“We’re all Oprah fodder in New Orleans

Two years after Katrina, even the most unassuming residents have grown cynical about the media spotlight. So why do we keep telling our stories?”

Aug. 29, 2007 | NEW ORLEANS — Driving through the Bywater section of New Orleans a few days ago, a friend waved me down. “How do you know that it is the second anniversary of Katrina?” she asked, and I waited for the punch line. “All of your friends just completed their third television interview of the day.”

The funniest thing about the joke was that it wasn’t much of a stretch from the truth. The media has become a fixture in the post-Katrina landscape of our city, just like vacant neighborhoods and the search-and-rescue graffiti tags beneath the new paint on every door. And after two years of living as if we were contestants on a long-running reality show, even the most unpretentious New Orleanians have grown media savvy.

Those of us who were near a television two years ago as the city flooded, then drained and flooded again, witnessed two horrors: the destruction of our city and the misguided reinterpretation of our home by reporters tasked with deciphering the remains of a civilization that had, at least for the moment, disappeared. Like novice archaeologists, they mispronounced streets and invented neighborhoods with names that had never existed before the storm. The city’s population was divided into a few easily identifiable types: the wealthy protecting their wine cellars, the eccentrics drinking at bars, the poor who couldn’t escape.

Shortly after returning to New Orleans in October 2005, I agreed to meet with a journalist who was a friend of a friend. She had been in town a few days when we sat in a cafe with a map and she attempted to make sense of east and west, north and south, levee locations and storm surges. Finally, I agreed to drive her around. “Was this a white neighborhood or a black neighborhood?” she asked at each corner we crossed. Or, “Was this rich or poor?” After the storm, it was all a mess, but she seemed confused when I insisted that even before the flood the distinctions weren’t so clear. I drove her through my own “Upper Ninth” neighborhood; then, in the Lower Ninth, where the destruction was notoriously bad, she asked, “How far is your house from the breach?” “About a mile,” I said. “I don’t think so,” she insisted, and I wondered what it was she had trouble believing.”

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Katrina-Involved Folks,
I hope all of you can make it to this very important event. It will be a
great opportunity to network with other people involved in Katrina work on
campus and in the community.

August 29, 2007 marks the Second Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina,
highlighting both how little progress has been made in restoring the lives
of people and communities impacted by Katrina, as well as how inspiring the
Berkeley and Bay Area community’s commitment to research, policy, and
service for the public good has been.

UC Berkeley is hosting a Second Commemoration on Wednesday, August 29,
2007. It is an opportunity to learn about the scope of the incredible
Katrina-related work based in the Bay Area — survivors in the Bay Area;
students, staff, and faculty at UC Berkeley; local organizers and
photojournalists. It is also a unique chance to get involved with projects
or organizations.

Confirmed speakers include:
*CC Campbell Rock, Survivors for Survivors, 2 year Gulf Coast report and
Katrina Diaspora
*Bob Bea, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, levee failure
and flood prevention
*Antoinette Chevalier, New Orleans native and Department of English, state
of public schools and emotional toll on elderly
*Charles Underwood, Graduate School of Education, UC Links educational
programs in Louisiana
*Returning Berkeley volunteers will also share their experiences in the
form of poetry, music, and reflections.
*A couple SF-based photojournalists, Justin Maxon and Stefan Jora, will
exhibit their prints of New Orleans one and two years after the flood.

Come out to commemorate those affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and
to learn more about the work being done at UC Berkeley and the wider community!

Since then, participants in the conference process have continued to
develop the analysis from the conference, and the final report
presents an important framework for assessing environmental justice
and health system rebuilding in the New Orleans region.

The report includes chapters by AlMarie Ford, Bob Bullard, Shelia
Webb, Benjamin Springgate, and Judy Solomon and was co-sponsored by
the Poverty & Race Research Action Council, the Alliance for Healthy
Homes, the Center for Social Inclusion and the Health Policy Institute
of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.  The report is
available at http://www.prrac.org/pdf/rebuild_healthy_nola.pdf.

On the trip, you will have the opportunity to support community members by:

• Preparing public housing units for returning residents
• Cleaning up the residential environment
• Gutting and rebuilding houses
• Communicating with residents about desired changes and solutions

We will be working with the People’s Organizing Committee an organization dedicated to Katrina relief.  Here is their mission statement:

“To build and maintain a coordinated network of community leaders, organizers and community based organizations with the capacity and organizational infrastructure that can help to meet the needs of people most impacted by Katrina and facilitate an organizing process that will demand local, grassroots leadership in the relief, return and reconstruction process in New Orleans.”

