‘Justice after Katrina: The people must decide!’

More than 400 Hurricane Katrina survivors and their supporters converged on Anderson United Methodist Church in Jackson, Miss., on Dec. 9 for a one-day conference to help organize a national movement to rebuild the Gulf Coast in the interests of the people, not big business.

The conference was organized by the People’s Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition, founded by Com munity Labor United. Its theme was based on a popular South African anti-apartheid slogan: “Nothing about us without us is for us.” Besides the survivors themselves, anti-war, labor and community activists attended from all parts of the country.

The purpose of this gathering was to put forth a united action plan for Katrina survivors to be able to rebuild their devastated cities and eventually return to their homes.

Small and large group discussions and plenaries were held throughout the day where the Katrina survivors had a platform to express the horrors that they faced immediately after the hurricane destroyed their homes. They described how government agencies and police authorities exploited this natural disaster by separating families and imprisoning youth. They spoke for the tens of thousands of mostly Black survivors who were abandoned, left to try to make it on their own without water, food and other basic necessities. An estimated 300,000 Katrina survivors who once lived in New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast region have been displaced.

Labor, youth and women’s caucus meetings were also held. A youth speak-out on the impact of Katrina had been held the day before at the historically Black college of Jackson State.

At the conference, the Katrina survivors agreed upon a New Orleans “People’s Decla ration.” It includes the following objectives:

“We demand that the local, state and federal governments make conditions possible for our immediate return. This includes the following:

“The [Mayor Ray] Nagin administration must make temporary housing such as apartments, hotel rooms, trailers and public housing developments available for us while we rebuild our homes.

“The government must put an end to price gouging, stop all evictions and make rents affordable.

“Local residents must take the lead in rebuilding our communities and must be hired to do the rebuilding work.

“There must be immediate debt relief for debt associated with this disaster.

“Quality public education and childcare must be provided for our children.

“Quality affordable health care and access to free prescriptions must be provided.

“The government must immediately clean up air, water and soil to make it safe and healthy for people to return home.

“We demand that the government provide funds for all families to be reunited and that the databases of FEMA, Red Cross and any organizations tracking our people be made public.

“We demand accountability for and oversight of the over $50 billion of FEMA funds and the money raised by other organizations, foundations and funds in our name.

“We demand representation on all boards that are making decisions about relief and reconstruction. We also demand that those most affected by Hurricane Katrina be part of every stage of the planning process.

“We demand that no commercial Mardi Gras takes place until the suffering of the people is lifted.

“We are calling for survivors and supporters to participate in a Martin Luther King Jr. weekend 2006 conference and demonstration to make these demands heard!”

The full statement can be found at www.communitylaborunited.net.

Many of these demands were raised the next day, International Human Rights Day, during a march and rally on New Orleans led by the Katrina survivors.