth despite its slow pace.

The black residents of New Orleans may be contending with broken homes and shattered faith in the federal government. Yet, there is something special about these citizens that gives them resilience -- their love for their hometown. If you want to couch love in quantifiable terms, Anderson Cooper has reported that the return rate to New Orleans is up to 75 percent today, from a low of 25 percent. But don't take it from me. Take it from Rice, who was born and bred in New Orleans like her parents.


Toni Rice, director of the New Orleans Multicultural Tourism Network

"People don't leave New Orleans. We stay. That's people of all races. That's why Hurricane Katrina was so devastating. People who lost a home had no where else to go, because all their relatives lived two houses down," said Rice, who did not lose her home in the flood. The six employees she had pre-Katrina, however, all did. "They all lost their homes. It was devastating, personally and professionally. But we are moving on, focusing on rebuilding. People want to rebuild in a way that's meaningful."


The Old St. Bernard Projects.

And rebuilding they are. While there are still many vacant homes in New Orleans, there is rebuilding taking place in many of the poorest neighborhoods. All four of the major housing projects have been torn down and are being rebuilt as beautiful new structures. Plus, the charter school system is flourishing, as local leaders are seizing opportunity out of chaos to create the perfect educational settings for their kids.


The new St. Bernard Projects

While many have closed forever, there are black businesses that are blossoming. A consortium of local black doctors and lawyers, according to Rice, have bought large tracts of land near the Ninth Ward and have already built businesses on this strip. A performing arts center is next on the list. Liberty Bank, the largest black-owned bank in New Orleans, has actually expanded in the last four years. It has granted loans to help blacks rebuild. So why do areas like the Lower Ninth Ward remain distressed?


A new black-owned event hall

Madison J. Gray, a fellow BV blogger, has painted a vivid picture of what the Ninth Ward looks like today, and it is terrible. But the simple truth is that the state, city and/or federal governments cannot force the owners of these houses to renovate or sell. In many cases, according to Rice, these home owners have gone on with their lives someplace else and "are sitting on those properties, thinking these blighted homes may be worth money." For example, some believe that Hurricane Katrina and the resulting damage to the dams were a plot to get people out of the Ninth Ward so that developers could build there cheaply. They want to hold the home in case of a big payday. Others are so happy in their relocated areas that they have all but forgotten the old shells they've abandoned.


More new housing projects

People want to blame the city government alone, but blame in this case is truly a two-way street. While there are laws on the books regarding taking over blighted homes, the city is understandably reluctant to enforce them -- I postulate, because any wide-scale effort to take over private homes by force would be a PR nightmare. In addition, for many of the vacant homes all over New Orleans, the person holding the deed of ownership is in question, as homes are often passed between generations here with a complete disregard for official paperwork. This makes distributing relief funds a bureaucratic nightmare. Whose fault is that?


A new home built to flood-insurance specifications.

These are just some of the legal and financial hurdles to rebuilding. With all these obstacles, the houses just sit there falling apart, even in middle-class white areas such as Lakeview. "Individual home owners need to be forced to make a decision," says Rice. There is nothing anyone can do if more individuals don't fight to bring their neighborhoods back to life.


This arts center is leading cultural development in a historic black area.

And fight people do. Businesses, home owners and cultural associations that have chosen to stay, and recently returned, are proving their love for New Orleans through their concerted efforts to organize and invest. You can help, too.


Funky Magazine Street offers a plethora of cool shops and eateries off the beaten path.

Traveling to New Orleans is one of the best ways to help the entire area, as tourism is its number-one industry. Rice and the New Orleans Multicultural Tourism Network work hard to make New Orleans an attractive destination for African Americans and all those interested in a multicultural travel experience. Please visit the network's site and get a taste of what the city has to offer.

In my next posts, we'll be exploring the lesser-known hot spots that make New Orleans a unique town and the dedication of Brad Pitt's new housing development.

Trust me when I say the energy and excitement is still here in New Orleans.

Photos: Alexis Stodghill/AOL

 

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]]>black travelfour years laterhurricane katrinaHurricaneKatrinaAlexis Stodghill2009-08-28T19:45:00+00:00Book Review: 'The Year Before the Flood' http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/28/book-review-the-year-before-the-flood/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/28/book-review-the-year-before-the-flood/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/28/book-review-the-year-before-the-flood/#commentsFiled under: ,

'The Year Before the Flood' is as much a story about author Ned Sublette's life as it is about New Orleans.

Sublette takes readers on an unexpected journey through the past and present, often melding the two in an inextricable and tantalizing way.

Split into three parts ("Nackatish," "The Year Before the Floods" and "Fast Dynamite, Slow Dynamite"), Sublette gives rich voice to race relations, class and politics -- all while interlacing his story with the driving beat of New Orleans blues, jazz, soul and hip-hop.

