New Afrika

After four years in exile, many Hurricane Katrina evacuees really know what it means to miss New Orleans

2009-08-31T12:06:00.000-07:00

After four years in exile, many Hurricane Katrina evacuees really know what it means to miss New Orleans

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/after_four_years_in_exile_many.html

FEMA

2007-12-09T17:26:00.000-08:00

This is from my friend.

ez2njoyu_504: Dear Friends,

The world should Know the truth about the conditions in the FEMA trailer parks.. Please pass this link along to friends and family.
Thanks to everyone who saw my TV interview on "Between the Lines"..

http://fematoxicwaste.blogspot.com/ The Text and graphics found in this blog are the work of a very dedicated Katrina Survivor.

ez2njoyu_504: please pass that link to as many people as possible to get the word out about the treatment of folks in the trailer parks.

Katrina: The Untold Story

2007-09-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

Katrina: The Untold Story

http://www.aarpmagazine.org/people/katrina/

AARP Radio: Voices of Katrina

2007-09-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

AARP Radio: Voices of Katrina
http://radioprimetime.org/specials/katrina/index.htm

Republic of New Afrika flag

2007-06-28T23:06:00.000-07:00

Republic of New Afrika flag

White Congressman Seeks National Apology for Slavery - 90 House Members Sign

2007-06-02T22:01:00.000-07:00

White Congressman Seeks National Apology for Slavery - 90 House Members Sign Resolution

From the TN Commercial Appeal
By Bartholomew Sullivan

WASHINGTON -- Germany has apologized for its treatment of Jews in World War II. Australia has apologized to its aborigines. And Tony Blair has apologized to the Irish for Great Britain's handling of the potato famine.American presidents have come close to apologizing to African-Americans for slavery, and several have spoken of the evil of what some historians call the peculiar institution. Soon, in a measure introduced by U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., -- a white man representing a largely black district -- the United States House of Representatives could finally, formally apologize for slavery, Jim Crow segregation and the continuing legacy of discrimination against black people.As of last week, due in part to a strategy devised to appeal more intimately to potential backers of his congressional resolution, Cohen had collected 97 co-sponsors, including Republican Phil English of Pennsylvania.In separate letters to members of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Jewish caucus, and to members of the Missouri, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and New Jersey congressional delegations whose state legislatures have considered, or passed, similar resolutions, Cohen made his appeal."Slavery and Jim Crow laws were able to survive in our country because they were protected by the actions and acquiescence of the United States government, including Congress; we are still fighting their enduring legacies to this day," the letters say.Retired NAACP executive director Benjamin L. Hooks applauded the initiative."Anything we can do as a nation to heal the wounds that were inflicted, why, that's good," Hooks said. "A lot of people are negative about things like this, but I think you have to realize it's a positive step forward. It makes the nation look at the mistakes that were made, and acknowledge they were made, and says we recognize it's not over yet so that whatever we can do to alleviate it ought to be done."However small, it ought to be done."Despite its broad support, the idea of a congressional apology is not universally appreciated. Fred Lincoln, a retiree in Eads who commands the Nathan Bedford Forrest camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said last week that it doesn't even make sense. Forrest, a Confederate general, traded in slaves before the war."There are no slaves left and there are no slaveholders, so this is silly," said Lincoln, who noted that his immigrant ancestor named Lincoln arrived in America as an indentured servant."It seems to me like when you apologize for something you didn't do, all you're doing is leaving yourself open for -- I think what they're looking for is reparations. ... That's what it's all about."Cohen, who is passionate about the topic, says he believes the resolution would be a first step toward racial reconciliation. In some of his letters to congressmen, but not all, Cohen notes that his resolution does not call for reparations or payments to the living descendants of slaves.Other critics, such as University of Memphis history professor Charles W. Crawford, object to the resolution because they believe it's not a proper activity for the House of Representatives."There's nothing really wrong with it, but the past is filled with so much injustice to so many people, as we see things now, that what role does government really have in apologizing? " Crawford asked. He added that one "whereas" clause in the resolution, stating that the Civil War was "fought over the slavery issue," is still "debated extensively" by historians and is "at best only partially correct."Professor Kenneth W. Goings, chairman of the Department of African-American and African Studies at the Ohio State University, and a former professor at both Rhodes College and the University of Memphis, said the resolution is more than "empty words.""Slavery did happen to people, and recognition of the kind of destruction it has caused -- an apology for that is very, very powerful," said Goings. He likened it to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission established by South Africa to get to the truth behind apartheid." 'Fessing up for wrongdoing -- we ask children to do that to make themselves better people," he added. "I think we should do that as American citizens to make ourselves better people."The lengthy resolution deals with all aspects of slavery's horrors in a series of "whereas" clauses. In one, Cohen wrote: "Whereas, after emancipation from 246 years of slavery, African-Americans soon saw the fleeting political, social and economic gains they had made during Reconstruction eviscerated by virulent racism, lynchings, disenfranchisement ... and racial segregation laws that imposed a rigid system of officially sanctioned racial segregation in virtually all areas of life."It ends with a statement that Congress "acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow."It acknowledges, too, that an apology cannot erase the past but that it can "speed racial healing and reconciliation and help Americans confront the ghosts of their past."U.S. Rep. John Tanner, D-Tenn., whose district includes Raleigh, Frayser, parts of Millington and Tipton County, has endorsed the resolution. "There is no question that Jim Crow laws were a very dark period for our country," he said. "I support good-faith efforts to put those past injustices behind us and move forward as one country."House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's spokesman Drew Hammill said Friday that, while the speaker does not traditionally co-sponsor legislation, "she certainly supports the spirit of Mr. Cohen's resolution."If the measure makes it out of the House Judiciary Committee, which is likely because it's dominated by supporters of the resolution, it will get a vote on the House floor. Before it gets there, it probably will be amended, but with nearly a quarter of the House signed on as co-sponsors, the resolution will be popular.Presidents as far back as John Adams and Abraham Lincoln have condemned slavery. In more recent years, Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and the current President Bush have come close to an apology.While on a visit to the former slave port at Goree Island, Senegal, in 2003, Bush said of slavery: "Small men took on the powers and airs of tyrants and masters. Years of unpunished brutality and bullying and rape produced a dullness and hardness of conscience. Christian men and women became blind to the clearest commands of their faith and added hypocrisy to injustice."Two years later, the U.S. Senate, by voice vote, apologized for its repeated failure to enact federal anti-lynching legislation when it might have had an effect. Neither of Mississippi' s Republican senators, Thad Cochran nor Trent Lott, were listed among the resolution's 80 co-sponsors.Washington correspondent Bartholomew Sullivan can be reached at (202) 408-2726.More info: Steve cohen:"Slavery and Jim Crow laws were able to survive in our country because they were protected by the actions and acquiescence of the United States government, including Congress; we are still fighting their enduring legacies to this day," the letters say.The textHouse Resolution 194: The Apology for Slavery and Jim Crow resolution, now before a House Judiciary subcommittee where it is likely to be amended, reads in part:Whereas slavery in America resembled no other form of involuntary servitude known in history, as Africans were captured and sold at auction like inanimate objects or animals;Whereas Africans forced into slavery were brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized, and subjected to the indignity of being stripped of their names and heritage;Whereas enslaved families were torn apart after having been sold separately from one another;Whereas the system of slavery and the visceral racism against persons of African descent upon which it depended became entrenched in the Nation's social fabric;Whereas slavery was not officially abolished until the passage of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865 after the end of the Civil War, which was fought over the slavery issue;Whereas a genuine apology is an important and necessary first step in the process of racial reconciliation;Whereas an apology for centuries of brutal dehumanization and injustices cannot erase the past, but confession of the wrongs committed can speed racial healing and reconciliation and help Americans confront the ghosts of their past...Resolved, That the House of Representatives(1) acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow;(2) apologizes to African-Americans on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow; and(3) expresses its commitment to rectify the lingering consequences of the misdeeds committed against African-Americans under slavery and Jim Crow and to stop the occurrence of human rights violations in the future.Cohen's appeals:In his letters to various members of Congress, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen used different arguments to draw support for his slavery apology resolution:To U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-Mo.: "In your home state of Missouri, the state House of Representatives is currently moving a resolution that would 'formally apologize for the state of Missouri's role in slavery.' In both Missouri and across the U.S., an apology would acknowledge a national shame; this is not an empty gesture."To U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nevada: "As you are aware, we recently concluded our observance of Passover, a time each year when we as Jews remember that once we were slaves, and now we are free..."To U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn, D-S.C.: "As Don Imus's recent remarks about the Rutgers University Women's Basketball Team illustrate, we are still grappling with the consequences of Congress's action and inaction to this day... I urge you to join your fellow (Congressional Black Caucus) members as co-sponsors for this important resolution."

Experts: Katrina death toll still rising

2007-06-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

Experts: Katrina death toll still rising
By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS - The bodies are no longer being dragged from houses and buildings toppled by Hurricane Katrina, but nearly two years later many in the medical community think the storm is still killing.

Storm survivors are dying from the effects of both psychological and physical stress, from the dust and mold still in dwellings to financial problems to fear of crime, health experts and officials say.
"There is no doubt in my mind that Katrina is still killing our residents," Orleans Parish coroner Dr. Frank Minyard said this week.
"People with pre-existing conditions that are made worse by the stress of living here after the storm. Old people who are just giving up. People who are killing themselves because they feel they can't go on," Minyard said.
Some say an in-depth federal analysis is needed, despite a new state report that found no significant increase in deaths in the New Orleans area from January 2006 through June 2006. The state Department of Health and Hospitals is still compiling figures for the last six months of 2006.
Dr. Raoult Ratard, the state epidemiologist, said "the only slight increase" in deaths was in the first three months of 2006 in Orleans Parish.
But New Orleans medical officials say that jump, from 11.3 per 1,000 deaths to 14.3 per 1,000, — a leap of more than 25 percent — was anything but slight. Moreover, the report doesn't take into account evacuees who died while away from the city and were returned for burial.
"Our death rate was already high, that's huge," said Dr. Kevin Stephens Sr., director of the New Orleans Health Department.
Some New Orleans doctors questioned the accuracy of the population figures used to determine the death rate, saying they might have been too high. DHH secretary Dr. Fred Cerise said he was comfortable with the population data, which he said came from the
Census Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The city was abandoned after Katrina struck Aug. 29, 2005, and many people did not begin returning until mid-2006.
The official death tolls in New Orleans stands at about 1,100. State health officials said deaths have not been listed as Katrina-related since the end of 2005, except for bodies found under storm wreckage. But Minyard said he believes the hurricane is still behind many deaths.
Dr. Ronald Kessler, professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School and head of a group that has monitored 3,000 exiled Katrina survivors, said reconstructing an individual's mental and physical state before death might help in determining exact causes of death.
"There are high rates of mental health problems among the survivors and previous research has found that mental disorders are predictors of earlier death rates," Kessler said. "So putting the two together in New Orleans is not surprising."
Local mental health professionals say they are encountering more people with psychological problems.
"We're seeing triple the number of people with mental health problems as we were before Katrina," said Leah Hedrick, social worker at Ochsner Hospital. "Depression, suicidal, anxiety, abuse of drugs and alcohol, and along with that comes a lot more physical problems."
Many storm-damaged hospitals are not operating fully, and that could help explain why other health facilities are seeing more patients.
Another possible sign that there are more deaths are paid death notices in The Times-Picayune. Before Katrina, the newspaper usually printed about a page daily. Now, three and four pages are not uncommon.
Stephens analyzed the death-notice pattern before and after the storm and said he believes it confirms more local people are dying.
His study will be published this month in the Journal of Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, the American Medical Association's new publication on disaster management.
Many church congregations scattered after Katrina, and their bulletins that carried death notices may not be publishing.
But Stephens discounted that as a possible explanation for why the newspaper is receiving more death notices. Before Katrina, he said, it was routine to place death notices in both the newspaper and outlets such as church newsletters.
Minyard believes the medical community's different observations reach the same conclusion, and one day will be proven correct.
"Years from now when they talk about post-traumatic stress, New Orleans after Katrina will be the poster child," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070603/ap_on_he_me/katrina_still_killing

