on the move to the gulf coast

friends on the road

2005-12-02T09:13:00.000-08:00

so i hear that some three dozen or so of you all are on your way here...
wonderful news.
things here have been extremely busy, especially between november 15 to the 27, when most of our roadtrip for relief folks left.
our lives are tranformed each day here, marked forever different by the consistent and remarkable momentum pulling our efforts forward.
malik asked me to france with him. i decided instead to stay here and focus; to hopefully keep plugging away at the many projects i am bottom-lining.
the roadtrip for relief was amazing. we had 291 folks who registered, at least that's what i think i remember. i am unsure how many folks didn't register.
my point: we made our goal of getting about 300 folks in 3 weeks of organizing. 300 folks that traveled from all corners of the us, and even internationally to give it up for the people of new orleans. these are people who really need all of our help.
unfortunately the internet connection we have here at our new media center is a little slow so i can't post any images right now.
i will post soon, though. thanks to everyone who called and wrote, i really appreciate your words and gestures.
so we now have a women's center. i am so proud of the very young and inspired women who are organizing this center, its the only women's space available in new orleans at this time.
we have a media center, and our radio station is up and running again thanks to the amazing jenka and crew. we are redoing our entire website this week, and i am starting a newspaper that will be published before xmas.
i am also coordinating the roadtrip for relief effort, here and in houma.
two amazing comrades pauly and suncere have formed a permanent center in houma now. to illustrate the need down there, they told me the day before yesterday 176 families (averaging 6 per) came in to sign up for services and receive free food and water. this is in a very rural area, so these numbers are not just shocking they illustrate serious need. these are people who have so much dignity, and have already taken over most of the volunteer positions at the distribution center. this effort may be the first time that all of the many cultures that live around houma have ever created a center like this, that services everyone in the community. many of the families asking for help from their neighbors are living in their homes with holes in the floors and ceilings, as well as black mold covering the walls.
the waves of overwhelming sensations between grief and inspiration take a toll on the human body and psyche. its great and terrible and fun and super dark, like underwater caves of horror.
so here in new orleans, the scene is really nearly the same as my last entry.
still the city has turned on only a very small percentage of power, as people still have not returned, or had an opportunity to clean out and rewire their houses. we are putting a call out for solar panels, inverters, and the like, to get people light at least, and to get the dirty generators turned off!
the other peice of the story of new orleans is about the police and military, who continue to make their presence known by driving around with their lights on, buzzing people with their sirens, and then speeding off. people continue to be beaten and arrested because they are outside during the dark hours. its pretty intense to see what is really going on down here, versus what can be read in the press, (even the independent press). its a huge lesson for me, much like international war correspondence i suppose.
(except if your in a warzone, i suppose you expect these things a little more than when in a disaster area within the us).
much of the guard has left, leaving the louisiana state guard here. these guys work with the nopd to enforce nopd operations. previously the guard was offering some protection to residents, activists like myself, and relief volunteers from corrupt nopd officers. now we have louisiana guard dudes act like cops with bigger guns with some exceptions(much bigger guns).
everyday fighter jets, black hawk helicoptors and other strange flying objects cruise the sky above the urban destruction zone. their presence is especially clear when you have to pause your conversation because we literally cannot hear each other speaking from the loud, low flying jets.
otherwise, my love life is boring. i am making amazing friends, and building relationships that will surely last my lifetime.
i still don't know if i can make it back for the holidays. i want to come to christmas with my fam, and hike the trail to pico blanco, we shall see if that is possible.
i am also supposed to organize some international travel for us in the coming months. more on that later.
well this is literally all the time i can spare for the moment.
i will attempt to get some more thought out text and attach some images in the coming days for folks. no time to edit, so please excuse redundancies or typos. :)
love to you all k

news from the occupied gulf

2005-11-06T05:43:00.000-08:00

so this morning i woke up feeling a clarity that i would take some hours off.
the news here in new orleans remains largely the same:
still no power to huge areas of the city
still humvees and blackhawk helicopters showing their wrath and the individual compassion of humans
still the heat that moistens each moment
still the corruption that drives our work.
still hungery mothers coming for free water and food.
still boats on the roofs.
still very few businesses opened *although the po-boy shop in the neighborhood finally re-opened, thank god!
the city is making some attempts at cleaning up garbage, at least around the areas we bring the press into. (interesting tactic, more media, cleaner streets)

i miss my family and community--you all

the scene here in our little microcosm has developed into deep friendships,
having said that i realize just how lucky i've been with my relationships.
the roadtrip for relief arrives in a little more than two weeks, which is great and exciting and totally overwhelming.

