Hungry Blues

Russell Hayward lived with his wife, who has severe asthma, in a trailer in Long Beach, Mississippi, when Hurricane Katrina struck. With very little money and a car that was on its last legs, they were unable to evacuate before the storm and, thus, waited out the hurricane in a nearby brick building. When they returned home after the hurricane, their trailer was destroyed and the sewage line broken. For five days they waited for help, living on their front porch in 100 degree heat, with no electricity or water, with the smell of sewage and dead animals, and Ms. Hayward’s asthma getting worse. After four days, their neighbor’s phone finally received a signal. Mr. Hayward was able to reach a friend and was told they could stay with another friend in Pensacola, Florida, two and half hours away. Mr. Hayward and his wife left Mississippi with twenty-two dollars in their pocket, in a car with three-quarters of a tank of gas and four bald tires. Along the way to Florida, their car broke down and they sold it to a junk shop in order to get enough money to make it the rest of the way to Pensacola. In Pensacola, on September 7, 2005, they finally were able to register for FEMA assistance. Although they were told when they registered that they would receive a package explaining FEMA benefits, they never received any such package. Through the generosity of friends, Mr. Hayward and his wife were able to go to San Antonio, where friends had offered to put them up. They went to the Kelly USA DRC, joining thousands of other evacuees. On October 6, 2005, Mr. Hayward received, with no explanation or information, $2,358. Not knowing that this money was for rental assistance, Mr. Hayward spent it on food, clothing, and emergency dental work for his wife. Three weeks later, Mr. Hayward received a letter from FEMA, which had not been mailed until October 17, 2005, explaining that the money he had received had been for rental assistance. He called FEMA and was told that he could not receive additional financial assistance unless he could prove the money was used for rental assistance. When he tried to explain that he needed more money because he had spent the money on other essentials prior to being told that it could only be used for rental assistance, the FEMA worker hung-up on him.

(From Part III of the Complaint.)

Plaintiff Keiva Melissa Colomb was a resident of Orleans Parish when Hurricane Katrina struck. Her apartment was completely destroyed and she was evacuated to Texas, exhausting her savings getting there. On August 30, 2005, she called FEMA’s 800 number throughout the day to apply for benefits, but was unable to get through. Finally, at 2 am, Ms. Colomb reached a FEMA worker and was able to register. In San Antonio, prior to receiving FEMA housing assistance, Ms. Colomb found an apartment she could afford with the help of a roommate, another victim of Hurricane Katrina. Three weeks after Ms. Colomb called FEMA, $2,358 appeared in her bank account. However, she received no information regarding how the money was to be used, and when she tried to call FEMA, Ms. Colomb was unable to get through. Having lost most, if not all, of her possessions in the storm, she used the $2,358 for rent and to replace the bare necessities that she had lost: a toothbrush, towels, sheets, pots, food, a mattress and other essentials. Through word of mouth she heard that she could get assistance from FEMA for up to a year and was counting on it to make ends meet and to stay in her apartment. Yet, weeks later, when Ms. Colomb was finally able to talk to a FEMA representative, she was told for the first time that the money she previously received was solely for rental assistance, and that the only way she could get additional assistance was to prove through receipts that she spent all of the money on rent.

(From Part III of the Complaint.)

Last month, I posted about Wade Rathke's self-seving, racist attack on Curtis Muhammad, Community Labor United, and the People's Hurricane Relief Fund. Though I posted Open Letter to the Labor Movement, an important response from a group of activists, I never got around to the further commentary I had promised. In the meantime, one of the signers of the Open Letter, Marsha Steinberg, has written a response of her own, much stronger than anything I could have done, in the wake of a supposed apology from Rathke to Muhammad. Immediately following Marsha's comments is the "apology" from Rathke, to which she is responding.

Marsha Steinberg to Wade Rathke:

Your apology to Curtis Muhammad again badly misses the point!

It is not personal attacks that are the most relevant although I personally doubt your explanation of "being over the top" because Chalabi was a liar and a thief, facts which I am sure you knew when you wrote the piece. It is the attack on CLU and The People's Hurricane Relief Fund ("couldn't organize a two car funeral") that deserve an apology. I personally believe that the attack was done in a personal fit over the fact that a coalition of community based, African American led, groups without staff or union money had out organized you and you felt free, as a white male, to attack them without fear of rebuke. How could they have accomplished some thing that you hadn't; specifically getting recognition in the national progressive movement here and in Europe as the legitimate voice of the poor backs of New Orleans which you think of as your personal turf. The arrogance and racism of the comments continue to send me "over the top".