'Flood' distills, in real time, the ongoing contradictions of a society that is both rich and reviled.

At times loquacious, Sublette is fierce when presenting the complexities of a city he loves, and he takes caution in staying away from sheer oversimplification. If you want a slice of what New Orleans was like before the flood, read it here.

If you wondered what it was like in the murky in-between and thereafter, it is here. Sublette's passionate offering lives well beyond the page, and even after one's finished it, in one's heart.





 

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]]>book reviewBookReviewhurricane katrinaHurricaneKatrinaned subletteNedSubletteAbena Agyeman-Fisher2009-08-28T12:00:00+00:00$5 Trailers and the Katrina Pain Indexhttp://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/27/four-years-later-five-dollar-trailers-and-the-katrina-pain-inde/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/27/four-years-later-five-dollar-trailers-and-the-katrina-pain-inde/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/27/four-years-later-five-dollar-trailers-and-the-katrina-pain-inde/#commentsFiled under: ,

In early June, the White House reversed a Bush administration plan to evict the thousands of FEMA-trailer residents still living in the Gulf Coast. Instead, those living in the trailers will be allowed to purchase them for $5 or less.

There's just one very big problem: An estimated 33 percent of the 134,000 FEMA trailers housing survivors of hurricanes Katrina and Rita have formaldehyde problems, according to the federal government.

For some homeowners, these trailers are still a much-needed base from which they can continue to repair their houses. But for others, renters in particular, these small trailers may mark the end of government assistance and national attention to the ongoing plight of those with the least resources still struggling to rebound from the devastation.

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Remembering Hurricane Katrina

This collection of images shows the devastation faced by the people of the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which struck on Aug. 29, 2005.
AP
solentnews.biz
BlackVoices.com

Katrina - Before and After

    Cars travel over a bridge crossing the Industrial Canal to the Lower Ninth Ward July 18, 2006, in New Orleans. A year earlier, two men paddle in high water. (Mario Tama, Getty Images)

    Residents walk through floodwaters on Canal Street in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. A lone street car waits a year later. (Bill Haber, AP)

    Hurricane Katrina evacuee Kimi Seymour, takes a break along Interstate 10 as she walked along the highway with a shopping cart of possessions after Katrina. (Irwin Thompson, The Dallas Morning News / AP)

    Residents inspect damage left by Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi, Miss. (Robert Sullivan, AFP / Getty Images)

    Rhonda Braden walks through the destruction in her childhood neighborhood, Aug. 31, 2005 in Long Beach, Miss. (Rob Carr, AP)

    Katrina victims carry merchandise from downtown businesses in New Orleans. (Eric Gay, AP)

    A woman and her child wait with hundreds of other flood victims at the convention center in New Orleans. (Eric Gay, AP)

    People walk along Interstate 10 near the Louisiana Superdome early on Aug. 31, 2005, in New Orleans and a year later traffic flows down the same road. (Melanie Burford, AP)

    The destroyed Hyatt Regency hotel, left, is shown next to a statue in New Orleans and the way it appeared a year later. (Mario Tama, Getty Images)

    Young Tanisha Belvin holds the hand of fellow Hurricane Katrina survivor Nita LaGarde. (Eric Gay, AP)


For More Katrina Anniversary Coverage Click on the Graphic Below



Some excerpts from the Katrina Pain Index:

0. Number of renters in Louisiana who have received financial assistance from the $10 billion federal post-Katrina rebuilding program Road Home Community Development Block Grant - compared with 116,708 home owners.

160. Number of units that will be public housing-eligible in the new St. Bernard area after demolition and rebuilding. St. Bernard was constructed with 1,400 public housing apartments. Only a small percentage of the 4,000 families in public housing in New Orleans before Katrina will be allowed to live in the new housing being constructed on the site where their apartments were demolished.

27,279. Number of Louisiana home owners who applied for federal assistance to rebuild after Katrina and were determined eligible for assistance but have still not received any money.

0. Number of hospitals in New Orleans providing in-patient mental-health care as of September 2009, despite post-Katrina increases in suicides and mental-health problems.

1. Rank of New Orleans among U.S. cities in murders per capita for 2008.

1. Rank of New Orleans among U.S. cities in percentage of vacant residences.

2. Number of Katrina cottages completed in Louisiana under a $74 million federal program as of the 2009 hurricane season.

52. Percent increase in rents in New Orleans since Katrina.

88. Percent of the 600 New Orleans residents who will be displaced by a proposed new hospital complex that are minorities. Source: Bill Quiqley: Katrina Pain Index 2009, Counterpunch.org

One of the data points that jumps out at me is the lack of in-patient mental-health care. If you're traumatized or depressed, then it's virtually impossible to get back on your feet. For many already living on the brink of disaster before the storm, the pain index is likely to intensify, while our national attention wanders off in other directions.

