Lower 9th Ward Citizens Fight Demolition

[400Years]

I haven't seen this posted yet:


Lower 9th Ward Citizens Fight Demolition in New Orleans
by Randeep Walia

The city of New Orleans is attempting to destroy the homes of residents in the Lower 9th Ward. This is in spite of a temporary moratorium won by social justice groups against the city which blocks attempts to bulldoze the homes of Lower 9th Ward residents. The moratorium, which ends on January 6th, 2006, is being circumvented by the city through the unconstitutional use of eminent domain. Local residents are working alongside Common Ground Collective, a grass-roots organization working for the rights of displaced and neglected victims of Hurricane Katrina, and are protesting the action and calling on citizens everywhere to get involved.
Brandon Darby, Common Ground's 9th Ward Organizer is headlining the project to protect the rights of 9th Ward residents. “These residents are living in shelters across the country. FEMA is cutting them off on February 7th. They have no where to go. The city is trying to violate their constitutional rights and use a twisted interpretation of eminent domain laws to allow developers to grab this land from these communities."

The Lower 9th Ward embodies the heart of a community that evolved from African-American families over many generations, and residents share a devotion and pride in their homes and neighborhoods that is becoming more and more scarce across the country. Unfortunately, the area was also atypical in its neglect from the city.


http://austin.indymedia.org/feature/display/22749/index.php

[sasha031]

1. this is such a disgrace

it's an outrage, the land of corruption. My heart breaks for the people of Nola, :cry:

[BOSSHOG]

2. Katrina destroyed those homes

not the city of New Orleans. The recommended demolition is for safety's sake. If citizens of the lower ninth ward are concerned about their homes and property, why are they scattered across the country? "Constitutional rights???" Please splain somemore! And why is New Orleans filled with people from all over the country cleaning up and fixing up the city while residents are scattered all across the country? Please, help me understand.

[slaveplanet]

22. Let me see If I can sort this out

for you from the view of Darby and Common Ground...

Let's highlight the story of Clothilde Mack 85.

Ms Mack was flown against her will to Tennesee, she was not informed of her destination.
The group home kept tight control over the elderly residents, and Fema thugs came in to make them sign over thier homes for $5000 and an agreement that they would not attempt to return to the NOLA area in any way for a period of 1 year.

Darby got wind of this, secured a motor home and fuel donations, amd attempted to secure the rescue of Ms Mack. When the motor home arrived in Tenn. it was surrounded by armed Fema personnel and the driver had to flee and spend the night in the woods. The group home owner was not willing to free Ms Mack fearing he would lose the Fema reimbursement promised , The reimbursement is related to the number of captives he is able to keep imprisoned and the number of signed agreements he was able to secure for Fema.

Common Ground was able to spotlight the situation and force Fema to relent and release Ms Mack and the donated motor home.

Ms Mack arrives in Nola , her house in the lower 9th is in good condition(as are all the houses in her area), just needs new drywall and bleach treatment, debris removal etc...Common ground is helping her...but

While the streetlights are on...all the power to the individual houses is cut.
Entergy , who contracted with out of state linemen to restore Nola power, made sure power was restored
real quick in the high rent areas , but for some reason Nagin dismissed them and sent them back home when it came time to rehook these areas of contention.

Meanwhile they are Bulldozing perfectly GOOD houses(14000 in the lower 9th are on the chopping block), so Common ground mobilizes and secures leases to some homes and strategicly places volunteers in these homes to stop the bulldozers. They are successful at securing a temporary halt to the Bulldozing. The very next day the Demolition contractor is back at work with a FUCKING WRECKING BALL. Only by placing volunteers between wrecking ball and the homes, were they able to halt the crimes. Contractor claims it says nothing about a wrecking ball...all this leads to this latest 4 month moratorium.

All the MSM was down there and has all this on tape but not one ran the story , every one was spiked.

FEma and Nola relented due to grassroots press and gave ms Mack an expidited $26000 and a promise to restore her electricity, she now has a generator and Common Ground is helping her fix her house, as well as anyone else who want to fix thier house.

There are another 80000 homes on the chopping block in E Nola.

nobody can venture out after nightfall...

[sproutster]

30. GODDAMN them!! I have been following the grassroots stories

It's bullshit what they are doing to the residents down there -- I wish MSM would pick up these stories. :(

[slaveplanet]

44. Ok, I just learned it's even worse than I

thought.

apparently the 4 month moratorium was overturned in a late friday ruling last week.

The stipulation is, the homeowner needs to be contacted first, by phone or mail.
The demolition cannot be halted due to homeowner protest, only physical presence.
The ethnic cleansing is back in motion.