As a SEIU staffer I see the same syndrome every day. White, mostly male, leadership at the top, feel free to plan for the lives of the membership of a union that is overwhelmingly poor, mostly female, people of color. They remain convinced that in every situation they know better than the members themselves and the field staff, what the members need and should care about. Only they know how to plan and build for the future. Again, what racist crap!

At some point the continued top down approach of the ACORNS and SEIUs will either have to be abandoned and genuine leadership be allowed to emerge and be nurtured with real education, training and sharing of the members resources or this country will continue it’s descent into fascism and barbarism.

I call on all white progressive activists to see this approach for what it is and understand that we must be prepared to relinquish the privilege and the right to lead that has come to us from a racist and classist country built on the labor of those without power or privilege. We must ask ourselves: if we're so smart and have all the answers, how come the movement is so small? We must accept the right of community-based groups to lead and speak for themselves. We must share our skills and resources generously. We must call racism when we see it. “If not us, who? If not now, when?”

Still today, white areas of New Orleans have electricity at least part of the day while the adjacent black areas have none. Whites are returning to the city while black males convicted of no crime are held hidden in jails throughout the South. Wade, why don't you write an over the top piece about that?

I came to labor as a long time community organizer because with a dues base, that's where all the money is. I was actually shocked to see the disregard for the members’ priorities and the 'we know what's best' attitudes.

I call on organized labor to examine its practices openly and honestly and to share the resources with community folks and their organizations. Rhetorically we say that our members and the community are the same people. Let's make that real. Let's admit that labor does not have the right to pick the leadership of community based organizations or expect them to follow labor's lead without true coalitions of equals. One start would be to post this message on your blog which I doubt you will do. Let's have an open dialogue about the nature of our organizations and labor's obligation to freely share resources and relinquish leadership.

In the meantime, I will send your "apology" around to my lists with my response.

Looking forward to an honest dialogue.

Wade Rathke's "apology" to Curtis Muhammad:

Posted by: Wade Rathke - November 3, 2005 02:38:04

When I wrote these comments a month ago, I was searching for a way to grieve for my city. It is amazing to find how few people really care about what happens to New Orleans on one hand and the level of opportunism from many folks who couldn’t find the city without a map. I still feel that way.

Nonetheless, there were 3-4 comments we received from people several weeks after the blog ran either posted to the blog or sent to me directly. All the ones to me I answered.

Their message was that the treatment of Curtis Muhammad was wrong. They took particular umbrage at the metaphorical comparison with Chalabi.

Chalabi after years in exile returned in hopes of running Iraq. Though that has not worked out exactly as he – and some of his supporters -- dreamed, he has been a constant presence in the political life of the country since the occupation. He in fact is now a member of the ruling government with a significant position in the coalition arrangements and a base in various sides of the religious power blocs.

Feelings about Chalabi are obviously intense. My point was lost here and insult was taken, where observation and metaphor were meant. I am very sorry for all of that. My train was going one way and ended up on a side track. Reading the piece again one is reminded of how dangerous a form of communication these unfiltered, unedited blogs can be. There is a lesson for me to remember there, but my lesson should not have been at the expense of others, and I’m deeply sorry it occurred. I played with fire, and I got burned.

Curtis also contacted me directly by e-mail indicating his unhappiness with the piece. I sent him back an email offering to get together with him and straighten it out directly. I did not receive a reply.

I did see Curtis while I was visiting the October 29th rally in Baton Rouge on the capitol steps. I walked over to visit with him. He was still understandably not happy about all of this. He asked for a public apology.

I meant no harm to Curtis and in my ham handed and inarticulate way, I thought I had expressed that even in the piece. Obviously I failed, therefore I agree with Curtis that an apology is warranted, and here he has it, because I am sincerely sorry for any inadvertent insult I have given him and any offense he has felt. None was meant, but to the degree some was taken, that’s on me, and I hope over time perhaps he will come to accept my apology, because he certainly has it here, exactly where the offense was rendered.