 

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]]>hurricane katrinaHurricaneKatrinaCarmen Dixon2009-08-27T09:00:00+00:00New Orleans, Still a Forgotten Cityhttp://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/26/new-orleans-katrina-aftermath/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/26/new-orleans-katrina-aftermath/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/26/new-orleans-katrina-aftermath/#commentsFiled under: ,

New Orleans -- Walking around the French Quarter last month, you could be fooled into thinking that Hurricane Katrina was a momentary anomaly, something that happened and was forgotten about. Canal Street is seemingly bustling downtown, and turning off onto Bourbon Street, the party goes until 5 a.m.

Wow! Everything's fine... if you're a tourist. But take a bus up to the Lower Ninth Ward and you'll be relieved of your traveler's naivete' as well as your belief in American equality.

The bungalow in the photo above is just an example of what the whole area looks like, four years after the flooding that resulted from the broken levees just after Katrina struck. Much of this place has been forgotten, whitewashed with a new presidency that has yet to directly address getting the infrastructure here put back in place.

To be fair, though, the last administration just said "let them eat cake." ...

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Remembering Hurricane Katrina

This collection of images shows the devastation faced by the people of the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which struck on Aug. 29, 2005.
AP
solentnews.biz
BlackVoices.com

Katrina - Before and After

    Cars travel over a bridge crossing the Industrial Canal to the Lower Ninth Ward July 18, 2006, in New Orleans. A year earlier, two men paddle in high water. (Mario Tama, Getty Images)

    Residents walk through floodwaters on Canal Street in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. A lone street car waits a year later. (Bill Haber, AP)

    Hurricane Katrina evacuee Kimi Seymour, takes a break along Interstate 10 as she walked along the highway with a shopping cart of possessions after Katrina. (Irwin Thompson, The Dallas Morning News / AP)

    Residents inspect damage left by Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi, Miss. (Robert Sullivan, AFP / Getty Images)

    Rhonda Braden walks through the destruction in her childhood neighborhood, Aug. 31, 2005 in Long Beach, Miss. (Rob Carr, AP)

    Katrina victims carry merchandise from downtown businesses in New Orleans. (Eric Gay, AP)

    A woman and her child wait with hundreds of other flood victims at the convention center in New Orleans. (Eric Gay, AP)

    People walk along Interstate 10 near the Louisiana Superdome early on Aug. 31, 2005, in New Orleans and a year later traffic flows down the same road. (Melanie Burford, AP)

    The destroyed Hyatt Regency hotel, left, is shown next to a statue in New Orleans and the way it appeared a year later. (Mario Tama, Getty Images)

    Young Tanisha Belvin holds the hand of fellow Hurricane Katrina survivor Nita LaGarde. (Eric Gay, AP)

The residential streets around here had once been instant waterways during the flooding. But the waters are gone and instead, there are desolate looking streets, quiet and eerie. Some empty houses still stand, some have collapsed in on themselves either during the flood, or sometime in the years after.

Empty lots are replaced by tall grass, packs of feral dogs can still be seen, there's even a staircase sitting there with no house.

For More Katrina Anniversary Coverage Click on the Graphic Below

Click for more coverage

But the thing that strikes you most is the people. You know, the ones Kanye West said George Bush didn't care about? Actually they're mostly black, but not all black and George Bush didn't care about any of them. It's funny how tragedy has a way of erasing racial boundaries, if there were any to start.

Anyway, if you go to the neighborhood, they don't mind telling you what's happening. They don't mind telling you about their pain, about the neglect that frankly never would have happened in San Francisco or Boston. I walked up to a group of guys, it was 97-degree weather, and I asked a stupid question: how could this have happened?

They had to laugh to keep from crying.


To be fair, the area was never Peyton Place. There had always been a high crime rate there, and that hasn't changed despite the drop in population. But for those folks it was home, hood, flood, whatever.

"The waters got up to the upstairs windows," one told me. "It wasn't the storm that did it. The hurricane came and went. The next morning was sunny, clear. But all of a sudden, water started pouring in from the Industrial Canal. Before I knew it I was damn near drowning."

The brother told the story as vividly as if it had happened yesterday and in a way it did, because since September, 2005, time has stood still here. The flood of water has been replaced with a flood of beauracracy, FEMA paperwork needing to be filled out, money running out for state aid. And that little thing called the recession, well, it's hard to tell if that's being felt around here because while the rest of the country was doing moderately well, there was no place for NOLA to go but up.

So what's the solution? What do we do? Really this isn't the first area America has let turn into a Third World country. So should we wait on President Obama to make the fix? That's a tough one. Not that New Orleanians are sorrow cases, quite far from it, and they are as resilient as anyone in our history. But the area still needs emergency aid, humanitarian aid and needs structuring and investment. But more than anything else, it needs its people to keep talking. Keep telling the story to people like me who wander around looking for the truth.

