Hello friends and family, 12-18-07
Clare Bayard and I have just returned back to Oakland after 2 weeks in
New Orleans. We were there as part of our ongoing Catalyst Project New
Orleans Solidarity Program.
I am so happy to be able to share with you some victories from just
this last week in New Orleans. The struggle to stop the demolition of
4,600 low income public housing units is far from over but the
Coalition to Stop the Demolitions has had some victories this week
that have slowed them down. Hopefully the victories and some more time
will help us build a stronger force for the ongoing struggle for
justice and the right of return of all residents.
Below my email is a letter from the Coalition to Stop the Demolitions,
which lists a bunch of ways national solidarity is needed!
Links to short films from this last week and more:
http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/22079-the-battle-over-new-orleans-
http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/21862-new-orleans-police-attack-
Just this last week in New Orleans…
Monday 12-10-07
Around 75 residents of public housing and allies pack a meeting of the
Housing Conservation Review Committee. This committee was to take a
vote on whether to approve or deny permits for the demolition of the 4
major public housing developments. After hours of residents and allies
speaking, such as the Episcopalian Bishop Charles Jenkins, the
committee took a vote on 3 of the developments. They approved
demolition permits for C. J. Pete and Cooper and denied permits for
Lafitte. They refused to vote on St. Bernard where the majority of
residents in the meeting lived before the storm. We went in thinking
we would lose on all 4, so even getting them to deny demolition
permits for 1 major development was a victory.
A banner made of a large sheet was hung in support of the campaign to
save public housing off the side of Saks Fifth Avenue on Canal St. on
Monday at 5pm reading "We need more affordable housing" and "Stop the
demolitions." The banner was very visible from Canal St, the main
artery through the central business district. It was not taken down
until sometime Tuesday morning.
There were also protest posters that were put up the night before all
over town in support of stopping the bulldozing. There were several
different posters that went up. Unfortunately the media latched on to
the one poster which had messaging that was not coming from the
residents—the declaring "for every unit of public housing bulldozed, a
condo will be destroyed."
That night local organizers and residents of public housing met with
50 people who came in from around the country to participate in the
coming weeks direct actions to stop the bull dozing.
Tuesday 12-11-07
Around 75 people participate in direct action training to prepare for
the coming week of actions.
A call comes in that afternoon that they have started removing the
metal barricades that have been coving the doors and windows of all
the units of Lafitte sense soon after the storm. Lafitte had very
little flooding and the metal barricades have kept residents from
being able to return home or retrieve their belongings. This however
was a sign that they were preparing to move forward with demolition
and Lafitte residents were concerned that their belongings would be
stolen. There was a quick response and we got a dozen of our folks out
as well as a bunch of local media and independent film makers. Work
stopped and within the next two days all the barricades were back up.
This was a show of force that they could not move forward as planned
preparing for demolition. For the rest of the week we had teams doing
24 hour bulldozer watches at Lafitte and St. Bernard developments.
Wednesday 12-12-07
Bulldozing began at Cooper. Residents and allies were mobilized
immediately. With high energy and lots of media people blockaded the
entrance way to Cooper for 4 hours holding out a large wrecking crane
and halting demolition for the rest of the night. That day a number
of people snuck in and occupied Cooper to try and stop it from being
demolished.
Thursday 12-13-07
A couple hundred residents, faith based leaders and allies marched
from city hall to the HUD office in downtown New Orleans, at some
points taking up all 4 lanes of traffic. At HUD there was a show of
force as people attempted to get into the office.
Friday 12-14-07
A major day of victories!
7:30am – With the support of local organizers, 4 allies of public
housing residents (folks involved in the Anti-Racism Work Group and
Catalyst Project) locked themselves together and shut down the Housing
Authority of New Orleans headquarters (HANO). Dressed in pajamas with
bulldozers crossed out on them, Santa hats and bells on their shoes,
they used lock boxes covered with cardboard houses to attach to each
other and block the main entrance into the building. Attached to the
gates behind them was a banner that read "Homes for the Holidays,"
large stockings stuffed with fake money that read "Nagin", "Alphonso
Jackson" and "Vitter," large red bows, and a white Christmas tree.
They, along with a bunch of supporters sang songs calling for a stop
to the demolitions to the tune of Christmas carols. They shut down
the HANO headquarters for over 4 hours, until they were cut out of the
lock boxes and taken to jail. They were released early the next
morning from Orleans Parish Prison with a few misdemeanor charges.