This post-Katrina syndrome is real. There is no question that I am "over the top" these days, and more than one person has pointed it out to me. My boiling point is very low. My judgment is not as sound as it sometimes needs to be. I bet I am not the only one in the same situation. All of which makes this even more regrettable. Untoward comments, like mine, blurted out thoughtless to the full impact, are perhaps felt more deeply and taken more hurtfully than normal times would allow.

Plaintiff Thurmond Price was a resident of Orleans Parish whose home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Price has diabetes and a serious heart condition. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Price was living by himself in a shared house. He had no relation to the other people who lived in the house. In early September, Mr. Price applied with FEMA for Temporary Housing Assistance. Mr. Price was denied housing assistance because someone else living in the same shared apartment had applied for housing assistance. He is currently living by himself in the Red Cross Shelter in Baker, Louisiana.

(From Part III of the Complaint.)

Plaintiff Billy Smith was a resident of Orleans Parish when Hurricane Katrina struck and destroyed his home. He rented a room in a building where six other men also lived and shared a phone number. On September 2, 2005, Mr. Smith applied with FEMA for Temporary Housing Assistance. The FEMA worker told him that his application would be frozen because someone else had applied for benefits with the same phone number. Within the week, Mr. Smith called FEMA again to check the status of his application and was accused of making multiple applications. At about the end of September, Mr. Smith received a packet of information from FEMA, which stated that he needed to fill out an SBA loan to receive FEMA benefits, which he submitted the next day. Mr. Smith has since been told by FEMA that his application is still “pending.” He is currently living at the Red Cross Shelter in Baker, Louisiana.

(From Part III of the Complaint.)

Plaintiff John Hubbard was a resident of Orleans Parish when Hurricane Katrina struck. His pre-disaster home, in which he lived with his sister and her four daughters, was destroyed. Mr. Hubbard is disabled and illiterate, and therefore applied for housing assistance directly with a FEMA representative at the River Center Shelter in Baton Rouge. To date, he has not received any Temporary Housing Assistance or any further information from FEMA regarding his request for housing assistance.

(From Part III of the Complaint.)

Plaintiff Van Patin was a resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana when Hurricane Katrina struck. His pre-disaster home is uninhabitable due to Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Patin had a leg amputated and is wheelchair bound. In early September, Mr. Patin applied for FEMA housing assistance. He was told by FEMA that he would receive a handicap-accessible trailer, that the trailers were on-site and that they were in the process of installing ramps for the trailers. To date, he has not received a trailer, any Temporary Housing Assistance or any further information from FEMA regarding his request for housing assistance.

(From Part III of the Complaint.)

Plaintiff Reginald Jones has yet to receive any Temporary Housing Assistance. He was a resident of Plaquemines Parish when Hurricane Katrina struck and destroyed his home. He was evacuated on August 29, 2005, to the Belle Chasse Community Center in Belle Chasse, Louisiana. After a week, Mr. Jones was moved to the Melville Community Center in Melville, Louisiana, where he finally was able to apply for FEMA benefits. Mr. Jones was then forced to evacuate from Melville because of Hurricane Rita, and spent three days in a Red Cross Shelter in Monroe, Louisiana. After Hurricane Rita passed he was instructed to leave the shelter in Monroe and return to the River Center shelter in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In mid-October, Mr. Jones went to the DRC in Belle Chasse to apply for a trailer. That same day, Mr. Jones was told that, to receive benefits, he would need to complete an SBA loan application, which he did. On October 14, 2005, the River Center shelter closed and Mr. Jones was again moved, this time to the Red Cross shelter in Baker, Louisiana. He has repeatedly asked FEMA about the status of his application for a trailer and has been told that there is no facility available on which he may put a trailer.

(From Part III of the Complaint.)

