Hold It Steady

A play from Suzan Lori-Parks's 365 Days/365 Plays

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 06:20:10 GMT

February 27
Project Tempest

Daughter: It's raining again. Gale-force winds. The streets are flooded. The bridges are all out. The levees are all gonna break too. Yr doing, Daddy?

Daddy: Yeah.

Daughter: I thought they burned yr book.

Daddy: Never.

Daughter: So yr spelling again.

Daddy: Get down with it, sugar. Daddy's waging war against the Man.

Thunder and lightning. Waves as tall as skyscrapers.
Not far offshore, The-Ones-Who-Stole-the-Election are shipwrecked. They make their way to land as best they can. Meanwhile the levees break in New Orleans and thousands are made homeless. And once again, Daddy thinks of burning his book, cause his storm hit the wrong town.

The process of writing

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 23:26:55 GMT

Wrote this about a month ago, but hadn't had time to edit until now:

I was just talking to my friend Paul the other night about the process of trying to figure out what to write about when I'm working on this blog. Paul has been studying and participating in social justice as well as social service work for a while. He also was in New Orleans to work with the medical clinic back in January of this year. So, we were able to talk about some things in a more in depth way than I've been able to through this blog. I had had a difficult time with writing for the blog and had been wondering if I should change my approach, so it was good to have a conversation with him to have something that contrasts this work I'm doing, here.

I'm going to write about the process of writing itself because I think it might help me to change and clarify the way I've been writing (I'm not sure, but I'm hoping).

Back when I started this blog, I did it because several people had asked me to write about my experience during the trip in November and December. (I had decided to give blogging a try because it's a more reader-friendly format than emails and because it would allow me to write over a span of time without clogging up people's inboxes with multiple emails.) For that first trip, I tailored my writing to the people who had asked me to write. Generally, my audience was people who were not conservative, but not too far on the left, either. I think it would be safe to say that they were all against the war in Iraq and that some of them had been or were active in some type of cause such as community work or environmentalism. But, no one had been involved directly in work related to racism and oppression in the states. So, I took that into consideration when I was writing.

There are some decisions that I've made in forming my personal writing style over the years and there were some decisions I made about this writing project, specifically. There are a lot of guidelines for writing that I learned in school and that I have long since decided not to follow for my personal writing. As a small example, I was taught in a college writing class not to use vague terms such as "some" and "many". It's good for tightening up writing and making a strong statement, but I made a decision not to follow that guideline because I feel it's reflective of a system that values and rewards a lot of aggressive behavior. To me, it indicates a valuation of one type of strength and de-valuation of what is perceived as weakness. I was also taught not to use "I think" or "I feel" in writing, but I choose not to follow that guideline, either, when I'm writing for myself. Again, this guideline feels supportive of a more aggressive style of writing, and I want to support expression in other manners. I actually appreciate when a writer makes the distinction that she or he is about to express a personal opinion. So, when I'm writing for work or writing in a situation where it's important that I get my message across to someone who is going to judge the message by how it's delivered, I follow the guidelines I was taught in school. But, when I write for myself, I write in a way that's more reflective of my values.

When I'm writing, every time I type "some" or "I think" a little flag goes up from the side of my brain that absorbed a college education. Then, the side of my brain that thinks about what I really would rather see in the world comes by and puts the flag down. It's a conscious decision. Maybe that gives you an idea of why it takes so long for me to write. More importantly, I hope it gives you an idea of the way I try to consciously make decisions when I'm writing. By the way, I'm expressing this as a goal, not as a self-evaluation. I do realize there's a difference between setting the intention and meeting it.

Those are a couple of the basic style-related choices I've made for my writing in general. For the writing that I've done for my trips to New Orleans, there have been an additional set of choices to be made.

Writing about New Orleans has been and still is extremely complicated and challenging. For one thing, I'm far from being an expert on the history of the city, the events during the flood, or the recovery efforts. The only things I can write about are my own experience in the work that I participate in, the interactions and conversations that I have with local residents there, and my reflections. I can relay information that I get from others and I can try to find answers for questions that people ask me about specifically. But, I'm not an expert and I try not to write using that tone. I've often witnessed other people taking an expert position and tone, and it's disappointing to me when I discover that their level of expertise doesn't correspond with the tone they've taken. Even in the activist world, it seems like people are unaware that their communication style supports the dominant value system. It also feels like it's more important to demonstrate expertise than it is to demonstrate the process of learning and that doesn't fit with my value system. I can't accept regurgitation of material as expertise and I don't feel that experience always leads to expertise, either. To me, an expert is someone who has a deeper understanding, more insight, or more advanced skills.

I also wanted to make the writing understandable, so in the beginning I tried to focus on writing about what it's like to be a in the middle of a disaster area and how difficult it was just to be in that environment.

Another of the choices I made was not to include stories about conflict between organizations that were doing similar work, conflict within organizations, etc. I chose not to talk about the behind-the-scenes drama and I made that decision because my objective was to draw people into this issue and I know how in-fighting can turn people away from an issue. It's one thing to be part closer to the work and to be able to handle knowledge about the conflict. I think it mostly discourages people who are outside of the work. Things were far from rosy, and I hope I didn't make it look that way. There's a difference between not airing dirty laundry and misrepresenting the situation.

I wanted to draw people into the issue, but at the same time I had chosen not to exploit the residents who had suffered injustices and trauma. I only wanted to tell enough of their stories to get the audience to understand and feel something about this situation. So, while part of the work we did in New Orleans was to talk to the residents, listen to their stories, and learn from them. I didn't feel well-qualified enough to fully handle retelling their stories. I did try to find information about ethics in journalism and talked to a few people who do more writing, but journalists tend to think about ethics in terms of legal responsibility (which "ethical" breeches land you in jail, etc.), not responsibility to the subject. So, I still don't know any more about that than I did when I started this writing project.

A year has passed and I've taken two other trips and had varying experiences. But, I haven't adjusted my writing style and I think my original choices might not fit anymore. Maybe changing some of the decisions I made would make it easier for me to write. This is what I've been turning over in my mind. I've noticed that I make more progress in writing when I've had some time to think about the material before I write. I am definitely never going to be able to write in a way that goes straight from brain to hand. I need a certain amount of time to allow thoughts to form before I can write. This is probably why school was so difficult for me. I could never get through reading assignments like my classmates could. I think it usually took me twice or three times as long as my classmates to complete reading assignments because I was constantly interrupted by thinking about the passage I had just read. I could never just read straight through without thinking. Reading-heavy courses become very difficult for that reason.

The times when we've had three-day weekends, I actually had some time to sit and think, and consequently to actually write a section or two for this blog. If I had a three-day weekend every weekend I would probably make a lot more progress and get a lot more writing done.

Anyway, it's late Sunday afternoon and I have to get back to my chores. If anyone has any advice about writing, please share. Thanks!

Fri. 12/22/06

Sat, 20 Jan 2007 23:57:47 GMT

On Friday, I went to pick up Liz at St. Mary's. She told me that Cindy, a local who had worked with her for quite a while at Plaquemine's Parish, would also meet up with us. We drove over to the ferry and waited for her. I had my favorite meal: gas station fried chicken. Liz had fried fish, which I must admit was even better than my fried chicken. Cindy very thoughtfully showed up with Christmas presents for both of us.

We stopped by the fire station so she could say hello and bring them oranges. The fire department is losing its funding and a great portion of that area will be without its own fire station, which seems dangerous to me because of all of the oil refineries in that area.

We went to visit Miss Ann, who had helped run the community-based distribution center in Phoenix (a town in Plaquemines Parish). Phoenix is a small rural African-American community southeast of New Orleans (past St. Bernard's). There are many ports and bayous. The community in Phoenix has been there for several generations. Many streets are named after the families that built homes there and everyone knows each other. Many people are related either by family or marriage. Because of this closeness, children in the community have more of an opportunity to know the history of their families than children in less stable urban environments have. It's an issue that I learned about while working with non-profits in low-income urban areas. The instability created when the housing become unaffordable puts valuable social networks--networks that are dependent on close physical proximity--at risk. For marginalized people who have less access to resources, it's important to have a strong social network to rely upon. Working in Phoenix, I got to see how having a strong social network affects their lives and their ability to control their own recovery process.

