The Paper Chase
We’ve just completed a six-hour marathon session of Disaster Relief Bingo, otherwise known as “disaster registration” with the Red Cross. The place here in Tallahassee is a one-stop place to get all your information in front of FEMA, SBA, FHA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and, possibly, even Bernie Mac and the ghost of the legendary Buddy Holly, for all I know.
I call it bingo because you’re given a number when you walk in, then you sit there. Or, if you have something else to do, you go away for a while and come back. You’re supposed to yell “bingo!” when your number is called, then you sit down with a helpful sort who fills is all the various spaces on the forms. I kept wanting to grab the form and say, “gimme dat,” given the glacial progress of this young man, his tongue firmly and ernestly set in the corner of his mouth.
We were a friendly bunch, alternating between mind-numbing boredom and periods of absolute delight. Something similar to watching the Saints, without the terrible first quarter. We sat and talked to folks from Mandeville, Luling, New Orleans East, the Loyola neighborhood and (no surprise) someone who actually lived literally around the corner from us (on Constance.). Our neighbor opined that, had we been doing this actually IN New Orleans, someone would have long since fired up a BBQ grill and another group would have taken up a collection for alcohol.
Some of us had red tickets (the earlier arrivals, like us), while the others had blue tickets. Late in the afternoon, the unfortunate blue-ticket holders were told to leave and come back at 8:30 in the morning. They filed out, looking as they’d spent all their time for nothing, glancing over their shoulders like bad dogs. The rest of us, feeling like we’d hit the Lotto, continued our conversations.
At one point early in the waiting, TV crews and other reporters began showing up to take pictures of the poor folks driven from house and home. It was a weird feeling for me since, a year ago, these same people were literally my colleagues. If that ain’t karma, pal, I don’t know what is. We exchanged a few laughs, Then they left.
I’m impressed, more than anything, with how this terrible, terrible disaster has made us at once friends, at least on the surface. I guess the same thing happens in any such situation. I wouldn’t wish the effects of Hurricane Katrina on anyone. But y’know…..
….there’s a lot that positive too.
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Craig, I was only a “university New Orleanian” when I studied at “Ly-ola” with the Jesuits - yet I see the picture you paint. Especially that of firing up the bbq and taking up a collection for alcohol. Been there, done that.
Despite this tragedy, and my distance from it here in Southern California, I decided to go out and buy some Mardi Gras beads (thanks, Target!) so that I can be ready to celebrate this year.
You think Mardi Gras has been wild before? Just wait until those of us who are left have a chance to celebrate.
We’ve got six months, baby. That’s a lot of run-up time to a party.
You paint a very vivid picture of your day.
I am so glad your documenting this , and encourage even deeper documentation of the individual stories you run across. Your part of a historical event and with all the political reputation damage control on the news now, the real stories are by and large falling by the wayside.
Example: larry king show tonight, dr phil shows a woman and 3 kids who he thinks he’s found the husband/father. He offers her a ride in his jet to dallas, then when asked if they were reunited by larry king he says ” You’ll have to tune into my show tommorow” the real news is being used for celebrity and political posturing and self benefit. So its people like you who have the ability to document the real stories.
You forgot Chili Mac.
bwahahaha!
sorry, just got done at the austin shelter helping people search for loved ones in the computer and I’m a little loopy.
Found one, though! Woohoo! Mama found her boy! That shit will have me going for a week.
Announcing Homefront Lunchbox Hugs for Kids…
The children from Hurricane Katrina need a smile and a hug !
Please share with anyone who might want something tangible to do- any teacher,church, youth groups,synagogue,or school or family.
As a child crisis intervention specialist, I know sometimes just a small bit of comfort and normalcy goes a long way…..but the Red Cross is still a wonderful place to donate directly financially…..after that consider our project:
Homefront Lunchbox Hugs for Kids :)
………. Announcing Homefront Lunchbox Hugs for Kids…
The children from Hurricane Katrina need a smile and a hug !
************************************************
If you want to help - here’s what we can do….the children need a smile and a bit of comfort yesterday but we will start today.
We plan to deliver it to them in the shelters here in Pensacola and to the Red Cross in Alabama and Mississippi to distribute…
Whether it is one lunchbox you prepare or two or three- pack it with love and hugs and make this a family or classroom project!