i am working on a few really exciting, longer term projects, including getting together with Sr. Chavez and his folks from Venezuela, to ask for international aid for America's poor (since our government doesn't seem to care).

the projects brandon has started in the 9th ward are really amazing, and this week after a daunting task of creating a common ground media machine, we are beginning to get press that announces our work in our own words.

brandon's a dangerous, courageous and creative friend who i imagine i will work with for my remaining time on the planet. he's as motivated as anyone ive ever met and radically charismatic while responsible. i love him.

i am working also with lisa fithian, who has amazing oganizational skills and magical knowledge that keeps us in line. her clarity and tools are a godsend in this situation.

one more i must mention: i now work with an amazing man named coné who has been working on issues relating to africans for many decades. i am lucky enough to work on making media work for us, with him. he and i are also starting a newspaper, which we hope to offer as a supplement to black newspapers and progressive publications across the us, as well as distributing here. wow i even have a funded budget to get it off the ground.

last night we had a long meeting, where everyone involved gave a report of what they are working on.

we've got some cool shit going on, its kind of unbelievable. beyond our ninth ward community distro center and their 28 programs, we have this amazing fight going on against evictions, an incredible medical clinic and mobile clinics that travel to 5 different locations every week, a radio station that is getting a whole studio and license, a legal team, and now we are starting this freedom school project and video project. that's not even half of our projects!

my job is largely to get all these projects funded and supported, bottom-line the caravan, be a conduit for communication to malik, and now create a newspaper. i also update the website, answer hundreds of emails, write grants and get us funding from people around the world and make decisions on whowhatwhenwhere. wanna come help? we could use it...

the work has encompassed me so much that when i tried to hang out with a beautiful man from the lower ninth ward named josef, he told me i needed to find someone else because i wasn't able to be involved in anything except common ground. that's difficult.

so there's my short update, its not very organized but at least its a little something. call me at 504.339-5885 if you want to talk. i would love to get a call from somebody at home: any time.
love and solidarity

sorry 4 delay

2005-10-22T05:29:00.000-07:00

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..

checkin in

2005-10-11T11:54:00.000-07:00

wow busy times guys
sorry i havent been more diligent in getting these regular postings up.
the pic above is from shrimper's row, where we've been going house to house assessing the need and offering some material aid. we are literally offering skills and resources so people can help their own communities recover from the storm and flooding.ill put some images up cuz i dont have time to write just now

things keep on a movin

2005-10-04T17:10:00.000-07:00

hey yall. thx for the emails of support. oh i have a weird look on my face in that pic cuz when i jumped up on the sherrif's blockade to get a photo the national guard soldiers jumped up with their guns pointed at me...geez...sensitive.
okay justin arrived today (a friend of river's for those who know) has assisted the collective in creating a bird list so far we have a very very small list but i thought i would give put it out there for all yall.
we've seen (today)

northern mockingbird
great egrit
american crow
mourning dove
red shouldered hawk
coopers hawk
blue jay
rock dove (newly named pigeon)
carolina chickadee
house sparrow
laughing gull
euro starling
black vulture

not much yet but a good start.

things here at common ground are moving right along. we were informed last night by the nola pd that they will be more strictly enforcing the curfew. hmmmmm any ideas how to deal with that? legal recourse? i know that they are taking those arrested to the greyhound station downtown, i wonder if we could challenge the constitutionality?
just a thought.
went into new orleans yesterday. i visisted momma d and her community, the food not bombs center and the toxic art project.
the art project photos ill post so you all can look at them. i am starting to understand the picture of how katrina happened here in new orleans, and when the water flowed in. one man, merk from momma d's said that he heard them blow up the levy, others say that there was a synchronistic explosion in the same region of the city.
merk and others like him who never left new orleans have some really crazy stories, of which i will publish in good time with their permission. prayers to this merk, he still doesn't know if his children are safe.

going into the lower ninth ward whoa. more later on that~im still trying to process what i saw. not to mention the conversations with the post-traumatic stressed out and confused law enforcement. geez those guys need to take a break.maybe they should just call it quits now and let the people rule themselves. hmmm

so we're about to launch a real live media campaign that will probably put our little community center and clinic on the map a bit more. for better and worse, we need to get the word out. i am realizing the impact of the services we are offering~and how much help we will need to really make this thing fly. the 40' green tortiose bus arrived today full of natural foods to distribute to the community, as well as maybe 10 other small uhauls and random visitors with donations.