Zion Travelers Baptist Church in Phoenix (a rural town in Plaquemine's Parish). There are several very small churches in Phoenix. This one was next to the site of the community-based distribution center. (Photo from Feb. 2006)

Stoop without a house. Being further into the gulf, the flood picked up many houses in this area and carried them miles away. (Photo from Feb. 2006)

Roots run deep, here. A very old tree on Summers Ln. See parked car for scale. (Photo from Feb. 2006)

Liz had been in Phoenix for a few months, so she got to know a lot of the locals and about their lives. Miss Ann told her what was happening with each family. We also walked around the town and visited Reverend Tyrone Powers and his mother, Aunt Grace. Rev. Tyrone told us that the former distribution center would be turned into a combination tech center and fitness center. Diabetes and heart disease are major health issues in this area.

We also saw the trailers that they had acquired so they could provide lodging for volunteers. They had scheduled volunteers who would be able to help with rebuilding the houses.

Trailers for the volunteers who will assist in rebuilding homes in Phoenix (Plaquemines Parish).

Interior Ahh...a clean bed and a hot shower are a luxury.

Rev. Tyrone is one of the trainers for People's Institute for Survival and Beyond. They conduct workshops called Undoing Racism. I attended the workshop that they attempted to conduct at Common Ground in November of 2005, but the building that we were in was too damaged to hold back the rainstorm that started just before our workshop and we had to cut the workshop short.

Then, we went to visit with Jackie. Jackie and his wife had been back shortly after the flood. Jackie is a very capable fisherman, hunter, and gardener, and he and his wife camped out in a tent when their home was uninhabitable. He had been very generously bringing fresh fish to the volunteers even back in January and February. He is now well into the process of rebuilding his home himself with the help of family members. He has also planted a large and impressive garden and his freezer is filled with the results of his fishing trips.

Jackie describes the process of rebuilding his home to Liz and Cindy.

Jackie's immense garden.

Everyone in Phoenix mentioned the Dan Rather report. Dan Rather had been in the area for a month and broadcasted a special about the recovery effort there. There are plans to produce a follow-up show.

When we finished visiting in Phoenix, we took the ferry over to Belle Chasse, where Cindy lives. Cindy and Liz introduced me to Salvo's, a seafood restaurant, so I could have gulf oysters and crawfish. I had already had so many New Orleans-specific items (gas station fried chicken, beignets, pralines, and meat pies). Cindy had asked me what else was on my list of favorite New Orleans foods and I had told her gulf oysters and crawfish. Gulf oysters are one of the things I miss the most since I've lived on the west coast for more than a decade, now. And, how could I pass up crawfish? I added hush puppies to the meal and one of the real stars of the meal was the boiled garlic that's thrown into the crawfish boil. Mmm...

On the ferry to Belle Chasse. Cindy (L), Liz (R).

We chowed down on oysters and crawfish.

We dropped off Cindy, I drove Liz back to St. Mary's, and I headed back to the blue house.

After dinner, Matthew, Andrea, and I went to the dollar store and bought wrapping paper for the toys that had been donated for Christmas and cookies for the holiday party that would take place on Saturday. Jason, Claire, Matthew, Andrea, and I wrapped presents for the next few hours. Somehow, I way overestimated the amount of wrapping paper that we would need.

Sorry for the delay

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 08:04:27 GMT

I'm hoping to get better soon so I can finish all this writing that I've been wanting to do. I've been sick for days and days and it's knocked me off my feet. Feels like aliens have taken over my body. Will be back soon to post more about my trip.

Status

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 21:56:07 GMT

Yeah, I know I'm being slow. I've been doing some writing, but need some heavy editing. Also, I had to edit the photos that I took (I took a lot more on this trip than I did during the last two). I'm going to work on the captions for the December photos simultaneous to the December blog entries. All of this is probably going to take another week or so to complete (depending on how well I can stay focused), which is probably no fun for people checking this blog.

So, here's a concession. These are photos from my second trip to New Orleans in February 2006.

Condolences

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 21:46:54 GMT

Fallen Hot 8 Brass Band snare drummer.

Tue. 12/19/06 - Thurs. 12/21/06

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 05:09:07 GMT

Ok, I'm feeling a lot better and finally getting back to the blogging.

On Tuesday, December 19, me, Claire, Andrea (Claire's friend from Cincinnati who came to visit), and Richard went to Lizardi St. to finish the gutting by pulling nails. This house was unbelievable. It was an enormous Victorian with 15-ft. ceiling in parts of the house. When we got there, a man walked out who didn't own the house or live there. He was an architect. I thought it was pretty arrogant of him (insensitive at the least) to think that being an architect gave him a right to be wandering around in someone else's home without permission. He was extremely annoying. So annoying that Richard walked away from him in mid-conversation. The architect was upset about the state of things. He wanted to talk, but he didn't want to listen. He was talking "at" us. He felt like nothing could be done to help. I tried a couple of times to let him know about the things he could do to help, but he wasn't listening. So, I walked away from him, too. Eventually, he left.

I understand that the architect probably needed to process his experience. He seemed to be overwhelmed. But, I wasn't going to him process since he had no manners. I hope he found some way to process his emotions and put some effort into the work of getting former Lower 9th Ward residents back to their homes.

Lizardi St. house.

Interior Lizardi St.

Really, really old nails. Richard found the most incredible square nails. They're handmade square nails. That's how old this house is.

Tuesday night, we had a community meeting at a church on St. Claude in the Lower 9th Ward. Patricia Jones, who leads the Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association (NENA) spoke and gave some updates at the meeting. In the middle of the meeting, Mama D stood up and delivered a lengthy tirade. Mama D is a community leader that organized a community-based rebuild effort in another neighborhood (Treme, if I'm not mistaken). She has appeared before congress to speak about the situation in New Orleans. She's outspoken and has a high profile in the activist community. Sometimes, she stays focused on the issues. Other times, she issues vitriolic personal attacks, swearing and misrepresenting things in the process. I feel she raised important points and that her anger is completely justified, but I also think that her strategy in this situation wasn't well-chosen.

I had heard from Claire that she had been very upset with Common Ground over resources that were supposed to be shared with her. Mama D was also upset about her name appearing in association with Common Ground. There are mentions of her on the web in association with Common Ground. She raised legitimate issues and these are things that need to be rectified. But, she was choosing to address this by going through the Lower 9th Ward site (the blue house), which to me is futile because this site doesn't have control over the larger organization. In any case, she is quite capable of scaring the bejesus out of people, especially young, white Common Ground participants, with her speeches. Everyone allowed her to go on for a while. Then, one of the church leaders stood up and pointed out that even though she had legitimate concerns, it was disrespectful for her to come to disrupt the meeting and use profanity in the church. She apologized, which I felt was a very mature thing to do. The church leader said that he expected a response at the next meeting for the issues that she raised. After the meeting, he spoke with her for a long time. I sat in the pew and observed. It appeared to be a heartfelt conversation. Her son introduced me to her and she hugged me and said that she didn't have an issue with the volunteers, but with the way that funds and resources had been handled.

I felt like this occasion was one of less than a handful of times in my life in which I had been happy with the way that conflict had been handled. Mama D has plenty of reason to be angry. I'm sure she's frustrated and angry beyond my comprehension, and surely she has learned from experience that she has to communicate in this way in order to be heard. This is the way things work. It's an unfortunate reality. My friend Morgen once pointed out the rule of whoever is loudest wins. I think this creates a situation in which the most emotionally immature behavior is rewarded. There really isn't much of a choice when we learn that what really works is to be loud and create fear.

But, at the community meeting, I felt like the church expressed that this type of behavior was unacceptable. They didn't go into smackdown mode, as some people are unable to resist doing. They actually did it in a respectful and loving manner. It was an example that I could learn from.

There are things that Common Ground needs to do to improve the organization. There are a lot of difficulties, but it comes down to setting priorities and letting everyone know what they want to work toward and what help they need to get there. I'll try to write more about this later.

Community meeting Patricia Jones, President of NENA, speaks.