They have lawyers who will be working with them to get the charges
dropped.
10:00 am - Court hearing and ruling calling for an injunction delaying
the demolition of C.J. Pete, Lafitte and St. Bernard. The court ruled
that the city council must vote to approve all demolitions on public
property and that there must be and opening biding process and
contracts for these demolitions. The city council will meet this
Thursday at 10 am to vote on whether to approve the demolitions. We
have to turn up the pressure on them!!! As of a week ago it did not
look like we had a majority on our side. They need to feel the
pressure locally and nationally! This is a really important point of
intervention!
City Council announced it will take this matter up on Thursday
December 20, 2007.
Please contact New Orleans City Council Members and ask them to stop
the demolitions:
Arnie Fielkow - (504) 658-1060 AFielkow@cityofno.com
Jacquelyn Clarkson - (504) 658-1070 JBClarkson@cityofno.com
Stacy Head - (504) 658-1020 SHead@cityofno.com
Shelley Midura - (504) 658-1010 SMidura@cityofno.com
James Carter - (504) 658-1030 JCarter@cityofno.com
Cynthia Hedge-Morrell - (504) 658-1040
Cynthia Willard-Lewis - (504) 658-1050 CWLewis@cityofno.com
Sometime on Friday - There was a federal lawsuit filed by St. Bernard
residents and the AFL-CIO calling for an injunction and halting of
demolition of St. Bernard. The US District Court in Washington DC
ruled in our favor halting the demolition of St. Bernard until
Thursday and transferring the case to NOLA for additional hearings.
Others on the federal level are working against us and trying to get
the motion overturned so we have to keep the pressure on at that level
as well.
Also during that day – There were multiple banner hangs in support of
the campaign to save public housing on freeway overpasses around New
Orleans.
5:00 pm-- There was a well-attended candlelight prayer vigil on
Orleans Avenue at Lafitte housing development. Several ministers,
including Rev. Lois Dejean, Rev. Charles Duplessis, and Rev. Marshall
Truehill led the crowd in prayers, scripture, and song.
7:00pm – U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid sent a letter to President Bush asking that
he immediately stop the demolitions for 60 days to allow a
congressional remedy.
Saturday 12-15-07
The day demolitions were scheduled to begin at C.J. Pete, Lafitte and
St. Bernard. No bulldozers!!! A tent city is erected at St Bernard.
A couple hundred people turn up for a Second Line, brass band and
food. People danced in the streets and the mood was good until the
police started a confrontation and arrested 3 people. People then
moved to the jail and rallied there for the release of those arrested.
2 people were released immediately and the last late that night.
Folks on the ground are fierce and working so hard, under hard
circumstances and intense police surveillance. There has been so much
organizing around opening public housing that has been going on for
the last two years and will continue. I encourage you to show our
folks on the frontlines some love and solidarity. Below is a letter
from the Coalition to Stop the Demolitions that has a bunch of ways
you can support this struggle.
With much love and appreciation,
Ingrid
Ingrid@collectiveliberation.org
Catalyst Project
----------------------------------------
From the Coalition to Stop the Demolitions
The Coalition to Stop the Demolitions would like to thank all of our allies and supporters throughout the United States and the world who came and stood with us in New Orleans or took action on the streets your city, or who called, emailed, or faxed the New Orleans City Council, Mayor Ray Nagin, Senator Vitter, the Senate Banking Committee members, etc. Your support played a pivotal role in helping us attain the victories we accomplished last week in halting the demolition of three of the four major public housing locations in New Orleans.
However, the fight is far from over and we still need your help. Despite our victories in both State and Federal Courts last Friday, we recognize that it is quite possible that we might lose the City Council vote on Thursday, December 20th by a decision of four to three (or perhaps even five to two). We are fairly certain that at least three of the white City Council members are going vote against us, including Jacquelyn Clarkson, Stacy Head, and Shelley Midura. There is a possibility that Arnie Fielkow, the current Council President, might vote in favor or abstain in order to not lose favor with a sector of the Black electorate whom he will need to fulfill his Mayoral aspirations. As for those who may stand with us, there are likely only two members who are solid. These are James Carter and Cynthia Willard-Lewis. The third Black Council member, Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, is definitely a critical swing vote. We need to put pressure on each and every one of these City Council members between now and the 20th (please stress outreach to Internally Displaced Persons in your area and encourage them to call as a priority).
