3 Years After Katrina; Little Progress

by Adeeba Folami

NEW ORLEANS – Prior to Hurricane Katrina and the devastating floods which wiped out the city’s Lower 9^th Ward, New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA) was known for its distinctive flavor, life, culture and ways. Customs such as jazz funerals in which families, after the death of a loved one, send them on their way – not in your typical funeral format – but one in which music, dancing and a traveling caravan of people make their way to the cemetery for burial. Another NOLA tradition is that tombs or vaults, (rather than caskets), are stacked above ground and not buried underneath due to the land lying below sea level and susceptible to frequent flooding. These “Cities of the Dead” are normal sights for residents, strange as that may be for those who reside in other states.

Some Katrina survivors recount that many tombs popped open after 10-13 feet of flood waters drowned certain areas in 2005 and, as a result, not only were victims of the flood seen in the waters; bodies from several of the opened tombs were also floating around. In many ways, the Lower 9^th Ward remains a virtual above-ground graveyard three years after the storm and floods.

Leaders and residents fed up with slow progress

At the recently held State of the Black World Conference (SOBWC), one focus point of the priority policy agenda to be presented to incoming president Barack Obama related to urban policy, specifically the rebuilding of NOLA. “The plight of New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina is a metaphor for the condition of Black and poor communities that have been victimized by policies of “benign” and blatant neglect for decades,” reads the SOBWC agenda, going on to cite its recommendation that Obama be held to his campaign commitment to create an office of Urban Affairs to handle issues affecting America’s cities.

Many in the country were outraged at the government’s slow response in offering assistance after Katrina and that dismay continues today in light of the millions of dollars set aside for rebuilding which remain unspent and caught up in bureaucracy and red tape. A November New Orleans Times-Picayune article entitled “Council Unhappy with Signs of Recovery,” highlighted how city leaders are fed up with lack of progress; some at odds with Mayor Ray Nagin’s strategies.

Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis is one who has voted against Nagin’s plans to invest in more affluent areas of the city; preferring that those resources go toward struggling areas like those in her District E, which includes the Lower 9^th Ward. A panelist at the SOBWC’s town hall meeting, she stressed that rebuilding efforts must be people-centered rather than capital-motivated and should ensure that all neighborhoods be treated equally and honored for their distinct beauty and culture.

The Lower 9^th Ward has had little investment made in it despite being the most damaged by Katrina. Robert Green, a long time resident, led a SOBWC “pilgrimage” to the area and noted, during the bus ride there, that the 9^th Ward, at one time, was the only place in which Blacks were allowed to buy homes. Because of this, he said, most of the homes were owned by Blacks and had been passed down from generation to generation. The area, the real estate accountant continued, was populated by middle class, professional and educated families, contrary to media stereotypes which portrayed the area as full of housing projects, criminals and lazy recipients of welfare. Green said the ward, prior to the storm, was full of homes, churches, children playing, and families, but now is filled with vacant lots overgrown with weeds, or empty houses with missing doors, and broken or boarded windows located only yards away from FEMA trailers or the few occupied homes which have been renovated or rebuilt.

Busiest street now deserted

Sandie Parkman, a resident of the 13^th Ward, resided in Atlanta, Georgia at the time of the hurricane, living in a large mansion which became the temporary home for 56 of her NOLA relatives, aged two months to 92. Her mother later became extremely homesick and so Parkman moved back to Louisiana where she lives with her mother today. The lively woman drove a group of five conference attendees through the neighborhood, on a separate excursion from the pilgrimage, and shared that Caffin Street had been the busiest street, full of businesses, homes and restaurants but now lies primarily dormant. At the corner of Miro Ave., a Los Angeles artist erected an ark made of plywood slabs, meant to honor what the area has survived but in many ways looking like yet another community eyesore; set to be on display – next to a vacated apartment building – until early January.

Green lives not far away in a FEMA trailer shared with his cousin. A second trailer on the property is occupied by his son. The Katrina survivor’s story is one of a man still standing tall despite having watched his mother and granddaughter lose their lives. He told the bus load of listeners on the pilgrimage how his house was afloat within minutes after a barge crashed into the levee wall, causing the opening through which flood waters entered and covered the ward. Having seen pictures of the barge lying atop the collapsed wall, a photo taken after waters had receded, he discounts all other theories about how the flood occurred, including the idea that the levee was blown up.