Even a truth I wasn't prepared to hear.

 

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]]>hurricane katrinaHurricaneKatrinaMadison J. Gray2009-08-26T18:00:00+00:00Did Katrina Improve New Orleans Schools?http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/25/did-katrina-improve-new-orleans-schools/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/25/did-katrina-improve-new-orleans-schools/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/08/25/did-katrina-improve-new-orleans-schools/#commentsFiled under: ,



An article in USA Today suggests that one positive aspect of Hurricane Katrina is that it forced the revolution of public education in New Orleans. The author argues that as the storm-devastated school system was forced to rebuild rapidly, many successful new practices were implemented quickly. Without the storm, these changes would have been resisted, if not defeated, in status quo bickering over educational reform.
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Remembering Hurricane Katrina

This collection of images shows the devastation faced by the people of the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which struck on Aug. 29, 2005.
AP
solentnews.biz
BlackVoices.com

Katrina - Before and After

    Cars travel over a bridge crossing the Industrial Canal to the Lower Ninth Ward July 18, 2006, in New Orleans. A year earlier, two men paddle in high water. (Mario Tama, Getty Images)

    Residents walk through floodwaters on Canal Street in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. A lone street car waits a year later. (Bill Haber, AP)

    Hurricane Katrina evacuee Kimi Seymour, takes a break along Interstate 10 as she walked along the highway with a shopping cart of possessions after Katrina. (Irwin Thompson, The Dallas Morning News / AP)

    Residents inspect damage left by Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi, Miss. (Robert Sullivan, AFP / Getty Images)

    Rhonda Braden walks through the destruction in her childhood neighborhood, Aug. 31, 2005 in Long Beach, Miss. (Rob Carr, AP)

    Katrina victims carry merchandise from downtown businesses in New Orleans. (Eric Gay, AP)

    A woman and her child wait with hundreds of other flood victims at the convention center in New Orleans. (Eric Gay, AP)

    People walk along Interstate 10 near the Louisiana Superdome early on Aug. 31, 2005, in New Orleans and a year later traffic flows down the same road. (Melanie Burford, AP)

    The destroyed Hyatt Regency hotel, left, is shown next to a statue in New Orleans and the way it appeared a year later. (Mario Tama, Getty Images)

    Young Tanisha Belvin holds the hand of fellow Hurricane Katrina survivor Nita LaGarde. (Eric Gay, AP)



The city attracted a nationally known school reformer, Superintendent Paul Vallas, and so many teachers that it has 10 applicants for every opening. Last year, the school district was able to spend $15,500 per pupil -- twice what it spent before Katrina and far above the national average. Scores have risen on both state and national tests. But for all its recent advantages, the district remains saddled with daunting problems. Nearly a third of the city's children live in poverty, according to the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center. Source: 'Our view: Four Years after Katrina, New Orleans Reinvents Schools,' USA Today
Expensive changes, such as an 11-month school year, enthusiastic embrace of charter schools and school choice no longer restricted by geographic region, have led to early increases in test scores. Still, in terms of test results, the district ranks 65 out of 68 in Louisiana.

And although it's encouraging to see state assessment scores up 10 points higher last year than in the 2004-2005 school year, some residents are concerned that Vallas and the new teachers being recruited will move on long before the very long-term task of turning around New Orleans schools is completed.



 

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]]>hurricane katrinaHurricaneKatrinaCarmen Dixon2009-08-25T11:20:00+00:00Color of Change Petition: Demanding Justice in New Orleanshttp://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/12/27/color-of-change-petition-hurricane-katrina/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/12/27/color-of-change-petition-hurricane-katrina/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/12/27/color-of-change-petition-hurricane-katrina/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Color of Change is mounting a campaign to make sure justice is pursued in the cases documented by AC Thompson. Sign the petition here. From Color of Change:
Call on state and federal officials to investigate In the weeks following Hurricane Katrina, White vigilantes hunted down Black men who entered Algiers Point and even tried to expel their Black neighbors. Louisiana's broken law enforcement agencies have refused to investigate these crimes. Tell Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, and the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the racist shootings, and to demand accountability from Louisiana's dysfunctional criminal justice system.
Sign the petition here and tell everyone you know about this story and the effort to bring justice to New Orleans. Watch the video below.

 

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]]>Carmen Dixon2008-12-27T04:44:00+00:00Magazine Shines Light on Katrina's Hidden Race Warhttp://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/12/21/katrinas-hidden-race-war/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/12/21/katrinas-hidden-race-war/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/12/21/katrinas-hidden-race-war/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

I have read and watched quite a number of stories which detailed how race frightened white people turned on black people during the aftermath of Katrina.