Send it to:
Homefront Lunchbox Hugs for Kids
c/o Alessandra and Ed Kellermann
1467 Tiger Lake Drive
Gulf Breeze, Florida 32563
Here’s what you can include in each lunchbox (or backpack if you wish) (please label for boy or girl) :
1 lunchbox for children
stickers
lollipops without gum inside due to choking
1 or 2 juice boxes packed in a Ziploc bag
peanut butter crackers or cheese crackers (nothing that melts)
crayons/markers and paper or coloring book
small child’s flashlight with batteries in their original packaging
children’s bandaids
a small stuffed animal like a beanie baby
a note or even better: photos of you so they know who sent them this special hug !
blowup plastic beach ball- any size
child toothbrush
toothpaste
one special extra OPTIONAL request: Music/radio player with headphones- walkman radio
children’s flavored chapstick
Small bottles of soap that require no water
(please do not include anything perishable and place anything that may leak or spill or crumble…in small plastic bags)
If every family or individual packs one lunchbox and sends it or delivers it to us- we will have a lot of smiling children and probably make Moms and Dads smile too ! We also have a huge need for shoes all sizes and underwear for kids all sizes please if anyone just wants to send bulk or not prepare a lunchbox or backpack.
Our troops are doing all they can - say thanks to them and let us do our part today .
Sincerely,
Alessandra Kellermann
President
Homefront Hugs USA
Gulf Breeze, Florida
Gulf Coast Panhandle
412-498-3855
email: info@HomefrontHugs.com
http://HomefrontHugs.com is our website- non-political and non-religious!! Open to all…
Craig, please help me understand this situation: I have been taking clothing to the Red Cross every other day now for the last week and giving people stuff - right out of my car, so that they don’t have to deal with the Red Cross bureaucracy.
Anyway, my husband and I live in a safe area of Nashville, TN and have a nice home. We even have semi-separate accomodations for up to four people. We have been turned down by all of the evacuees.
I can kind of understand that, because it would be weird to randomly move into a stranger’s home.
Ok, but today, while I was on a clothing give-away, I met this man who said he didn’t need clothing, but he needed two tires because he needed to get back to Alexandria, LA to his family. We looked at his back two tires and I agreed that they were definitely balding.
I told him to give me a few hours, then to call me at a certain number and I would try to find some tires for him.
I made several phone calls, sent numerous emails, and got two tires donated, PLUS the rotation and alignment donated also.
THE GUY NEVER CALLED!!!
I spent so much time on this!
What gives? I am really hurting for you guys from New Orleans and want to help, but this is burning me out.
Please help me understand this mindset.
Emily S
Greetings friends,
I just sent out a thank you to all who have participated so far with their children,grandchildren, soul mates and spouses….classrooms and churches, synagogues and workplaces…and our incredible 9-11 families in our special project: Homefront Lunch box Hugs for Katrina Kids.
The anniversary of 9-11 is in a few days- let us never forget and treasure the gifts we do have in life….like our children and loved ones.
I am thrilled with the response and am attaching a flyer for you to post or use anywhere in your community to let others know….We can use your help please. I can interview as well with my contact info below if it helps.
Yet this is not about me or my family- it is about the spirit of the USA and the soul of Americans. We are standing united and doing our part.
We even have some super Americans organizing this in their own hometowns with the same name (after notifying us)because they have shelters nearby with evacuees….We are proud and delighted that they have let us know and are duplicating our efforts !
The smile and hugs from afar these children will feel will be super when they receive these items packed with love ! Many have attached a note too with a self-addressed and stamped postcard for them to send back to volunteers and their families .
My heart is warmed once again reminding me why I am so proud to be American and how much we treasure our country and its freedoms. God bless the USA and all of you. Our troops remain in our prayers and please know we honor them as our heroes and the fact that many are dealing with this tragedy personally as well. Shalom.
In friendship,
Alessandra and my sunshine Ed
Alessandra Kellermann
President
Homefront Hugs USA
1467 Tiger Lake Drive
Gulf Breeze, Florida 32563
412-498-3855
email: info@HomefrontHugs.com
http://HomefrontHugs.com for more info on program and please add us as a link on any websites you might have. This is a meaningful project children can partake in as well and understand with all five senses what giving back means as an American…and what our country is all about.
p.s. This is a super project for teachers and students !!!
Article by Naomi Klein. 9 Sep, Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/katrina/story/0,16441,1566200,00.html
POWER TO THE VICTIMS OF NEW ORLEANS.
With the poor gone, developers are planning to gentrify the city .
On September 4, six days after Katrina hit, I saw the first glimmer of hope. “The people of New Orleans will not go quietly into the night, scattering across this country to become homeless in countless other cities while federal relief funds are funnelled into rebuilding casinos, hotels, chemical plants. We will not stand idly by while this disaster is used as an opportunity to replace our homes with newly built mansions and condos in a gentrified New Orleans.”
