sorry 4 delay
sorry for delay folks...
im in nyc experiencing a rare moment of catch up time!
so ive traveled to nyc with malik to get the word out about the stuff we're doing with common grounds and to raise $. ive taken on a roll of some kind of director of operations with special attention to malik rahim, a man i am getting to know and love.
coming to nyc, i feel a resonant tone to my experience returning to the states from india. the little things like a hot shower, clean surfaces and stocked shelves can create an uncanny paralysis and effectively shut me down for moments at a time. on the other hand i am really encouraged by the support we receive when we tell our stories. expressing the reality of the situation on the ground in new orleans is enough to generate tremendous attention and encouragement. i am trying desperately to keep up with it all. we really really really need help. not just in new orleans but from wherever people are. if anyone wants to get involved or give money pleeeeeez call me. (541.301.3892). areas of need: media and outreach, a national caravan, procurement of supplies, the website, materials, organizational structure, accounting, etc. its a little overwhelming.
so....i have been quite crazy busy, perhaps the most busy of any time in my life~which is saying a lot. some things are slipping through the cracks, and i am concerned that i am missing and forgetting important details.
DONT WORRY GUYS, WE ARE HAVING FUN
at the same time :)~~i am really riding the pace of this experience, especially because i can see the direct effects of my actions. malik spend at least half of our interactions rolling in a loud contagious laughter that heals our post traumatic stress triggers and keeps us on an upswing (and energized enough to keep going). we have created the 9th ward choir, which while this group is pretty damn quirky and rarely rehearses, sings together and lubricates difficult moments. i am finding that music is, of course an amazing social adhesive and that singing can really help people keep moving in the cleanup and process difficult emotions.
this photo is of a new hero of mine, halle. she can make light where there is none :)
her latest project is scavenging abandoned marine batteries and connecting them to homemade generators, then connecting them into an inverter and turing on street lights in new orleans. she also finds people that have returned to a dark neighborhood and hooks them up to have an operational fridge and lights. she is truly a character out of blade runner-creative,resourceful and genius. not to mention a good electrician.
this situation is truly a constant emergency.
not only because the people of new orleans have few other resources besides our small operation to depend on, but also because the state has imposed certain dates that will even worsen the devistating effects of katrina/rita. these dates include the 27th, which will be a day when many evacuation centers will kick out their residents. the city of new orleans, the state of louisiana and of course the federal govt are offering no alternative housing options. whoa. i wonder if folks reading this really understand what that means. it means that basically a whole city-or at least the black community within it-have been kicked out of their homes with no place to go, no resources to help them relocate, and an imposed curfew within their neighborhoods should they attempt to return. whoa.
that's only the most obvious problem i can mention. the situation within the public housing situation is just as bad. for example in algiers (where it didn't flood), residents of massive housing projects are being evicted from their homes for repairs. these families are given neither options for an alternative or the hope that they can ever return. it seems we have won one battle like this with our efforts at forest park (check out commongroundrelief.org for more info). while these illegal evictions are relatively easy to defeat with just a little organizing, there are so few organizers or energy to apply to the situation people quickly lose hope and just want to get the hell out of town.
what people experience once they make it back from their relocation camp is truly a nightmare, and without more help these people will truly leave and never return. it is apartheid by any foreign standards, a corrupt police state and literally a ghost town. sometimes i feel like we are banshees. we experience both realms and thread a needle for the massive weaving of a necessary uprising to counter it.
i have to go so i am going to post this incomplete. love u all..
im in nyc experiencing a rare moment of catch up time!
so ive traveled to nyc with malik to get the word out about the stuff we're doing with common grounds and to raise $. ive taken on a roll of some kind of director of operations with special attention to malik rahim, a man i am getting to know and love.
coming to nyc, i feel a resonant tone to my experience returning to the states from india. the little things like a hot shower, clean surfaces and stocked shelves can create an uncanny paralysis and effectively shut me down for moments at a time. on the other hand i am really encouraged by the support we receive when we tell our stories. expressing the reality of the situation on the ground in new orleans is enough to generate tremendous attention and encouragement. i am trying desperately to keep up with it all. we really really really need help. not just in new orleans but from wherever people are. if anyone wants to get involved or give money pleeeeeez call me. (541.301.3892). areas of need: media and outreach, a national caravan, procurement of supplies, the website, materials, organizational structure, accounting, etc. its a little overwhelming.
so....i have been quite crazy busy, perhaps the most busy of any time in my life~which is saying a lot. some things are slipping through the cracks, and i am concerned that i am missing and forgetting important details.
DONT WORRY GUYS, WE ARE HAVING FUN
at the same time :)~~i am really riding the pace of this experience, especially because i can see the direct effects of my actions. malik spend at least half of our interactions rolling in a loud contagious laughter that heals our post traumatic stress triggers and keeps us on an upswing (and energized enough to keep going). we have created the 9th ward choir, which while this group is pretty damn quirky and rarely rehearses, sings together and lubricates difficult moments. i am finding that music is, of course an amazing social adhesive and that singing can really help people keep moving in the cleanup and process difficult emotions.
this photo is of a new hero of mine, halle. she can make light where there is none :)
her latest project is scavenging abandoned marine batteries and connecting them to homemade generators, then connecting them into an inverter and turing on street lights in new orleans. she also finds people that have returned to a dark neighborhood and hooks them up to have an operational fridge and lights. she is truly a character out of blade runner-creative,resourceful and genius. not to mention a good electrician.
this situation is truly a constant emergency.
not only because the people of new orleans have few other resources besides our small operation to depend on, but also because the state has imposed certain dates that will even worsen the devistating effects of katrina/rita. these dates include the 27th, which will be a day when many evacuation centers will kick out their residents. the city of new orleans, the state of louisiana and of course the federal govt are offering no alternative housing options. whoa. i wonder if folks reading this really understand what that means. it means that basically a whole city-or at least the black community within it-have been kicked out of their homes with no place to go, no resources to help them relocate, and an imposed curfew within their neighborhoods should they attempt to return. whoa.
that's only the most obvious problem i can mention. the situation within the public housing situation is just as bad. for example in algiers (where it didn't flood), residents of massive housing projects are being evicted from their homes for repairs. these families are given neither options for an alternative or the hope that they can ever return. it seems we have won one battle like this with our efforts at forest park (check out commongroundrelief.org for more info). while these illegal evictions are relatively easy to defeat with just a little organizing, there are so few organizers or energy to apply to the situation people quickly lose hope and just want to get the hell out of town.
what people experience once they make it back from their relocation camp is truly a nightmare, and without more help these people will truly leave and never return. it is apartheid by any foreign standards, a corrupt police state and literally a ghost town. sometimes i feel like we are banshees. we experience both realms and thread a needle for the massive weaving of a necessary uprising to counter it.
i have to go so i am going to post this incomplete. love u all..
posted by kerul at 5:29 AM
2 Comments:
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