At a time when human beings should have been pulling together, some white and other privileged people who could have helped their neighbors instead decided that all black people were criminals, and anyone with black skin in close proximity would be greeted with guns and violence.

The latest is the most disturbing. From The Nation - "Katrina's Hidden Race War" by A.C. Thompson ...



It was September 1, 2005, some three days after Hurricane Katrina crashed into New Orleans, and somebody had just blasted Herrington, who is African-American, with a shotgun. "I just hit the ground. I didn't even know what happened," recalls Herrington, a burly 32-year-old with a soft drawl.

The sudden eruption of gunfire horrified Herrington's companions--his cousin Marcel Alexander, then 17, and friend Chris Collins, then 18, who are also black. "I looked at Donnell and he had this big old hole in his neck," Alexander recalls. "I tried to help him up, and they started shooting again." Herrington says he was staggering to his feet when a second shotgun blast struck him from behind; the spray of lead pellets also caught Collins and Alexander. The buckshot peppered Alexander's back, arm and buttocks.

Herrington shouted at the other men to run and turned to face his attackers: three armed white males. Herrington says he hadn't even seen the men or their weapons before the shooting began. As Alexander and Collins fled, Herrington ran in the opposite direction, his hand pressed to the bleeding wound on his throat. Behind him, he says, the gunmen yelled, "Get him! Get that nigger!" SOURCE
This shooting took place in a town called Algiers Point where, according to A.C. Thompson, "evidence indicates, at least eleven people were shot. In each case the targets were African-American men, while the shooters, it appears, were all white." According to one white Algiers Point witness, "if it moved you shot it."
Surrounded by a crowd of sunburned white Algiers Point locals at a barbeque held not long after the hurricane, he smiles and tells the camera, "It was great! It was like pheasant season in South Dakota. If it moved, you shot it." A native of Chicago, Janak also boasts of becoming a true Southerner, saying, "I am no longer a Yankee. I earned my wings." A white woman standing next to him adds, "He understands the N-word now." In this neighborhood, she continues, "we take care of our own."

Janak, who says he'd been armed with two .38s and a shotgun, brags about keeping the bloody shirt worn by a shooting victim as a trophy. When "looters" showed up in the neighborhood, "they left full of buckshot," he brags, adding, "You know what? Algiers Point is not a pussy community." Source

No one has been prosecuted for these crimes.

"Katrina's hidden race war" provides a detail filled account of how fear, a siege mentality and raw unchecked racism engulfed a small town. A.C. Thompson lays out how the report was put together:
Over the course of an eighteen-month investigation, I tracked down figures on all sides of the gunfire, speaking with the shooters of Algiers Point, gunshot survivors and those who witnessed the bloodshed. I interviewed police officers, forensic pathologists, firefighters, historians, medical doctors and private citizens, and studied more than 800 autopsies and piles of state death records. What emerged was a disturbing picture of New Orleans in the days after the storm, when the city fractured along racial fault lines as its government collapsed.
You must read this article for yourself.

READ MORE - Body of Evidence, AC Thompson

 

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]]>Carmen Dixon2008-12-21T10:00:00+00:00Interview: Mayor Nagin Calls New Orleans "Tale of Two Cities"http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/08/28/interview-mayor-nagin-calls-new-orleans-tale-of-two-cities/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/08/28/interview-mayor-nagin-calls-new-orleans-tale-of-two-cities/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/08/28/interview-mayor-nagin-calls-new-orleans-tale-of-two-cities/#commentsFiled under: , ,

DENVER -- As killer storm Gustav threatened the Gulf Coast three years after Hurricane Katrina, Black Voices caught up with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin before he left the Democratic National Convention earlier than planned.

In an interview Tuesday, before Gustav becoming a threat to the Gulf Coast, the Barack Obama superdelegate said the Big Easy is a "tale of two cities" right now.

"New Orleans is still a city in recovery," Nagin said. "Our economy is very strong, but we still have many, many challenges. We still have toxic trailers in our community, we have about 2,800 of those. But if you come downtown and to the French Quarter you will have a wonderful time in our city."

Forecasters are warning that Gustav is picking up steam and could slam into the Gulf Coast as a major hurricane early next week. New Orleans is making evacuation plans. Gustav was not an obvious threat when Nagin and I spoke on Tuesday, but today his press official told us that the mayor left Denver Wednesday, two days ahead of schedule, when he got word of the ferocious storm bearing down on the Gulf Coast. ...




New Orleans has more restaurants now than pre-Katrina, Nagin says, and most of the major businesses are back at this point. On the other hand, largely black communities like Lakeview and the Lower 9th Ward have have not been rebuilt.