Audit: La. hurricane grants face $5B gap

2007-06-01T10:51:00.000-07:00

Audit: La. hurricane grants face $5B gap

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070601/ap_on_re_us/road_home

Queen Mother Suma Diarra on the Oprah Winfrey Show

2007-05-28T17:26:00.000-07:00

Rfuaw Diarra
Date:	Mon, 28 May 2007
Subject:	[congosquareneworleans] Help get Oprah Winfrey to Have Queen Mother Suma on her Show. BIO attached

Greetings to all family and friends,

I hope and pray that everyone is well and in good health and high spirits. Sending love and many blessings to you all.

I am trying to get Queen Mother Suma Diarra on the Oprah Winfrey Show and need your help. Use the link below and send the producer an email asking them to feature QM Suma featuring her lifes work as a Community Activist - Cultural Educator or what have you. Tell tehm in some way how she has touched your life. I thank each and everyone of you that can help me flood the producer with emails from now until they decide to have her on the show.

This is a page where there are a few email addresses
_http://www2. http://wwwhttp: //www2.http: //www2._
<http://www2. http://wwwhttp: //www2.http: //www2._>
(http://www2. oprah.com/ email/email_ landing.jhtml
<http://www2. oprah.com/ email/email_ landing.jhtml>)

To Date things QM Suma Diarra is an active participate with.

People's Hurricane Relief Fund (New Orleans & Houston Chapter)

Houston Katrina Survivors Council (Houston Chapter)

Katrina Kids Survivors Project (Houston, Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia)

Journey Home Center (Volunteer)

Better Future for African American Children in the Diaspora (BFAAD)

(Houston, Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia)

Work in progress - her first children's books and video

Work in progress - A book for artist - Professional Protocol for Artists, Producers, Promotors & Managers

Students affected by Hurricane Katrina

2007-05-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

Students affected by Hurricane Katrina @ Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2207973059

American Gangster

2007-05-10T22:44:00.000-07:00

American Gangster
http://www.bet.com/BETShows/theamericangangsters.htm?wbc_purpose=Basic&WBCMODE=PresentationUnpublished

Money, health woes haunt Katrina victims: study

2007-05-10T22:40:00.000-07:00

Money, health woes haunt Katrina victims: study

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070510/us_nm/katrina_survivors_dc

300 hundred years

2007-04-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

"Nothing the future brings can defeat a people who have come thorough three hundred years of slavery and humiliation and privation with heads held high and eyes clear and straight."--Paul Robeson.

Daily Lobo

2007-04-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

Daily Lobo

21 Point Plan to Destroy Black New Orleans

2006-07-12T23:59:00.000-07:00

Subject: FYI: KATRINA & THE 2nd DISASTER: 21 Point Plan to Destroy Black New Orleans

http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/Bullard20PointPlan.html

KATRINA AND THE SECOND DISASTER:
A Twenty-Point Plan to Destroy Black New Orleans
By Robert D. Bullard

As reconstruction and rebuilding move forward in New Orleans and the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama Gulf Coast region, it is clear that the lethargic and inept emergency response after Hurricane Katrina was a disaster that overshadowed the deadly storm itself. Yet, there is a "second disaster" in the making-driven by racism, classism, elitism, paternalism, and old-fashion greed. The following "Twenty-Point Plan to Destroy Black New Orleans" is based on trends and observations made over the past three months. Hopefully, the good people of New Orleans, Louisiana, the Gulf Coast, and the United States will not allow this plan to go forward-and instead adopt a principled plan and approach to rebuilding and bringing back New Orleans that is respectful of all of its citizens.

1. Selectively Hand Out FEMA Grants. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is being consistent in the slow response in getting aid to Katrina survivors. FEMA's grant assistance program favors middle-income households. Make it difficult for low-income and black Katrina survivors to access government assistance. Direct the bulk of the grant assistance to middle-income white storm victims. The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and several other legal groups have sued FEMA over its response and handling of aid to storm victims. FEMA has referred more than two million people, many of them with low incomes, to the Small Business Administration (SBA) to get the loans.
2. Systematically Deny the Poor and Blacks SBA Loans. Screen out poor and deny black households disaster loans. The New York Times editorial summed up this problem: "The Poor Need Not Apply." The Small Business Administration has processed only a third of the 276,000 home loan applications it has received. However, the SBA has rejected 82 percent of the applications it received, a higher percentage than in most previous disasters. Well-off neighborhoods like Lakeview have received 47 percent of the loan approvals, while poverty-stricken neighborhoods have gotten 7 percent. Middle-class black neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city have lower loan rates.
3. Award Insurance Claims Using the "Wind or Water" Trap. Because of the enormity of the damage in the wake of Katrina, insurance companies will categorize a lot of legitimate wind claims as flood or water-related. The "wind or water" problem will hit black storm victims hardest because they are likely to have their insurance with small companies-since the major firms "redlined" many black neighborhoods. Most rebuilding funds after disasters comes from private insurance-not the government.
4. Redline Black Insurance Policyholders. Numerous studies show that African Americans are more likely than whites to receive insufficient insurance settlement amounts. Insurance firms target black policyholders for low and inadequate insurance settlements based on majority black zip codes to subsidize fair settlements made to white policyholders. If black homeowners and business owners expect to recover from Katrina, then they must receive full and just insurance settlements. FEMA and the SBA cannot be counted on to rebuild black communities.
5. Use "Greenbuilding" and Flood-Proofing Codes To Restrict Redevelopment. Requiring rebuilding plans to conform to "greenbuilding" materials and new flood-proofing codes can price many low- and moderate-income homeowners and small business owners out of the market. This will hit black homeowners and black business owners especially hard since they generally have lower incomes and lower wealth.

6. Apply Discriminatory Environmental Clean-up Standards. Failure to apply uniform clean-up standards can kill off black neighborhoods. Use of full-scale cleanup of white neighborhoods to residential standards, while allowing no cleanup or partial cleanup (industrial standards) of black residential neighborhoods. Failure to cleanup black residential areas can act as a disincentive for redevelopment. It could also make people sick. Use the argument that black neighborhoods were already highly polluted with background contamination "hot spots" exceeding EPA safe levels pre-Katrina and thus need not be cleaned to more rigorous residential standards.

7. Sacrifice "Low-Lying" Black Neighborhoods in the Name of Saving the Wetlands and Environmental Restoration. Allow black neighborhoods like the Lower Ninth Ward and New Orleans East to be "yielded back to the swamp" while allowing similar low-lying white areas to be rebuilt and redeveloped. This is a form of "ethnic cleansing" that was not possible before Katrina. Instead of emphasizing equitable rebuilding, uniform clean-up standards, equal protection, and environmental justice for African American communities, public officials should send mixed signals for rebuilding vulnerable "low-lying" black neighborhoods.

8. Promote a Smaller, More Upscale, and "Whiter" New Orleans. Concentrating on getting less-damaged neighborhoods up and running could translate into a smaller, more upscale, and whiter New Orleans and a dramatically down-sized black community. Clearly, shrinking New Orleans neighborhoods disproportionately shrinks black votes, black political power, and black wealth.

9. Revise Land Use and Zoning Ordinances to Exclude. Katrina can be used to change land use and zoning codes to "zone against" undesirable land uses that were not politically possible before the storm. Also, "expulsive" zoning can be used to push out certain land uses and certain people.

10. Phased Rebuilding and Restoration Scheme That Concentrates on the "High Ground." New Orleans officials are being advised to concentrate rebuilding on the areas that remained high and dry after Katrina. These areas are disproportionately white and affluent. This scenario builds on pre-existing inequities and "white privilege" and ensures future inequities and "white privilege." By the time rebuilding gets around to black "low-lying" areas, there is not likely to be any rebuilding funds left. This is the "oops we are out of funds" scenario.

11. Apply Eminent Domain as a Black Land Grab. Give Katrina evacuees one year to return before the City is allowed to legally "take" their property through eminent domain. Clearly, it will take much longer than a year for most New Orleanians to return home. This proposal could turn into a giant land grab of black property and loss of black wealth they have invested in their homes and businesses.

12. No Financial Assistance for Evacuees to Return. Thousands of Katrina evacuees were shipped to more than three-dozen states with no provisions for return-equivalent to a "one-way" ticket. Many Katrina evacuees are running short of funds. No money translates into no return to their homes and neighborhoods. Promote the "right to return" without committing adequate resources to assist evacuees to return.

13. Keep Evacuees Away from New Orleans Jobs. The nation's unemployment rate was 5 percent in November 2005. The November 2005 jobless rate for Katrina returnees was 12.5 percent, while 27.8 percent of evacuees living elsewhere were unemployed. However, the black jobless rate was 47 percent in November compared with 13 percent for whites who have not gone back. Katrina evacuees who have made it back to their home region have much lower levels of joblessness. This is especially important for African Americans whose joblessness rate fell over 30 percentage points for returnees. The problem is that the vast majority of black Katrina evacuees have not returned to their home region. Only 21 percent of black evacuees have returned compared with 48 percent of whites.

14. Fail to Enforce Fair Housing Laws. Allow housing discrimination against blacks to run rampant. Katrina created a housing shortage and opened a floodgate of discrimination against black homeowners and renters. In December 2005, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) found high rates of housing discrimination against African-Americans displaced by Hurricane Katrina. In 66 percent of the tests conducted by the NFHA, 43 of 65 instances, whites were favored over African-Americans.