i am REALLY struggling with the amount of waste generated from our relief efforts and dont know where to start to make change in this area. weve got terrible black mold and terrible chlorine bleach. damn. so much bleach and other chemicals in power sprayers and often just dumped by the gallon into the gutters. that is (obviously) only the smallest example of these problems, what the hell are we going to do with all of the aftermath of the cleanup?

we have the skills and the intention, but it is literally impossible to make responsible, ethical decisions with regards to wasting plastic and not using chemicals. wow. dont know exactly what to do. starhawk is coming on the scene for a few maybe she will have some ideas.

a bit of a sad day brightness on the horizon

2005-10-02T08:07:00.000-07:00

hey yall
hope u are waking to a bright sunday morning on this day of october 2...
these last days have been making a lasting impression on my perceptions of reality, and keeping me extremely busy.

for the last few days i have been working on distributing stuff into an area south and a little west of new orleans--in the deep bayou. these areas have been harder hit by rita than katrina, in the form of mass flooding and resulting isolation from basic services. our relief has been the only support these folks have received so far. no fema, no red cross, not even the national guard or army corps have dropped mre's (weird prepared food packets) or drinking water. seriously folks, we in our humble efforts are in many cases the ONLY source of drinking water, food, baby supplies, and cleaning supplies these folks have. some of the homes in this area are still flooded as high as 8 feet. whoa. reality check.

so here in the city it is truly a militarized zone. the national guard, the army corp (under different command than ng), the nola police (whoa, some haven't been paid in a month, really unpredictable but getting better), the malitias of self appointed enforcers, the sherrifs (carrying around rifles and positioned at most intersections), the state police (dont know what they are doing here), blm rangers, forest service law enforcement, homeland security in all of its many forms, etc.
the curfew is selectively enforced but strictly prohibits people from being out walking on the street from 6 pm to 8 am. the ranking nola police said that the curfew and martial law emergency status would be in place indefinately. he also said (in response to my question at a surreal community meeting) that the reasons for the curfew were too many to discuss, and i would not be part of any kind of decision making in this regard.
its pretty intense, but we dont really have time to trip on the related fears and details...not to mention we have better rhythem and a better sense of humor than these guys.

so although my days here have been amazing and inspiring, ive been battling a bit of the ole depression over the situation in general here political, economic, ecological, social, spiritual. also last night on our way home from our drop offs in houma our convoy were the first to arrive on scene to an extremely intense and fatal motorcycle crash. lucky for us and for the single survivor, the next vehicles to arrive on the bloody scene were paramedics, who were able to transport a young woman to a nearby hospital and alert oncoming traffic with their sirens and flashing lights. unfortunately i held the only flash light, so i lead the paramedics to the gruesome sight of a dismembered corpse. my form of dealing with this situation is to simply recognize the significance of the experience and allow it to be there, without taking too much responsibility or distancing myself too much from the emotional trauma the sight can create. i think our crew of two trucks, the rv and the support van have all had opportunities to communicate their feelings about the experience.

anyway folks, ill give you more updates as time allows. lots of love from the deep south...

kerul

day 2 at common ground

2005-09-29T13:08:00.000-07:00

we made it through our arduous journey...ive spent the last 28 hours getting oriented and setting up accessable technology for those involved in the effort here.

finally we arrived in algiers, the west bank of the mississippi river, the heart of voodoo and the spirit of africa in new orleans. this place has such solid foundation for community and i am humbled by my accelerated education.

huh where to start...the common ground collective community center been established for several weeks now. peter and i have plugged in and are super busy already. last time i saw peter he was calibrating some medical equipment at the clinic after unpacking thousands of pounds of supplies off a huge delivery. ive been in continous meetings about media strategy and distribution routes/priorities for the region.
(http://www.commongroundrelief.org/)

im impressed with the level of organization and friendly demeaner of the folks who have come from all corners of the US to help, not to mention the people of algiers who are returning in huge numbers to a community with scarce operational stores, and no gas stations, or any infrastructure for that matter. we are distributing to hundreds locally every day and then delivering to neighboring communities.

