Matthew Nolan, resident of NOLA, blogger on Humid City:
Dear family, friends, U.S. Citizens, all of humanity:
I am safe. I am alive. My heart is broken. Thank you for your concern.
This hour, bodies are floating in my neighborhood. This hour, people are taking their last breath in home attics. There is no presence of government and relief in New Orleans after 6 days from the warning of Hurricane Katrina and 4 days from total death and destruction. I am sick with grief and anger at the lack of preparation and response by our government.
Last year I was left behind during Hurricane Ivan because I had no car, no money, no way out. Now, 100,000 people too poor to evacuate are dead or facing death. We live as minority families stuck in poverty and living on food stamps in the housing projects or as the starving artist like myself living out my dreams in the culturally unique city I love. These are my neighbors. We enjoy the Big Easy by riding our bikes, hopping on buses, and riding the streetcar. None of us have an automobile. No provisions were made to evacuate us via land transport or air. From President Bush, FEMA, to our local officials: They all knew we would die if directly hit by a hurricane. They left us all to die.
I refuse as a citizen and a social worker to cry my tears as a private expression only. There is no more time left. The pleas from the living in New Orleans cannot be heard. Communication is cut off. We can only see their desperate faces through the eye of a camera. They are dying. I petition every citizen to exercise our democratic rights now. Today I spoke with officials at the White House, Department of Defense, Senate Majority Leader, Speaker of the House, and The President’s Press Office. I deflected the chatter of "relief is on its way, we appropriated funds today, the help is coming, FEMA this FEMA that." I told them NOW, NOW, NOW. You must tell them the same. This is not a disaster to observe. We must gather our private emotions of grief and channel them into action. We must come together. Who would speak for you if you were stuck dying in New Orleans?
Demand immediate response from our government officials by contacting them via phone and email within an hour of receiving this email, peacefully protest, call your newspaper, express your feelings in a letter to your congressman and the office of our President, and vote-out those who were responsible for preventing, preparing, and reacting to this disaster. A fundraising telethon is a "feel good" distraction from the starving, drowning, and rotting bodies in New Orleans. Place your initial efforts in the here and now.
You will find all the contact information you need at the web sites below. This is public information. We are the people. Our government represents us and wants to hear what we have to say. It is your right. It is your freedom. Call and email them all, NOW.
Click on or type in the web sites below:
http://whitehouse.gov/contact
http://www.senate.gov
http://www.house.govForward this email, print it off to distribute, post it, discuss it, organize to help.
Thank you for thinking of me. Lets now turn our thoughts to others.
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This is absolutely depressing.