Katrina survivors, supporters target FEMA

New York news conference, Feb. 7. WW photo: Anne Pruden

National actions were held on Feb. 7 outside of local FEMA offices and temporary housing sites by Katrina survivors and their supporters to protest the latest deadline put forth by FEMA headquarters in Washington D.C. to displace Katrina survivors from temporary housing, in hotels or trailers. Actions were scheduled for New Orleans; Jackson, Miss.; Atlanta; Oakland; Raleigh and Washington, D.C.

In New York, a press conference took place on Feb. 7 on the steps of City Hall denouncing FEMA’s actions (above). Katrina survivors, labor and community activists and Black elected officials participated. This delegation connected the issues at home and abroad with demands such as “Money for Katrina survivors, not war in Iraq.”

The People’s Hurricane Relief Fund put out a statement regarding why the Feb. 7 protest took place. It reads in part:

“These actions are part of a growing number of survivors and support organizations that are working toward a just and equitable recovery and reconstruction of New Orleans and the Gulf South and to demand the right of return and ultimate control over the federal resources necessary to reconstruct their lives and communities.”

—Monica Moorehead