His house, rested on a foundation located just feet away from where the trailer he lives in now sits. The waters lifted the home up and it drifted a few blocks down Tennessee St. until it ran into a tree. With several family members on the roof with him, he watched as his three-year-old granddaughter was swept away into the flood waters around 4:30am. The rest were later rescued and taken to higher ground, eventually ending up at the Louisiana Superdome, where his mother died later that day.

House -vs- field negros at the Dome

Because Green’s daughter-in-law was related to a Dome employee, the family was allowed into what he calls the “privileged” section of the facility, which housed only 500 of the 75,000 NOLA residents who were there seeking shelter from the flood. The employee, “could have anybody she deemed to be family allowed into this special section of the [Dome] if she agreed to come to work and feed the security forces,” Green said in a detailed explanation sent via email days after the SOBWC.

During the pilgrimage, he outlined how being one of the privileged few in contrast to the many in general population called to mind the concept of the house versus field negros, first spoken of by Malcolm X. Green said his family members were in the same area of the Dome occupied by the National Guard and law enforcement. They received better food; had access to baths and showers; air conditioned rooms, and received protection from security personnel. They were also allowed to leave the Dome before any others and all these benefits led Green to conclude that there were “different class systems” in effect during what was a more trying ordeal for the thousands camped out in the less ventilated, crowded and noisy main Dome area.

Returning home

After leaving, Green was displaced to Lafayette, Louisiana, then to Nashville, Tennessee where he decided to buy a house and resettle. After receiving word that his granddaughter’s body had been found, however, he changed his plans and returned to NOLA. Over time he was approved for the FEMA trailer now set up on his old block and which he moved into in Dec. 2006. Despite the living conditions, he finds that being back home has made it easier to live through the trauma. He maintains a positive outlook by keeping in mind that, as long as his surviving granddaughters can smile, he can too.

Returning to the 9^th Ward has also been beneficial to others like Keisha Ordon, 31, who returned in September to live with her brother in his home. During Parkman’s drive through the depressed area, Ordon’s children were spotted playing football across the street from the home; a sight very unusual from what the small group in the SUV had observed that day. Ordon said she was hoping more of the old neighbors would begin moving back and that the repair of houses would be increased so that more children could move back to be playmates and friends of her children.

She relayed a story which indicates that many Katrina survivors may be dealing with compounded traumas that they never had time to unpackage and deal with. “I lost my brother the week before Katrina; then Katrina hit right behind so that was extra on me,” the soft-spoken woman said. “It was a big mess because you couldn’t find your family. Everybody was displaced and we lost some of them. It was really devastating.”

She went on to share her memories of walking through rising waters to get to higher ground. “It was a lot of us and a bunch of kids but we managed to make it,” she said. “All we did was pray and ask the Lord to guide us through and He did that.” The group, she continued, made it to her mother-in-law’s house where they were stranded four days in the home’s upper level until they were spotted and rescued by helicopter.

Other wards affected; now gentrification

Residents of the 9^th Ward suffered more loss than other communities but there was enough damage to spread around. Lillie Gilmore now lives in a FEMA trailer with her cousin just across the street from the three-story ark located on Caffin St. She declined to give her age but said she lived through Hurricane Betsy which struck the area in 1965 – at that time, the most expensive storm in American history; eventually called “Billion-Dollar Betsy.” Gilmore said she grew up in the 9^th Ward and later moved uptown but her home was “completely demolished” by Katrina. As a result, she was evacuated to Baton Rouge, then to Shreveport, later returning to NOLA to live with her sister in a FEMA trailer which the two eventually had to leave. That landed her in her current living situation. She said the whole city is “messed up” but those living there just have to deal with it and the reality that the French Quarter – one of the tourist attraction areas – was least damaged but is considered the “best part” of the city. Gilmore, who never had children, sadly said she has no idea what she is going to do about her future plans.