15. No Commitment to Rebuild and Replace Low-Income Public Housing. Shortly after Katrina struck, even the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) spoke of not rebuilding all of the public housing lost during the storm. The HUD secretary's statement is a powerful signal to New Orleans poor that public housing may not be around for them to return to.

16. Downplay the Black Cultural Heritage of New Orleans. Promote rebuilding and the vision of a "new" New Orleans as if the rich Black Culture did not matter or act as if it can be replaced or replicated in a "theme park" type redevelopment scenario. Developers should capture and market the "black essence" of New Orleans without including black people.

17. Treatment of Mixed-Income "Integrated" Housing as Superior to All-Black Neighborhoods. First, there is nothing inherently inferior about an "all-black" neighborhood-or all-black anything for that matter. Black New Orleans who chose to live in neighborhoods that happen to be all-black (whites have always had the right to move in or move out of these neighborhoods) should not be forced to have their neighborhoods rebuilt as "integrated" or "multicultural" neighborhoods. Also, "mixed-income" housing to many blacks conjures up the idea of 10% of the fair market housing units set aside for them. Many blacks are battle-weary of being 10%. New Orleans was 68% black before Katrina-and most black folks were comfortable with that.

18. Allow "Oversight" (Overseer) Board to Manage Katrina Funds That Flow to New Orleans. Take away "home rule" since the billions of Katrina redevelopment dollars that will flow to New Orleans is too much money for a majority black city council and a black mayor to oversee or manage. More important, the oversight board will need to represent "big-money" interests (real estate, developers, banking, insurance, hotels, law firms, tourist industry, etc.) well beyond the purview of a democratically elected city government to ensure that the vision of the "new" New Orleans, "smaller and more upscale," gets implemented.

19. Delay Rebuilding and Construction of New Orleans Schools. The longer the New Orleans schools stay closed, the longer the families with children will stay away. Schools are a major predictor of racial polarization. Before Katrina, over 125,000 New Orleans children were attending schools in the city. Blacks made up 93 percent of New Orleans schools. Evacuated children are enrolled in school districts from Arizona to Pennsylvania. Three months after the storm, only one of the New Orleans 116 schools is open.

20. Hold Elections without Appropriate Voting Rights Act Safeguards. Almost 300,000 registered voters left New Orleans after Katrina. The powerful storm damaged or destroyed 300 of the 442 polling places. Holding city elections pose major challenges regarding registration, absentee ballots, city workers, polling places, and identification for displaced New Orleanians. Identification is required at the polls and returning residents may not have access to traditional identification papers (birth certificates, drivers licenses etc.) destroyed by the hurricane. More than three months after Katrina struck, 80 percent of New Orleans voters have not made their way back to the city, including most African Americans who comprised a two-thirds majority of the population before the storm. Most of the estimated 60,000 to 100,000 New Orleans residents who have made it back are mostly white and middle class, changing the racial and political complexion of the city. Holding elections while the vast majority of New Orleans voters are displaced outside of their home district and even their home state is unprecedented in the history of the United States, but also raises racial justice and human rights questions.

---------
Robert D. Bullard is the Director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University.

Judged Men Alliance

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JudgedMenAllianceForTomorrow/

This is my Latest Hassle with FEMA

2006-05-27T21:08:00.000-07:00

Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2006
From: "Hunnydew72"
Subject: This is my Latest Hassle with FEMA..
To: "Queenie" lgollida@applevac.com

I have shared with many of you my ongoing trials and tribulations since Katrina ..Now when Life seemed to be approaching normal they are now pulling out of the 12 month vouchers they issued many victims.... In less than a month I will be amongst thousands of Evacuees scrambling to find new homes.... I'm putting up a good fight and I have been writing letters and contacting lawmakers and program directors in protest. it hurts to be treated so unfairly by my own country... I welcome all phone calls, words of encouragement and advice from you all..

Kristie

Storm Evacuees Ineligible for Rent Aid

By ANGELA K. BROWN, Associated Press WriterFri Apr 28, 3:40 PM ET

Thousands of hurricane evacuees must soon pay their own rent or move out after receiving word that they are being dropped from a FEMA housing program they thought would last a year.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has declared about 12,000 families nationwide ineligible for housing assistance, in some cases because their hurricane-damaged homes were found to be habitable. Others were ineligible because their damaged homes were not their primary residence or because they were not head of the household.

About 38,000 other families still qualify for assistance through FEMA, but must complete new paperwork to remain eligible.

Some Hurricane Katrina and Rita evacuees received FEMA notices saying their aid was guaranteed only through April 30. But the agency said the actual deadline was May 31, and it recently granted Houston officials' request to extend it to June 30.

Scores of families who signed one-year apartment and home leases last fall, believing FEMA would pay all rent and utilities during the entire lease, are worried that they will be kicked to the curb.

Gary Jones, 44, received a letter last week saying he was ineligible, although he said he has repeatedly sent to FEMA documents showing he owns his New Orleans home.

"To me right now, I'm past frustration," he said.

Since Katrina hit Aug. 29 and sent tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents to other states, FEMA has distributed the aid by reimbursing cities for paying landlords.

Frank Michel, spokesman for Houston Mayor Bill White, said FEMA had indicated it would pay for a full year of housing.

However, FEMA spokesman Michael Widomski said the agency only said it would pay for up to 12 months and never guaranteed a full year. FEMA helped all evacuees who needed it and did not require them to meet eligibility standards at first, but is now switching to a program with stricter requirements, Widomski said.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, the nation's largest organization of low- and moderate-income families, has been going door to door in Houston telling storm victims how to appeal.

"People are too angry to be afraid," said Kemberly Samuels, 52, with ACORN's Katrina Survivors Association. "It's like FEMA has a trump card on us and they have our fate in their hands."

In Houston, between 8,500 and 8,900 of the 35,000 families receiving housing assistance got notices earlier this month, some saying they were ineligible because their homes in the hurricane-ravaged region were suitable for living, Michel said.
But after receiving calls from upset evacuees disputing those FEMA claims, the mayor sent a city team to New Orleans two weeks ago. Michel said 30 of the 47 homes they inspected could not be lived in because they had extensive damage or needed minor repairs but were in an area without utilities, grocery stores and other services.

"Two roads diverged in a wood, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."-Robert Frost

US government 'failed' on Katrina

2006-02-13T00:37:00.000-08:00

US government 'failed' on Katrina
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4707536.stm

Key Documents Regarding the Government Response to Katrina

2006-02-13T00:22:00.000-08:00

Key Documents Regarding the Government Response to Katrina
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/national/nationalspecial/10katrina-docs.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin

Black leaders to unite in Gary

2006-02-05T13:15:00.000-08:00

Black leaders to unite in Gary
http://www.post-trib.com/cgi-bin/pto-story/news/z1/02-05-06_z1_news_03.html
Organizers hope to bring 2,500 black leaders “back to Gary” next month to revisit the unfinished business from the 1972 National Black Political Convention.

Post-Katrina promises largely unfulfilled

2006-01-28T11:54:00.000-08:00

Post-Katrina promises largely unfulfilled
Federal recovery effort makes halting progress on the Gulf Coast
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11065718/

Are Nagin’s Appeals for New Orleanians to Return Falling on Deaf Ears?

2005-12-12T00:28:00.000-08:00

Are Nagin’s Appeals for New Orleanians to Return Falling on Deaf Ears?
http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/cottman121205

Some Reports of N.O. Violence Exaggerated

2005-12-01T01:52:00.000-08:00

Some Reports of N.O. Violence Exaggerated
Reports of Rape, Murder at Katrina Evacuation Sites Were Probably Exaggerated, Officials Now Say
http://abcnews.go.com/US/HurricaneKatrina/wireStory?id=1163687

Lysistrata's Litany of Her World

2005-11-28T02:13:00.000-08:00

Lysistrata's Litany of Her World
(Check out ez2njoyu_504's New Orleans Blog)
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-Ni7snMw9cKRWsYdRxcu.gw--?p=67

FEMA extends hurricane hotel program

2005-11-23T01:41:00.000-08:00

FEMA extends hurricane hotel program
Refugees can stay put in 10 states until Jan. 7; Dec. 15 deadline elsewhere
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10155566/

Zumbi, a symbol of Black freedom in Brazil . . .

2005-11-20T18:42:00.000-08:00

Zumbi, a symbol of Black freedom in Brazil . . .
http://www.aaregistry.com/detail.php3?id=2760

After Katrina, New Orleans Crime Moves to Other Cities

2005-11-19T23:09:00.000-08:00

After Katrina, New Orleans Crime Moves to Other Cities
Some Areas Where Evacuees Resettled Report Spike in Crime
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/HurricaneKatrina/story?id=1320056

Architects Envision New Orleans Rebuilding

2005-11-19T23:05:00.000-08:00

Architects Envision New Orleans Rebuilding, Compare Task to Post-WWII Efforts in London, Hiroshima
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1307140&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

Watch out for December!

2005-11-14T19:45:00.000-08:00

There will be rioting here next month, those of us who listen to the rumbling that is going on in the streets, communities and hoods of the inner cities are well aware of this. Dec. 13th, will be a day that goes down in the history books, the Top dogs in Washington are fueling the dissension so that the focus of the media and the public outcrys of ending the war in Iraq will be temporarily silenced.

As we speak, meetings are being conducted by both sides of the fence, those who govern and those who live within the confines of their shadows.

Knowledge and wisdom often give way to a man's pride, when hope is squashed by those who are living and taken from those who merely exist. Yes my fellow neighbors and voters there is rumbling in the distance and it's not coming from the San Andreas fault either....the morality and compassion of a nation, our Nation are soon to be tested and questioned.

I leave as I came with much love and respect for Life.

Lady Gray/bossladyjmc

ProudLiberal7@aol.com wrote:
Judged Men Alliance
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JudgedMenAllianceForTomorrow/
Americanism-Let Us Dream Again
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Americanism_apple_pie/?yguid=222029573
Walk'in The Vision-Give Us Hope
http://walkinthevision.blogspot.com/

Republic of New Afrika. From Wikipedia.

2005-11-11T02:21:00.000-08:00

Republic of New Afrika. From Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_New_Afrika

More Black Women Than Black Men Continue to Enroll in 4-Year College

2005-11-01T20:36:00.000-08:00

From: sweet_zeta_70504@yahoo.com

More Black Women Than Black Men Continue to Enroll in 4-Year Collegesand Enter With 'A' Averages, UCLA Study Reveals

Date: October 31, 2005
Contact: Shaena Engle ( engle@gseis.ucla.edu ) Phone: 310-206-5951

Over the past 33 years, black women have enrolled in four-year colleges at higher rates than have black men, according to the resultsof a new study conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute atUCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. In 2004, black women comprised 59.3 percent of all first-time, full-time blackstudents attending fourâ€‘year institutions, compared to 54.5 percent in1971. The study also revealed that among black freshmen, males have higherintellectual selfâ€‘confidence ratings than do females: 76 percent of males vs. 65 percent of females rated themselves among the top 10percent compared with their peers. However, black women attending both historically black colleges (HBCUs) and predominantly white institutions (PWIs) were significantly more likely than were men to enter college with "A" averages.