[EFerrari]

3. Thank you for posting this. We have to stay mindful

of the crime being committed against the survivors on the Gulf Coast.

Please visit the Hurricane Survivors Forum.

Link to follow.

Edit: Link here. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=360

:kick:

[BOSSHOG]

4. I'd like to see evidence of a crime.

Inefficient government response - absolutely. Conflicting attempts to solve problems (by people with hearts, not heads in the right place) - yes. But a crime??

[EFerrari]

6. Criminal negligence.

I'm no lawyer.

But, what about encarcerating people for days without food or water in that stadium? I'm too angry to remember the name of the place.

What about neglecting to really search for the dead?

What about picking up bodies and then dumping them again because no one honors dead black people?

What about making the lower ninth a "sundown town" -- if you are black, you can't be there after sundown.


What about all those people who spent Christmas in tent cities because their FEMA trailers were parked in Arkansas?

After seeing and reading all of this, all of it -- and it continues EVERY DAY -- I'm glad I have a husband who I have to attend to BECAUSE HE'S KEEPING ME OUT OF JAIL.

And, I don't even know enough to rat out the insurance companies that are ripping off people right here on this board by saying they are covered for floods but not wind or wind but not floods!

The vulnerable are ALWAYS, always the first to be ripped off, neglected, killed off. We're damn lucky we haven't lost any DUer -- that I know of -- yet.

:rant:

[BOSSHOG]

13. I appreciate your passion teammate

- citizens were in the Super Dome to save them from the flood waters. "Incarcerated?"
- There are probably more dead to be found. What evil force chose not to search for the dead?
- No one honors dead black people? I'll let you handle that one, however black folk who honor their dead may take exception to your inference.
- "Sundown town?" - toxic waste in the streets! No power, no utilities. Its as if the government were attempting to ensure the safety of those who might choose to venture in ?!? Why would anyone need to be there after sundown? FYI - the gubment kept white folk out too.
- Tent cities?!? - There are still residents in LA and MS in tents. If there is a government conspiracy to make it so let me know and this hog will snort the loudest.

- If you wanna kick some insurance company ass, then the gulf coast is ripe for evidence.

[400Years]

14. the only thing they got from the govt. was jack-booted thugs with guns

and now eminent domain and bulldozers

[BOSSHOG]

16. I don't know who the "they" is you refer to

but the "gov't" is passing on hundreds of millions of dollars to relief efforts. Whether it will be spent wisely, I don't know. But I'm sure the officials in charge would appreciate your solution to the houses which now sit in the streets of the lower ninth ward; having been moved from their perches from mother nature and are now blocking any semblance of traffic flow. I guess you would suggest that the residents scattered across the country be consulted about what to do with their homes which are now traffic jams. Would you also suggest that those scattered across the country stay where they are and let someone else contend with issues confronting the city and their neighborhood? Its been almost five months. How much time do we give those who choose to not aid in the recovery effort? Lead me. Guide me. Help me understand. No one loves New Orleans more than I do.

[bettyellen]

39. i love that you ignored post #2 and the fact that, yes people were

treated as prisoners, but you didn't see the rifles and crowd control, the people fenced in pens, or herded on that bridge?
they were forced to leave, forced to stay away, waiting for benefits and a bed very far from home. you are kidding yourself big time if you think they want anyone back in the 9th ward. they only started letting people back in during the day in decemeber. 2-3 weeks later it's demo time, without ANY ATTEMPT at notice.
where are these people supposed to stay when they come back while it gets cleaned up? they know they will have no financial assistance because they moved from wherever the govt shipped them too. the govt should have trailers and jobs for them in the cleanup.
and the gov has not searched houses. at least three people were found last month- all cases where people had called in and were reassured that they had been searched. they believed their loved ones were lost in the system (3,000 are still missing) and they came home to find them rotting in their living rooms. they are wanting to bulldoze property that has never been searched.
you seem to ignore a great part of what an ordeal this was, and continues to be.

[EFerrari]

17. I'll go down the list to the best of my knowledge

but like many people, I guess, at some points I had to "check out" because it was so bad.

The people in the Superdome (is that the name? my brain still won't give it to me) were not allowed to enter or leave at will. They were under what amounted to illegal incarceration. :(

The people were assured that house to house searches would be performed. In reality, many homes were not searched, which is why many families came home only to find one of their kin desicated in the yard, the kitchen, the attic.

Honoring the dead: there was a thread here, maybe close to a week ago, that detailed how one poor cop was instructed to take back the body he had secured back to the site where he found it, dump it unceremoniously right back where he found it. That cop will probably never be the same. But I have to wonder about the whole episode. :cry:

Sundown town: If it were my home, what government would have the right to keep me out? I'm an adult. I can make that choice.