Plaintiff Calvin Davis, Jr. has not received any Temporary Housing Assistance from FEMA even though he applied 2 months ago. Mr. Davis was a resident of Orleans Parish. On August 29, 2005, he was evacuated and brought to the River Center shelter in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he lived for the next six weeks. On approximately September 5, 2005, Mr. Davis registered with FEMA for Temporary Housing Assistance. FEMA workers at the River Center shelter told Mr. Davis that he would receive a check for $2,358 in rental assistance. Approximately one month later, Mr. Davis went to the DRC near the shelter, where he was told that his rental assistance was still “pending.” On October 14, 2005, the River Center shelter closed and Mr. Davis was moved to the Red Cross shelter in Baker, Louisiana. When he is able to get through to FEMA’s 800 number, he is simply told that his application is still “pending.” Mr. Davis still has not received his housing assistance from FEMA.

(From Part III of the Complaint.)

Plaintiff Florence Jackson has not received any Temporary Housing Assistance from FEMA even though she applied over 2 months ago. Ms. Jackson is 62 years old, and was a resident of Orleans Parish, where she lived with her 42-year old son, who suffers from epileptic seizures and cerebral palsy. Ms. Jackson has a herniated disk and sciatica. Both Ms. Jackson and her son are on disability. Like countless others, their home was rendered uninhabitable by Hurricane Katrina. Ms. Jackson and her son had no way to evacuate from New Orleans. She and her son were stranded in their apartment as the storm roared through New Orleans. After the storm, they watched the water rise, saw people on the interstate dying, and watched futilely as rescue workers ignored their cries for help. It was not until five days later, on September 2, 2005, that the government evacuated Ms. Jackson and her son by helicopter. They left their home with only the clothing on their back, and some essential paperwork that Ms. Jackson was able to quickly pull together. Left on a crowded, open field with little or no security, Ms. Jackson found a piece of cardboard to sit on and another evacuee generously gave up his cot for her son. While her son slept, Ms. Jackson watched, guarding herself and her son. She and her son were eventually herded onto a bus, and taken to the airport where, wet and physically exhausted, they waited for further direction. Later, when people were lined up for a plane, Ms. Jackson found a chair for her son, who was no longer able to walk, and pushed him inch by inch along the line until they finally boarded a flight – destination unknown. Ms. Jackson and her son were flown to San Antonio, Texas and then taken to the Kelly USA DRC, where they waited standing in line for 7 hours to register. They were told if they left the line for any reason, they would not be registered. Ms. Jackson waited, all the while praying that her son would not have an epileptic seizure. Finally, Ms. Jackson and her son were taken to the Kelly USA shelter where, for the first time in days, they were able to get out of their wet clothes. There, Ms. Jackson was diagnosed with pneumonia and an intestinal virus, brought on by the wet clothes and the exposure to germs during the evacuation. It was not until September 5, 2005 – a week after Hurricane Katrina had made landfall – that the Kelly USA DRC was equipped with telephones and computers. Using those phones, Ms. Jackson was able to register for FEMA assistance. Since then, Ms. Jackson has repeatedly called FEMA to inquire about rental assistance and each time is told that her application for housing assistance is “pending.”

(From Part III of the Complaint.)

Plaintiff Beatrice B. McWaters has not received any Temporary Housing Assistance from FEMA even though she applied 2 months ago. Ms. McWaters was a resident of Orleans Parish when Hurricane Katrina struck. She and her brother lived in a home that her mother owned, and paid her approximately $1,000 per month in rent. Her mother is 93 years old, and her brother is 61 years old and disabled. Her pre-disaster home is now uninhabitable. On approximately September 2, 2005, Ms. McWaters went to the Kelly USA shelter in San Antonio, Texas to apply for FEMA benefits. On October 10, Ms. McWaters was told by a FEMA worker that she, her brother, and her mother had all claimed to be owners of the same residence and that there was the appearance of fraud. Ms. McWaters tried to clear up the misunderstanding over the phone with the FEMA worker without success. The next day, October 11, she returned to the Kelly USA shelter and attempted to clarify the situation in person. On October 26, Ms. McWaters received a call from FEMA and was told that she, her mother, and her brother all had been suspended or eliminated from the FEMA system. Then, on approximately November 2, Ms. McWaters received a call from a FEMA worker telling her that she could get a trailer in New Orleans. Ms. McWaters explained that, by doctor’s orders, she was unable to travel. The FEMA worker told her it would be noted in the file. The FEMA worker did not offer her rental assistance. To date, neither Ms. McWaters, her brother, or her mother have received any housing assistance from FEMA.