On Wednesday, me, Andrea, and Richard went back to Lizardi St. to finish up. A lot of people had arrived at St. Mary's and were out working (I think there were about 20-25 crews that day), which meant that lunch probably wouldn't arrive until very late. So, we decided to make their trip one stop shorter. We went back to the blue house to cook our own lunch. While we were there, someone dropped off a donation of food for the holidays. It was impressive. Some group had batched entire holiday meals in plastic laundry baskets and decorated them with red bows. They even had a frozen turkey in each basket. We had to try to give them away as quickly as possible and put the what was left in some freezers. We weren't going to be able to keep the rats from eating this food. There is a serious rodent issue in the Lower 9th. The rats are everywhere and huge, and they will eat everything that's not in a secure plastic container. We started calling them crats--rats that are as big as cats. Big Al, sometimes called Jamaican Al (a misnomer because he's actually from the Domincan Republic), was very insistent about making sure this donation didn't go to the rats.

Street signs Mac spent days painting hundreds of street signs. These are to be cut and posted. The city still has not replaced street signs that were destroyed during the flood on August 29, 2005.

In the evening, I went to St. Mary's for one of the political education sessions. I had heard that the Monday and Wednesday night sessions focused on anti-racism and that there were longer sessions on Mondays 9am-12pm because they usually take Monday off from gutting work. I brought Al with me and we said hi to Annie. I was thrilled to see Rebecca, whom had I had met during my work with Common Ground in February. She is now the coordinator for the Monday and Wednesday night sessions. Malcolm Suber from People's Hurrican Relief Fund spoke. He gave a lot of information about the history of resistance in New Orleans.

I also ran into Liz, who I had worked with in February in Plaquemine's Parish. She had started the RUBARB Bike Project at St. Mary's. I told her that I really wanted to go back to Plaquemine's to see how things were going. She told me that she had been wanting to go as well, but didn't have a car. I had the rental car, so we agreed to go on Friday.

After that, Al and I went to Port of Call for a burger and a drink. Al is from New Orleans and is part of Common Ground at the Lower 9th site. Most of the returning locals at the Lower 9th site are older and have raised families. I like hearing their stories and sometimes asking for their advice on life.

I should mention that a couple of days after I arrived, someone told me that Al had taught them how to make pralines. I think it might have been Nic, but I can't remember. Pralines are one of the foods that I miss from growing up in Dallas. We used to buy them in the Mexican restaurants. Al didn't have any pecans, so he made them with almonds. It was a real treat to have Al's homemade pralines.

It rained heavily on Thursday, so I ran errands with Andrea. Andrea studied music and makes her living playing cello in an ensemble. She asked me about living in San Francisco and I told her about ways to make it affordable. We made copies of the flier for the holiday party on Saturday and bought food for the Lower 9th site. We also drove Mac to the French Quarter, so we had to (*had* to I tell you) stop for beignets at Cafe Du Monde. Over beignets, Mac and I started a conversation about tension between the African-American community and the Latino community, which I wish we had had more time for. It's an important topic that doesn't get discussed enough.

Beignets Mac and Andrea at Cafe du Monde.

When we got back, I picked up the work of calling homeowners to let them know that Common Ground had finished the gutting work on their house and making the updates to the database. Matthew instructed me to give them the contact info for the Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association (NENA). NENA does case management work, which is the next step for homeowners who want to rebuild. NENA reviews their situation and connects them with the services that they need, which includes everything from completing forms for FEMA funds to accessing medical care.

When I told people that the gutting work had been completed on their houses, they always responded with a lot of thank yous and bless yous. I really felt like we didn't need to be thanked, but it was difficult to communicate that, so I gave people time to express what they wanted to express. I so wanted to say bless you in return, but I felt like it would have been phoney for me to act like a church-goer when I'm not.

That night, Richard and his wife Rebecca brought the vegetarian lasagna that he had been talking about making. It was huge and it was quite tasty. We devoured it. Richard had been a restaurant cook, which everyone who lives in New Orleans seems to have been at one point or another. It was a really nice treat for everyone, especially the vegetarians.

The food situation at the blue house was interesting. Sometimes, we would cook up an institutional-sized can of food. Sometimes, a local would make big pans of delicious food that we could heat up for days (my favorite was the bread pudding).

By Thursday night, I was overdue for laundry and it was Mac's last night. So, we went to Checkpoint Charlie's (a laundromat/bar), which I was dreading because it always sounds like open mic night when I walk by. We put our laundry in and played some foozball (Jason beat me at even though he was only playing with one arm and holding a beer with the other).

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 04:09:07 GMT

On Sunday, I went to pick up Mac from the airport. Everyone was excited about Mac coming back. I heard she spoke several different languages. When I picked her up at the airport, I found out she is a playwright and I just about fell over. Playwrighting is a skill that I am in awe of and is completely mysterious to me. She studied in Austria and speaks fluent German. She lives in Gary, Indiana, and has her own theater company there.

In the afternoon, Nic and I returned to the house on Villere St. and finished pulling nails. Nic is from New York and lives in Alaska. She's quiet and thoughtful. She asks questions and listens. She also works her butt off. She's always the first one to jump to her feet when there's a task to be completed and you have to fight her if you want to do the dishes. She's been at the blue house for 5 weeks. We worked with Richard, a local who had come to work with Common Ground during his winter break. Richard is a techie at NOCCA (a school of the arts in the Upper 9th Ward) who earned the nickname Hookup from me for his ability to generate donations for Common Ground (computers, cots, bottled water, etc.). There was a second line that day and we caught part of that. I think the band's name or the social group's name was Big 9. Also, I saw Kevin, who had been a cook at the Common Ground Thanksgiving Convergence back in November 2005.

In the evening, we stopped at St. Mary's during the nightly meeting so Matthew could pick up items for the holiday party from Vanessa, who had stayed at the blue house for a while. I said hello to Annie, who is from the Bay Area and had been down to work with Common Ground in January. She drove into town this weekend. The evening meeting runs pretty much the same way the morning meetings did back in February. Same procedure, different coordinators. Updates are given and work assignments are made. However, as Matthew says, there's more of a camp atmosphere, now. The house gutting groups have had crew names since the summer. Also, participants who are leaving get a little closure at the evening meeting by saying their goodbyes in the circle.

Po-boy A piece of art that survived at the Villere house.

Many times, people have asked about safety in the 9th Ward. Here at the blue house, several of the women go out on bike rides by themselves in the pitch dark and they haven't had any safety issues. Yes, this area is still mostly unpopulated, but no, there aren't gangs roaming the streets as some people have asked about. Sheesh.

It rained on Monday and I spent the day running errands. I wanted to make use of the car that I had rented. Matthew needed to go to the DMV to get license plates for the car that had been left by one of the former volunteers for Common Ground to use. It took us all day. I had pulled an address off of the website, but the branch had been wiped out by the flood. We tried a second location that we couldn't find. We finally ended up at the branch in Metarie just before it closed, but we got the plates.

We pulled this number at the DMV and thought we were screwed, but they did call our number shortly after.

Monday was Nic's last night and we decided to go to City Park to see the Christmas lights. The festivities continued at Cafe Brazil and then Kajun's.

McKenya at City Park.

And at Kajun's singing into her lipstick with other Common Ground participants.

Landing

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 02:46:10 GMT

This is the first time that I've tried to blog while I'm still in New Orleans and I'm finding that it's hard to shift from getting work done to settling down and reflecting. I've continued to only jot notes for each day. However, we had the day off on Monday for the holiday, so I finally had some time to absorb, digest, process, etc. (my thoughts and experiences, not the Christmas turkey). I'll start with the activities of the first few days.

I left San Francisco on Friday, December 15. My flight to New Orleans stopped in Atlanta where I ate a Krystal burger and watched part of the CNN Hidden Racism program during my layover. When I got into New Orleans, I picked up the rental car and drove eastward. I hit fog as I passed the French Quarter and the fog grew much thicker as I crossed the bridge into the Lower 9th Ward. I found my way to the little blue house on Derbigny and Deslonde (the hub for Common Ground work in the Lower 9th Ward) in a roundabout way. To my surprise, there were working street lights on some of the main streets and the debris that had blocked many of the residential streets had been cleared. But, the street signs that had been destroyed during the flood still had not been replaced, so I couldn't find my turns. I made a left from Claiborne St., drove toward the canal, and then backed up to find the blue house.