No white district was under the same curfew . . .

As far as the tents: Why is it all this time later and all those parked FEMA trailers later?

I may be going over the top, and I'll cop to that. I just can't see it.

:BossHog:

[Swamp Rat]

8. In OUR case I'd call "inefficient government response" a crime.

From a motel room I watched my friends and neighbors die on TV for 5 DAYS before there was a significant response. The negligence displayed by the federal government constitutes a crime - many people died AFTER the storm was over. Perhaps city and state officials were incompetent too, but federal officials had the logistical support to effectively help our citizens. They just chose NOT to help... and I want to know why they CHOSE not to help, from the horse's mouth.

[EFerrari]

9. Swampy, I can never and will never forget that.

Ever.

Thank God or the Great Cosmic Muffin that you are safe.

:cry:

[Swamp Rat]

12. Oh Great Blueberry Muffin!

How I love to eat thee! ... with a tall glass of milk. :9

[EFerrari]

18. Swampy, when the Big One hits San Francisco,

I want YOU on our side.

:loveya:

[KamaAina]

25. Make mine a chocolate milk!

my new favorite non-alcoholic drink :evilgrin:

[sproutster]

31. I have always considered slavelabor a crime. Do some research on their

"criminal system" and I use that fucking phrase lightly.

[400Years]

5. Your welcome

I don't want to see the character of NO sanitized for developers.

[EFerrari]

7. Sanitized?

I was very lucky in my one weeklong visit to NO. I'm a painter and a writer and I felt like I'd found my other shoe. :) Wandered around just soaking in the MUSIC for hours and hours and hours.

No, I don't know the problems and I never will. But, it was a heart place. And I'll be damned if I agree to burying that heart.

And the whole Gulf Coast is suffering the same abusive treatment.

[400Years]

10. In their minds I think that is how they see it.

Those who want to destroy it, that is.

I always felt like it is a very organic place that you can't replicate.

[EFerrari]

11. Yes. The criminals in chief are always looking to their portfolios

first and to the people, to the culture, never.

[uppityperson]

15. Common Ground Collective weblink

http://www.commongroundrelief.org/
Good people doing really good things. Solidarity, not Charity.

[EFerrari]

19. uppityperson, would you kindly pm mogster with this link

for the KU links page?

tia,
Beth

[uppityperson]

24. done, thanks. nt

[EFerrari]

26. Thank you! n/t

[uppityperson]

32. Welcome to another west coaster who will be in need of help sometime

Got your earthquake kit set? I had my home one a couple yrs ago and now have a car one too. 1-2 weeks food, water, meds at least. Oh yes, and kick for the evening crew.

[EFerrari]

33. My two week kit made the local paper. Meds and all.

We know we're an accident waiting to happen.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/03/DDGQCDVHS31.DTL&hw=Elizabeth+Ferrari&sn=002&sc=332

:kick:

[Jacobin]

20. If you drive through there

you will see that there isn't anything left to save. Houses floated in the middle of streets on top of cars, houses on their sides, 99% of the homes can't be saved and will have to be demolished.

Rebuilding is another issue, but i am worried that simply stopping the bulldozing will halt the progress of rebuilding.

It is an incredibly sad sight to see and pictures cannot capture it.

[BOSSHOG]

21. Extremely sad but extremely true

Stopping the bulldozing will result in what? Please. Anyone. Jump in and explain that plan to me. I want a proponent of the ninth ward to tell me how stopping getting rid of the rubble is a bad thing. I love New Orleans and I love the ninth ward, but maintaining piles of rubble ain't love.

[Jacobin]

23. I understand the denial from an emotional point of view

but, Boss, you've seen it, I've seen it......there is nothing to save. Nada. Zilch. nothingness. Zeroes.

Absofuckinglutely gone.

[EFerrari]

28. Well, property owners and lawful tenants should have

a vote in this process, no?

Or else, it smells of ethnic cleansing. And this country ran outta perfume months ago.

[Jacobin]

34. A say in what?

I've driven through much of the Lower Ninth in the last few weeks. With my son who is a full time home re-hab estimator. 99% of these homes, at the very least, are utterly beyond any possible rehab. Utterly.

There is nothing to say....literally, there. is. nothing. to. say.

It is not salvageable. At. All.

They certainly do and can have a say. But it would be helpful for all concerned if, once they are over the emotional shock, those who are 'saying' say something that is connected at least in part with reality and that makes some sense.

It is really impossible to convey the devastation without seeing it first hand. Pictures do not convey it at all.