Over time, the gender gap in achievement at college entry has widened at both PWIs (3 percentdifference between men and women in 1971 and 14 percent difference in2004) and HBCUs (6 percent difference in 1971 between men and women and 13 percent difference in 2004). "The findings reveal that the gender gap is not a new issue among black college students, but it continues to widen in many areas of access, achievement, and important college and graduate school preparation behaviors. This portends even lower attainment rates for black males in the future," said the lead author of the report, WalterR. Allen, UCLA professor of education and of sociology and holder ofthe Allan Murray Cartter Chair in Higher Education. These findings are based on a new study, "Black Undergraduates From Bakke to Grutter," focusing on the status, trends and prospects ofblack college freshmen over the past 33 years. This unique study usesnational data collected from 1971 to 2004 through the CooperativeInstitutional Research Program. The findings are based on theresponses of more than half a million black freshmen attending morethan 1,100 baccalaureate-granting colleges and universities. The data have been statistically weighted to represent the responses for the 3.6 million black first-time, full-time freshmen students attendinginstitutions of higher learning during that period."Black students have been more likely to attend four-year institutionsthan other underrepresented groups. This can be attributed to the longtradition of historically black college attendance," said Sylvia Hurtado, director of the Higher Education Research Institute.

"This report is the most comprehensive look at black students as they enterboth historically black and predominantly white four-yearin stitutions. "

-Fewer black students from lowest income groups; record percentage ofstudents from highest income categories.

Today, students from the lowest income groups make up a smallerproportion of the total black freshman population than in 1971 (30percent in 2004 vs. 41 percent in 1971). Although the percentage hasdecreased over time at both types of institutions, higherconcentrations of low-income students can be found at HBCUs (43percent in 1971 vs. 34 percent in 2004) compared to PWIs (39 percentvs. 28 percent, respectively). Conversely, there are more black students in the highest incomecategories than ever before (2 percent in 1971 vs. 13 percent in2004), with parents who are college educated (15 percent of mothers in1971 vs. 40 percent in 2004) and who work in white-collar professions(44 percent of fathers in blue-collar occupations in 1971 vs. 15percent in 2004). A gap still remains regarding black students and thegeneral first-time, full-time freshman population, where more than 53 percent of students reported parents with at least a college degree in2004."This pattern is indicative of college admission and recruitmentprocedures that privilege more affluent students regardless of color,"Allen said.

-Black students better prepared for college; educational aspirations remain highBlack students are better prepared academically than before for entering college.

Between 1971 and 2003, there were substantial decreases in black first-year college students who felt they needed special tutoring or remedial work in English (22 percent in 1971 vs.16 percent in 2003), reading (13 percent vs. 7 percent), mathematics (56 percent vs. 44 percent), science (30 percent vs. 21 percent) andforeign language (36 percent vs. 21 percent) at college entry. Additionally, there were substantial gains between 1984 and 2004 inthe proportion who met or exceeded the minimum years of study in English, mathematics, foreign language and science based on recommendations of the National Commission on Excellence in Education. In 2004, 97 percent of all black freshman college students hadcompleted 4 years of English and 3 years of mathematics. However, moreresearch is needed regarding the types of courses black students have access to in high school, as they were still not as likely as theirfreshman peers to meet or exceed foreign language (89 percent vs. 92percent) or physical science (45 percent vs. 59 percent) course recommendations, indicating dis tinctions remain in curricular trackand quality of schools black students attend. Comparisons of the 1971 and 2004 cohorts of black freshmen also revealsignificant upward trends in overall academic preparation andaspirations.

In 1971, 8 percent of black freshmen reported high schoolgrade averages of "A-" or better, as compared to 20 percent offreshmen overall. In 2004, 28 percent of black freshmen were in thisrange. Despite significant increases among black freshmen, asignificantly higher percentage (48 percent) of the general freshmenpopulation reported "A" grades.Educational aspirations remain high. Twenty-four percent of blackstudents intended to obtain doctoral degrees, as compared to 17percent of the general population of students. Black students alsowere slightly more likely to express interest in professional degreesthan were students overall â€” medical degrees (12 percent vs. 9percent) and law degrees (6 percent vs. 5 percent). Black women weretwice as likely (16 percent) to aspire toward medical degrees thanwere men (8 percent). This gender difference is more pronounced amongblack students than for the general student population interested inmedical careers (11 percent of women vs. 7 percent of men).

-Political and civic engagement

Over the decades, there has been a trend toward conservative and"middle of the road" political orientations among freshmen. Blackstudents are still more likely to identify as "far left" or "liberal"than the general freshmen population (36 percent vs. 30 percent), butthey are less likely to characterize themselves today as politically "liberal" (36 percent) than in 1971 (50 percent). This fact also isevident in their changing views on particular issues, including abortion (59 percent believed it "should be legal" in 1981 vs. 53percent in 2004) and homosexuality (28 percent believed "homosexual relationships should be prohibited" in 2001 vs. 36 percent in 2004). Black students also are entering colleges with strong commitments tocivic and political participation, coupled with intentions to assumeleadership roles. Students increasingly anticipated involvement involunteer work during college (19 percent in 1990 vs. 30 percent in2004), but students at HBCUs placed higher importance on volunteering(34 percent of HBCU students expected to volunteer in college comparedto 28 percent of students at PWIs). While a growing desire wasobserved among students to influence social values, this increase wasmore significant for students attending HBCUs (from 39 percent in 1971to 52 percent in 2003). Black freshmen also placed increasedimportance on becoming community leaders, with more black students atHBCUs being committed to community leadership than students at PWIs in2003 (47 percent vs. 40 percent). This trend was accompanied by alarge increase in the percentage of students who felt that theypossessed skills that would help them fulfill these roles. "Our findings reveal the changing face of black student college participation since 1971. We see cause for both celebration and concern in these data. While there has been considerable progress, significant racial disparities persist," Allen said.

From: http://members.blackplanet.com/epitome_beauty

Bush outlines $7.1 billion flu pandemic strategy

2005-11-01T19:42:00.000-08:00

Bush outlines $7.1 billion flu pandemic strategy
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9883713/

This our burden!

2005-10-28T19:09:00.000-07:00

New Orleans police fire 51 for desertion

2005-10-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

New Orleans police fire 51 for desertion
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9855340/

Tookies only shot is the governor

2005-10-26T00:27:00.000-07:00

Tookies only shot is the governor
http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/oped/ci_3144340

Black Legion at Nation Day, 2004

2005-10-16T17:20:00.001-07:00

Thousands Attend Millions More Movement

2005-10-16T17:20:00.000-07:00

Thousands Attend Millions More Movement
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051015/ap_on_re_us/millions_more_7

Most Katrina Evacuees Out of Shelters

2005-10-16T16:54:00.000-07:00

Most Katrina Evacuees Out of Shelters
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051016/ap_on_re_us/katrina_shelters_6

Clayton Cubitt::Hurricane Katrina

2005-10-15T03:48:00.000-07:00

clayton cubitt :: hurricane katrina
http://www.claytoncubitt.com/publish/katrina/

Operation Eden

2005-10-15T03:47:00.000-07:00

Operation Eden
http://operationeden.blogspot.com/

Black Legion

2005-10-10T23:03:00.000-07:00

From time to time, we will post pictures and commentary about the Black Legion, the military/police arm of the Republic of New Afrika, Provisional Government.

This is the first one:

Hundreds of Katrina victims remain unidentified

2005-10-10T22:54:00.000-07:00

Hundreds of Katrina victims remain unidentified
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/10/10/katrina.bodies/index.html

Just in case you forgot! Here are more pictures...

2005-10-08T20:41:00.000-07:00

Pictures of the damage...

http://scripturist.org/2005_08_28_archive.html

Evacuated inmates allege abuse by Louisiana guards

2005-10-06T03:10:00.000-07:00

Evacuated inmates allege abuse by Louisiana guards
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-aprisoners03oct03,0,527017.story?coll=sfla-news-nationworld

MARTIAL LAW DECLARED IN LOUISIANA!!

2005-10-06T03:09:00.000-07:00

MARTIAL LAW DECLARED IN LOUISIANA!!
http://america.textamerica.com/?r=3186755

Nine Charged With Stealing Katrina Funds

2005-10-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

Nine Charged With Stealing Katrina Funds
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051004/ap_on_re_us/katrina_fraud

New Orleans pumping nearly complete

2005-10-03T00:02:00.000-07:00

New Orleans pumping nearly complete
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9521299/

Returnees slip past roadblocks to see remnants of New Orleans homes

2005-10-02T23:58:00.000-07:00

Returnees slip past roadblocks to see remnants of New Orleans homes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051003/lf_afp/usweatherstormreturn_051003061543;_ylt=ApwPnhV7KBUykrApEkR6IvlH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--

Govt Katrina spending may be half level thought

2005-09-26T23:39:00.000-07:00

Govt Katrina spending may be half level thought
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050927/ts_nm/katrina_spending_dc

HURRICANE KATRINA DISASTER

2005-09-26T22:24:00.000-07:00

HURRICANE KATRINA DISASTER
"City of Jackson Calls a 9-1-1 Meeting"
By Artaymis Ma’at, PG-RNA
For Alvin Brown, PCC 1st Vice Chair

On September 11, a town meeting was held at Mikhail’s restaurant. The Master of Ceremony was Attorney Chokwe Lumumba, who offered big thanks and a warm welcome to all who attended. "I want to apologize that Minister Farrakhan could not make it here. I know if he didn’t come, it had to be a big reason…because he’s come here when I needed help. Right? He’s come here when the Jackson Advocate needed help and he has come here when various other people needed help! He applauded Mayor Frank Melton for attending. "I want to thank Mayor Frank Melton for coming here from the bottom of my heart. I really want to thank him for coming because a lot of people did not come."

This meeting was called to mainly address concerns and demands of Katrina victims, how Black people in particular have been treated during the aftermath and the people of Mississippi. The meeting brought together the Mayors of Mississippi, many leaders, and organizations like the PG-RNA (Provisional Government of The Republic of New Afrika), The MXGM (Malcolm X Grassroots Movement), The NAACP, NAPO (New Afrikan Peoples Organization), NOI (The Nation of Islam) and the overall city of Jackson to share ideas and emphasize that this is a time for unification and dedication.

Lumumba expresses further, "I’m not trying to tell you what to think. But what I am saying is that we have to come together in unity and support the relief efforts. I think that we have to make critical demands upon the government of the united states. If we don’t…we are going to see one of the most grand regentrification efforts in the history of this empire!"
Says Chokwe, "We are for everybody that got hurt—whether they were White, Mexican—whatever! WE are for everybody! I think it is reckless that the federal government or government officials have known about the situation in New Orleans and the levees and the dams for REALLY over a hundred years! Bills were passed to allocate money to repair it a little less than four years ago. Yet they disregarded the threat and Bush cut the funds, which were supposed to be allocated to repair the levee situation and other fixtures. We have problems with that."