Matthew, the current coordinator at the blue house, showed me to the white house across the street from the blue house, which provides lodging for Common Ground volunteers. It had been gutted and some electrical wiring and dry wall had been installed, so it was a step up from the blue-tarped interiors of the Common Ground community center I had stayed in on Pauline St. back in February. There was actually a rug on the floor, some shelving to organize belongings, and a door on the bathroom instead of more blue tarp.

You are getting very foggy. Find the blue house.

Across the street from the blue house.

I had spoken with Matthew before I left for New Orleans and he had given me an update about what's going on with Common Ground's work in the Lower 9th Ward. He had told me that Common Ground was almost caught up with the list of houses to be gutted, which came as a huge surprise to me. The work is almost completed in the Upper 9th Ward, which shifted the focus to the Lower 9th Ward. There are still new applications for gutting assistance being submitted by homeowners who are just returning, but there are still many large groups arriving to work on house gutting, especially over the winter school break. The projection is that the house gutting work in the Lower 9th Ward will be completed in the middle of or late January. The next step of the process is infrastructure and reconstruction. Most people cannot afford to rebuild their homes until they receive government funds and most people have not received those funds.

On Saturday morning, I took a look around. The grounds now consist of the blue house (computer center for the community and an office), a distribution center/tool lending library, a storage house (for distribution overflow), a house for lodging volunteers, a house for lodging returning residents, and a house for food storage and meals. The volunteers staying at the white house were Matthew, Claire, Nic, Jason, and a cat named Moms. Next door in the brick house were hurricane survivors Lewis, Albert, and Al.

The blue house back in February 2005.

The blue house and distribution center, now.

Nic and I made a hardware run (there are two chain stores open in Arabi, now) to buy more hammers and crow bars for the tool lending library. Then, we spent half of the day pulling nails at a house on Villere St. The small crew from L9 mostly spends its time pulling nails and doing the last sweep, which is the last step of the house gutting process that Common Ground handles, now. The decontamination work using EM (Efficient Microbes) hasn't been happening. Back in February, decontamination had been part of CG's work. I don't know what happened, but it is no longer occurring, which I think is unfortunate. I would have liked to have seen this work continue. This was an important opportunity to conduct studies and collect data about the effectiveness of environmentally safe decontamination methods.

The house on Villere St.

Interior on Villere St.

On Saturday night, we went to a women's roller derby. They were having a toy drive and Common Ground was to be one of the outlets for distributing that they collected. The match was held at Mardi Gras World in Algiers (across the river on the west bank), where the Tannenbombers won over the Santa's Little Sleighers 62-56.

You can't see them because they're skating so fast and because of my bad photography. Notice the dangerous lack of railings.

Restoration

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 00:57:13 GMT

It's December and I'm back in New Orleans to work with Common Ground. I never did finish posting the entries for my trip in February. I had a lot to get through during the year. I don't think I'll be posting the entries from that trip. Usually what I do is make notes during the trip and flesh out the entries when I return, and I don't think I'll be able to reconstruct those entries 10 months after the trip.

For those of you checking for postings from this trip, I will see if I can post something soon. If you've been in post-Katrina New Orleans, you're probably familiar with how much processing is required to take in what you experience. Also, I just need more info about the situation in order to put what I experience into a little bit of context.

The Roadtrip, Part II

Wed, 15 Mar 2006 05:27:18 GMT

Whoa, I just had some Trager body work this weekend and my spine feels all crazy. Crazy in a good way, though. I just regained flexibility in a part of my back that's felt stiff for several years. It feels loose and liquid-like, which is a bit of a shock. It's been so long and I've been focusing so much on other areas that I had forgotten what it feels like to have flexibility in that area. It's going to take some getting used to.

I can't describe the Trager method, but it's gentle and it works. If anyone needs that kind of body work, let me know and I'll connect you with Shari, who is from my Tai Chi class. She'll work you over.

Also, if anyone's looking for a really, really good Tui Na (Thai massage) practitioner, contact me for Natasha's info. She's from the Bay to Gulf People's Pipeline group that I'm in.

Ok, enough about body work. Back to blogging about the road trip.

Wednesday night, we drove from Tucson to Austin, which took from about 6pm to about 9am. I think I drove from about 10pm or 11pm to 9am. I should have woken Nomi or JP up at some point, but I wanted to be the one driving through West Texas, through the speed traps. Also, toward the end, I thought we were much closer to Austin than we actually were. We finally got to my brother's house in Round Rock (north of Austin) and crashed hard. We slept until around 3pm, took showers, and then went to have dinner with my brother. I hadn't seen my brother in a few years. He told me that one of our uncles had just died a day or two before because of kidney complications while on a trip to Italy, so we made a brief phone call to my parents after dinner. My parents do not understand what I'm doing in New Orleans. To them, I'm just going on another trip.

I had contacted an evacuee in Austin whose house I worked on in November, and was hoping to meet him while I was there. But, unfortunately I didn't have enough time before we had to head to Louisiana. Nomi, John Paul, and I got coffee at the Spyder House in Austin and drove toward Lake Charles, Louisiana that night.

Me and my brother Why do I look so small? Am I shrinking?

The drive to Lake Charles was taking much less time than Mapquest said and we ended up parking at a rest stop and sleeping for a few hours in the early morning. It was very cold, but we pulled our sleeping bags up over our heads and occassionally I would turn the car on to use the heater.

When we woke up, we drove to Sulphur (outside of Lake Charles) and met up with Monte, who was going to be the new owner of the car we were driving. Mike, who was the previous owner of the car, had referred to Monte as a father figure or mentor and I could see why. Monte is a soulful man with a lot of southern charm. He used to play in the NFL in the 60s. He was a wide receiver. He took us to meet people and see a few places in the small towns in that area. He bought us a tank of gas and some Louisiana delicacies: cracklin's (fried pork skins) and boudins (rice balls dipped in battered and then fried). He also gave us gas money from Mike, who had very generously donated enough to cover the cost of gas for that entire drive. I was bowled over. Monte and I talked a lot on the drive to New Orleans while Nomi and John Paul tried to catch a little more sleep.

I asked him if people from the small town where he was from were really impressed that he had made it all the way to the NFL, but he downplayed that a lot. I thought that someone who had made it to that level would talk a lot about the successes in his life, but he talked more about the people that he was fond of and about the trials he had had in his life. He didn't talk his difficulties in a self-pitying way. He talked about them as if he wanted other people to learn from his lessons. I really liked him for that. Also, he talked about having joined Green Peace because they had supported a community effort to fight pollution in their low-income neighborhood. I hadn't expected to meet anyone from a small town in Louisiana who was a Green Peace member, vehemently anti-Bush, and called golf an elitist sport.

Monte and his family had been evacuated from Lake Charles during one of the storms. They were able to get back to their home "through the back way" when it was still supposed to be off limits.

I drove us directly to the Distribution Center at Common Ground Community Center in the Upper 9th Ward. It was quite a sight.

The Roadtrip, Part I

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 05:54:48 GMT

So, I was all set to spend two days on Greyhound, catching up on the sleep I had missed out on during the month of January. January was Sleep Depravation Month for me. I had all sorts of work that I had to do, so I would often only get about 4-5 hours of sleep. I guess that might be sufficient for other people, but I'm the kind of person that needs all 8 hours. Anyway, about 1 week before I was supposed to leave, I got an email from someone who needed to have a vehicle transported to Lake Charles, LA. I thought it over briefly and decided that it was worth it to drive if I could 1) Pick up and transport a supply donation to Common Ground. 2) Drive volunteers to Common Ground. and 3) Help out the person who needed to have the vehicle transported. So, a ton of phone calls and emails later, I was able to find a couple of passengers for the trip, make rest stop arrangements, pick up the car in the North Bay, and pick up supplies to be donated.