Where there was life, there’s life no more

Patricia Jones survived several storms as a New Orleans resident but says she still gets goose bumps whenever discussing Hurricane Katrina. Since the hurricane, she's noticed her sense of taste and smell diminish while her allergies have increased. She is pictured with her poodle Princess in the home she returned to in Jan. 2006.

Patricia Jones is a resident of the 15^th Ward in Algiers, a short eight miles from Ward 9, but like all NOLA residents, she had to evacuate and leave her home; not returning until early 2006. She found her home spared from flooding due to its elevation but still water damaged from moisture entering through broken windows. She is as thankful to be back home as those who have returned to the 9^th Ward who, like her, were weary after going from city to city as displaced persons. Asked what she misses most about the city prior to Katrina, she answered, “Where there was life, there isn’t anymore.” She noted how the Superdome has been restored – one of the first rebuilding projects – even though, for months after the storm, thousands were homeless and camping out in front of city hall and below a nearby underpass. She is unsure where those individuals have been moved to now but said many foreigners and people from out of state are buying property at an alarming rate. The Mexican population, she said, has skyrocketed.

Parkman has observed Mexicans living in homes where Black people used to live; many of them workers brought in to help with rebuilding. Green said that in the Lower 9^th Ward, there are no grocery stores nearby but there is a gas station owned by Arabs. “They came back early,” he said of their return after Katrina. He also concluded that gentrification is taking place at a steady rate; changing the face of the ward.

Will Obama administration help?

A certain sadness and depression linger in the air and spirit of the 9th ward; affecting many who take the time to observe the lack of progress or speak with residents or volunteer workers. “I was really depressed going and leaving there because of knowing how much money was dumped into here and seeing what little progress has been [made],” said Richard Shields, 3^rd Vice President of Blacks in Government (BIG). A resident of Denver, he attended SOBWC and the Katrina workshop on behalf of BIG’s national president and said he has participated in and organized several Katrina workshops sponsored by the government employee association. “My goal was to find out what the coalition of Black organizations could do to help put New Orleans back as a whole,” he explained, adding that BIG has a base of 10,000 members who have access to 3.2 million employees at every level of government.

Some may wonder if that kind of access will lead to Obama after he takes office and, if so, if he will do a better job of addressing the lingering after effects of Katrina on NOLA. Green believes so and has pro-Obama signs posted on his trailer and in a memorial set up on his property. A handwritten sign there says, “We want our country to love us as much as we love our country. Mr. Bush, rebuild New Orleans, the Lower 9^th Ward, not Iraq.” A member of the pilgrimage asked if Obama had been to the ward during his run for president and Green responded in the negative saying the state was not an important place for the campaign since it had few electoral votes and was not expected to vote Democrat. Another voice, however, was heard from a somber SOBWC attendee who said, “Barack and Michelle need to come.”

Whether that happens or not, those concerned believe they have a responsibility to act. “It’s gonna be important to us to come up with a national agenda so Katrina is part of an integrated plan to – as we move forward – move that issue with us,” said Woullard Lett, a Manchester, New Hampshire resident, after attending the Katrina workshop. His wife Brenda agreed and, in line with the conference’s goals, called for group action. “We ought to work hard around the question of unity so we can follow up and follow through.”

 © 2008 – All Rights Reserved – The Black House News
Unlimited online distribution allowed with acknowledgement of bhonline.org as the source

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Tags: barack obama administration, black policy agenda katrina, blacks in government richard shields, cities of the dead, cynthia willard-lewis, displaced persons, fema trailers, hurricane katrina, jazz funerals, katrina louisiana superdome, lower 9th ninth ward, new orleans, obama on hurricane katrina, rebuild new orleans, state of the black world conference, urban affairs office

Rev. Jeremiah Wright caused some laughter with comments made prior to accepting his Legacy Award. Also pictured are (l-r) Min. Louis Farrakhan, Haki Madhubuti and Ron Daniels.