Lumumba states that the other problem that should be empathized is how we are going to deal with relief and says that it is crucially important to have everybody on board trying to do everything they can do to give people relief.
"We are dealing with folks who are facing the worst disaster they have in their lifetime. All right? They have lost everything they had."
Lumumba takes us back a ways into our past and relates this disaster to our kin in Afrika. "You live in a small village and all of a sudden your whole village and your children are gone because someone has snatched them and put them on a slave ship. He exclaims, "See what I’m saying? The next thing you know, you wake up and find yourself in a place that is quite like a concentration camp—being promised rides everyday that you don’t get and when you go out for survival purposes to get some bread, then you wind up getting put in jail. Under your picture they say ‘Looter’! Under the white people’s picture they say, ‘Found food!’ Right?"
Lumumba applauds the young white men who got on TV and told the truth. "And the news media was trying to talk them out of the truth! Right? One guy from Jefferson county had a fleet of fishing boats—a white guy organized these boats to go in there and start rescuing people—because at that time the government wasn’t rescuing people! As this man was going in and helping out, they would try to talk to him asking, ‘How can you do this? I know you are being shot at!’ The man said, ‘Ain’t nobody shot at me!’ "The man said he didn’t see anybody get shot! The man went on to say that some of the police officers said they didn’t get shot at either! This is not to say that nobody WAS shot at! That’s to say that it wasn’t such an epidemic that is was stopping anybody from going in there rescuing anybody!"

Lumumba also shares a story of three young white men who were able to get into New Orleans, because they used false identification as newspaper reporters. He says these men were able to go to the spot where people were waiting for bus rides and saw FEMA officials waiting by the side of the road with the buses. Said Lumumba, "The white guys said they didn’t feel threatened. They said the only threat was the people suffering! I didn’t know these three white men. But I bet some are going to say, ‘Chokwe put them up to it!’ I don’t know these men! How do you expect it to be when you are down there and haven’t ate for three or four days? You don’t know if your baby is going to survive! You don’t know whether your sick mother or sick grandmother is going to survive! There have been reports of ambulances passing by poor Black people to go rescue other people. There have been reports of helicopters doing the same thing. If a helicopter is passing over other people to get to other people, then that helicopter might get shot at! Right? I was trying to understand it! I’m Serious! It’s not like these people flew in from another planet some where! You know these people!"

"I’m trying to figure out why would anybody be shooting at hospital workers? They are not shooting at someone just because they are trying to be a thug. I didn’t accept that explanation. People were shooting in the air so they could be rescued! And so, the governor comes out with the ‘Shoot to kill!’ order. I’m not excusing anybody’s criminology. If they violated somebody in New Orleans, on the Gulf Coast or anywhere else during this tragedy, then that person needs to be dealt with!"

"I know there were some that violated all our persons! And they are in Washington D.C. Right?—and out of the governor’s office in Louisiana! Right? So what we need to do is have an investigation on the national and international level. They are killing more people over here than Saddam Husain was killing over there! So I think what’s good for the goose is good for the gander! They need to be investigated," says Lumumba.

"Now this is MY belief! The right to return to New Orleans is important. They want to change New Orleans from a city that was 60-70% Black. NEXT, you wont be able to see anyone except for a Creole or similar. They are already doing it. They are already giving it media justification! They say: ‘Well, we talked to many of the people who don’t want to go back.’ They want to build homes that we can’t afford and call that progress. They tried to do it in Detroit, but Detroit had a plan. In order to build in Detroit, they had to have it approved by the citizens that lived there. So that slowed down the re-gentrification efforts."

Time is running out and Lumumba welcomes Mayor ‘Frank’ (as he likes to be called) Melton to the stage. "I’m not as eloquent as he (Lumumba) is, he jokes with his trademark beaming smile. I met with Lumumba and his staff three or four months ago and we made a commitment. We made a commitment to do what’s right and what’s best for the people of Jackson. First of all, I want to thank my colleague who are with me tonight and that is Councilman Kenny Stokes." The audience applauses. I have been serving the city for about sixty days right now and this I can tell you, that man (Kenny Stokes) stands by his convictions and he stands by his heart. He is very much like me. A lot of people don’t understand him, but it’s real simple, he does what is right! He does what is best! I have enjoyed so much sitting by his side over the last sixty days, learning and listening to him. There is one thing that comes to the bottom line when you dealing with Kenny—and that is what’s best for the people! What’s best for the people. I admire him for that. I love him for that and I’ve learned a lot."

Franks says, "In the last month, we have not had a single homicide. I have been a part of your family for twenty-three years. But I have never been more proud of you that I have been in the last ten days! Because we showed our true colors. We’ve done what's RIGHT and we’ve done what’s BEST, as best we could. Now, let me tell you what I have seen over the last ten days. I would like to take you back a little bit through what I’ve been through…I want you to feel it! I want you to feel what we’ve actually been dealing with.

Here’s how it started ladies and gentlemen:
"…About three weeks ago, the Police Chief and I were together doing some city business and we got this emergency call that there were 105 senior citizens at a Pentecostal church on Highway 18, who had not had water or ventilation for several days. There were other officials who knew about this. It was outside of our jurisdiction—outside the city limits. But we went out there…immediately, after they had been trying to contact people for three or four days. What we saw would make you sick! One lady had already died from heat exhaustion. Other people were scheduled to die because the right things just weren’t happening. When the Chief and I showed up, of course everybody and the world showed up and decided to do the right thing! It is important that you know the truth."

When we first put the call out, AMR refused to come. They refused to come! They have a city contract to take care of those in need. But when they found out the Chief and I were out there…THEN, they all showed up. We were able to take care of the other people. So we get past that. We get them in hospitals. We get them in facilities where they are comfortable. Last week I got into a bunch of controversy with The Red Cross. They went over to The Trade Mart and told people at ten-thirty at night, that they had to be out by eight the next morning. I put a stop to that. Now, I was at the Coliseum today. The Red Cross told the people there that they had to be out by noon tomorrow. Now the bus comes to pick up the kids to go to school. The parents have to be out at noon. How are the kids going to know where the parents are when school is out? It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. Well…I put my foot down…once again and said that nobody was leaving that coliseum unless they were going to a family, a more comfortable place. We are not under any circumstances going to put our neighbors out on the street. That wont happen! This is the toughest situation we have ever gone through. These are our guests. These are our friends. These are our neighbors. These are our relatives…"

A big rain of applause comes with Frank’s next statement, "…And we are starting the whole process off wrong by calling them refugees! They are not refugees. They are our family and as your newly elected Mayor, I was the first one to take a family to my home. The first one. I’ve got two kids there who are the greatest kids you would want to meet that lost everything. The only thing they have is the clothes on their back. They will go on with their lives. One will enroll at Jackson State tomorrow; the other will enroll in Jim Hill. You know, God works in mysterious ways. I went through hurricane after hurricane and this is the worst tragedy in our lifetime. We have lost our entire Gulf Coast and for the most part, we have lost the city of New Orleans." Frank has another story he wants to tell "…and this time I really want you to visualize what I’m saying. Do me a favor. Close your eyes…You get up one morning and you hear that a hurricane is coming your way. You’ve gone to school. You’ve paid all your dues. You have a good job. You are taking care of your family. You’ve got a great life. In twelve hours, you have nothing. Your house is out in the ocean. You can’t find half of your family. You are put on a bus sent ‘anywhere.’ You can’t find your family. I get 1500 calls from my office talking about somebody’s power being off. But yet, we have babies floating in the Gulf of Mexico. We have whole families, businesses, and homes that can never be restored. We can restore the electricity in Jackson. But…the loss of a life is irreversible. It’s absolute…and it’s final. And let me warn you right now. As the waters of Gulf of Mexico recede. As the waters of New Orleans recede, it’s not going to be a pretty picture. There are more people that will be recovered. God bless their souls…God bless their souls.

Let me take it a step further ladies and gentlemen. I might not have this opportunity again. Everybody is familiar with the inner city. You are familiar with our filling station. You’re familiar with our convenience stores. However, nobody in there, looks like us anymore. So how can some people go and get a two- percent loan and you, can’t even get in the front door? There is something wrong. Frank also says Kenneth Stokes is teaching him how to work with contracts so they can get good and decent people working contracts just like everybody else. "Fifty-fifty is where I want to start and I am looking at putting a lot of Black-owned businesses on the parkway near Jackson State University. We want to level the playing field! That’s what we’re fighting for," he repeats.

Speaking of business, Frank has announced that The Jackson Advocate, which is one of our most prominent African American publications in the country, will be moving back to its home site. He says with eminence, "I do not know whether Alice and Mr.Tisdale will be able to afford the cost of the building, but the last I checked it was going to be for one dollar!"
"The true character of the city of Jackson means two things…‘Patience and benevolence,’ says Frank. We have stepped up to bat in the worst disaster in the history of amerikkka. We have taken care of other people. But the world is finally realizing what Mississippi is all about. How benevolent we are."

"This hurricane disaster has been one that has brought US together! This has been one that sends us the message about our love for each other, about our commitment to each other, about our need to stop fighting each other and get on the same page and help each other. God Bless all of us and thank you."

Asinia Lukata Chikuyu, N’COBRA Jackson branch speaks about a family that are dire need of our help. Briefly, here’s the story:
Tikia Cross is sixteen years old and is the daughter of Lisa Cross and granddaughter, Edna Cross who have been unjustly sentenced to seven years in prison for a brawl with a white family, in which a white woman, Rachael Godwin, threatened a minor, Tikia. Edna Cross reacted in self-defense when Godwin slapped her glasses off her face. Lisa Cross, mother, was on medication and bedridden. Both Lisa and Edna were charged with aggravated assault and sentenced to seven years for a fight they say they didn’t start. Seven years for a first offense and self-defense? How does it add up? Perhaps, seven years for just being Black? Witnesses changed their story consecutively.

Lukata asks that we all write to the judge and grant them a new trial. "We cannot simply be mad, we have got to turn that anger into action," says Lukata. Write to Judge William E. Chapman III, P.O. Box 1626, Canton, Mississippi, 39046. Write to Lisa I. Cross (Mother), #112221, CMCF 2B, C-Zone; Bed 356, P.O. Box 88550, Pearl, MS 38288. Write to Edna R. Cross (Grandmother), #112223, CMCF, 2B D-zone, Bed 474, P.O. Box 885550, Pearl, MS 39288.

