New Orleans Black Community Leaders Charge Racism in Government Neglect of Hurricane Survivors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

September 5, 2005, 3:30 p.m. CST

Press conference:

Tuesday, September 6, 2005

4:00 p.m. CST outside the Reliance Center at Kirby and McNee

New Orleans Black Community Leaders Charge Racism in Government Neglect of Hurricane Survivors

Press conference to announce plan to save lives and

demand role in rebuilding effort

HOUSTON
– A national alliance of black community leaders will announce the
formation of a New Orleans People’s Committee to demand a
decision-making role in the short-term care of hurricane survivors and
long-term rebuilding of New Orleans.

Community Labor United (CLU),
a New Orleans coalition of labor and community activists, has put out a
call to activists and organizations across the country to work on a
“people’s campaign” of community redevelopment.  Organizing efforts
will take place across hundreds of temporary shelters.

The
population of New Orleans is 67 percent black and over 30 percent of
the population lives below the poverty line, reflecting the current
demographic of hurricane survivors displaced all over the South.

While
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the White House, and
Governor Blanco attempt to regain the public’s trust by evading the
question of who’s to blame, a short and long-term plan for New Orleans
hurricane survivors has remained in a political vault of silence.

“This
is plain, ugly, real racism,” states Curtis Muhammad, CLU Organizing
Director.  “While some politicians and organizations might skirt around
the issue of race, we in New Orleans are not afraid to call it what it
is.  The moral values of our government is to ‘shoot to kill’ hungry,
thirsty black hurricane survivors for trying to live through the
aftermath.  This is not just immoral—this has turned a natural disaster
into a man-made disaster, fueled by racism.”

Leaders
of CLU, in alliance with nearly twenty other local organizations and
several national organizations will discuss their plan at a press
conference on Tuesday, September 6, 2005, at 4:00 p.m. CST outside the Reliance Center at Kirby and McNee.  The coalition will announce:

·     The
formation of the New Orleans People’s Committee composed of  hurricane
survivors from each of the shelters, which will:

1.   Demand
to oversee FEMA, the Red Cross, and other organizations     collecting
resources on behalf of the black community of New Orleans

2.   Demand decision-making power in the long-term redevelopment of New Orleans

·     Issue
a national call for volunteers to assist with housing, healthcare,
education, and legal matters for the duration of the displacement

Tax-exempt
donations for the People’s Committee and the national coalition can be
made out to:  Young People’s Project, 440 N. Mills St., Suite 200,
Jackson, MS 39202 or visit www.qecr.org.

Community Labor United is a coalition of progressive organizations in New Orleans
formed in 1998.  Their mission is to build organizational unity and
support efforts that address poverty, racism, and education.  CLU
organized in the areas hardest hit by the hurricane.

Curtis Muhammad is a veteran Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organizer and co-founder of CLU.

For more information, please contact:

Curtis Muhammad

Community Labor United (CLU)

muhammadcurtisATbellsouthDOTnet

Becky Belcore

Quality Education as a Civil Right (QECR)

bbelcoreAThotmailDOTcom