In addition, the Federal lawsuit filed on behalf of the residents of the St. Bernard was transferred from Washington, D.C. to the US District Court – Easter District of Louisiana. Based on his past behavior, we do not expect this judge will do anything to stop the demolitions.
What this means is that by Friday, December 21st we may realistically be engaging in our second wave of mass non-violent civil disobedience action. Should this be the case, we are going to need all of our allies and supporters everywhere to be ready yet again to take decisive action to stop these inhumane demolition orders.
Things we foresee as being critical this week:
1. We need to blitz the City Council of New Orleans and demand
a. That they vote NO to the demolitions, and
b. That they hold a public hearing on the demolitions in the evening so that more working class people can participate. Information on how to contact the City Council is provided below.
2. We need for as many people who can come down to come down to
a. Pack City Council on Thursday, December 20th,
b. Be prepared to engage in non-violent civil disobedience in line with the residents council principles and the coalitions pledge of resistance statement (see www.peopleshurricane.org for both documents). To engage in this initiative you must register with the coalition at action@peopleshurricane.org .
c. We would also like to encourage Black and other oppressed nationality organizers to come down and help us with outreach, base building, and coalition building work over the course of the next several weeks.
3. We need to continue pressuring Senator David Vitter with calls, faxes, and emails demanding that he support Senate Bill 1668 and allow the bill to move from the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee to the Senate for a vote.
4. We need to pressure Senator Mary Landrieu to demand that the Federal government via President George W. Bush and the Justice Department suspend the demolitions until the Federal investigation of Alphonso Jackson is complete.
5. We need to seize these next three days to reframe the struggle to stop the demolition based on the demands of the Coalition (see below). To this end we need everyone to
a. Write letters to the editor for your local news outlets,
b. Blitz the major newsprint, TV, and cable media networks and demand that they cover the issue, and
c. To write articles on the issue based on the Coalitions demands and post them to as many listserves, blogs, and websites as you possibly can.
Finally, we need some resources to carry out this work. Some of the things we need resources for include:
1. The "Stop Da Demolitions" Mixtape made by Sess 4 – 5, Nuthinbutfire Records, and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement for the Coalition the Stop the Demolition. We need $1,400 to produce and print 2,000 CD's for youth outreach and education.
2. We also need resources to help with transportation, food, and accommodations for both residents and volunteers.
3. We need resources the cover the Coalitions cell phone expense.
4. We need resources to cover printings (flyers and posters).
5. Finally, we need resources materials to produce banners and other mobilization props.
Donations can be made out to the Mississippi Disaster Relief Coalition (MDRC) and mailed to P.O. Box 31762 Jackson, MS 39286. Please indicate on your donation "Coalition to Stop Demolitions". All donations are tax-deductible.
Our Demands
I. City Council needs to vote NO on demolition. The Council meeting should be moved to an evening time to accommodate people's schedules and allow a full public hearing on demolition before taking a vote.
II. The mayor needs to meet with the faith leaders who have requested a meeting with him about the housing crisis in the city
III. No Demolitions – reopen the existing units and rebuild dignified housing at former public housing sights.
IV. Guaranteed one-to-one replacement for all public housing residents.
V. All available public housing units should be made available for the homeless and those likely to face homelessness from the pending loss of rent vouchers and trailer recalls.
VI. The Federal government needs to suspend demolition until the investigation of Alphonso Jackson and the contraction process is completed.
VII. Rent Control to provide deeply affordable housing so that all will be able to return to the city.
VIII. Stop the privatization and gentrification of the City.
Resident Principles
I. All Actions should be non-violent.
II. There should be no weapons or drugs at any actions, and no alcohol or drug or weapon possession at any action.
III. No destruction or defacement of resident property.
IV. No coalition meetings without resident knowledge and input.
V. No media without residents or resident knowledge.
VI. Focus on defending public housing and affordable housing in the city for all.
City Council Contact Information
Arnie Fielkow 504.658.1060 afielkow@cityofno.com
Jacquelyn Clarkson 504.658.1070 jbclarkson@cityofno.com
Stacy Head 504.658.1020 shead@cityofno.com
Shelly Midura 504.658.1010 smidura@cityofno.com
James Carter 504.658.1030 jcarter@cityofno.com
Cynthia Hedge-Morrell 504.658.1040 chmorrell@cityofno.com
Cynthia Willard-Lewis 504.658.1050 cwlewis@cityofno.com
Monday, December 17, 2007