Derrick Johnson, President of NAACP presented a sobering message about doing the work and walking the talk. "One of the things that have come out of this situation for me is more than talking about the work. It’s about doing the work. When the hurricane hit, like most people, I didn’t have lights. One of the calls I got was from a brother in Biloxi, who is my branch President in Biloxi, who has lost everything. He went to Atlanta and came back. What he found alarming was not the fact that his house was destroyed, but the fact that our people were left in a state where they had no food, no water and nobody was there!"

"On the Gulf coast, we have a large number of our folks who are now without a home. They were unable to leave…many of them elderly…many of them children…many of them are folks just like you and I. But if you go down to the Coast—and I’ve been down there more than once, it’s like they are living in a third world country. The NAACP began to work on that."
Says Johnson, "We are not a relief organization. We are not The Red Cross. But the one thing that we must do for our folk is take care of our folks. There is applause. Thanks to folks all across the county and country who headed our call for support. We have been taking in truckloads of food, clothing and water across the states. Today, alone we have had deliveries of four trucks from four different communities. We will be organizing a group of folks to leave from Jackson Mississippi to go to the coast to help with the clean up in our community."
The NAACP has set up three distribution centers. One is located here in Jackson if you would like to volunteer your services or donate canned good items. Says Johnson, "Let me tell you what the new needs are. We don’t need any more clothes. Don’t send anymore clothes. We have way to many clothes right now. We need Water! We need cleaning materials like bleach, washing powder, non-perishable foods and most importantly, we need you to help! We need bodies! It is real important to understand that The Red Cross doesn’t owe us anything. We are the only people that owe ourselves something and although we are upset about how The Red Cross is treating our community, we are at fault because we didn’t have anything else to set up to support our community. What has been happening is those who have, GET and those who don’t have, DON’T GET! Our folks were left out."

Johnson presses on to the fact that much of our tax dollars are used to construct property and that we should be largely focusing on how this reconstruction can be put together? "A lot of our people are unemployed and need to be employed for the construction of these projects so that they can regain a part of their lives that was destroyed before the hurricane. There has been a whole lot of contracts given to a whole lot of folks. It’s disheartening when you look around the state and see all the clean-up contracts that have been issued across this state. I have only been able to count one area that has contracted anybody Black for the clean up. If you want to be honest about what’s taking place, then lets be honest. We cannot build our communities if we give six million dollars to someone else. The contracts for Jackson was six million dollars and the people that were working—the last time I looked, didn’t look like anybody in this room. If you go from Jackson straight down into the Coast, and see the money they are spending for clean up, you’ll find that none of us are getting it. So we need to focus on that too, because we can’t support ourselves unless those we put in office, put forth efforts, to make sure the resources are in place when it comes time to doing something."

"Lets talk about how we can continue to support not only the folks on the Gulf Coast, but take I-20 south and all across the state you will find many people who are in desperate need of support. We want to be a direct service to those in need so that whatever is donated to those in need, can receive it. What a blessing it is to be able to sit here with lights today. Because trust me, if you go to the Coast, it is disturbing. It’s disturbing!" Said Johnson.

Johnson says the NAACP office is right down the street from Jackson State in the Masonic Temple on 1072 Lynch Street. "If you would like to assist, the number to my office is 601-353-6906. The time now is for action and we are here to make sure our folks are whole again. "It gets to a point where it ain’t nobody’s problem but ours, because its our community!
"Taking ownership of our community is the best thing we can do. The question I am asking each and every one of you is, what can you do to help?

"Free the land! Free the land! Free the land! For those of you who know me, it’s not very often that the words just don’t come. Usually I have a lot more to say than people have time to hear." She is the representative of the New Afrikan Peoples Organization (NAPO). Safiya Omari says, "I think it has been a wake up call for all of us everywhere. Hurricane Katrina—what they call a natural disaster, has been so overwhelming, not just for those of us who live here in Jackson, not just for the people on the Coast, and not just for the people in New Orleans. What this impact has shown us is that we can’t afford to take the short-term ‘one-day-at-a-time’ view on survival anymore. We can afford to do this. We have known that our communities have been dying and suffering from benign neglect. The face of looting was Black. When white folks went and looted food and supplies, they ‘found food.’ That is the way our communities have always been perceived and portrayed in the dominant media. So, THAT’S no surprise! That’s NO surprise!"
I’m proud of us for refusing to allow them to make that spin—because you know that was going to be the spin! The spin was not going to be that FEMA, and Bush, and all of those people didn’t do what they were supposed to do. The spin was supposed to be that we were so lawless that they couldn’t come in and do what they were to supposed to do. But we did stop that spin and we have to keep telling the truth about what happened. As Derrick said, we can’t just talk anymore. We've done a lot of talking. We some 'good talkin' people! Chokwe can get you all riled up! I can talk! Everybody up here can talk. But we gotta do some action! Be willing to take action and make the sacrifices that come with acting on behalf of our people," says Omari.
If you’re out there in the city of Jackson right now, it feels crowded doesn’t it? A lot more people than ever before and they are Black. But we already had the majority here. That just makes us even stronger right?" The audience applauds. What we have to do is garner this energy and use it to build something positive. We have to say to ourselves: ‘They will not get New Orleans!’ You know this was a blessing to them. They can regentrify without ever having to move anybody! Think about it. They will build New Orleans with a face that we won’t know and won’t be able to afford! They will have built all kinds of condominiums and all types of entertainment complexes and only a few chosen ones will be living there. So, in keeping what I said about not talking to much and moving toward action on behalf of the New Afrikan Peoples Organization, there are several demands that have been made and a call that immediate, complete and total commitment of all government resources be given to the rescue and evacuation of all hurricane survivors still trapped."

"Now we know there are people who are still trapped. But right now we are not hearing about it. We as a people must be committed to being involved in the rebuilding. We must assert the right of return, improving and rebuilding the education system, and insisting that there be adequate health care among many things. Afrikan people must be at the table when the plans to do all of this take place. And of course there has to be full reparations to the survivor populations in New Orleans, but not just in New Orleans, but to all Blacks in amerikkka, who are victims of past and present human rights violations."

Omari comments that if you have been watching the news, the face of relief has been white. Says Omari, "The question I have been asking is where are we? If you see the outpouring on CNN and all of that, it’s all of these
Good-hearted white folk giving to those people who have lost everything—primarily us. What this has shown is that our organizations were not prepared to take care of the people. Most of the time, we’re struggling to get from day-to-day. A lot of times we don’t have time to stop and THINK about what would happen if there were a natural disaster in an area that is predominately people of Afrikan decent. We have been fighting with each other. We have been trying to keep our youth off drugs—just been trying to survive, basically."
"So brothers and sisters these are some points that I think we can all come together to act on regardless of our religion, regardless of our political affiliations, regardless of our levels of education. We can all work toward these things. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to speak here this evening and I leave you with Free the Land! Free the Land! Free the Land!"

David Muhammad, Nation of Islam, Local Representative for the Honorable Louis Farrakhan, courteously greets everyone as he approached the podium by saying "As-Salaam Alaikum. Are we tired of this? The statistics say it would take us 400 years to reach where white people are today. Ain’t nobody in here going to live to be 400 years old. This is real! I can’t stand to see our people suffering! I got children! You got children! Do we want to pass on the same level of struggle to them? Do we want to see them picketing again and getting hit in the head? Do you want your children to go throughout the same school system and just by a stroke of luck, we run into a Chokwe Lumumba or somebody with a final call that gives us some knowledge and turns our heads around because we were spinning?

Minister Muhammad explains the communication rift with the rap community and tells why it is important that we support the MAP (Mississippi Artists and Producers) Coalition. "These are our brothers and sisters who are in the rap community who have expanded. This is not just for their own music agenda but for all of those who don’t get their ‘just due’ in the music industry. Some say that we should ban rap. We should not let them speak the way that they speak. But the way they speak represents the way society is as a whole. So you can’t get mad at them for saying certain languages when we haven’t done anything to build up our communities to give them something to look to!"

I’m going to be real about it! You see someone out here selling drugs. But what do you have to offer that person to do something better? Work at McDonalds? Come on now, do you want to work at McDonalds? So why you expect our people to just settle for that? Why can’t we make some MONEY, man! Why can’t we have money in our pockets? Is something wrong with that? Is it something wrong with us having big homes? Is there something wrong with us having land? Is there something wrong with us being in control? If ain’t nothing wrong with it, then we need to work to make it happen. This is personal to me. This isn’t just some game," says Muhammad.
We see The Red Cross and who ever is doing what they’re doing and we thank you for doing whatever you do, but the masses of our people are suffering! Some don’t even have running water. Some don’t even have power. I urge everyone to come together and register for The Millions More Movement. We meet on Sundays at 3 p.m. So come out and share your ideas. We are not going to preach. We are going to sit the tables down so that you can tell us what we need to do in our communities and tell us what you are doing in your communities so we can help and put it together. Let’s do something today! All praises due to Allah!

"When we say Allah, we are talking about the truth and there is no name that we can really call Allah that encompasses who he really is," says Minister Anthony Muhammad, Nation of Islam, of Memphis Tennessee. He delivers a most gracious and soft-spoken explanation of why the Honorable Louis Farrakhan could not attend. It was very interesting to know the mechanics of it. Minister Muhammad asks the question of why Allah would allow this disaster to happen? He refers back to the Holy Koran where it says that hard trials are sometimes necessary to establish truth.

"Many of you know, if you are in any organization trying to help our people, as soon as you get in the struggle—that’s when your troubles begin! When you try to help, that’s when your problems start! And it seems that those in front of you forget to tell you, ‘This is the way! This is how it goes.’ Unfortunately, you don’t learn that this is how it goes until you are somewhat neck-deep in it and you cant find your way out of it. When you say you are going to clean your life up, then that’s when people look at you strange! They talk about you when you try to do BETTER! As long as you are acting the fool, then everybody is looking up to you. If you are an abuser or womanizer, they look up to you. But when you try to be a good husband and go home, they call you hen-pecked! Whenever you try to do that which is good, struggles and trials come with that which is good. Why is it like that? Why is it that way? What is the truth that needs to be established? Each person that spoke tonight said it! UNITY! So, why is it so difficult to unite with ourselves?" asks Minister Muhammad.

Minister Muhammad notes that it is almost as though integration has made us believe that we have friends in places that we don’t have friends. "It makes us believe that if we have phone numbers, if we can call someone, that we really have a friend. But now, the big bad amerikkka showed US…she cared nothing for US! I don’t care how integrated we are—we can be making millions—and all of us watched that television and can bear witness…Man! They don’t care nothing about us! They don’t care nothing for those people down there! This went all over the world! Here is amerikkka! Land of the FREE! Home of the slave—I mean…brave! There’s laughter in the audience. Amerikkka is beating up nations for democracy saying to them, ‘You should have the type of government that we have.’ If you don’t agree with them and abide, then they drop bombs and try to overthrow your government to set up quote-unquote, democracy. But right down the street, they couldn’t even get the supplies in to the poor people. And you know what it was about!"