On Sunday, Feb. 5, I picked up John Paul in Twin Peaks. When I showed up, John Paul had his furry hat, his big coat, and goggles on. Very Burning Man. John Paul is a painter. He is from outside of Chicago, but had been living in Los Angeles. John Paul wanted to go back to New Orleans to work on paintings to donate for fundraisers for Common Ground. You can check out his other paintings at http://www.jpmarcelo.com. I was pretty tired, so John Paul drove us the whole way from SF to LA. We had great conversations on the way and we stopped a few times to readjust the supply boxes I had strapped to the top of the car.

In L.A., we met up with John Paul's friends in Venice. We ate at Mao's, where I could get soup for my cold, and hung out at their house. We had a little fun trying to fit the car with the boxes on top under the security gate of the apartment's garage and they taught me how to play an incredibly addictive and bizarre Japanese video game called Katamari. It was weird to be exhausted and to be in L.A. Plus, I had gotten sick before I left on the trip. So, I took a double from the bottle of Vodka that I had bought to bring to New Orleans and I went to bed.

The next morning, I was in a hurry to leave, so I didn't have time to go to the beach, which was only a couple of blocks away. We freed the car with the boxes on top from the garage, went to pick up Nomi in Highland Park, and got on the road to Tucson. Nomi is also a painter is apply to an art school in New York (can't remember the name).

We left the polluted skies of L.A. for the beautiful desert landscape of Joshua Tree National Park. We didn't stop there, but we got some of the scenery on the road.

Tucson was a surprise. I had no idea what to expect. But even arriving at night, I could tell that it was going to be cool. I saw tiny, old art-deco buildings by the railroad tracks. We stayed with Josh, who I had met in New Orleans in December. Their collective permaculture house was filled with lively visitors other than us and we all went to the Surly Wench, a bar on N. Fourth Avenue. Josh and his friends danced in ways that I only do when I'm trying to embarass my friends, and the boys were all in one phase or another of growing moustaches for their Sleazy Valentine Party.

The next morning, one of the chickens got into the house and laid an egg on John Paul. Some really important guy in permaculture came by and talked to Josh for a long time, and Nomi and John Paul talked me into staying in Tucson a little longer so they could go to The Gem Show (The biggest gem show on earth! Weird.) I rode bikes with Josh to The Grill, ate some incredibly good tater tots, picked up supplies, and spent about an hour rearranging, re-tying, and re-tarping the boxes on top of the car (the tarp had tattered in the wind). I also visited the Info Shop set up by the collective that Josh belongs to. I'd love to go back and spend a few non-summer months there.

Nomi, John Paul, and I ate at The Casbah and took off for Austin on an all night drive.

	John Paul sleeps with chickens This one laid an egg on him.
	Nomi and John Paul at The Casbah.

Back from another trip to New Orleans

Thu, 09 Mar 2006 02:54:41 GMT

Hi, everybody.

Since my last posting, I've left for and returned from another trip to New Orleans (February 5-February 25). I spent some more time gutting houses and I'm recuperating from that. There's not a part of my body that's not sore and a lot of my muscles feel like a rubber band that's dried up. So, I'm worn out physically. But, for the second time, I've come back with energy that I didn't expect to come back with. I'm still trying to figure that out. Maybe it's the opportunity that I had to work and talk with local residents. I get a lot out of learning about their lives before the flood and also witnessing their determination to fight for their right to stay in New Orleans. It's important to talk about how difficult the struggle is for them and the injustices that they've suffered, but I think it's also important to learn about their lives before the flood as well. I'll be posting more info about this trip, soon.

For now, you can watch this video in which Nightline shows Common Ground's work in New Orleans.

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/ (Click on "new orleans cleanup".)

Unfortunately, they don't show the local residents who, in addition to working on their own homes, have put tons of work into helping their neighbors.

In the video, you'll see Michelle Shin, who has worked with the East Bay Community Law Center, talking about the Lower 9th Ward. Also, I worked on the first day of house gutting for Bryan Simms, the New Orleans resident who is shown cooking BBQ for the volunteers. (I usually omit names from this blog out of respect for the privacy of hurricane survivors, but his name is used in the video.) He's very determined to stay in New Orleans. I told him that he didn't have to buy food and cook for us, but he insisted. He used to run a restaurant and he cooked the best BBQ chicken I've ever had in my entire life. His dog, who he calls The Miracle Dog, appears in the video, too. She's a mean one, but she stayed in the neighborhood the whole time and survived both Katrina and Rita.

We talked a little about life before the flood and he told me that his mother, who passed away shortly before the flood, was a poet and had been working on publishing a book of poetry before she died. He said that at least one of her poems had been published online. I've looked for her, but can't find her work. If anyone knows a better way to search for it, please let me know. I would love to find it. Her name is Dorothy R. Bailey.

Come to my meeting

Mon, 16 Jan 2006 05:33:20 GMT

Bay to Gulf People's Pipeline
Mobilization to work with Common Ground in New Orleans
Information and Coordination Meeting 1/21/06, 1-3pm

Find out more about Common Ground's projects and how you can travel to New Orleans to participate in solidarity work. Common Ground is a grassroots organization providing immediate aid and long-term solidarity to communities that have historically been under-served and neglected. Help is needed in defending the Lower 9th Ward from the city's bulldozing and redevelopment plans as well as in supporting community work in Houma, Plaquemines Parish, and St. Bernard Parish . Projects include eviction defense, legal defense, housing renovation, food and supply distribution, medical aid, outreach, and bio-remediation.

For more information about Common Ground, please see www.commongroundrelief.org.

For more information about Bay to Gulf People's Pipeline, please email baytogulftrip@riseup.net or call 415-374-7091.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bay to Gulf People's Pipeline
Mobilization
Information and Coordination Meeting
Saturday, January 21
1:00-3:00pm
Center for Political Education
522 Valencia St. (between 16th and 17th St.)
3rd Floor (ring buzzer)
in the Mission, San Francisco

Topics covered:
- Background on Common Ground Collective
- How to get there (trip planning, travel options and costs, fund raising for travel)
- What to expect when you get there (environment, Common Ground projects to plug into)
- Process and next steps

Action!

Fri, 13 Jan 2006 09:55:44 GMT

Did I say I was swamped? I have to go to work in 6 hours and I'm still working on Bay to Gulf mobilization stuff. Here's the thing I'm staying up late to tell you:

There are things you can do to support communities in New Orleans. You can call or email officials and put pressure on them. Go to the Katrina Action Network (http://www.katrinaaction.org/) to email Mayor Nagin and tell him to stop bulldozing the Lower 9th Ward.

People have been talking about organizing campaigns to put pressure on FEMA (they're going to cut off funding for housing on February 7). As soon as I get details, I will post them, here.

Also, we still need a steady stream of people to go to New Orleans and work with Common Ground. I know there's a mixed message out there--that there are some organizations saying no to outsiders. This a topic for long discussion, but I'm just going to make the point that Common Ground is still calling for participation. There is a ton of work to do in solidarity with communities such as the one in the Lower 9th Ward. It's endless. Common Ground is not going to refuse participation. That's one reason I like working with them. Another reason is that they're both taking direction from the community and focusing on getting things done. If you want to go there and work your butt off, you can do exactly that. No bureaucracy. No long meetings. No B.S. Yes, it's chaotic. (It's still a disaster area.) But, a lot of work gets accomplished in that chaos.

We especially need people with vehicles to help get people to New Orleans. Vans, minivans, and wagons are the most useful because you can fit more people and luggage into them. So, please tell everyone you know that there's a need for volunteers and vehicles in New Orleans and that they can contact baytogulftrip@riseup.net to get connected.

If this isn't a call to action, I don't know what is.

Fri, 06 Jan 2006 02:56:20 GMT

Posted on New Orleans Indymedia (http://neworleans.indymedia.org/news/2006/01/6733.php), today.

On Christmas Eve the city announced its plan to begin bulldozing 5,500 homes. Several neighborhood associations, homeowners, and community organizations from the Lower 9th Ward filed to stop the bulldozing and were given a consent decree that will end with a court hearing on January 6, 2006. This morning, January 5, 2006, several residents and community organizations held a press conference to denounce the city's efforts to demolish the 5,500 homes. These community activists were concerned that the court would allow the bulldozing to begin. During the conference, a resident of the Lower 9th Ward called to alert everyone that a work crew had already begun demolition. Those who attended the press conference immediately left for the intersection of Reynes and Galvez streets, where the bulldozing was occurring.