(From Part III of the Complaint.)

Thursday's NY Times reports that 13 plaintiffs have joined in a class action suit against FEMA.

The complaint, to be filed on Thursday in Federal District Court in New Orleans, states that the agency has "failed to fulfill its mandate" in providing housing assistance to the storm's victims. . . .

The complaint charges FEMA with imposing "retroactively inconsistent rules," in Mr. Hayward's case and others. It also asserts that the agency has been inexcusably slow in processing applications and has unfairly denied claims from large families and unrelated individuals sharing the same address. The plaintiffs are not seeking damages, but immediate assistance (emphasis added).

FindLaw has a scanned copy of the complaint [PDF]. I have obtained a copy of the complaint in MS Word and will be posting the stories of each of the plaintiffs as they are told in the legal document.

The preliminary statement is also worth reading:

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

“This is a national disgrace. FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can’t bail out the city of New Orleans.”

Terry Ebbert, New Orleans Homeland Security Chief, September 1, 2005

1. The federal agency charged by statute to care for Americans who are victims of natural disasters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”), failed to fulfill its mandate before, during and after Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. As a result, more than two months after the tragedy, thousands of Americans continue to be victimized, this time by bureaucratic inaction, indifference and incompetence. FEMA has failed to provide temporary housing assistance to these disaster victims in violation of the plain requirements of federal law. The poor and vulnerable – including children, the elderly, and the disabled – are suffering the most.

2. As of this late date, FEMA has:

• Failed to provide any temporary housing assistance to certain individuals and families, including those with disabilities, who applied for help as much as two months ago;

• Failed to provide basic information to disaster victims regarding the scope and conditions of the available temporary housing assistance, including how they can continue to receive financial assistance beyond the initial three month period;

• Denied temporary housing assistance to individuals who lived at the same address, but in a separate home as another, unrelated, person who also applied for housing assistance;

• Refused to provide additional temporary housing assistance to families that, because of their size, were entitled to more than the standard amount of housing assistance;

• Required disaster victims to apply for Small Business Administration (“SBA”) loans as a condition for obtaining FEMA temporary housing assistance; and

• Imposed retroactively inconsistent rules regarding funds some victims have already received.

3. There is no excuse for these failures by FEMA, which demand redress and relief. The dimensions of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath were neither unpredictable nor unexpected. Indeed, FEMA itself participated in emergency preparedness drills predicated on a storm of precisely this dimension and magnitude, striking exactly where it hit, and leaving this many people in need of temporary housing.

4. Many more fortunate individuals (some of whom were, themselves, victims of Hurricane Katrina) provided aid to those less fortunate. But extraordinary individual acts of generosity are no substitute for government action; nor are they a defense for government inaction.

5. Our government has shown itself capable, in a short amount of time, of deploying and housing more than one hundred thousand troops, in the arid deserts of Iraq, in an area devoid of electricity, to help the Iraqi people. It was able, virtually overnight, to send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims halfway around the world. No less should be extended to its own people, on their home soil, in the wake of a national disaster.

6. This action, therefore, is brought by 13 named plaintiffs, on their own behalf and on behalf of a class of people similarly situated, seeking an order that FEMA obey the laws put into place to address the problems associated with this kind of tragedy, and provide temporary housing assistance to those victims eligible to receive it. Plaintiffs seek injunctive and declaratory relief, requiring defendants to provide housing assistance to eligible applicants and develop and implement procedures to communicate and implement the statutory relief that victims of Hurricane Katrina are entitled to, including, but not limited to:

• The immediate distribution of temporary housing assistance to all victims who have applied for and are eligible for such assistance;

• The provision of immediate safe housing (trailers or otherwise) for those victims who remain in shelters, tents or makeshift housing;

• The creation of guidelines for registration, eligibility, and receipt of temporary housing assistance that are clear, understandable, and take into account the mental and physical limitations of the applicants, including the elimination of burdensome and complex requirements such as requiring victims to fill out SBA loan applications;

• The creation and/or maintenance of additional disaster recovery centers (“DRCs”) and FEMA’s 800 number, staffed with a sufficient number of employees capable of assisting victims in their efforts to apply for, understand, and obtain FEMA benefits;

• The development and distribution of communication methods to reach victims lacking knowledge of or access to computers or phones;

• The development and distribution of guidelines that clearly detail how to obtain continued financial assistance beyond the initial three month period;

• The development and distribution of guidelines for the granting of adjustments to take into consideration family size and other factors, including pre-Katrina housing arrangements;

• The elimination of unfair, retroactive rules regarding the use of funds already received; and

• The suspension of FEMA’s policy of allowing and/or promoting the eviction of residents from trailer parks and the destruction of their trailers to make room for FEMA trailers.