"During this hurricane, they said Chaney was out fly fishing! The mayor of New Orleans cursed everybody out! Because they are people who are dying and there are thousands dead! The hard pill to swallow is realizing that it is only us. That’s a hard pill to swallow! Oh, that hurts so bad! The language now is…We have got to do it for ourselves! Because we are coming to the realization, that we don’t have friends where we thought we had friends. He receives applause. Clinton didn’t show up—the Democrats didn’t show up—nor did the Republicans show up! When that flood hit down there, there were Muslims down there, there were Christians down there, The Republic of New Afrika was down there—we had many people that lost everything. So the challenge before us is, are we willing to stand with one another?"

Minister Muhammad makes an excellent point when he talks about working together with our differences and appreciating the fact that we all have a special purpose that we each can benefit from. "We need unity, but unity doesn’t mean that everybody is the same. "Maybe I don’t look the way you need me to look or be what you think I should be. Unity means that you get along with people who may NOT think like you! It’s easy to get along with those who think like you. Unity is the only thing that is going to save us! So if you are not willing to unite with one another and see that we are all brothers and sisters, we will perish. We have no other choice. There is nothing else that will help us. It’s the only way to survive. Unity is the thing that frightens this society. Minister Muhammad asks, "Does that make sense to you?"

"I’m talking about my own kind and you know we will fight over anything and we will become the enemies of each other for life! Some of us are mad at our cousins right now, because he took a piece of chicken ten years ago! He receives applause. Another problem he addresses is that organizations don’t work with each other. There is always someone out there who is trying to do something we are trying to accomplish. There is someone who is already working on that project. But because I don’t like them, then I try to re-invent the wheel myself and we spin our wheels and we spin our wheels! All of us are doing great things wherever we are. You see, we are doing great things but because we are not united—we are like fingers—but the fist is more powerful than the individual fingers. So we have to unite and work with one another. The question now comes: Are we willing?

Mainly, the tremendous blow of Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath and the horrifying concentration-camp-enslavement of the masses of our people should be the final ‘wakeup’ call of what needs to be done to ensure that it never happens again. While this has been a sobering wakeup for some that we are still engulfed in the genocidal madness of the elite powers that be; it was no surprise to most. Something good came out of it. It brought about a tremendous call to action and unification. It’s time to stop watching and start working. It’s about unity. The more unity we have, the more self-determination we build as a united force.

Lumumba sharply points out his belief that we have to demand that the people of authority by referendum and by appointment be made to deal with this situation. This brings to mind the Provisional Government of The Republic of New Afrika’s (PG-RNA) vision of winning sovereignty over the designated ‘Five States’: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, because all of us should take this opportunity to advance the work for independence, for land and power and a better life. That vision has never been more real than now. The PG-RNA’s aim is to be an independent free Black nation for those of us who want this; and to win Reparations from the united states. "Free The Land" is the battle cry!

Gulf Cities Stir Back to Life

2005-09-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

Gulf Cities Stir Back to Life
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050918114309990001

New Orleans faces months without children

2005-09-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

Lack of schools, day care and risk of contamination to keep families away
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9480718/

AOL News - Rita's Aftermath: Texas, Louisiana Begin Hurricane Cleanup

2005-09-25T22:40:00.000-07:00

Texas, Louisiana Begin Hurricane Cleanup
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050918114309990001

Texas struggles to manage evacuees’ return

2005-09-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

Some bridle at plan to stagger influx; hundreds may be missing in Louisiana
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9389157/

Rita Inflicts Fresh Floods on New Orleans

2005-09-24T01:52:00.000-07:00

Rita Inflicts Fresh Floods on New Orleans
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050924/ap_on_re_us/rita_new_orleans_hk2

New Orleans mayor halts city’s reopening

2005-09-24T01:51:00.000-07:00

New Orleans mayor halts city’s reopening
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9156612/

No way out: Many poor stuck in Houston

2005-09-23T00:42:00.000-07:00

No way out: Many poor stuck in Houston
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/stormcenter/2005-09-22-houston-poor-rita_x.htm

Poll: Storm Changed Americans' Attitudes

2005-09-22T22:59:00.000-07:00

Poll: Storm Changed Americans' Attitudes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050923/ap_on_re_us/katrina_changing_attitudes_hk4

Katrina's Death Toll Climbs Past 1,000

2005-09-21T21:29:00.000-07:00

Katrina's Death Toll Climbs Past 1,000

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050922/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_katrina_hk2

New developments

2005-09-21T18:24:00.000-07:00

Talk with Robyn Raindancer
Date: 9-21-05

"They are evacuating all the way into houston. Some of the evacuees from new orlearns are moving again."

"We are getting ready we are pretty far inland but that is what they said in Mississippi."

When I told her I was quoting her, she said,"Cool ask them to pray for Texas, since we opened our homes and pocketbooks to them."

The Black 9-11: An Important call from New Orleans

2005-09-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005
From: Jared Ball
Subject: An Important Call From New Orleans: Suncere Ali Shakur

FreeMix Radio: The Original Mixtape Radio Show
http://freemixradio.voxunion.com
202.997.0267

Friday September 16, 2005
Suncere Ali Shakur is on the ground in New Orleans where he is calling for more help from the Black community. He and others need more assistance in dealing with "the Black 9-11."
http://voxunion.com/realaudio/coupradio/SunsCall.mp3

National New Afrikan Elections, 2005

2005-09-18T14:14:00.000-07:00

To: pgnews@yahoogroups.com
From: ALVIN BROWN
Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005
Subject: [PG News] National New Afrikan Elections, 2005

Saturday, September 17, 2005
Brothers & Sisters, Citizens, FREE THE LAND!!!
As the election dates for our National New Afrikan Elections draws near, let us concentrate for a moment on the immediate necessary work! First, let us review the month of September, and what needs to be in place:

September 2005 Deadline for receipt of Bios (biographical profiles) from Candidates for office. According to the Code of Umoja, candidates for office must certify their time-in-service of the New Afrikan Independence Movement (NAIM). Bios can be used for this purpose in place of a certification form. The Bios must certify that he/she meets the following "time-in-service" of the NAIM qualifications:
Within the preceding 10 years, candidates for President, Vice President and PCC Chairperson must have served 2 consecutive years as an active cadre member officer in some organized NAIM formation.
Within the preceding 5 years, candidates for People’s Court Justice must have served 1 year with distinction in some aspect of the NAIM.
Within the preceding 5 year, candidates for District Representatives must have served 6 months as an active cadre member in some formation of the NAIM.

September 30, 2005
The deadline for receipt of all Nominating Petitions before the date of the 2005 election. In order for a candidate to have his/her name placed on the ballot, the Election Commission must receive their nominating petitions before the 2005 cut-off-date. The Election Commission will count the number of signatures that each candidate received. The ballot will only list the names of those candidates that received no less than the minimum number of required signatures on the nominating petition. (The minimum required number of signatures was previously mentioned above in this document.)

Next we need to review and critique October:

October 2005
It is critically important that RNA citizens come together and identify Local Assistant Election Commissioners (LAEC) that the National Election Commission can appoint to monitor the election process at the polling sites in each Election District. The individuals that are selected to serve as the LAEC must not be candidates themselves. The National Election Commission in Jackson, MS will mail the Official National Ballot to the Local Assistant Election Commissioners (LAEC) through out the New Afrikan nation. Candidates for office should not handle ballots. The Candidates should work with and through the LAEC where necessary. The overall duty of the Local Assistant Elections Commissioner (LAEC) is to ensure and protect the honesty and integrity of the election from fraud and corruption. RNA citizens should form District Organizing Committees and work closely with the Local Assistant Election Commissioner (LAEC). Together they will be responsible to reproduce the ballots necessary to hold the local elections. The Local Assistant Election Commissioner (LAEC) and the District Organizing Committee may have to produce 100 to 1000+ copies of the original ballot. Together they will have to determine how many ballots will be needed at each polling site based on their best judgment of potential voter activity. It will be the responsibility of the LAEC and his/her staff to safeguard the ballot boxes at each polling site. Although an exceptionally resourceful Local Assistant Election Commissioners could conduct elections on a limited scale by themselves, it is preferable to work with collective strength, manpower and resources. One Local Assistant Election Commissioner (LAEC) could set up and run a polling site on any street corner or large gather place of our people. At minimum, all he/she needs is the following:

Ballots
Registration forms
Table
Ballot box (preferably Red, Black and Green color scheme)
General PGRNA literature and information
Red, Black and Green Liberation Flag (optional)

October 2005
Deadline for Election Commission to approve or disapprove all Election Districts proposed by RNA units is 30 days before election date. According to the Code of Umoja, election districts are to be "drawn to conform as nearly as possible to any concept of community" recognized by the New Afrikan inhabitants. Each Election District is entitled to 5 District Representatives and 2 District Judges. In addition, three Election Districts can join together and nominate At-Large District Representatives and Judges.

Alvin V. Brown
PCC-1st V. Chair
Dist. Rep..

To post a message: pgnews@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe: pgnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Democracy Now! The Militarization of New Orleans: Jeremy Scahill Reports from Louisiana

2005-09-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

Democracy Now! The Militarization of New Orleans: Jeremy Scahill Reports from Louisiana
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/16/1222257

Highlights of what I saw on FSTV

Jerry Scahill was on the phone, reporting from Baton Rouge:
He called it "New Oraq"
Republican cronyism in New Orleans
Spy drones
Security firms getting government money
Israeli paamilitaries patrolling the streets
FEMA workers being put up in Decatur Hotels (largest chain in Louisiana)
Angola prisoners at Greyhound Station downtown

Pain at the Pump

2005-09-17T01:14:00.001-07:00

Pain at the Pump
http://journals.aol.com/dailypulseblog/citizenjournalism/entries/573/

44 oil spills found in southeast Louisiana

2005-09-17T01:14:00.000-07:00

44 oil spills found in southeast Louisiana
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9365607/

Katrina forecasters were remarkably accurate

2005-09-17T00:54:00.000-07:00

Katrina forecasters were remarkably accurate
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9369041/

KATRINA AFTERMATH: Displaced students get warm welcome at Michigan colleges

2005-09-16T22:56:00.000-07:00

KATRINA AFTERMATH: Displaced students get warm welcome at Michigan colleges
http://www.freep.com/news/mich/kcollege16e_20050916.htm

New Orleans Levee Blown Up?

2005-09-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

New Orleans Levee Blown Up?
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=52&threadid=1686583&enterthread=y

Nagin foresees early return to parts of city

2005-09-14T21:09:00.000-07:00

Nagin foresees early return to parts of city
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tporleans/archives/2005_09_14.html

Mississippi Death Toll Begins To Slow

2005-09-13T00:11:00.000-07:00

Mississippi Death Toll Begins To Slow
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/4887230/detail.html

my first Katrina-ite family

2005-09-12T23:17:00.000-07:00

Today, I was blessed to meet my first Katrina-ite family in Palmdale. They are related to a co-worker of mine. I noticed that they were humble and grateful to be out of the disaster area, they once called home.