The Reverend Jeremiah Wright was on scene at the State of the Black World Conference (SOBWC) from the first day of meetings, Nov. 19.  Having come through months of abuse and negative reports from the mainstream media, political pundits and individuals trashing his name, the Christian minister was – more than once – commended by speakers at the conference and was one of several leaders honored with a Legacy award. Dr Ron Daniels, prior to presenting the award, said the Black church had been desecrated during the campaign season and that Wright, “one of our great thinkers,” had been used as a punching bag. He was glad to show – by the award – that Black leaders are not to be defined or selected by others.

The following are excerpts from comments Wright made just before accepting the award.

… I’m going to say one or two things because in many ways I’m really like John the Baptist and I’ll explain why. I really feel out of place when I look at these giants; when I look at these people I just keep wanting to say, “Help! How did I get up here?”

“]”]

An awards ceremony was held Nov. 22 where Legacy Awards were given to : Maulana Karenga, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Willie Ricks, Min. Louis Farrakhan, Haki Madhubuti, (seated) Susan Taylor, Dr. Adelaide Sandford, Amb. Dudley Thompson, Sonia Sanchez. (Standing far right: Ron and Mary Frances Daniels)

Sonia Sanchez and I were with the Honorable Minister Farrakhan 24 years ago in Libya. Maulana Karenga has been a mentor; an icon; someone you look up to. Someone you never think of being on a stage with. Ambassador Dudley [Thompson] is incredible. I’ve read about, heard about, talked about but never thought I’d be sharing this honor, this night. Haki [Madhubuti] and I go back to 1969 in Chicago; George Kent, Charles Long. Being honored along with them tonight means the world to me. I haven’t called my friend and brother’s name outside of saying we went to Tripoli with him; I’ll explain why.

Vincent Harding* in 1969 spoke to the Black Theologians and to Seminarians at the University of Chicago Divinity School and he talked about the Black World. He opened up, along with Charles Long, a vision of Blacks throughout the world – Blacks on the continent and throughout the Diaspora – and he challenged those of us who were in school studying to be clergy persons, no matter which discipline we were going into – not to buy into – because a lot of us had left the church. That’s why I tease you all the time. A lot of us had given up on the church but that which was within us would not be quiet and would not be still and we knew there was something more than what we were seeing around the nation.   It was only through that vision of Vincent Harding, the Institute of the Black World, Black Theology, and Charles Long – historian of religion, that we began to look at our tradition, our faith. Not as saved, sanctified, filled with the holy ghost Christians, even though there’s nothing wrong with being saved and sanctified with the Holy Ghost.

….. [Concerning the controversy surrounding his relationship with Barack Obama], I’m not worthy to tie the shoestrings of a greater hero than I in this election campaign. Yes he [Obama] sat in our church for 20 years, however, one of the things some of the media got mad at me about back in April, is that I would not let them define our leaders, I wouldn’t let them tell me who my friends were and because the Honorable Minister Farrakhan is a friend of mine; first of all, the Fruit of Islam provided security for me …. When the storm broke, Min. Akbar [Muhammad] was there in my hotel room and the brothers, Min. Farrakhan – the brothers have been with me as brothers and I’ll never forget.

A combination of a Caribbean, St. Kitts, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, his deep faith, his personality and the religion that he lives – not just talks about – prompted this giant, who’s very responsible …. I said I made folk mad in Washington when I said, ‘Name any other American in this country who could get one million people to come to Washington, D.C. There ain’t no other; other than the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. He chose – he doesn’t even know that I know it – Cornel West told me that he [Min. Farrakhan] cried; he shared tears of love and disbelief it was actually happening when he registered and cast his vote for Barack Obama. He never thought he would live to see that day and when they were using me as a whipping board they were waiting for him to say anything and he held his peace in order that Barack might be our president. My brother, we owe a debt of gratitude we can never repay.

*[Vincent Harding was one of several awardees not present.  Others included:  The Neville Brothers, Danny Glover, Jesse Jackson, Sr., John Conyers, Walter Lomax, Josef Ben-Jochannan, Imari Obadele, Grand Master Mele Mel, Kool Moe Dee.]

