Organizing against police abuse, racist injustice

A march across the Crescent City Connection Bridge in Gretna, La., on Nov. 7 demanded accountability from police who had turned away mostly Black evacuees in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The Sept. 10 New York Times reported that police from the suburb of Gretna had been “so fearful” of the evacuees that they blocked their entry to the bridge, going so far as to fire shotguns in the air as the crowd approached. The group of evacuees had been told by New Orleans police to cross that bridge in order to reach rescue buses on the other side.

The Nov. 7 march was called by the Hip Hop Caucus and United Progres sives for Democracy. Announcing the march, the Rev. Lennox Yearwood of the Caucus said, “While we honor the heroic activism of Rosa Parks, we cannot celebrate the end to racism or injustice in this country. ... Instead of meeting people who are sworn to protect and serve us, these citizens met armed vigilantes in one of the most racist encounters ever documented in America.”

The protest was attended by well-known political figures and activists such as Rep. Cynthia McKinney, Curtis Muhammad of Community Labor United and Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women.

Meanwhile, police misconduct in the wake of Hurricane Katrina continues against people in the Gulf Coast. Three medical workers in New Orleans were physically and verbally harassed by New Orleans police on Nov. 10. The three—Greg Griffith, Emily Westerholm and Scott Weinstein—are volunteer workers with the Common Ground Collective who were documenting police harassment outside the Common Ground Free Clinic when police attacked them.

According to a media release from the Collective, Griffith was thrown against a car and told that he would be “shot and his body thrown in the river.” Westerholm was hurled to the ground by the police and Weinstein was verbally abused.

The media release states, “This incident is the culmination of increased daily harassment this week, and are just a few of the examples of abuse that volunteer relief workers have faced over the past two months and that New Orleans residents, especially African Americans, are facing every day.”

The group held a Nov. 11 media conference at the Orleans Parish police station to demand a meeting with the superintendent of police, an immediate end to police harassment and an independent citizen review board for oversight of the New Orleans police.

Solidarity with the survivors of Katrina continues unabated, however. On “Thanks giving” weekend, activists and volunteers will travel to New Orleans from across the country to bring much-needed supplies and to work for a week on cleanup and construction projects.

Common Ground Collective, which is organizing the caravan, said in a statement, “The poor neighborhoods of the city don’t have electricity and are not being cleaned up or repaired, while the French Quarter and other predominantly white areas are relatively clean and quite functional. This seems to be a purposeful effort to keep poor and Black residents from feeling any hope of being able to recreate their lives in New Orleans. ... This effort will aid a necessary mobilization of solidarity meant to challenge the planned gentrification of this community.” For more information, visit www.commongroundrelief.org.

In addition, activists and community organizations are organizing for a set of events on the weekend of International Human Rights Day. On Dec. 9, a conference of Katrina survivors will be held in Jackson, Miss. The next day these survivors will be joined by allies from across the country, who will converge on New Orleans to demand the right of return and justice for Katrina survivors. For more information, visit www.communitylaborunited.net.