7. Relief is sought because it appears that, absent judicial oversight, the victimization will continue.

Sheriff Illegally Withholding Records on Orleans Parish Prison, ACLU Lawsuit Charges

ACLU of Louisiana to Testify Before New Orleans City Council on Wednesday

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 10, 2005

BATON ROUGE, LA -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana today filed a lawsuit charging that Orleans Parish Prison officials are violating state law by refusing to turn over public records that would shine light on why prisoners were abandoned when Hurricane Katrina struck.

"The public deserves to know the truth about what really happened inside Orleans Parish Prison," said Joe Cook, Executive Director of the ACLU of Louisiana. "We need to know why Orleans Parish Prison fell into complete chaos while surrounding parishes managed to evacuate guards and prisoners to safety. Only then can we prevent this from happening again."

The ACLU of Louisiana filed public records requests with Sheriff Marlin N. Gusman and other state officials on September 22. After two weeks without a response, the ACLU sent a follow-up letter to Sheriff Gusman on October 5. To this day, Orleans Parish Prison has not provided a single document pursuant to the requests.

Specifically, the ACLU asked for:

• All documents pertaining to any deaths that have occurred on the premises of the prison since August 26, 2005;
• All documents pertaining to the collection of dead bodies from the premises of the prison, and the disposition of those bodies; and
• All documents pertaining to any evacuation plans that were in effect at the prison as of August 26.

The national ACLU, which represents the prisoners under a longstanding class-action lawsuit over prison conditions, filed similar requests under the federal Freedom of Information Act with the U.S. Marshals, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Justice.

According to eyewitness accounts, the Orleans Parish Prison fell into chaos in the five days after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. As the water rose in the prison buildings, deputies deserted en masse, leaving behind prisoners in locked cells. Prisoners broke windows and either leapt out or set fire to pieces of clothing and held them outside the windows to signal to rescuers. The prisoners spent days without power, food or water, some standing in sewage-tainted water up to their chests or necks.

Attorneys from the ACLU of Louisiana will appear before the New Orleans City Council on November 16 to present statements from prisoners who were abandoned at Orleans Parish Prison. The statements were obtained through questionnaires distributed to the prisoners.

The national ACLU filed a separate motion on behalf of the prisoners in September in U.S. District Court, charging that no evacuation plans were in place at the time Katrina struck. The motion cites reports that Sheriff Gusman did not seek state assistance until midnight on August 29, days after other parish prisons had already called for help. On October 19, the judge in that case ordered Sheriff Gusman to provide a copy of the current evacuation plan.

For more information on the federal lawsuit, and copies of the original state and federal public records requests, go to: <http://www.aclu.org/Prisons/Prisons.cfm?ID=19178&c=121> .

By Marsha Joyner

Former President of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Coalition-Hawaii, Marsha Joyner, has name inscribed on the “Wall of Tolerance” at the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama

10-2005

We came in road-weary VW Buses, with backpacks and sleeping bags, willing to sleep on any floor, withstand certain adversity, every abuse and encounter death, to add another face to the struggle for equality and dignity in America during the 1950’s and 60’s. There had been protests against the American evil system of Jim Crow, in the courts and in the streets, but after Montgomery the protests swelled to a collective force.

Now in October 2005, we arrived in Montgomery, Alabama “The Cradle of the Confederacy” on jets, sports sedans and air conditioned SUV’s with matching luggage and stayed at the Embassy Suites, showing evidence of years of wear and tear.

I was moved beyond words to see my name and that of my mother among the 300+ names on the Wall of Tolerance. However, I was more impressed and honored to be with the thousands of allies, veterans of the movement, who were in the crowd and whose names did not appear. Black, white, red, yellow & brown, Uncles & Cousins, Mothers & Sisters, Christian & Jews, Gay & straight; some with walkers and in wheel chairs accompanied by children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, proud to share a moment, that for most, if not all of us, never dreamed would come.

