Peoples Organizing Blog

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5/20/2006 10:21 PM Kim Holder wrote:
we from voices of katrina project are sadden that the PHRF/OC has lost some great leadership, we are however joyful to see that the POC is here to continue the work. We support all groups and individuals working for the people of New Orleans
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6/19/2006 8:38 AM Karyn Pomerantz wrote:
I recently returned from a brief visit to New Orleans to work with the People's Organizing Committee. I urge more people to commit their time to work with this group. The POC is building a movement of survivors of Katrina to fight for the right of return with housing, health care, and jobs. They rely on workers to build this struggle and black workers to lead it - not the government or charity groups. I was very impressed with the commitment of the staff and the young volunteers who came in to gut houses and visit housing projects to listen to the residents' stories and invite them to join the Survivors Councils. We met with residents of housing projects who told us of harrowing escapes during the flood. One 79 year old woman described her rescue by 2 teens who carried her to the Super Dome with water up to her neck. She needs dialysis and managed to survive the Super Dome and multiple evacuations to other areas in order to be there for her children. "Without me," she said, "they would just fall apart. I had to make it." Her family and others told us that their landlords were jacking up rents from $200 to $700 and beyond. Cops patrolled at night and had arrested their friends who were visiting them, held them overnight in jail, and released them without charges. Another man reported how a Church in Oklahoma City had welcomed him and many others who were evacuated there, providing jobs and housing. He had tears in his eyes as he described starting life over in a new city and how much he would miss his home in New Orleans. At another housing project, volunteers and residents gathered to help clean out a couple of apartments so their residents could move back in. These homes were in excellent shape except for a bit of mold on the first floor (the entry level). Yet the city public housing department (HANO) had boarded them up and discouraged people from moving in. There was no electricity or water to welcome people back. At the Survivors Council meeting, men and women from the Lower Ninth Ward and other areas organized efforts to rebuild their neighborhoods and organize for a march on Washington, DC on the first anniversary of Katrina, August 29th. The strength of these workers was impressive; they continued to organize while displaced from their homes and city. We have a lot to learn from the leadership of the young black students and workers who staff the POC and spend their days gutting homes, visiting and calling residents, and planning their work collectively. While the degree of racism uncovered and worsened by Katrina is off the charts, the response by poor people in New Orleans and their supporters around the country is encouraging. There is much to learn from and to contribute to this struggle.
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7/4/2006 1:34 PM Amena Ross wrote:
Hi Everyone! I went on Nailah's facebook page and saw the link to the new website. I think its wonderful. I really hope that I will be able to come back down this summer, but if not, it looks like things are going very well. Keep up the good work!!!
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