A large group of reporters, concerned residents, lawyers, and activists quickly assembled in front of a work crew that was using machinery to remove someone's home. When pressed, officials claimed that the home was in fact "debris". Local police arrived with officers from the Department of Homeland Security. U.S. Army officers followed shortly.

The activists felt that the federal, state, and local governments should help facilitate the wishes of the local residents, instead of illegally demolishing homes without consent. Common Ground Collective, and the People's Hurricane Relief Fund decided to create teams to patrol the neighborhood to watch for illegal bulldozing.

Eventually, to cheers, the bulldozers left, and City Attorney, Albert Thibodeaux (504-905-8442), assured Tracy Washington, an attorney with the People's Hurricane Relief Fund that the destruction of any homes would cease until after the hearing on January 6th.

Please come to New Orleans if you can. If you cannot, then please call the City Attorney Thibodeaux the City Hotline at 877-286-6431, and the mayor's office: 504-658-4900.

Peace and love,
Common Ground

Army Corps of Engineers paying for bulldozing instead of improving levees

Fri, 06 Jan 2006 02:50:14 GMT

One point I'd like to make is that there's plenty of other work that the city could be focusing on other than bulldozing homes. The city could be picking up trash and debris. Many people have come back, cleaned out their homes, and put their flood-damaged furniture on the curb. But, the city hasn't picked it up. Also, many people have been waiting to be reconnected to electrical power. The city could be conducting electrical inspections to facilitate that. Bulldozing should not be at the top of the list of priorities in the city.

Why is the Army Corps of Engineers paying for bulldozing rather than working on repairing and strengthening the levees? Clearly, this is part of a strategy to prevent Lower 9th Ward residents from returning to and rebuilding their homes.

from http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-22/1136503758251240.xml&storylist=louisiana

New Orleans homeowners worry about city bulldozing homes
1/5/06, 5:24pm CT
By Cain Burdeau
The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Bulldozers will be part of the rebuilding of this city but many black homeowners are worried that their flood- and wind-damaged homes will be demolished without their consent under the sweeping powers of the mayor.

On Thursday, a coalition of Lower Ninth Ward residents, activists and city council members held an emotional protest outside City Hall, blasting Mayor Ray Nagin and his administration for saying the city can raze homes without an owner's consent if the structures pose a public danger.

"The last time I checked, this is still America?" said Oliver Thomas, the city council's president, who joined the protest.

He threatened to stand in front of any bulldozers that would try to crush his family's homes in the Ninth Ward.

"If you're talking about my mamma's house, I can stand in front of it if you're going to tear it down," Thomas said. "You got to be a bad dude if you're going to bulldoze me."

Several speakers at the protest charged that the city's demolition plans unfairly target the Ninth Ward, a predominantly black neighborhood and the worst flooded area in the city.

"I think it's unfair and a conspiracy," said Monique Cook, a speaker and teacher.

City council member Cynthia Willard-Lewis suggested that parts of the city east of the main downtown boulevard are treated differently.

"Canal Street is not the Mason-Dixon line. We are one city, one people," Willard-Lewis said.

The city has come under fire since Greg Meffert, a city official who oversees safety and permits, said two weeks ago that the city has the power to demolish homes without an owner's consent if the structure poses an imminent danger to the public.

Inspectors used a color code as they looked at 128,000 homes and businesses on New Orleans' east bank of the Mississippi River. Red stickers designated that a building was unsafe and may need to be razed.

A lawsuit has been filed to prevent the demolitions and several of the homeowners involved contend that their buildings were mistakenly marked by red tags.

The planned demolitions would be overseen and paid for by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Meffert previously said the city wanted to raze about 2,500 buildings that inspectors found to be too rickety and damaged to allow to stand much longer. He said a second inspection would be conducted to determine if 3,000 other red-tagged buildings should be brought down.

On Thursday, Meffert was given a tongue lashing by council members who called any plan to demolish homes without the consent of owners unconstitutional.

Meffert backpedaled from previous statements, promising to set up a demolition plan that would take into consideration homeowners' wishes and include an appeals process.

"There will be no wholesale demolition of neighborhoods without consent," Meffert said.

But moments later, Nagin maintained that the city can lawfully tear down buildings without the consent of owners if they pose an imminent danger.

In fact, Nagin said that within days the city may remove under 100 homes that were pushed by flood waters into streets. Nagin said the city would try to contact the owners, but that if they cannot be found demolitions would go forward.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, who include community groups and residents, argue that Nagin is overstepping his powers and would violate federal and state laws by carrying out the demolitions.

The city has asked that the suit be moved to federal court and a status conference was scheduled for Friday on that matter, said Bill Quigley, a Loyola University School of Law professor and plaintiffs lawyer.

Quigley said the city needs to clearly state its position on demolitions.

"It is hard for citizens to understand what the city is doing since they haven't publicly supplied any addresses of the houses they intend to demolish or any time period for the demolitions," he said. "Some truthful, honest information would be helpful for everyone."

Damn the torpedos

Mon, 02 Jan 2006 04:28:04 GMT

This was posted by Common Ground, today.

The Lower 9th Project

Common Ground Collective (CGC) announces that it will lease and occupy a building in New Orleans' lower Ninth Ward. This is being done in defiance of the city's attempt to bulldoze that area in response to Hurricane Katrina's damage. In spite of a moratorium on bulldozing structures until January 6th, the City is in violation of its own stipulation, according to Brandon Darby, CGC's Ninth Ward Organizer and Coordinator.

CGC believes that if the residents' properties are confiscated through eminent domain laws, without due process allowed to its owners, it will render private property rights null and void in America. Instead, CGC demands that the city, state, and federal government extend the same courtesy to Ninth Ward residents, as was allowed St. Bernard Parish's property owners; that is FEMA trailers to home owners, while their houses are restored and property cleaned up.

CGC's goals are to:
* Gut, remove mold and debris from the structure it occupies, as well as from surrounding area buildings
* Document on a daily basis, what is occurring in the Ninth Ward
* Stand its ground and not leave, despite developers' attempts to confiscate land and destroy a black community which has lived in the Ninth Ward for generations

CGC has encouraged all good willed citizens to lobby the local, state and federal government to cease and desist the forceful taking of peoples' lands. The organization believes that if this is allowed unchallenged, it will result in the erosion of social justice and private property rights.

Once the cleaning and occupation is complete, CGC plans on calling a press conference.

Bay to Gulf People's Pipeline

Sat, 31 Dec 2005 23:03:26 GMT

Man, I am so happy to be finished with posting the entries from my paper journal in New Orleans. Please come back and visit this site, though. I'm going to continue posting updates on what's happening in New Orleans and what's going on with Bay Area evacuees.

When I got back to San Francisco, I felt a surge of energy. I didn't ball up and cry for two days like I thought I might. Maybe it was because it was ten times easier to get work done when I wasn't in a disaster area and maybe it was because I discovered I could do a lot to support Common Ground's work from home. Or, maybe it was because I could take hot showers, again. :) Anyway, I immediately wanted to reconnect with people who had come back from the caravan earlier. We had a meeting on Thursday, December 8 to figure out how to continue support work from the Bay Area. More people showed up than I had expected and we crammed about 20 people into my little living room.

The group is called Bay to Gulf People's Pipeline and for now we're working on supporting evacuees in the Bay Area as well as in solidarity with Common Ground's work (although not limited to those things). The evacuees are getting screwed by FEMA. They've had extensions in their hotel allowances, but FEMA is not doing anything to help them find permanent housing. They don't know where they're going to be from month to month and that's a very difficult, unstable position to be in. Some want to stay and some want to return. Not knowing whether they'll be staying or going contributes to isolation. If people haven't decided that they're staying, they're less likely to connect with the local community that can provide support. Plus, the culture in the Bay Area isn't as sociable and friendly as the culture in New Orleans. I went to a Christmas party for the evacuees and talked to one of them about that difference in culture.