Yes, I had a pittance in the Civil Rights Movement, I was the first “colored girl” to graduate (1956) from an integrated school in Baltimore MD after the Brown vs. BOE (1954), walked many picket lines, participated in sit-in demonstrations, gone to jail for having the audacity to ask to be served a 10 cent hamburger at the White Castle, faced death at the hands of an angry white mob when I had the impudence to attempt to register people to vote and walked the ever moving line of Jim Crow. But today I was in the company of real heroes, people who had practiced non-violence here in the overtly violent south.

It was here in Montgomery that a young Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was selected to lead a congregation and began his march toward fame. Here, he preached nonviolence in the face of Jim Crow. Rosa Parks sat down and refused to get up here, and thousands of unnamed “workers in the vineyard” walked to work for more than a year because of her. The bus boycott started here. Heroes whose names are lost to history took a stand for freedom here. People from Hawaii joined the thousands more who walked in the rain and mud for five days from from Selma to Montgomery, seeking the right to vote.

This magnificent day was the dedication of the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, which includes the Wall of Tolerance. The wall incorporates the names of people who have dedicated themselves to fighting intolerance in their daily lives. Using digital technology to spectacular effect, the names flow down a curved 20 by 40 foot wall. The names on the wall include Civil Rights workers from all fifty states and Japan.

Patiently, we stood in line to touch, to feel, to smell and take pictures of the bus in which Rosa Parks had refused to give up her seat to a white man, as if it were the Holy Grail and to gently touch the waters of the black granite memorial which flow over the names of 40 martyrs who lost their lives during the Civil Rights Movement, a period framed by the momentous Brown v. Board decision in 1954 and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King in 1968.

The memorial sits only a few blocks west of the first capitol of the Confederacy, the spot where Jefferson Davis took the oath of office to become President of the Confederate States. From Court Square, the order was sent in 1861 to "reduce" Fort Sumter, beginning the Civil War. Ninety-four years later, on a December evening, Mrs. Rosa Parks began a historic bus ride from Court Square. East is the Dexter Avenue (King Memorial) Baptist Church, where a young pastor named Martin Luther King, Jr., led the movement Mrs. Parks began.

"Fifty years ago, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat just a few blocks away from where we are today," said Center co-founder Morris Dees in his welcoming remarks. "You've come from throughout the United States to be a part of the march that she started. "The placement of your name on the Wall of Tolerance shows the march for justice continues," he said.

"This event is about honoring heroes," said U. S. Congressman Artur Davis (D-Ala,), who was the dedication's keynote speaker. "It has been the lot of our country that the bravest of us have laid down their lives, some anonymously, some in full view of the world," Davis said. "All share courage and are heroes. That's what we honor today."

He urged everyone to consider "the enduring power of people who are willing to take a stand." Davis continued, “Standing here, five minutes away from where George Wallace declared that men and women could not be equal, there is a new ground rising. There is a new Alabama in sight. There is a new country in sight. But only if we keep believing in each other, in the power of right."

NAACP chairman Julian Bond, greeted with a standing ovation as he was introduced, served as host for the dedication ceremony.

"Each of us is a ripple, and together we are all a mighty stream," said Bond in his closing remark.

Monday, October 24, 2005 sitting in the airport as we said our goodbyes, the overhead TV monitors flashed an alert, “Civil Rights Giant Rosa Parks dies”. We hugged each other, as it seemed she, the woman whose name was on the invitation to the movement, had waited until the conclusion of the tribute to the other unsung heroes to take her final bow.

She left us physically but her legacy will never fade away.

She is at peace!

Marsha Joyner

October 25, 2005

Photos, courtesy of Marsha Joyner:
Marsha Joyner with her son Chris German (L.) and with Cedrick Ashe (R.), standing in front of the bus on which Rosa Parks made history.

Marsha Joyner and Julian Bond at Southern Poverty Law Center

Correction:
First photo is taken in front of a replica of the Cleveland Avenue bus, on which Rosa Parks made history. The original bus is on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit, Michigan. For more information see "The Bus," by Donnie Williams.