© 2008 – All Rights Reserved – The Black House News
Unlimited online distribution allowed with acknowledgement of bhonline.org as the source

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Tags: ambassador dudley thompson, barack obama, black theologians, black theology, charles long, dr adelaide sandford, george kent, haki madhubuti, legacy awards state of black world conference, mary frances daniels, maulana karenga, min. louis farrakhan, rev. jeremiah wright, ron daniels, sonia sanchez, state of the black world conference, susan taylor, vincent harding, willie mukasa ricks

by Adeeba Folami

 Dr. Ron Daniels deliberately set out to have youth leaders present and heard at the State of the Black World Conference (SOBWC), particularly during “The Future of the Black Freedom  Movement:  A New Generation of Leadership,” forum held Nov. 21 as part of the first Indaba or collective gathering.  Speakers included: Dr. Kimberly Ellis, Thenjiwe, Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, Davey D, Veronica Conway and Malika Sanders.

Kimberly "Dr. Goddess" Ellis

Ellis moderated and asked each panelist to answer three questions: (1) What is the state of your black world?, (2) Your thoughts or expectations of an Obama presidency; and (3) what are the challenges Blacks have to overcome?

Marc Lamont Hill

Hill, 29, a professor, author, and regular commentator for FOX News called this time a “peculiar moment” in that there is so much joy over Obama in the midst of Black suffering. He explained that his excitement will greatly decrease if Obama turns out to be only a “manager” of a system that he cannot produce change in for the masses. “The question isn’t, can one man make it; it’s can we all make it,” he said.

Veronica Conway

Conway, 41, the daughter of Veronza Bowers, an imprisoned former Black Panther, said Obama’s example and organizational skill should be studied and used by individuals who must take advantage of the moment. “Elect yourself,” she advised. “Get busy being masterful.”

 

 

Malika Sanders

 

Sanders, 35, of the Twenty-First Century Youth Leadership Movement in Selma, Alabama, expressed a similar comment declaring it time to return to excellence and for Blacks to become more systematic in their approaches.

 

 

Davey D

Davey D, a hip hop journalist, repeated admonitions from elders against falling for the Messiah complex and putting all hopes on one or two charismatic figures. He is paving the way in his own realm with the goal of buying a radio station rather than settling for having or owning a show on a station owned by somebody else.

 

Thenjiwe

Newark, New Jersey activist Thenjiwe, 23,  emphasized the need for many to expand their vision to see that “our struggle is global.” She added that confusion was the state of her world in that children are still suffering in ghettos of America and all over the world. Additionally, she said, political prisoners are still unjustly behind bars and so she cannot rest on an Obama victory. Instead, she sees the potential to capture the imagination and vision of youth as the president-elect did during his campaign. “Yes we can tear down dilapidated projects,” she said. “Yes we can make a better world for our children.”

After the youth panel, Daniels praised them and, in what seemed a farewell speech at times, indicated it was time to pass the torch. Hill, during his comments, mentioned that, unlike Daniels, some senior leaders in the movement appear to have a problem sharing the stage. They were in need, he said, of an “exit strategy,” since they had not yet figured out where else to go. “What you’ve seen is a tradition where senior members of Black freedom struggles have failed to bring in the new generation and properly prepare them to assume the front lines,” Hill said. “Part of the reason is that we haven’t done a good job of figuring out what to do with [them.] We need them desperately but they stay on stage and don’t let the children in.” His solution consists of having cross-generational conversations so elders know they are needed as advisors and “the conscience of the movement,” but are able to step back and allow new, younger ideas and approaches to come to the forefront of leadership. Daniels was overjoyed at the youth participation and said if SOBWC continues, those young voices will be key players in it.

Afterward, BHN spoke with Hill concerning his comments about senior leadership. 

(BHN) – In one of your comments, you said there needs to be an exit strategy for leadership but you didn’t mean that in a negative way. Can you expound on that?

(MLH) - I think too often, particularly over the last 50-60 years, what you’ve seen is a tradition where many members of Black leadership, particularly senior members of Black freedom struggles have failed to bring in the new generation and properly prepare them to assume the front lines of our struggle and I think part of the reason is that we haven’t done a good job of figuring out what to do with senior leadership. We can’t put them out to pasture, we can’t get rid of them, we need them. We need them desperately but because we haven’t come up with a sophisticated solution to the problem, they stay on stage and don’t let the children on stage because they don’t know anyplace else to go.

