I feel like someone is trying to give us a hint.

New Orleans is not in the front page of the newspapers anymore.  It is not talked about by the news programs either.  It is not newsworthy anymore.  It's a major shame that the city has not been fully rebuilt.  Many people will never come back to the city that was such an important part of their lives.  The deep social inequalities that plagued New Orleans before the storm are still there.  This situation to me is very sad and also deeply personal because my Dad's family is from Louisiana, and New Orleans is my Dad's favorite city.  As many in the media said when they used to cover New Orleans, the city is now like Atlantis, a forgotten city.

I got my usual email from Amnesty International tonight. They always spark thoughts and feelings. I need to share this one.

These emails are asking members to sign up to host movie-watch parties. A new film titled This is My Home shares the struggle of so many of the displaced public housing residents of the post-Katrina New Orleans.

I got to go to New Orleans in November for the Amnesty Southern Regional Conference and took part with the gawking solidarity tour. It was uncomfortable for more reasons than one. So much of New Orleans is a ghost town...

For many years, people from around the world have been coming to New Orleans to enjoy the music and party. Few stay for much else, and there has been an unfortunate pattern of the college educated citizens leaving for other cities. But post- Katrina, a new phenomenon emerged. Recent college  graduates, plus other young people  who were looking to participate in a meaningful experience began moving to New Orleans. For most people, living in the city had never even crossed their minds. But after the government's failures to respond and rebuild the city, a huge void remained. For many New Orleanians, the prospect of starting over was and still is overwhelming, and  it was clear that, the only way the city would rebuild itself, was if energetic, passionate, idealistic young people mixed with residents of the city to do the work of what the government had failed to accomplish.

They roam the streets of Baghdad and New Orleans without regrad to the law. They enforce and protect with impunity. They die forgotten, the live almost completely unknown, until now. I just finished reading an article on The Nation titled 'Bush's Shadow Army.' Who are they? What do they do? Where do they come from?

So, here I am back from YP4. After a few weeks delay of getting my ish together I'm working towards getting it all done.

As of this second I'm:

Trying to kick off my blue print

Planning a volunteer trip to New Orleans

Trying to start a microfinancing club

and

Trying desperartly hard to get the contact information for Kofi Annan so he can come to my school for a lecture on the situations in Darfur and Northern Uganda.

So...........

Maybe I'm the only one, but does it seem as though some of us in the progressive community are trying to do it all?

I mean if you really think about it the progressive cause champions so many different areas of human rights; and if you're a humanitarian then you probably have an arm (or leg....or any other appendage for that matter) in every pot thats brewing for social change.

So I guess the question is how do we "triangle-arrow-circle" (one time for the YP4 staff) our way to a world in which we don't have to "triangle-arrow-circle" anymore?

This is a call to all those who would like to get involved with YP4's efforts to bring justice to the Gulf Region.  

Fellow Fellow Kamaria Moir has been an incredible force for change on her campus, gathering her classmates to help New Orleans get back on its feet by fundraising and sending volunteers.  I have been busy formalizing my research to add an academic perspective to recovery efforts.  I recently presented my findings at a panel on campus and have written a piece in NYU's Washington Square News: Katrina devastation exposed civic naiveté.

Kamaria and I are looking for fellows who would like to partner with us on this issue, to advocate for the people of New Orleans in a way that IS national and young people-driven.  Please leave a comment, or contact me or Kamaria if you would like to get involved.  We have some very exciting ideas to discuss.

Fred

fred.wong@nyu.edu

Last night, I met a Mike,  Harold Gee and his wife Holly. They are a few of the characters I have encountered in my odyssey through New Orleans, Louisiana. I helped Mike scrape paint off the ceiling of his two properties. Harold and Holly stayed during the big hurricanes of 2005, until they were forced to leave at National Guard gun point. They bribed the guards for about two weeks to let them stay after the storm with fresh coffee and real cream. Ultimately, they evacuated but not before cooking food for the rest of their Bywater community and learned that there was no need to worry about New Orleans' future.

I podcast Harry Shearer's talk radio show Le Show and wanted to share some biting humor from his most recent show:

And finally in the quotes of the week, there is this from President Bush's news conference on Saturday with British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. The President referring to the situation in Lebanon. [President Bush] "We recognize that many Lebanese people have lost their homes. So we'll help rebuild the civilian infrastructure that will allow them to return home safely." Yeah, we recognize that. So people in New Orleans, if you want federal help reconstructing your homes, get Israel to bomb you.

With crime. This is the article folks, "NOPD is set to do battle with an influx of criminals to make the new New Orleans safer."



This article on NOLA.com (everything New Orleans) describes law enforcement's battle with the influx of people returning to the city. This influx which, apparently, also signifies a return to business as usual in Sin City. To be fair, the writer does suggest that law-abiding citizens have not returned in such full force because they continue to wait on job placement, housing, things of the like. But the criminals with their "street sense" have no need of such formalities. The drug trade never sleeps.

The article mentions the sociologist theory, the broken window, that suggests the mere sight of graffitti, litter and abandoned homes invites further disorder which spirals into violent crime. The article even quotes one resident who hopes for another storm to sweep the criminals out of town again. Everyone has the right to live in peace and try to provide for him or herself and his or her family. But here is my question: When will this (and every nation) start asking the sociologists the RIGHT questions?!!!! The WHY's behind the WHO's and WHAT's of crime?!!!

New Orleans' violent crime is, according to police, tied to its drug trade. But who are dealing the drugs there? The people who have lived admidst the graffitti, the trash and abandoned homes since time immemorium. And why do their environments look this way? Because they are poor and self-hating. Why are they poor and self-hating? Because they have been showed time and again by this nation that they are ugly, unwanted and undeserving of what the rest of the population receives. Not everyone who is poor is a criminal. But if you take a tour of the "broken window" effect in any major city in America you will find increased crime. For centuries African-Americans (who constitute the majority of New Orleans residents) and the poor (also the majority in NOLA) have been treated with less dignity than their white counterparts in this country (see slavery, jim crow, present day racism).

Though many blacks have risen above self-hatred and criminality, others have not. And even though the self-images of many black people in America reflect pride in their heritages and cultural backgrounds, that does not mean that the rest of America sees them any differently from the unfortunate part of the community that turns to drugs and crime. Some may still remember as desperate families searched for food and much needed supplies after Hurricane Katrina the media reported that white families "found" while black families "looted".

Even put side by side, facing the same stark reality, the black families could still find no dignity next to their white brothers and sisters. We must change our perceptions, share our resources and stand in solidarity with ALL of America's citizens. If we want to see a lessening of social ills like crime, we must apply ourselves to the task of alleviating the other social ills that gave birth to it, like poverty, inequality in education, employment and housing. The person who commits the crime was created, nurtured, mentored, just like the person who follows the law. But the person who commits the crime has, in this case, a harsher teacher advising him/her on which way to go. Provide consistent opportunity and education then go find a sociologist and watch the broken window be repaired.