While unemployment is low, for a city at 75 percent of its original population, Nagin says housing has been a major problem. Affordable housing is hard to come by there because of supply and demand. People are paying double what they used to or more.

One priority is bringing relocated and displaced locals back home and getting them jobs.

"We do this on a daily basis," Nagin says. "We have offices in relocation cities that do outreach and support to bring them back."

So the obvious challenge is, even if you can get a job, where can you afford to live? Nagin said that new rent-stabilized apartments and homes are being built.

A number of events addressed the Katrina aftermath at the convention this week in Denver, including a fundraiser and concert dinner for post-Katrina causes as the convention opened. Various policy meetings also took place and a roundtable discussion focused on the failure to implement an effective recovery program in the Gulf Coast region after Katrina.

Meanwhile, Nagin says he is very comfortable with Barack Obama as president.

"We've talked about the needs of New Orleans," he says. "And I'm confident that when he is in office he is going to support us to complete the restoration of New Orleans."

Friday marks the official Katrina anniversary. Bodies that have not been identified by DNA will be laid to rest, he says. Friday evening a candlelight vigil in Franklin Square was expected to bring out thousands of people.


More Katrina Coverage
+ Nervous New Orleans Eyes Killer Storm
+ Katrina Memorial Taking Shape





 

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]]>Jeff Douglas2008-08-28T14:00:00+00:00Trouble the Water - More Than Katrina, It's About Americahttp://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/08/28/trouble-the-water-katrina-movie/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/08/28/trouble-the-water-katrina-movie/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/08/28/trouble-the-water-katrina-movie/#commentsFiled under: ,

When Black Voices first asked me to consider writing a Katrina piece anchored to the third anniversary of the catastrophe, I initially said, "no." I said "no" because I've been talking with some Houston natives recently and listened to their complaints about how they felt crime had spiked, that it was connected to some of the Katrina victims, and had impacted their neighborhoods.

Oh I know it's the few that ruin it for everyone, but still I just wasn't feeling the urgent sense of compassion and empathy I once felt for those caught in the storm.

Leave it to cinema to transport me out of my misplaced nonchalance. "Trouble the Water," which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, is a soul tugging excursion into what it's like to be submerged in water, in grief, in sadness and to emerge if not triumphant, then whole. Mostly.


From Indiewire.com:

In the film, the filmmakers (who worked with Michael Moore on "Bowling for Columbine" and "Fahrenheit 9/11") team up with native New Orleans filmmaker and musician Kimberly Rivers and her husband to create an account of the effects of Katrina has had on the city's population. "'Trouble the Water' makes unapologetically clear that Hurricane Katrina rages on as an unnatural disaster of governmental and journalistic failure," writes Sundance's Shari Frilot of the film in the '08 Sundance catalog. "What is also truly amazing is that the levee protecting Kimberly's humanity against this devastating storm remains firmly grounded in her deep-rooted love for New Orleans, her family, and her art, and her enduring faith in her fellow human beings."
I thought I knew everything about Katrina, but with every chronicle, with every expose, I learn about how city, state and Federal government failed to protect the people who had the least means and defense against an unprecedented natural disaster.


More Katrina Coverage
+ Katrina Aftermath, Three Years Later
+ Interview: Mayor Nagin Calls New Orleans "Tale of Two Cities"
+ Nervous New Orleans Eyes Killer Storm
+ Katrina Memorial Taking Shape

 

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]]>Carmen Dixon2008-08-28T13:00:00+00:00Katrina Abduction: Caregiver or Kidnapper?http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/08/25/katrina-kidnapping/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/08/25/katrina-kidnapping/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/08/25/katrina-kidnapping/#commentsFiled under: ,


"People tend to view Rhonda Tavey as either a saint or a fool."

Those were the first words in a 2006 Dallas Morning News article about a generous Samaritan who opened her home and her heart to a struggling Katrina survivor and her five children.

Today the FBI would add "kidnapper" to the words used to describe Rhonda Tavey. Tavey was arrested on kidnapping charges for abducting the five children that their mother, Erica Alphonse, left in her full care for at least 2 years. Tavey originally met the Alphonse family during the Katrina aftermath while she was volunteering at a Red Cross Shelter. Tavey says she felt moved to help out the family and in 2006 expressed joy about her commitment:

"Blessed," [Tavey] says loudly, over the din of a kitchen full of kids, none older than 6. "I couldn't love these kids more if they were my own."

This year, as she and the rest of the brood sit down at a crowded Thanksgiving Day table in New Orleans, Ms. Tavey will give thanks for what most people view as an overwhelmingly thankless burden: responsibility for someone else's children.

