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Media Coverage
Saving communities from 'drowning on dry land'- Milwaukee minister travels to Gulf Coast on fact-finding mission
JSOnline - Milwaukee Journal Senteinal - September 9, 2006, By Felicia Thomas-LynnThe Rev. Joseph Jackson Jr. is on a crusade. Standing amid the rubble and the thick stench permeating the air of New Orleans' lower ninth ward a year after Hurricane Katrina, the Milwaukee central city minister made a vow. ...
NAACP wants HANO to reopen all units: Agency is planning to raze 4 complexes
The Times Picayune - August 29, 2006, By Leslie WilliamsThe National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and two other organizations on Monday called for a prohibition on razing public housing units in New Orleans. All existing public housing resources in the city should be "repaired and reopened," according to a report issued by the NAACP, the Kirwan Institute for the study of Race and Ethnicity and The Opportunity Agenda. ...
HUD Tries to Set Record Straight After Katrina Hoax
Canton Repository - August 29, 2006, By Ann M. Simmons and Johanna Neuman, Los Angeles TimesOriginal title in Los Angeles Times: HUD Sham Acts Out Katrina Housing Anger
NEW ORLEANS -- It may have been a hoax, but an announcement Monday that the federal government was reversing course and reopening public housing projects it had slated for demolition exposed a fault line in this city's efforts to recover from Hurricane Katrina. ...Build a Better New Orleans
The Dallas Morning News - August 29, 2006, By Henry CisnerosThe social duress of New Orleans has long demanded attention. Abysmal conditions before Hurricane Katrina hit landfall are catastrophic one year later, with the storm still surging on dry land in the rubble of the city's vanquished neighborhoods. The remedy is not a return to the pre-Katrina status quo. The solution must be no less exhaustive than the scale of the disaster. Where we start is basic - the place where people rest their heads at night. ...
Drowning on Dry Land: Renewing the American Promise of Opportunity
World of Possibilities - August 29, 2006One-hour radio program with interviews of Dr. Sid Mohn, Pres. Heartland Alliance for Human Needs, Ricky and June Campbell, displaced persons from New Orleans living in Chicago, Rev. Cheryl Rivera, Dir., Gamaliel African American Leadership Commission, two ministers from Gulfport, Mississippi, and Clyde Murphy, Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights.
The Jim Bohannon Show with interviews of Dr. Jared Bernstein and Amy Liu
Westwood 1 Radio Network - August 28, 2006For more information go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/wtwpradio/2006-08-27/Monday.html or http://www.westwoodone.com/stationfinder
Audio Press Briefing on Housing Report by NAACP, Opportunity Agenda and the Kirwan Institute for Race and Ethnicity
August 28, 2006Reporters on line included: Cheryl Smith, Austin Chronicle; Cheryl Corley, National Public Radio; Lesley Williams, Times Picayune; Steven Baltin, CBS News.
New Yorkers Gather At Church Service For Katrina Victims
NY1 News - August 27, 2006Days before the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's destruction of New Orleans, special church services were held around the country Sunday, including one in the city. New Yorkers gathered at Riverside Church in Morningside Heights, along with Senator Hillary Clinton, to remember the thousands who died in last year's disaster. The service was one of many sponsored by church leaders and community activists who say more still needs to be done to help the hurricane's survivors. ...
After the Storm - Austin's Louisiana exiles remain suspended between before and after
The Austin Chronicle - August 25, 2006, by Cheryl SmithLast October, when Christine Braud first went back to see the three-bedroom shotgun house she rented in New Orleans for 15 years, the bodies of two of her former neighbor's rottweilers were piled on top of each other near the curb. ... The corpses are gone now, but as of mid-July, there was still some unsacked garbage heaped on the curb, the former house - along with most of the others on Braud's block of Dumaine Street - was deserted, and Braud still ached for the only home she ever knew before Austin. ...
One Year Later, Reports Document Hurricane Katrina-Related Problems
The Associated Press, Fox - August 23, 2006NEW ORLEANS - No less than a half-dozen reports on the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort are being released to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the storm - and nearly all criticize the sluggish pace of the response. The reports document a host of problems, from the still-unfinished levees to the plight of small businesses and the city's continuing racial divide. ...
GOING HOME - Build a better New Orleans, Renew city so people can thrive
The Houston Chronicle - August 19, 2006, by Henry G. CisnerosThe social duress of New Orleans has long demanded attention. Abysmal conditions before Hurricane Katrina hit landfall are catastrophic one year later, with the storm still surging on dry land in the rubble of the city's vanquished neighborhoods. The remedy is not a return to the pre-Katrina status quo. The solution must be no less exhaustive than the scale of the disaster. Where we start is basic - the place where people rest their heads at night. ...
One year later, Katrina's lessons unlearned
The Anniston Star - August 18, 2006, by Alan JenkinsAs we approach the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we must reflect on the somber memories and heed the lessons learned. ... And we need to recognize that this tragedy flowed not from the storm itself but from the lack of preparedness, the inadequate response and the erratic rebuilding process. A unifying theme connects these failings: Our weakened government was unable to respond quickly and appropriately. To prevent these mistakes from being repeated, we need to reinvest as a society in government's ability to keep us safe and to ensure opportunity for all. ...