Anyway, keep checking back. I'll have more info for you, soon.

I wish you all a Happy New Year.

Going back to Cali

Sat, 31 Dec 2005 22:29:19 GMT

Journal entry from Sunday, December 4

Last night was my last night in New Orleans. Sam, Matt, Kerul, Sean, and I went to Cafe Flora for a cup of coffee. It was nice to be in a heated, lighted room, sitting around a table in comfortable chairs, staring at our own hot cups of coffee. All that comfort lulled us into trances and we stayed for a couple of hours. Eventually, Sam, Matt, and I managed to peel ourselves off of our chairs and get down to Donna's Bar and Grill on Rampart St. (http://www.donnasbarandgrill.com/). Nutmeg, one of the Rainbow Family and Common Ground participants, somehow manages to know what's going on in music every night of the week and had told me that there would be a jazz band at Donna's that night.

Donna's is a small, comfortable, unpretentious bar. So small, in fact, that the band that night didn't need amplification. This is my favorite way to experience music--sans amps. Straight from the instrument to my ears. There were less than 10 people in the audience when we got there and we walked in during a quiet moment during which the band contemplated what song it would play next. The band, The New Orleans Jazz Vipers (http://www.jazzvipers.com/), sat in two tight rows of chairs on a small platform facing the audience. If we had chosen to sit at the front table, we would have been almost knee to knee with the musicians. But, we headed straight for the bar, where we received lectures about how to drink from Charlie, the bar's 70 year-old owner. Never ask a 70 year-old bartender to serve you what he likes to drink. Sam and I wound up drinking Scotch and water (I never drink that). She did better than I did. When I asked Charlie if there was any BBQ, he grabbed me by the wrist, walked me to the kitchen, and showed me the water damage in the ceiling right above the cooking area. He wasn't happy about it. I also asked him if any brass bands would be playing at his place in the near future. He said that his brass bands hadn't come back to the area, yet. Bummer.

The Jazz Vipers (what a name) played '30s swing jazz. They had a clarinet, a sax, a violin, a stand-up bass, and a guitar. They played many jazz standards including two of my favorites: "These Foolish Things" and "St. Louis Blues" and all of them played amazing solos. The clarinet and violin solos were my favorites. They even had a guest harmonica player who completely changed my mind about harmonica. I take back all the times I laughed at harmonicas. I had never seen anyone play harmonica like that. The unfortunate thing is that almost all of the musicians that are playing in New Orleans, right now, are playing for tips. There's no cover charge at the bars because they need the business, and while that may be great for audiences, it's bad for musicians. They're way too skilled to be playing for tips. I'm almost embarrassed not to pay cover, so we put our change in the jar.

Today, I caught a shuttle to the airport bright and early. It was a long day of traveling (in exchange for the low fare I got) and I had an adventure in Atlanta during my 5-hour layover. I went wandering around, looking for Little Five Points, but ended up in a different Five Points downtown. I guess the city developed this underground mall there for the Olympics in '96. At first, being in an underground mall freaked me out, especially having come from a disaster area. But, there were lots of people there and people in Atlanta are super friendly, so it turned out ok.

Of all things, I stumbled across the Underground Railroad Quilt Museum, there. (http://www.plantationquilts.com/) It's a museum dedicated to educating people about the efforts that African Americans made in their own struggle for freedom during the time of slavery. There has been a lot of research conducted about the codes sewn into quilts that were often hung outside of homes during that time. Slaves were forbidden from learning how to read and write and also needed to conceal their communication from slave masters. It's a fascinating area that I'm going to try to read more about. I met Teresa Kemp, the director of the museum, talked to her a bit about New Orleans, and bought the book "Hidden in Plain View", which is about her family's work in continuing the quilting tradition and researching and documenting the quilt codes.

Teresa pointed out some information to me about how New Orleans had had the highest amount of land ownership among freed men during the time of slavery. In 1850, there were 650 free black land owners holding $2,354,640 worth of land. The second highest level of ownership in the U.S. that same year lagged far behind: Philadelphia had 71 free black land owners holding $327,000 worth of land. (See http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/history/treme.html and the FAQs on the Quilt Museum website) This land has been passed down through generations and has been a part of why African Americans have had a strong presence in New Orleans. Any attempt to eradicate this community and its culture is an attempt to bring down one of the most historically strong African American communities in the U.S.

On the flight back to SF, I thought, "I'm going to need to curl up into fetal position and cry for a couple of days straight." I can leave the disaster area, but people back in the 9th Ward can't get away. As bad as it is, it's their home. It's hard to leave them knowing how much work there is left to do and how difficult the fight is. I'm hoping to be back in January.

Kickin' back at Cafe Flora Kerul and Sean on break.

DIY + creative problem solving + fast thinking + no complaining = action + aid

Sat, 31 Dec 2005 17:58:46 GMT

Journal entry from Saturday, December 3

Worked another day at the Distribution Center. One thing that I like seeing is people running into their acquaintances and friends as they come to the Distribution Center to pick up food and supplies. I imagine that it's nice for people to see familiar faces. They may not have had a way to call or connect with them. I'd love to see a sitting area set up at the Distribution Center so people can sit for a bit, have a cup of coffee, and catch up with their friends for a bit. Most people are busy and focused on getting back to their houses to do their work, but I'd provide a place where they can connect and provide mutual support.

We had huge bags of Textured Vegetable Protein and someone was nice enough to transfer them to smaller Ziploc bags and write instructions on the bag. I was able to get a few of the locals who were regulars at the Distribution Center to try the TVP. It's a good meat substitute in a situation where no refrigeration is available for meat products. Plus, it's a nice break from the monotony of the canned foods that we have.

A group of about 15 AmeriCorps members showed up at the Distribution Center. They were about college age and all had their AmeriCorps t-shirts (*snicker*) on and, like, matching khaki pants. They picked up some gear and went out to work on house gutting. After work, when they had returned to the center and were working on cleaning their supplies, one of them asked me a lot of questions about what was going on in the city--why the trash hadn't been picked up, why the electricity hadn't been turned on, etc. I was surprised that any of them would have those questions. I worked through the AmeriCorps program for a year and watched a lot of people become confused and frustrated by their experiences. AmeriCorps as a national organization has to retain funding by remaining non-political, so there's no ability to facilitate discussions about racism or other political issues. I got the impression that we were supposed to work as if we could overcome those issues without talking about them. I wasn't very good at keeping my mouth shut around things that we weren't supposed to talk about.

Non-profit work can be extremely frustrating if you care at all about the community that you're serving and about creating real, lasting change for them. Victories are extremely slow and difficult to come by. I think the work can be even more frustrating when people who work in non-profits don't have enough information and education to keep the big picture in mind--if they can't see the impact of globalization and colonization on the communities that their working in. Community work needs to be informed by a certain level of awareness of the forces that are working *against* the benefit of the community. Otherwise, non-profit workers degenerate into blaming the community for their problems, patronizing them, judging them, or not having respect for values in those communities that are different than the dominant culture, and I did witness that a number of times.

Anyway, I told that AmeriCorps member that he was asking the right questions and I suggested that he start by reading New Orleans Indymedia and Left Turn articles.

In contrast to non-profit work, I'm enjoying the almost non-existence of bureaucracy in Common Ground's work. If people want to donate things, we'll take them. There's no paperwork to fill out or approval to get. You just drop it off and we'll handle getting it in the hands of local residents who need it. If people in the neighborhood need things, all they do is sign in before they go into the Distribution Center. No paperwork. No B.S. That kind of stuff just gets in the way of getting aid to the people who need it the most. Common Ground does what it can to get stuff done and that's the right environment for me to work in. It's do it yourself + creative problem solving + being quick to respond to needs + no complaining.

That's the other thing I've loved about working with Common Ground. People work extremely hard. There are very few complainers (no one that I've worked with). Really, there's too much work to be done for anybody to be complaining. It's not about us. It's about the locals. And, it's as much action as talk. I chose to work with Common Ground rather than with other grassroots organizations because Common Ground is the only one providing immediate aid in combination with long-term solidarity. Immediate aid is crucial because people in the 9th Ward are still in survival mode. They're cold, hungry, tired, and isolated. You can't ask people to go to a meeting and ignore the fact that they're hungry and cold, that they haven't gotten the medication that they need, or that they don't have the right safety gear to be gutting their houses. I feel like providing for those essential needs is a key part of being accountable to the community.