[EFerrari]

35. Devastation doesn't supercede property rights. n/t

[uppityperson]

36. But I would say devastation supercedes health and safety of residents

The people who are there are seriously endangered by the fact that it is moldy, death and chemical imbued debris, except there aren't people living there because of the fact that it is moldy, death and chemical imbued debris. A bit away there are people, but some areas are not salvagable and the only way I can see the issue looked at is health and safety of the area. But even then, it is a mess.

[Jacobin]

38. Well, if they really were interested in their property

then they wouldn't stand in the way of bulldozers, because their real estate is worth less with rubble on it than it is without rubble on it.

So the question is, what is their real agenda.

[EFerrari]

42. Their real agenda? Tell you what. You wake up to a

bulldozer in your yard.

What is your real agenda?

[slaveplanet]

40. do you really expect people

to believe that?


99% of the houses lifted up and floated away just like the wizard of Oz...thanks for the laugh

[DanCa]

27. Katrina blow once but , Bush's blow job continues.

Gawd I can't stand what they're doing to these poor people. And I cant stand the fact that the media - who covered the destruction for five days - isn't more aggresively reporting this.

[slaveplanet]

29. The cameras are there

and the reports are on file.

Common Ground believes the stories are being spiked at the highest levels.

[Clara T]

37. Absolute Must Read! About NOLA- "The Day the Music Died"

The day the music died

Sunday January 15, 2006
The Observer

Brandon McGee is a rapper and survivor. His rap name is Shorty Brown Hustle but most people call him B. He is 30, not much over five foot, has a shaved skull and two gold teeth, wears sagging jeans and a hoodie. He never stops talking. The day before Katrina hit New Orleans, B was leaning towards staying put. Few in his world watch TV news or read papers, so he didn't know how serious the situation was. Hurricanes didn't bother him. Almost every season brought a false alarm. Katrina was almost on the doorstep by the time B's mother, who lived outside the city, called and told him to get the hell out. Still he hesitated. His cousin Terence, who lived in New Orleans East, refused to shift. B stopped by his house and tried to talk sense into him. Terence, trying to impress his girlfriend Vonda, chose bravado over reason. They were still arguing at dawn when the power went out and the wind hit.

<snip>

Boats drifted by, ripped loose from their moorings in Lake Pontchartrain. When Terence grabbed a passing rowboat, B told him to wait. There were people in the building who had no way to save themselves: Miss Beulah, an old woman in a wheelchair, whose husband had gone missing; a woman in her thirties with a baby; a 13-year-old boy; and two small children with no parents in sight. Though all were strangers to B, he hauled them into the boat, along with Terence and Vonda, and they paddled with their hands and bits of driftwood out of the apartment complex, across the vast lake where New Orleans East had been.
From time to time, they passed corpses, floating face down or tangled in felled electric wiring. It was mid-afternoon and the only landmark visible above the waters was the overpass of the freeway, a quarter-mile away. Miss Beulah didn't know where she was. She kept grunting and rocking the boat, but the children were calm. None of them cried, not then or the days that followed. When the boat reached the overpass, hundreds were huddled there. No one knew the levees had burst; some thought this was the end of the world. Military vehicles drove past without stopping and helicopters circled overhead. To B, this meant rescue was at hand. He didn't understand why none of the soldiers dropped food or water, but he told Miss Beulah and the kids that everything was under control. Come morning, their troubles would be over.

The next day was molten. Insufferable heat and humidity are par for New Orleans in late August, but this was like nothing B had experienced. There wasn't a whisper of breeze; the skyline was dotted by fires. Stuck on the overpass without water, he felt his tongue and eyeballs swell. People were screaming and crying. Some jumped; others were hauled back. More dead bodies floated by below. The stench was indescribable. National Guardsmen cruised by in motor boats and waved. None offered help or information. 'Looked like we were supposed to die there. That seemed to be the plan,' B says.

When darkness came, he and some others broke into a grocery store and took what they needed: water, snacks, chocolate. Then he sat awake till dawn, making sure no one bothered Miss Beulah or the kids. They had become his responsibility. Next day, a coastguard boat came by and moved them from the overpass to Chef Menteur Highway, a dilapidated stretch of fast-food joints, strip clubs and hot-sheet motels, where there was less flooding. The hurricane had stripped many buildings bare, leaving only twisted metal. B and his flock sat by the roadside outside Skate Country till a man with a towtruck gave them a lift to Capt Sal's, a seafood restaurant, where other escapees had made an encampment. B helped liberate some of the seafood. Though the fish was spoiled, he was too hungry to care. All inhibitions were falling away. There were no rules now. You got by any way you could.

[savemefromdumbya]

41. Bush has moved on - Katrina victims haven't

was bush shown the lower 9th ward

[bettyellen]

43. kick