As a result, our struggle begins to spin our own wheels. New ideas, fresh approaches, new approaches, new world views get lost because the younger generation isn’t in leadership position. What we need to begin to do is have these conversations across generations so that the senior members know they’re still desperately needed as advisors, as leaders, as significant members, as the conscience of our movement. At the same time, we need to bring our ideas to the table and until we do that, we’re gonna have the same problems.

(BHN) – Some of Dr. Daniels’ comments sounded like farewell comments. At a certain point he said “IF” there is another conference. Your thoughts on that and do you all plan to step up and maybe take this over?

(MLH) - There absolutely will be another conference. Bro. Daniels has done an extraordinary job over the last 3 or 4 decades leading us and being an organizing, intellectual force in our community. At this historical moment we need him to continue to do whatever he wants to do but at the same time we need to carry our weight. We are a mature generation. It’s not enough for us to grow old, we must grow up and that means taking leadership and responsibility for this movement. … It’s time for us to pick up the reins and I think that’s what he was trying to signal.

(BHN) – Thank you.

********

Daniels also spoke with BHN about the tone of his words which made it seem his departure from the struggle was near.

(BHN) – Some of your comments tonight made it seem like farewell comments and you did say “IF” there is another conference.

(RD) - The reason why is because we don’t have the corporate sponsorships, we don’t have big foundation grants. Most of this is dependent upon the registration fees of people who come and small contributions. It’s very big and it’s hard to pull it off. So the economy was pretty rough on us, if we had been able to pull out of it we would have pulled out of this convention center and went somewhere else. It’s been rough. A lot of people who would have been here are not here because of the economy and yet we were counting on them because those registration fees, that’s our budget. Our budget is not based on huge corporate sponsorships and foundation grants. The more people who come quantitatively is what would help give us the kind of budget to move forward and beside, I was trying to say with the new generation coming on, I’m reaching a point where the next generation needs to take over and this is a huge – the amount of work that goes into it this, if you don’t have the foundation grants, the sponsorships, that means a lot of sweat equity. My wife, [Mary Frances], and I and others, volunteers working but it’s volunteers, not a fully staffed operation and whereas I could do that much better 25 years ago, it’s a lot of stress and straining.

So it is time for another – to take the concept and move it forward. It still seems to me in the next 4-6 years, it’s time for me to become the elder who’s respected, I hope, and can be honored at the program but this thing’s led by someone else. I’ve had a full life of leading important struggles across this country …. it is time to look at sharing that torch and then being the respected elder.

(BHN) – Were you pleased with the youth panel?

(RD) - Oh, outstanding! And that’s what we wanted. I insisted on that, I wanted to see the panel be up there first. That’s how we discovered [Kimberly “Dr. Goddess” Ellis]; she was somebody who came knocking on the door at the last conference; kept bugging me and bugging me; kept giving me references and I finally said, ‘Come on,’ and she came and blew it away. Now here she is. She’s a part of the secession. She’s here, she’s doing the work and that’s how it happens and we’re looking for others to move on.

(BHN) – Thank you.

(Photos by Lens of Ansar)

© 2008 – All Rights Reserved – The Black House News
Unlimited online distribution allowed with acknowledgement of bhonline.org as the source

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Tags: Add new tag, barack obama, black agenda, black president, davey d, kimberly ellis dr goddess, malika sanders, marc lamont hill, national black political agenda, ron daniels, state of the black world conference, thenjiwe, veronica conway

The State of the Black World Conference (SOBWC) provided many networking opportunities for those who traveled from various states and countries to attend.  One participant, Nathan “Seven” Davis (ND), made the most of his trip from New Jersey; learning much from the workshops and forums which provided the 38-year-old access to figures such as poet Sonia Sanchez (whom he ate lunch with), Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and hip hop journalist Davey D.  He spoke with BHN after attending the Haiti Policy workshop.

Davis with Sonia Sanchez

(BHN) – Did you attend the conference last year?