Tonight, we had the best vegetarian meal that I had had at Common Ground. I'm not vegetarian, but I was extremely excited to have some vegetables. There were actually 4 vegetarian items. A feast!

Continuation of journal entries

Fri, 30 Dec 2005 06:44:14 GMT

Journal entry from Friday, December 2

On Thursday, the electricity got turned on at the 8th Ward center. It took very little time. A couple of electricians showed up and hooked it up in less than 30 minutes. So, it's entirely possible to deliver electricity to the 8th and 9th Wards. It's infuriating that the electric company won't do it. It's like an organized effort to keep residents from returning. I know that Entergy is in financial trouble, but surely something could be done to boost the effort of restoring electricity *if they wanted to*.

I don't know much about hooking up electricity, but there's electricity running on the main roads powering the street lamps. Maybe it's a matter of connecting the houses to the power in the streets. I've seen cable and phone workers in the area. Why can't they provide electricity? I'm pretty sure it's a conscious decision.

Common Ground is working on a campaign to get the lights turned on in the 9th Ward. Just having lights in the streets at night makes a big difference. It was a huge leap to go from no electricity to electricity. The center was running off of generators. The tech crew was able to get computers and wireless internet running in that situation, which was amazing. But, having the electricity turned on and just being able to turn the lights on instead of using flashlights was a tremendous help.

This morning, I worked on scrubbing the 2x4s at the Community Center. The organizers discovered that it hadn't been properly cleaned. So, they moved everything out of it and we cleaned it out, again. After that, I worked at the 9th Ward Distribution Center, again.

I've been learning a lot from Common Ground. I'm learning that even though FEMA and Red Cross have done things that completely anger me, it's to the benefit of the community for Common Ground to work with individuals in those groups who support their work. It's all about immediate aid for the community. If CGC were to refuse to work with those agencies, it would mean less assistance for the community. At the distribution center, I've watched people from New Orleans who are now working for FEMA and Red Cross drop off supplies for the 9th Ward. I think CGC has been able to provide all the direct services that it has because of this way of working. They deliver immediate aid and that's important for people in the community who are still in crisis. As much as those agencies would never support Common Ground's work, there are individuals within who support it. There have even been instances where the National Guard stepped out of their armored vehicles (something they are forbidden to do) to help with moving furniture and the 5th District police donated jackets for the community. My point is not to let any of these organizations off the hook for their negligence, but to acknowledge that Common Ground is able to get something out of them for the community.

There is so much work to be done, here, and little time for reflecting and feeling the weight of the situation. It's hard to think about the extent of human suffering caused by racism as well as what one writer in Left Turn termed "lethal negligence".

Shot at 10 times while backing up = excessive force = death

Tue, 27 Dec 2005 20:50:05 GMT

From today's New Orleans Indymedia (http://neworleans.indymedia.org/):

Police kill mentally-disabled man on St. Charles Ave.

A man known to the neighborhood around Felicity and St. Charles as a harmless but friendly mentally-disabled individual was shot Monday afternoon by Sixth District New Orleans Police. Witnesses reported at least ten bullet casings on the ground after police opened fire on the man. Although the police spokesman said that the man lunged at a police officer with a knife before he was shot, witnesses all say that the man was backing up when he was shot numerous times by police. Staff at the Burger King nearby say that the victim was a daily customer there, and never hurt or threatened anyone. Onlookers expressed anger at the police for responding with excessive force to the situation, and for taking this man's life unnecessarily. One shouted at police after the incident, "Are your officers not trained to disarm a man with a knife without using lethal force?"

Sixth District officers are already under fire for their excessive behavior in several incidents, including harassment of relief volunteers and unlawful search of peoples' homes. This incident calls into question the legitimacy of a police force known both historically and recently for corruption and brutality.

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Compare the Indymedia report with the article from Associate Press reporter Brett Martel for the "Times-Picayune" at http://www.nola.com/newsflash/topstories/index.ssf?/base/national-0/1135703051303750.xml&storylist=, which doesn't report the fact that the man who was killed was mentally-disabled, nor that he was a regular and known to be harmless by people in the neighborhood.

At least "Times-Picayune" staff writer Bruce Nolan bothered to get more details: http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/11356666858850.xml

We're not talking about disarming a man with a big bowie knife, here. The man was holding a three-inch knife. Disarming a man with a three-inch knife does not require lethal force. The man is dead.

The least you could do is read about it

Tue, 27 Dec 2005 10:04:10 GMT

Ok, y'all asked for more info, so here it is. These are links to info clearing houses, articles, and organizations.

Reconstruction Watch, a project of the 35 year-old Institute for Southern Studies: http://www.reconstructionwatch.org/

Justice for New Orleans website, info clearing house: http://www.justiceforneworleans.org/

Katrina Information Network. See left column for news articles: http://www.katrinaaction.org/

From the National Black Programming Consortium, an article comparing the rebuilding of St. Bernard's Parish and the Lower 9th Ward: http://www.nbpc.tv/video/index.php?view=8p

From The Bay View (National Black Newspaper based in San Francisco), an early article (10/19/05) about Common Ground's work: http://www.sfbayview.com/neworleans/solidarity101905.shtml

Also from The Bay View, an article from 12/07/05 covering the Bay Area Thanksgiving Caravan for Relief: http://www.sfbayview.com/120705/neworleansnow120705.shtml (You can find numerous articles about New Orleans on the Bay View website. They were the first media outlet to cover Common Ground.)

From Democracy Now, an article (12/9/05) about the numbers for how many people died as a result of Hurricane Katrina: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/09/1444207

New Orleans daily The Times-Picayune: http://www.nola.com. 12/24/05 article re: City's plans to demolish at least half of Lower 9th Ward: http://www.nola.com/search/index.ssf?/base/library-92/1135407983116580.xml?nola

From Critical Resistance, an organization working to end the Prison Industrial Complex, an amnesty campaign for Katrina survivors: http://www.criticalresistance.org/katrina/

New Orleans Housing Emergency Action Team: http://www.no-heat.org/

New Orleans Legal Action Workers: http://www.no-law.org/

Backstreet Cultural Museum, which I came across because the Second Line we followed stopped there for a while: http://www.neworleansonline.com/museumscom/multiculturalmuseums/backstreet.html
http://www.backstreetculturalmuseum.org/

Listen...

Tue, 27 Dec 2005 08:21:14 GMT

I'm taking another break to recommend that you get your tickets for Rebirth Brass Band ASAP. They're from New Orleans and have been playing and touring all over the world since 1983. They'll be playing in San Francisco:

Rebirth Brass Band
Friday and Saturday, January 27 & 28, 2006
The Independent
628 Divisadero St. (btwn Hayes and Grove)
San Francisco, 415-771-1421
$20

I'm probably going to be in New Orleans by 1/27, but don't worry about me. I plan to catch the New Birth Brass Band in Houston on my way there. They're red hot and they've got a lot of jazz and hip hop flavor. You can buy their CD or hear full versions of their songs on their website at http://www.newbirthbrass.com.

Rebirth Brass Band You can read more about them and listen to their music at http://www.rebirthbrassband.com. Buy tickets online at http://www.theindependentsf.com.

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New Birth Brass Band Get hooked on their music and buy their CD at http://www.newbirthbrass.com

Also, remember that I'm coordinating the January mobilization of the Bay to Gulf People's Pipeline. (I'll probably be coordinating into February as well.) Here's the next info/coordination session:

Bay to Gulf People's Pipeline
January Mobilization
Information and Coordination Meeting
Thursday, December 29
6:30-8:30pm
Green Party Headquarters
1028-A Howard St. (between 6th and 7th St., SoMa, San Francisco)

Topics covered:
- Brief background on Common Ground
- How to get there (trip planning, travel options and costs, fund raising for travel)
- What to expect when you get there (environment, Common Ground projects to plug into)
- Process and next steps

baytogulftrip@riseup.net
415-575-5545