More specific details about the trip are to come, so stay tuned.  For questions or concerns, you can contact Alice Chamberlain.

http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~magnolia/trip.html

deadline to register: March 23rd 2007

December 5th 7pm

Heller Lounge, UC Berkeley  

Featuring Berkeley Poetry Review, Cal Slam, Onyx Express, Poetry for the People,

and Vagabond. Special guest performances by: California Poet Laureate Al Young,

Michael Palmer, Waldo Martin, Claudia Rankine, John Shoptaw, Geoffery O Brian, 

Eleanor Johnson, Nijla Mumin, Valyntina Easterling Grenier, D.J. Matt Werner, 

and excerpts from the upcoming PBS documentary, Faubourg Tremé, a film by Dawn

Logsdon and Lolis Eric Elie and more!

New Orleans “Home for the Holidays” Campaign Information Session at UC Berkeley . . .

WHEN:  Wednesday, November 29, 2006, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM

WHERE:  MLK Student Union, East Madrone

Every house gutted by volunteers like you, in solidarity with home owners, is one more family that much closer to reclaiming its home. Free food and lodging in exchange for your labor and ability to travel to/from New Orleans!

Connect with local Bay Area groups working together with grassroots organizations in New Orleans to gut and de-mold homes in the Lower Ninth Ward. The HFH Campaign strongly encourages you to prepare for your NOLA trip by connecting with the Bay Area Katrina Solidarity Network. For more information, contact Mike at bayarea-katrinasolidarity@mindspring.com or leave a message at 415.820.1662. Visit the Home for the Holidays campaign website at http://www.nolahomefortheholidays.org/

Talib Kweli is set to participate in a community press event that groups hope will connect local groups’ campaigns around displacement to Gulf Coast Disaster; The groups will use this time to reflect and also demand the convening of an international tribunal.

Kweli and local groups and activists have organized the event to stand in solidarity with the People’s Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition (PHRF/OC), Survivors for Survivors Inc, and the International Tribunal on Katrina.

3:00 – 3:15: Opening
3:15 – 3:30: Open Mic/Cultural Performance
3:30 – 3:45: Press Conference featuring local evacuees, community activists and Talib Kweli
3:45 – 4:00: CC Campbell-Rock representing Survivors for Survivors Inc.
4:00 – 4:15: Just Cause Oakland
4:15 – 4:30: Closing

This event is endorsed and organized by: Bay Area Katrina Solidarity Committee People’s Hurricane Relief Fund, 1418 N. Claiborne Ave, Suite 2, New Orleans, LA 70116, (504) 301-0215 – www.peopleshurricane.org/ – Common Ground, 1415 Franklin Ave, New Orleans, LA 70117, (504) 947-0270 –www.commongroundrelief.org/ – Just Cause Oakland, (510) 763-5877 – University of Berkeley Black Graduate Students Association, (510) 544-9045 Berkeley City College Black Student Union, (510) 338-8521- Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, (510) 222-1100 – The International Tribunal, www.peopleshurricane.org/international-tribunal/

Our goal is to help every family signed up for assistance to have their home gutted by the New Year! Cleaning and gutting out flood-damaged homes is vital to the health and viability of a recovering New Orleans, and is the first step in rebuilding for the homeowners.

The “Home for the Holidays” Coalition is made up of: The Common Ground Relief, The People’s Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Committee, and All Congregations Together, New Orleans.

For more information: nolahomefortheholidays.org

Registration contact: (504) 218-6613 

NOLAhomefortheholidays@gmail.com

What the Gulf Region has faced under the magnifying glass of Katrina holds lessons for us all — including those of us who never had to face a natural disaster, but who have had or might have to face other difficult community transitions.  These valuable lessons equip us to create positive change by giving all citizens a voice in the rebuilding process. 

This one-day session promises:

A. compelling stories of major obstacles as well as affirmative human action within the community to overcome obstacles

B. thought-provoking, respected speakers and expert panelists

C. participatory workshops in a variety of topics focused on proactively rebuilding communities that have undergone major change of any kind 

D. significant time to share best practices with peers in community development from across the country and the Gulf Region, giving you strategies you can take back to your community

Along with the symposium, the NeighborWorks Training Institute offers an week-long learning experience with training courses and an opportunity to join in the New Orleans rebuilding process directly with hands-on volunteer activity.

Symposium fee: $145 (includes all materials, plenaries, workshops, light continental breakfast, luncheon with featured guest speaker, and NeighborWorks Training Institute networking reception that evening). Registration fee not included. Deadline to register: Nov. 20    

For more information:

Phone: 800-438-5547 e-mail:  nti@nw.org 

http://www.nw.org/Network/training/upcoming/CommunityOrganizingSymposiuminNewOrleans.asp  

view the symposium brochure here (includes agenda and speaker/panelist info): 

http://www.nw.org/Network/training/upcoming/documents/FinalBrochure.pdf 

download the registration form here (add training courses or volunteer opportunity): http://www.nw.org/Network/training/upcoming/documents/FinalBrochure5.pdf