The statement came from Community Labor United, a coalition of low-income groups in New Orleans. It went on to demand that a committee made up of evacuees “oversee Fema, the Red Cross and other organisations collecting resources on behalf of our people. We are calling for evacuees from our community to actively participate in the rebuilding of New Orleans.”
It’s a radical concept: the $10.5bn released by Congress and the $500m raised by private charities doesn’t actually belong to the relief agencies or the government - it belongs to the victims. The agencies entrusted with the money should be accountable to them. Put another way, the people Barbara Bush tactfully described as “underprivileged anyway” just got very rich.
Except relief and reconstruction never seem to work like that. When I was in Sri Lanka six months after the tsunami, many survivors told me that the reconstruction was victimising them all over again. A council of the country’s most prominent businesspeople had been put in charge of the process, and they were handing the coast over to tourist developers at a frantic pace. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of poor fishing people were still stuck in sweltering inland camps, patrolled by soldiers with machine guns and entirely dependent on relief agencies for food and water. They called reconstruction “the second tsunami”.
There are already signs that New Orleans evacuees could face a similarly brutal second storm. Jimmy Reiss, chairman of the New Orleans Business Council, told Newsweek that he has been brainstorming about how “to use this catastrophe as a once-in-an-eon opportunity to change the dynamic”. The council’s wish list is well-known: low wages, low taxes, more luxury condos and hotels.
Before the flood, this highly profitable vision was already displacing thousands of poor African-Americans: while their music and culture was for sale in an increasingly corporatised French Quarter (where only 4.3% of residents are black), their housing developments were being torn down. “For white tourists and businesspeople, New Orleans’s reputation means a great place to have a vacation, but don’t leave the French Quarter or you’ll get shot,” Jordan Flaherty, a New Orleans-based labour organiser told me the day after he left the city by boat. “Now the developers have their big chance to disperse the obstacle to gentrification - poor people.”
Here’s a better idea: New Orleans could be reconstructed by and for the very people most victimised by the flood. Schools and hospitals that were falling apart before could finally have adequate resources; the rebuilding could create thousands of local jobs and provide massive skills training in decent paying industries. Rather than handing over the reconstruction to the same corrupt elite that failed the city so spectacularly, the effort could be led by groups like Douglass Community Coalition. Before the hurricane, this remarkable assembly of parents, teachers, students and artists was trying to reconstruct the city from the ravages of poverty by transforming Frederick Douglass senior high school into a model of community learning. They have already done the painstaking work of building consensus around education reform. Now that the funds are flowing, shouldn’t they have the tools to rebuild every ailing public school in the city?
For a people’s reconstruction process to become a reality (and to keep more contracts from going to Halliburton), the evacuees must be at the centre of all decision-making. According to Curtis Muhammad of Community Labor United, the disaster’s starkest lesson is that African-Americans cannot count on any level of government to protect them.
“We had no caretakers,” he says. That means the community groups that do represent African-Americans in Louisiana and Mississippi - many of which lost staff, office space and equipment in the flood - need our support now. Only a massive injection of cash and volunteers will enable them to do the crucial work of organising evacuees - currently scattered through 41 states - into a powerful political constituency. The most pressing question is where evacuees will live over the next few months. A dangerous consensus is building that they should collect a little charity, apply for a job at the Houston Wal-Mart and move on. Muhammad and CLU, however, are calling for the right to return: they know that if evacuees are going to have houses and schools to come back to, many will need to return to their home states and fight for them.
These ideas are not without precedent. When Mexico City was struck by a devastating earthquake in 1985, the state also failed the people: poorly constructed public housing crumbled and the army was ready to bulldoze buildings with survivors still trapped inside. A month after the quake, 40,000 angry refugees marched on the government, refusing to be relocated out of their neighbourhoods and demanding a “democratic reconstruction”. Not only were 50,000 new dwellings for the homeless built in a year; the neighbourhood groups that grew out of the rubble launched a movement that is challenging Mexico’s traditional power holders to this day.
And the people I met in Sri Lanka have grown tired of waiting for the promised relief. Some survivors are now calling for a people’s planning commission for post-tsunami recovery. They say the relief agencies should answer to them; it’s their money, after all.
The idea could take hold in the United States, and it must. Because there is only one thing that can compensate the victims of this most human of natural disasters, and that is what has been denied them throughout: power. It will be a long and difficult battle, but New Orleans’s evacuees should draw strength from the knowledge that they are no longer poor people; they are rich people who have been temporarily locked out of their bank accounts.
Naomi Klein
Friday September 9, 2005
The Guardian
war die Provinz noch nicht franz
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