The outlying areas to the south inhabited mainly by indigenous folks have been largely ignored and there are still many communities who have yet to receive any visit from fema or red cross, even though most all of their homes are still flooded with contaminated water...the stories are so numerous...we do these deliveries with rental trucks that cost about $100 a day to rent. if anyone has $$ to donate, i reccomend giving it to this effort, or fundraise to purchase a large delivery truck for the community center for more long term community support.

the common ground clinic--whoa--those amazing people are really on top of it.
during this time of such great need, our clinic is the sole provider for folks needing prescriptions locally. that's a little rediculious considering the scale the red cross and fema are working. they have even received calls as recently as yesterday asking for advice from red cross staffers who are just setting up shop here in the gulf coast.

these volunteers, doctors and nurses have remained cheerful and generous however, and they are beginning to integrate the natural remedies and herbal medicines you all donated into their inventory.

by the way the folks at the clinic are working about 14 hours a day and then crash out on the floor every night (16 people in small building). donations of time or volunteers are also badly needed at this location.

oh yeah, we gave the beautiful and honorable Cobalt (the shepherd to a couple in dallas who promised to take care of him (they were SUPER into him). so a tearful goodbye to cobalt released that responsibility.

love u all

sorry for the delay by the way.
ill try to write more regularly now.
please feel free to comment or to write me at kerul at truffula.net.

on the road

2005-09-24T15:04:00.000-07:00

so friends
first want to say:
to all of those who donated to our herbal apocathecary and miscellaneous relief supply THANK YOU. among others, the amazing sisters of the siskiyous continue to inspire me with their generosity.

we are heading across the us with a consistant uncertainty and clarity unlike other journeys in my short life. im travelling with two amazing and beautiful beings that i will surely know for as long as im still breathing on this great blue planet. (kyan and peter) thank all those higher spirits for providing them in my life.

we are headed literally into a cyclone. these storms seem to have brought people to their knees, if only for a moment before the redevelopment phase and corporate re-initiation. the us government and us military's response to these disasters surpassed even my lowest expectations. ~ and im not even talking about the dusk to dawn military-enforced curfew.

with the fresh winds blowing from rita we will be heading east to amarillo then south to dallas (tonight). tomorrow we will re-evaluate and follow the path of least resistance new orleans.
our spirits are high and we are in regular communication with folks in new orleans we will be stopping to her our dip-tet shot in dallas at a red cross clinic for those concerned...
one quick moment on our trip from last night:

and then there he was. cobalt the german shephard puppy.

last night as we were driving through arizona we stopped at a small gas station in an isolated desert vortexh zone just west of the navajo nation on I40. as i approached the store to inquire about toilets, i noticed the shelves of the store were nearly completely empty. it was one of those surreal moments in the desert that comes with any long journey through the mojave.

..and then there he was. cobalt the german shephard puppy.

the sweetest little guy still very young (and impressionable) cuddled up to our feet with a familiar greeting--impossible to ignore.

"he connected with us and it just seemed obvious [that he should come with us]," said kyan my lovely traveling companion.

a truck driver with a water bowl and bag of dog food came up to us and let us know that this little dog had been abandoned several days ago and would likely end up dead if we left him behind. he told us that he was hanging out with another pup, who had been hit on the busy highway neighboring the station. he then dropped the food and left. short of the long: we took him with us. he's lovely.

so thats why we are now three humans and one dog and a bunch of stuff in kyan's'88 chevy rally e motorhome (a 15 footer). we expect to arrive tomorrow eve to new orleans.

anyway i love the shit out of him. cobalt the german shephard that is..
oh and anyone with input to our route to nola plz comment...
thx and love

my community is amazing

2005-09-19T22:44:00.000-07:00

just want to say thx guys
u all rock
will post some photos of the offerings u all put together.
and post more general resources and media sources soon.

what im asking from you all:
advice
supplies
directive
love
honesty and humor
solidarity
trust
(: pretty much what i usually expect :)

what i will offer:
anti-racist pro-community organizing (trainer and student roles)
on-the-ground, direct reports to all of y'all thru this blog, video footage,
still images and some published words
a physical address so folks can send down care packages and stuff
help with directing donations to groups that make a difference
love
resource distribution to those who need it most
networking with other communities around the world
humor and honesty
solidarity
anti-racist organizing

some links

2005-09-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

recent photos:
http://www.unitedhoumanation.org/KatrinaAerial.htm

story about polution in the region:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/katrina/story/0,16441,1566152,00.html#article_continue

Welcome

2005-09-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

hey ho
wanted to write a quick heads up that i'm leaving so. oregon tomorrow instead of tonight and will leave san fran weds. am.
also we have some room left for supplies needing a lift to the gulf coast.
pleez check out http://www.commongroundrelief.org/
to find out about the center with which i'll be working.
thanks to everyone for your ongoing support.
~