(ND) - I didn’t know of it last year. This is my first time doing a conference and I’m very glad I came out. I’m learning a lot; getting a lot of good connections with different people.

(BHN) – What did you hear of interest in the Haiti workshop?

(ND) - Just about the number of people that want to get involved, things people can do to get involved, and people traveling back and forth trying to bring resources down to help Haiti. Something I found interesting, that I talked to my students about, is even though it’s a poor country, some of those people that are economically disadvantaged are happier than we are and they have a lot less. I think that’s a lesson we can learn from the Haitians but get involved, get involved, get involved is the message I’m hearing right now from the brothers and sisters here at the conference.

 (BHN) – You’re a teacher and a writer?

(ND) -Yes. A teacher by profession; US History but my baby and love is African American History, which I did a curriculum for.

(BHN) – With the election of Barack Obama, there’s emphasis on what’s next for the Black agenda to present to him. Your thoughts on that?

(ND) -As was said last night [at the town hall meeting], I don’t expect Barack to drop the magic dust on Black America. A lot of the problems we have are immense problems; problems of self hatred is not something Obama can tackle, it’s something that we ourselves need to; from the N-word, disrespecting our women, disrespecting our communities; we need to do that.

What I think Obama might do is maybe push the education agenda for urban areas which would be great. He might look at trying to set aside more scholarships for minorities but I also hope he raises the bar and says to minorities, you can do more than what you are doing and you should strive to get to that point. But racism’s not going to go away. Poverty’s not gonna go away. A student told me a word, ‘hoodism’, which I love. Hoodism is not going to go away; that’s when people glorify the hood and act like they don’t want to leave and like it’s the best place in the world and even though they have the opportunity, they still want to return to the hood no matter what. That’s not gonna go away. I just think [Obama's] gonna be a great role model. I wish that when I was 10 years old there was a black man in the White House. I think that it might help some children, and some adults, strive to be better. I just hope it doesn’t die off 6 months down the line, or a year later, after all the Obama parties are over; that people don’t just go back to what they were doing but actually do what they said they were gonna do and strive to help the community, strive to help themselves, etc.

(BHN) – Thank you. 

********

Richard L. Shields, Blacks in Government, 3rd VP

Richard Shields traveled from Denver, Colorado to attend the conference; representing the national chapter of Blacks in Government; an organiztion for which he serves as 3^rd Vice President. He was one of more than 50 who filled to capacity the Katrina Policy workshop led by Dr. Mtangulizi Sanyika.  Later, Shields spoke with BHN about the status of New Orleans rebuilding and his visit to the Lower 9^th Ward.

(BHN) – What brought you to the conference?

(RS) - I was invited here by the National President Darlene Young; she had a court date – jury duty – and asked me to come and represent her today.

(BHN) – You sat in on the Katrina workshop; what are your thoughts on what you heard?

Shields listening intently with others during the Katrina workshop

(RS) -I sat in on – put together – three Katrina workshops in BIG’s conferences and my goal was to find out what the African American community, and the coalition of Black organizations, what could we do to help put New Orleans back as a whole. That means bringing all the people back, building all of the houses, working with the Mayor and the city here to help do that. That is what our basic goal is, to try to find out how we can do that, but we’re not gonna do it by ourselves. We’re going to be in collaboration with everybody in order to do that because we are a membership based organization and have a base of about 10,000 African American membership, or it’s not all African American but we have access to about 3.2 million government employees in the state, local and federal government so that’s where we have access to those people and [they] have access to somebody else. So we can get things going in that direction.

(BHN) – Did you get a chance to go down to the 9^th ward?

(RS) - Yes. To tell the truth, I was really depressed when going and leaving there because of seeing, or knowing, how much money was dumped into here and seeing what progress has been done, and there is very little.

(BHN) – Is progress not the right word?