And that is the glaring fact at the heart of this case. The Alphonse kids do not belong to Tavey even though Alphonse periodically signed over temporary custody to her. Still Tavey contends that she whisked the children away because she caught Alphonse with Tavey's bank records in her purse and when Tavey confronted her, Alphonse threatened bodily harm. Further, Tavey contends that Alphonse is a drug addict and only wants the children back because her Katrina aid is soon to expire and she wants the kids to insure a welfare payment. So far, there has been no reported evidence that Tavey's claims are true.

But it would not matter even if Tavey's allegations were true. The sometimes gut wrenching truth is that unless parental rights are surrendered, it is often impossible to wrest custody away from parents even when there is clear and extensive documentation of abuse. That is not the case here. To date, Tavey's allegations have not been substantiated in any way.

It is a complicated story. Please click on the hyperlinks throughout this post to get a more thorough understanding of the case.

So what do you think? Did Tavey get over attached to the kids and take advantage of a vulnerable mother? Or is Alphonse choosing financial gain over the well being of her children?

 

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]]>Carmen Dixon2008-08-25T22:00:00+00:00Midwest Floods vs. Katrina - It's Not a Competitionhttp://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/06/19/midwest-floods-vs-katrina-not-a-competition/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/06/19/midwest-floods-vs-katrina-not-a-competition/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/06/19/midwest-floods-vs-katrina-not-a-competition/#commentsFiled under: ,



Watching the people of Iowa and Missouri pull together to deal with the "500 year floods" has inspired me. Floating next to my concern for the residents are hopeful feelings about the best aspects of the American spirit on display in Iowa.

I had not linked flooded Midwest with the Katrina catastrophe not to mention the aftermath. But an email I got today changed that.

This email from my friend accused the media of ignoring any comparison to Katrina because it would "place the victims and officials of New Orleans in an unfavorable light." He observed that there is no "looting" going on in Iowa and that people in the flooded towns "are doing it on their own." I might have just agreed to disagree if not for Rush Limbaugh pushing that same point this week.

Midwest Flooding

    An Amish boy takes a break from filling sandbags to combat the flood waters from the Mississippi River at the Pike County Fairgrounds in Pleasant Hill, Illinois, Wednesday, June 18, 2008.(AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

    AP

    BURLINGTON, MO- JUNE 18: A barge is seen floating on the flooded Mississippi River June 18, 2008 near Burlington, Missouri. Reports indicate that many barges are stuck on the river because of the high water. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

    Getty Images

    BURLINGTON, MO- JUNE 18: Hal Geren steps back from a sump pump after starting it up to move water that is flowing from the Mississippi River under a makeshift wall June 18, 2008 in Burlington, Missouri. Communities along the Mississippi River continue preparing for flooding as the river continues to rise. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

    Getty Images

    This aerial shows a break in the Indian Grave levee caused by flood waters from the Mississippi River north of Quincy Illinois, Wednesday, June 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

    AP

    Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich looks at flood waters from the Mississippi River in a helicopter near Quincy Ill., Wednesday, June 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

    AP

    Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich looks at flood waters from the Mississippi River in a helicopter near Quincy,Ill., Wednesday, June 18, 2008.(AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

    AP

    A soybean field is seen covered in flood water from the Mississippi River in Gregory Landing, Missouri June 18, 2008. The swollen Mississippi River ran over the top of at least 12 more levees on Wednesday, as floodwaters swallowed up more U.S. farmland, adding to billion-dollar losses and feeding global food inflation fears. REUTERS/Frank Polich (UNITED STATES)

    Reuters

    Dave Fraley, left, gives away grilled food and cold drinks for people passing through his flood ravaged neighborhood in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Wednesday, June 18, 2008. Storms and flooding across six states this month have killed 24 people, injured 148 and caused more than $1.5 billion in estimated damage in Iowa alone _ a figure that's likely to increase as river levels climb in Missouri and Illinois. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

    AP

    KEOKUK, MO- JUNE 18: A train sits idle on the track as it is threatened by water from the flooding Mississippi River June 18, 2008 in Keokuk, Missouri. Communities along the Mississippi River continue preparing for flooding as the river continues to rise. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

    Getty Images

    KEOKUK, MO- JUNE 18: A statue is surrounded by water from the flooding Mississippi River June 18, 2008 in Keokuk, Missouri. Communities along the Mississippi River continue preparing for flooding as the river continues to rise. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

    Getty Images



Limbaugh: I want to know. I look at Iowa, I look at Illinois-I want to see the murders. I want to see the looting. I want to see all the stuff that happened in New Orleans. I see devastation in Iowa and Illinois that dwarfs what happened in New Orleans. I see people working together. I see people trying to save their property ... I don't see a bunch of people running around waving guns at helicopters, I don't see a bunch of people running shooting cops. I don't see a bunch of people raping people on the street. I don't see a bunch of people doing everything they can...whining and moaning-where's FEMA, where's BUSH. I see the heartland of America. When I look at Iowa and when I look at Illinois, I see the backbone of America.
What do you think?

