Hundreds of College Students are spending their Spring Break as
volunteers in the Gulf Coast to help rebuild communities, focus on
legal and civil rights issues, and establish programs for economic
stability. In particular, there has been an appeal to all Black
college students to volunteer in the Gulf Coast for this Spring Break
that hundreds have answered.
If you are traveling to the Gulf Coast for your Spring Break this year– print and distribute the World Can’t Wait Call in Selma, Mobile, Biloxi, New Orleans and all stops along the way.
If
you are a World Can’t Wait Organizer on a campus– send out an email to
your e-list and contact other student groups like Amnesty International
or the Black Student Union to find out if they know people who are
going to the Gulf Coast and if they could bring down World Can’t Wait Calls to
distribute.
Check worldcantwait.org for reports and articles from World Can’t Wait organizers who are down in New Orleans now.
Below is the nationwide appeal to all Black college students by David Dennis.
For the leaders of a better tomorrow, there comes
a time in your life when you must answer to a greater calling, a time when you
stand for a cause that is ripe with passion and long overdue, a moment when you
envision yourself as a part of history, a vital entity to the continuous
struggle of an oppressed people; your people.
African American college students of today are the social, academic and
cultural leaders of our generation – a generation that is largely misunderstood
and misrepresented in this “great society.” We observe the degradation of our
people on a daily basis. We’ve seen our creatively unique cultures turned into
corporate cash cows that repetitively demean our women, our children and our
ancestors. We’ve watched the television coverage of Hurricane Katrina and have
seen the lives of our brothers and sisters devastated before our eyes.
Black children cry for their missing parents as the National Guardsmen aim
M-16s at their brothers and sisters. We’ve seen the problems, but we have not
yet seen a way to change the situation, until now.
For those of you who are no longer willing to feel limited in your ability to
make a positive change for your people, now is your opportunity. We are leading
a movement across the nation that will change the negative image of our
generation and our people into a Vision of Positivism and Hope.
Katrina on the Ground is a major initiative and we are now calling YOU, the
young Black leaders of tomorrow, tomorrow’s national and world leaders, to join
our cause and make a stand. The path is paved and the blood of our fallen heroes
has stained this brick road. Now We Rise in their footsteps and will finally
fulfill the destiny of our struggle.
The year is new, the stage is set, the time is now.
College students will hit the Gulf Region Sunday, March 5, through Saturday,
April 1, for Spring Break, opting to engage in rebuilding instead of recreation.
Katrina on the Ground is a Spring Break initiative organized by hip-hop
generation leaders and college students as part of the Neo Underground Railroad.
In the spirit of America’s historic civil rights movement, the mission of the
Katrina on the Ground project is to aid in the rebuilding process, which is a
direct result from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. This coalition of
college students, regional and national leaders and organizations, along with
Katrina survivors will focus on three major areas during this Spring Break
initiative:
1) Physical and emotional rebuilding of communities and lives;
2) Legal and civil rights issues;
3) Financial literacy and empowerment for the affected citizens and
region.
David Dennis is a student at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster,
Pennsylvania. For more information on how you can participate in this historic
student initiative, a Spring Break with a purpose, visit
http://www.katrinaontheground.com. Common Ground Collective is also recruiting
Black students to help rebuild New Orleans during their Spring Break, any time
during March and April.