(RS) - Right. Progress is not the right word because you see slab sets where houses were that’s now overgrown by weeds and it’s just really depressing. They really never explained to me how it really, it could have been prevented it seems like, and they never could prove to me that it could not have been. You’ve got 2 or 3 versions of the people that live here, 2 or 3 versions of how it happened; what happened, and you tend to see how strong some portions of this thing is and when some people say that [the levee] was blown, you have a tendency to believe that. I’m one of those gullible people because I know, I think I know, how government works because I work as a government employee with the U.S. Geological Survey so it’s really difficult for me to believe that they didn’t understand that once Katrina dumped water on the lower end of this channel that it wasn’t going to surge in Lake Pontchartrain.

(BHN) – You don’t think it’s a far fetched conspiracy theory [that the levee was blown]?

(RS) - I really don’t think it’s far fetched. I think it needs to be looked into but what we should be here now doing is saying, ‘We’re going to make it right’, and work on plans to get it right. That’s my intent.

(BHN) – Thank you.

********

Brenda and Woullard Lett are a married couple from Manchester, New Hampshire who attended SOBWC to learn but also to spend time with an old friend, Dr. Mtangulizi Sanyika whose Katrina Policy workshop they sat in on. Afterward, the two shared their thoughts with BHN; just prior to visiting the Lower 9^th Ward to assess and observe current conditions there.

(BHN) - What are your thoughts on what you heard in the Katrina workshop?

(Woullard) – My thought is that it’s gonna really be important to us to come up with a national agenda so that Katrina is part of an integrated plan to, as we move forward all across the country, we move that issue forward with us.

(Brenda) – We ought to work real hard around the question of unity so that we can get that right and also follow up and follow through.

Brenda and Woullard (far right in photo), along with SOBWC attendees Oshiyemi Adelabu (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), and Sandie Parkman (NOLA), stand beside “Mithra,” a 25-foot high ark created by Los Angeles artist Mark Bradford in memory of Hurricane Katrina flooding. The 3-story structure surrounds the large cargo container used to transport its slabs of poster-covered plywood from L.A. The boat grabbed the attention of the group while being guided through the Lower 9th Ward by Parkman.

(BHN) – You both attended the National/International Town Hall Meeting. Your after thoughts on what you heard?

(Brenda) – I thought it was fabulous. All of the speakers were really good. I particularly enjoyed the sister who was talking about institutional racism because that’s an issue that’s very dear to me. And I was wondering why the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond was not at this conference because they’re all about undoing racism and they’re right here in Nawlins.

(BHN) – What are some of the issues going on up in New Hampshire?

(Woullard) – Some of the basic issues for people of color, Black people in particular; imprisonment, education, economics, but we also have the added factor of refugee resettlement: Somalia, Sudan. I’ve attended almost all of these conferences from the beginning and they just get better.

(BHN) – Thank you.

********

Baye Kemit (photo credit: thegarveyschool.org)

Education was one of the SOBWC focus points; with five workshops held Nov. 22, each approximately one hour long.  Baye Kemit (BK), Principal of The Garvey School – an independent school in New Jersey, was a panelist at the final session called “Education for Nation Building,” but also sat in on “Reclaiming Our Heritage:  The Creation of African Centered Charter Schools.”  Afterward, he spoke with BHN about questions he asked the panelists which he felt were not fully answered.

(BHN) – Your thoughts on the workshop today?

(BK) - The workshop was excellent. I’m actually on a panel, 2 panels away. I wanted to hear a little more and then a question I asked was about how do charter schools deal with getting students; any student that applies, whether they’ve been kicked out of 4-6 other schools, if they apply to your school, you have to take them and when they have families with parents who do no participate in the child’s cultivation, education, etc., how do you effectively deal with the child? That’s what my question was about, in addition to how do charter schools reconcile having White teachers, even though you teach them African centeredness, they still bring certain morays and values, etc. How do you reconcile with that? I think they took the one part of [the question] and didn’t totally answer.

I wanted to also ask, how do charter schools reconcile being in direct conflict with the independent school movement. The independent school movement has been slammed because of the charter school and when you have the charter school, students will leave the independent school and go to a free school. So the independent school movement has been equally congruently killed, I mean smashed, throughout the country because of charter schools. I want to know how you reconcile with that?

(BHN) – Thank you.

(Photos by Lens of Ansar)

© 2008 – All Rights Reserved – The Black House News
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