After Katrina hit, the citizens of the United States (though perhaps not the government) showed amazing generosity in donating billions of dollars to the Red Cross and other organizations. These donations went towards providing food and cloths to Katrina survivors, finding housing and meeting the survivors’ basic survival needs. The generosity of Americans should not be understated, and clearly prevented the catastrophe from being much worse – yet it is becoming increasingly clear that unless systematic changes are made in the way the government is rebuilding New Orleans and other Gulf Coast towns, we will never be able to say that most of the Katrina survivors have “recovered” from the crisis.
First, the federal government, in typical Bush Administration fashion, decided to award no-bid contracts to companies such as Halliburton and Bechtel for the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast. These companies are choosing to bring in many outside groups for construction rather than employing local people. I just spoke with a former New Orleans resident who told me that his friends in the construction industry, who have years of experience doing hurricane repairs, can’t find work. Adding to this absurdity is the fact that, according to a Nov. 11 article on MSNBC.com, the government has still not hired more minority firms for the reconstruction, even after promising to do so several months ago.
Most of the reconstruction efforts thus far have gone towards rebuilding the tourism industries, casinos and oil operations. Whole sections of town have not yet been touched, but the city’s cash cows are starting to thrive again. And after millions of dollars are spent on rebuilding the “pretty” parts of town, one has to wonder how much effort the government will put into helping out the poorer communities comprised of the people who suffered most from the hurricane and the pathetic government response.
So where is the people’s voice in all of this? It has been (at least partially) effectively silenced by the federal government. According to The Washington Post, the federal government is not allowing the contact information for Katrina survivors to be released, oftentimes even to family members. This has made it extremely difficult for survivors to speak with a unified voice. As long as survivors are divided, there is very little hope that they can organize to get their own desires incorporated into the rebuilding plan.
This is why groups like the People’s Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition (PHRF) are so important. The PHRF has been doing a national outreach program to contact and connect Katrina survivors. In addition to providing basic needs for survivors, they are collecting stories and questionnaires from them that will be presented to political leaders. Most importantly, they are forming an oversight coalition made up of the people who were affected most by this tragedy and who can best speak to the needs of the community. By ensuring that survivors empower themselves, the PHRF ensures that the voice of the people will not be ignored.
Curtis Muhammad, one of the founding members of the PHRF, will be visiting St. Louis and Washington University this weekend. Mr. Muhammad is a veteran of the civil rights movement as one of the original members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and has been a community activist in New Orleans for the past 30 years. On Friday at 3 p.m. in the Brown Lounge at the GWB School of Social Work, he is going to be giving a talk detailing the history of inadequate disaster responses in minority communities, including during the aftermath of Katrina. Then, on Saturday, he will introduce a screening of the movie “Freedom Song” based on his life and featuring Danny Glover and a soundtrack from Sweet Honey in the Rock. The screening will take place in Brown 100.
Ensuring that Hurricane Katrina doesn’t destroy the lives of tens of thousands of people will take a long-term commitment from U.S. citizens. Students who are interested in making this commitment should check out one of Mr. Muhammad’s events.
Adam is a graduate student in Arts & Sciences.