I will continue to follow this family. And keep you informed about their well-being (as well as the safety of other scattered and dispersed Katrina-ites).

FBI WARNS OF FAKE SITES FOR CHARITIES

2005-09-12T23:14:00.000-07:00

LADY GRAY"
Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005
Subject: [Chicago_Gang_History] FBI WARNS OF FAKE SITES FOR CHARITIES

FBI warns of fake sites for charities
By Andrew Zajac Washington Bureau 36 minutes ago

Hurricane Katrina has spawned more than 2,000 Web sites dedicated to collecting money for hurricane relief, the vast majority of them designed to defraud their on-line visitors, the FBI's top cyber-crimes official said this week.

"At the close of business last Friday, there were 400. On Tuesday there were 900. It's now approaching 2,300," said Louis Reigel III. "It's growing astronomically. ... We can't keep up."
Reigel said the bureau has waded through about one-third of the sites that have turned up so far. More than half have overseas electronic addresses or some other tie to a foreign location that is usually a tip-off that the charity is bogus.

Because sites sprout up faster than the FBI and other agencies can shut them down, Reigel said the best hope for drying up donations to fake sites is publicity and education.

"Do not donate to any Web site you do not know," Reigel said.

He also counseled against giving money to any purported charity that solicits money via e-mail. "Go to a known Web site and initiate the contact," Reigel said. Established charities collect money online, but they do not send out e-mail solicitations, he said.

Besides seeking money, an e-mailed request for money can also contain a virus that gives a cyber-intruder access to a person's entire computer.

Some of the phony sites mimic the appearance of the Web sites of well-known charities.
The FBI has opened eight criminal investigations of fake Internet-based charities, but to date no one has been charged.

The push is part of a Justice Department effort to combat an array of hurricane-related fraudulent activity, including identity theft and insurance and government benefit fraud.
State attorneys general also are investigating the scams.

Reigel said fraudulent online charities first popped up in significant numbers in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Their numbers greatly expanded in the wake of December's Indian Ocean tsunami.

But in barely more than a week, Katrina sites already outnumber all of those set up to cash in on the tidal wave.

Tribune

Search Broadens for Bodies in New Orleans

2005-09-12T22:25:00.000-07:00

Search Broadens for Bodies in New Orleans
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050910/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_katrina

Some follow, others hide from evacuation order

2005-09-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

Some follow, others hide from evacuation order
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9156612/

Evacuation showdown looms in New Orleans

2005-09-08T19:14:00.000-07:00

Evacuation showdown looms in New Orleans
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050908/sc_afp/usweather_050908084928;_ylt=Aqajzycr8CkARTrUaDo2zClH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--

Teams Find New Orleans Holdouts Wavering

2005-09-08T19:12:00.000-07:00

Teams Find New Orleans Holdouts Wavering
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050908/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_katrina

Mama Dara is found!

2005-09-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

Mama Dara was found by Bro. Bobby Scott of Dallas. he used Family News Network of the International Committee of the Red Cross--Hurricane Katrina site.

Bro. Bobby spoke to one of Mama Dara's relative in Houston, who told him that she was safe in a nursing home.

Family News Network of the International Committee of the Red Cross

2005-09-07T20:37:00.000-07:00

Family News Network of the International Committee of the Red CrossHurricane Katrina
http://www.familylinks.icrc.org/katrina

Detroit, MI

2005-09-07T19:18:00.000-07:00

Dawn
Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2005
Subject: [thevoluptlounge] Donation Spot for Hurrican Victim Relief

Hey everyone!! I'm sure the people at the hotel in Sterling Heights still need donations... and I also saw in one of my other groups that TV2 will be set up at the Rose Shopping Center on the NE corner of 13 Mile and Little Mack until Tuesday accepting donations of food, clothing, and everything else to be sent to the victimized areas.

I'm sure they could use plus sized clothing or toiletries or anything you may be able to donate!

Yahoo News: Hurricane Katrina Resources

2005-09-06T19:21:00.000-07:00

Yahoo News: Hurricane Katrina Resources
http://news.yahoo.com/katrinahelp

CNN Safe List

2005-09-06T19:16:00.000-07:00

CNN Safe List
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/hurricanes/list/

GIS - DR-1603, Louisiana

2005-09-06T19:14:00.000-07:00

GIS - DR-1603, Louisiana
http://www.gismaps.fema.gov/2005pages/dr1603.shtm

Update: Disaster Message Board

2005-09-05T01:05:00.000-07:00

Still Missing:
Milton Baker, 48, and William Henry Baker, 50
1737 Burnley Drive
New Orleans, LA
504-348-4218

Source: Sister: Kathy Baker of Los Angeles, CA

States Struggling With Katrina Refugees

2005-09-05T00:26:00.000-07:00

States Struggling With Katrina Refugees
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050905/ap_on_re_us/katrina_refugees_hk4

New Orleans Begins Counting Its Dead

2005-09-04T21:47:00.000-07:00

New Orleans Begins Counting Its Dead
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050905/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_katrina

Katrina people arrive in California

2005-09-04T17:37:00.000-07:00

This morning (Sunday), a few came in to Echo Park, Los Angeles, CA.

They said tonight and in the morning more are coming.

Source: Matronone saw this on Channel 2 News.

Disaster Message Board

2005-09-04T16:04:00.000-07:00

Kathy Baker of Los Angeles, CA, is looking for her two brothers. Milton baker and William Henry Baker of the Marrero neighborhood, New Orleans, LA.

If you have any information, leave a message or comment here.

Disaster Message Board

2005-09-04T15:59:00.000-07:00

New messages:

Robyn Raine is looking for a related family. Surname: Stromboe. Father's first name is Axel (?).
They have/had a catering business in New Orleans.

Robyn Raine is also looking for online friend, not heard from since last week. Her name is Nancy, from Meridian, MS. Nancy's online names are Chief's Wife on MSN.com, and Cherish Life on Care2.com.

Nancy's son is in Biloxi, MS, at [Kessler] A.F.B.

Survivors describe week of horror in New Orleans

2005-09-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

Survivors describe week of horror in New Orleans

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/refugees_dc

Sterling Hts. hotel welcomes Katrina victims, but...

2005-09-04T02:09:00.000-07:00

Date:
Sat, 03 Sep 2005 12:13:37 -0000
Subject:
[the volupt lounge yahoo group] Sterling Heights hotel welcomes Katrina victims but they need clothing donations

New Orleans residents, displaced by Hurricane Katrina, have found shelter in a Sterling Heights hotel after a long trek to Detroit.

The 14 people -- five adults and nine children -- lived in an apartment complex before the disaster."We all packed into a Jeep Cherokee. The apartment manager where we lived said, 'I have some quarters and we can use it to get to Detroit where my family lives,' " said Lakeisha Adams, one of the evacuees.The group left in five vehicles, but one by one they ran out of gas. Each time one vehicle would break down, the people would pack into the next car. The 14 ended up in one car that finally brought them to Detroit.

The Best Western Sterling Inn at 15 Mile and Van Dyke is taking the group in."Everyone has been so helpful. The hotel? I mean. I just don't have words for it. I'm really glad that they are having us here," said Adams.The Sterling Inn is the first hotel to answer the call that Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick put out Thursday, urging hotels and motels to take in displaced residents.

Warren Consolidated Schools will register the children to provide them with schooling. They are also giving them backpacks filled with supplies, Local 4 reported.Meanwhile, the children urgently need back-to-school clothing, and the adults also only arrived with limited necessities.

Anyone who would like to donate to the evacuees is urged to drop off clothing and toys at The Best Western Sterling Inn.

Here are details of what is needed:
Clothing for the group is what is most needed.
Adults
28-year-old female. Size 11 to 12, 7½ shoe.27-year-old female. Size 14 to 15, 9½ shoe.
40-year-old male. Size 36 pants, XL shirt, 10½ shoe.
74-year-old male. Size 32 to 34 pant, XL shirt, 10 shoe.
34-year-old male. Size 48 pants, 4X shirt, and 11½ shoe.

Children
Clothing to fit girls, ages 4, 5, 8, 11 and 16.
Clothing to fit boys, ages 8, 11, and 12.

Toys

Convention Center Evacuation Begins

2005-09-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

Convention Center Evacuation Begins
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050903/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_katrina

Searching for those Missing

2005-09-03T01:46:00.000-07:00

This website was sent to me to try and help anyone searching for those missing.
It is an extensive site.
http://www.firstgov.gov/Citizen/Topics/PublicSafety/Hurricane_Katrina_Recovery.shtml

Mayor to feds: 'Get off your asses'

2005-09-03T01:23:00.000-07:00

Mayor to feds: 'Get off your asses'
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/nagin.transcript/index.html

Kanye speaks out against Bush on nat'l television

2005-09-03T01:22:00.000-07:00

Kanye speaks out against Bush on nat'l television
http://www.pixelmd.com/kanye.html

Katrina comes home to roost

2005-09-03T01:21:00.000-07:00

Katrina comes home to roost
http://www.guardian.co.uk/katrina/story/0,16441,1561356,00.html

New Orleans After Hurricane Katrina

2005-09-03T00:21:00.000-07:00

New Orleans by Satellite
http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/_national/neworleanssatellite/index.html

U.S. black leaders condemn slow Katrina relief

2005-09-02T22:46:00.000-07:00

U.S. black leaders condemn slow Katrina relief

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050902/ts_nm/weather_katrina_race_dc

Topic: ..fimi take on the New Orleans/Katrina tragedy..

2005-09-02T22:04:00.000-07:00

Jamaicans.com Community Bulletin Board
Topic: ..fimi take on the New Orleans/Katrina tragedy..
http://www.jamaicans.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=053726

Help the Victims of Hurricane Katrina

2005-09-02T22:01:00.000-07:00

Another organization that is helping.

Action CDC
http://www.actioncdc.org/

Draining New Orleans could take 80 days- Army

2005-09-02T21:34:00.000-07:00

Draining New Orleans could take 80 days- Army
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050902/ts_nm/weather_katrina_water_dc

New Afrikan Disaster Message Service

2005-09-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

New Afrikan Disaster Message Service

Post / Read I Would Like To Help

Please post if you can help.

Please let us know what we can do to help those in such dispear.

If you want to help

Can we help?

Contact Kenneth Kwame Welsh

We would like to help in finding and matching up people and families. We are a research company located in California: Welsh Information Services.

We are interested in helping anyone; but specifically those that are of New Afrikan (Black) ancestry, in the affected areas of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.

Emails are:
infoseeker560@yahoo.com
infoseeker@MiGente.com
infoseeker@Care2.com
infoseeker@BlackPlanet.com