Sad thing about Katrina: It shouldn't have been a disaster
Chicago Sun-Times - August 17, 2006, by Jeremiah A. Wright Jr."It wasn't the hurricane that killed the people. It was the breach of the levees." ... The breach signifies all that is wrong when it comes to America and its treatment of poor and disadvantaged people. ... The breach still exists. A year from the most horrific national disaster in this country's history, we'd do well not to forget, and in fact remember that breaches cause destruction that hurts the poor, but which also decimates entire civilizations. If we ignore what happened in New Orleans, we are destined to repeat the mistakes we made. Surely, nobody wants that to happen. ...
Step up to clear the stench in New Orleans
The Tennessean - August 17, 2006, by Dwight LewisRev. Jackson, the pastor of Evergreen Baptist Church in Milwaukee, was in New Orleans when he called my house Tuesday night. He and about 30 other African-American ministers, mostly from the Midwest, had come to the Crescent City to mark the upcoming first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with "A Season of Prayer"bus tour of the Gulf Coast region, "highlighting poverty and lack of opportunity'' in the United States. ...
Black Clergy Tour Katrina Damage - Group to demand federal recovery help
The Times Picayune - August 17, 2006, by Valerie FacianeA national group of black clergy and lay leaders touring the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast said Wednesday that they will demand the federal government release money for rebuilding. Standing outside the flood-damaged Mount Nebo Bible Baptist Church on Flood Street in the Lower 9th Ward, members of the Gamaliel Foundation's African American Leadership Commission said they are on a fact-finding mission, dubbed the "Drowning on Dry Land/Connecting Covenant Visit," to learn how they can provide continuing support to the people of the Gulf Coast, particularly the poor. ...
(Media Release on this event)New Orleans Mayor Closes a Disputed Landfill Used for Debris From Hurricane
The New York Times - August 16, 2006, by Lesline EatonUnder legal pressure from the City of New Orleans, a national waste disposal company closed a controversial landfill yesterday that had been handling tons of debris from houses ruined by Hurricane Katrina. The landfill, which is known as Chef Menteur after the highway that borders it, had been the subject of protests and lawsuits since it was opened in February, challenged by environmental groups and by residents of a nearby Vietnamese-American neighborhood. ...
A Man on a Mission
Surburban Chicago News - August 15, 2006, by Brian StanleyNEW ORLEANS - The Rev. Isaac Singleton is one of 30 pastors visiting the Gulf Coast this week to reach out to those affected by Hurricane Katrina last year. ... "I hope we get a clear understanding why the most devastated and affected people were neglected during these hurricanes, yet our government puts millions of dollars into foreign countries to help people that got hit by the tsunami." ... The clergy leaders will begin their tour in New Orleans and also travel to Biloxi, Miss., and Baton Rouge, La., during the following four days. Singleton said the schedule of visits will be finalized at the initial meeting this afternoon. ...
Press Release on National Day of Prayer and Call to Action
New York, NY - March 3, 2006FRUSTRATED WITH LACK OF FEDERAL RESPONSE SIX MONTHS AFTER KATRINA, HUNDREDS OF RELIGIOUS FIGURES TO HOLD NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER - New Coalition to Push for Progress and Accountability
On March 3rd-5th, national faith-based groups, Gulf Coast survivors and national policy and political organizations will begin six weeks of prayer to draw attention to the continued lack of Federal aid to Hurricane Katrina victims. National Alliance to Restore Opportunity to the Gulf Coast & Displaced Persons, the group that spearheaded the project has enlisted hundreds of religious congregations across the country to dedicate time during their services this weekend to conduct prayer vigils and visits to congressional representatives, to mark the six-month anniversary of the most devastating natural disaster in American history ...USA. Hundreds of prayer vigils will mark Katrina anniversary
BYM News (press release), Spain - Mar 1, 2006Holding candles and signs while singing hymns, hundreds of congregations across the country will include a time for prayer and reflection in their services, conduct prayer vigils and visit their congressional representative to mark the six-month anniversary of the Katrina disaster. Major denominations, national faith-based organizing groups, organizers of Gulf Coast survivors and national policy and organizing groups will call for six weeks of prayer and action, starting on the weekend of March 3-5. ...
A new coalition, the National Alliance to Restore Opportunity to Gulf Coast Survivors, is calling on the Washington leadership to: Rebuild the region; Improve the lives and destinies of Gulf Coast residents; Provide opportunities and support for displaced Gulf residents and communities that received them; Bring federal resources to the region without cutting other human needs programs. ...Recovering States: The Gulf Coast Six Months After The Storm
Oxfam America - February 23, 2006Six months after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast and displaced more than 800,000 people from their homes, state and federal agencies are continuing to neglect poor communities, according to, Recovering States: The Gulf Coast Six Months After the Storm, a report which will be released next week by international aid agency Oxfam America. ...
Six Months After Katrina: Who Was Left Behind - Then and Now, by Bill Quigley
CommonDreams.org - February 21, 2006There is not a sign outside of New Orleans saying "If you are poor, sick, elderly, disabled, children or African-American, you cannot return." But there might as well be. The people left behind in the evacuation of New Orleans after Katrina are the same people left behind in rebuilding of New Orleans - the poor, the sick, the elderly, the disabled, and children, mostly African-American. ...