The New Orleans Survivor Council
"We are the members, organizers, participants and supporters of the New Orleans Survivor Council and its organizing committee, the People’s Organizing Committee. Collectively, we have been practicing a ‘bottom-up’ grassroots organizing and decision-making approach to empowering the poor black survivors of the Katrina tragedy. In the wake of this horror, we have been presented with some amazing opportunities for transformation and for testing out this important ‘bottom-up’ approach. We have put the needs and interests of the people first in everything we do. And, even with almost no financial resources, we have been remarkably successful. We have:
- organized public housing residents to re-occupy their homes
- organized former renters to take over blighted houses, repair them and move in their families
- taught the building trades to survivors so they can rebuild their homes and be qualified for skilled employment
- organized low-income homeowners to rebuild their homes, with the help of hundreds of volunteers
- attempted to rebuild schools, churches, clinics, day care centers -- and the levee surrounding the 9th ward
- organized an anti-slavery movement which has challenged unscrupulous contractors and built unity between blacks and immigrants
- begun an international solidarity movement, having just visited Venezuela and received a visit from Venezuelan officials
- begun a leadership training institute to train poor blacks in the skills needed to run and manage their own organizations and to implement large development projects
- organized residents of the concentration camps where
175,000 poor black residents are still living trapped in trailers in more
than 20 locations outside the city . . . "
"We ask you to help us think this through, to offer your insights, your voice, your contacts, and your networks."
To read the more about The New Orleans Survivor Council click here
*****FORWARD THIS ON TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE!!!
WE NEED TO BRING THESE INJUSTICES TO LIGHT*****
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