On Refuge and Language

On Refuge and Language Suheir Hammad  I do not wish  To place words in living mouths  Or bury the dead dishonorably  I am not deaf to cries escaping shelters  That citizens are not refugees Refugees are not Americans  I will not use language  One way or another  To accommodate my …

Hurricane Homelessness

Hurricane Homelessness Connecting poverty and homelessness from the Gulf Coast to the Pacific Coast Dee Gray and Lisa Garcia-Gray/PNN Tuesday, September 27, 2005 How do you speak about the death and suffering of thousands of Bay Area homeless children, adults and elders while there is death and suffering and forced …

Katrina: A Preventable Social Disaster

Katrina: A Preventable Social Disaster by Rosa Ana Duenas Granma International Sept. 6 2005 AS the true horror of the social disaster in the Gulf Coast left in Katrina’s wake becomes more evident with each passing day, two questions are being asked: Was the flooding inevitable? Why did the government …

With Death Comes Life: A Mayan Take on Katrina

 With Death Comes Life: A Mayan Take on Katrina Patrisia Gonzales, Eastern Group Publications, September 27th 2005 Twenty years ago on Sept. 19 at 7:19 a.m., the earth opened up in Mexico City—Tenochtitlan, taking 85,000 lives. Mexicans called the earthquake Tlalliyollo, or Heart of the Earth. Tlalliyollo also created a …

Why Conspiracy Theories Help Bush

Why Conspiracy Theories Help Bush Manuel Garcia, Jr. Counterpunch, September 14th 2005 Were New Orleans levees dynamited? By whom and why? Pick a conspiracy theory: “either by white racists in order to kill African-American residents, and/or by corporate ‘freelance’ special interests to provide lucrative public contracts — to companies like …

The Battle for New Orleans

The Battle for New Orleans Only a Real Movement Can Win This War Glen Ford & Peter Gamble October 27th 2005, Black Commentator New Orleans represents a challenge to African Americans, unprecedented since the epic struggles of the Fifties and Sixties.  The perverse reality, to which African Americans must rise, …

Don’t Let New Orleans Die

 Don’t Let New Orleans Die Jordan Flaherty Left Turn, September 4th 2005 Its been a day since I evacuated from New Orleans, my home, the city I love. Today I saw Governor Blanco proudly speak of troops coming in with orders to shoot to kill. Is she trying to help …

Let the People Rebuild New Orleans

 Notes From Inside New Orleans Jordan Flaherty Left Turn, September 2nd 2005 I just left New Orleans a couple hours ago. I traveled from the apartment I was staying in by boat to a helicopter to a refugee camp. If anyone wants to examine the attitude of federal and state …

Back Inside New Orleans

Back Inside New Orleans Jordan Flaherty Counterpunch, September 14th 2005 What actually happened in New Orleans these past two weeks? We need to sort through the rumors and distortions. Perhaps we need our version of South Africa’s Truth And Reconciliation Commission. Some way to sort through the many narratives and …