I say we all learned from Katrina. Limbaugh will never learn.

Could it be that the residents of Iowa and Missouri knew this time that "Go!" means get out of Dodge and quick? And what of stranded, dehydrated, sick and isolated Katrina victims asking for help from FEMA?

Isn't that why we pay taxes? Or is our money only to be used for waging war and building prisons? And regarding looting in Katrina, sure there were knuckleheads walk-swimming with TV's on their heads.

But for the most part, one reporter's black man "looting" was another's white woman "searching" for provisions remember this photo?. And what rapes? Or does Limbaugh mean the rape at the Superdome myth?

 

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]]>Carmen Dixon2008-06-19T08:00:00+00:00Activists: Katrina Survivors Treated Worse Than Dogshttp://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/02/21/activists-katrina-survivors-treated-worse-than-dogs/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/02/21/activists-katrina-survivors-treated-worse-than-dogs/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/02/21/activists-katrina-survivors-treated-worse-than-dogs/#commentsFiled under: ,

More than two years after Hurricane Katrina, tens of thousands of Katrina survivors are still trapped in FEMA trailers in Louisiana and Mississippi.

After years of denying the trailers exposed occupants to dangerous levels of formaldehyde fumes, FEMA has finally come clean. It is now "aggressively" moving people out of the toxic travel trailers.



Meanwhile, homeless Katrina pets have found shelter after the storm. Indeed, the disparate treatment of displaced African Americans and dogs was captured in the iconic images of dogs being evacuated in air-conditioned comfort while blacks were packed in the back of a truck.

Today in Geneva, Switzerland, representatives of the United States government will appear before the United Nations' Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CRED), where they will be questioned about housing assistance programs for Katrina survivors. The session is the culmination of efforts by the US Human Rights Network to hold the federal government accountable.

In a report to CRED, the human rights coalition said the federal government's response to Katrina and FEMA's disastrous housing assistance violate the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. As a signatory, the U.S. must periodically report its compliance with the human rights treaty.

Monique Harden, a Katrina survivor and co-director of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, said: "The demolition of public housing, the growing number of homeless people, the utter failure of the Road Home Program, the complete disregard of renters, police harassment of African Americans, and racial disparities in flood protection are evidence of ethnic cleansing by our government that abuses the human rights of mostly African American residents of New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region."

Background information, including briefing documents, are available on the United Nations' Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination web site.

 

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]]>Hurricane Katrina, RaceHurricaneKatrina,RaceFaye Anderson2008-02-21T12:00:00+00:00Katrina: What Can $3 Quadrillion Buy You?http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/01/09/katrina-what-can-3-quadrillion-buy-you/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/01/09/katrina-what-can-3-quadrillion-buy-you/http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/01/09/katrina-what-can-3-quadrillion-buy-you/#commentsFiled under: ,

Traditionally, when a plaintiff seeks compensation, the common adage in the legal world is to "aim high and negotiate down."

So now an unidentified individual, who filed their complaint from a trailer park community in Baker, Louisiana, is suing the government for the astronomical fee of three quadrillion dollars -- that's fifteen zeroes.

It looks something like this: $3,000,000,000,000,000. Yeah, I know what you're thinking; Dr. Evil didn't even ask for that much!!!

Other Hurricane Katrina victims have also estimated the costs of their loses in claims to the federal government with some comparatively surreptitious figures (only 247 claims for at least $1 billion a piece). So far, 489,000 claims have been filed totaling $3,014,170,389,176,410, keep the change.

Whether they're bogus or delusional made claims, there is symbolism in that the government cannot pay enough money for the amount of suffering and losses it could have prevented, had the levees been secure.

Of those seeking money is the city of New Orleans, which has filed a claim for $77 billion dollars. Others on the list include insurance companies, businesses and wrongful death complaints.

With over 1,600 deaths reported in Louisiana and Mississippi, the memory of the storm is still fresh in the minds of many. The storm, which destroyed homes and crippled many businesses in the Gulf Coast states has costs billions.

Despite the fact that the deadline set by the US army Corps to coincide with the passing of the second anniversary of Katrina has passed already, claims are still arriving and being accepted.

The Corps said it isn't passing judgment on the merits of each claim. Federal courts are in charge of deciding if a claim is valid and how much compensation is warranted.

"It's important to the person who filed it, so we're taking every single claim seriously," Corps spokeswoman Amanda Jones said. According to the Associated Press.

And if you were wondering, the Gross National Product of the US is only $13.2 trillion dollars, so no, it would not be possible to accommodate a $3 quadrillion dollar claim. You know... just in case you were curious.

 

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]]>Denver Louis2008-01-09T18:05:00+00:00