By David Swanson
A march had been planned for February 28, the eve of the scheduled
March 1 evictions of Hurricane Katrina victims. FEMA moved the
evictions to March 15, so activists have moved the march to March 14. A
press conference on Capitol Hill will be followed by a march through
Washington, D.C., past FEMA, past the Department of Homeland Security,
and to the White House, where a permit has been obtained to rally in
Lafayette Square Park until midnight. If Bush does not meet the
marchers’ demands, however, many plan not to leave.
and those still in hotels, and an end to evictions. Another way of
putting it is that the marchers will be demanding that the federal
government cease violating the law by working to exclude people from a
city on the basis of race and class.
Last night Reverend Lennox Yearwood, whom many saw on television
being tossed out of a Congressional hearing for questioning Secretary
of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, and who has received death
threats for his activism, convened an organizing meeting and formed
committees to put together as large a march as possible.
Yearwood recounted for those present the history of FEMA’s broken
promises and shifting deadlines, the December 1 deadline, the December
14 deadline, etc., up through the latest moved deadline. But Yearwood
also spoke of the suicides of those with nowhere left to go, the 80
percent increase in alcohol sales in effected neighborhoods, the
absolute hopelessness of people whom this country has abandoned. “We’re
not asking for another moved deadline,” Yearwood said, “but for a
moratorium on evictions and anything that looks like an eviction until
they have a plan for housing.”
Joel Segal, Vice Chair of the advisory board of Progressive
Democrats of America, spoke as well. “FEMA is telling the media they
have a housing plan,” he said. “FEMA is lying.” There are 13,000
trailers sitting in Arkansas waiting to go to New Orleans, he said.
There are 12,000 people evicted with no where to go. If they get a
trailer, Segal said, it has no electricity.
The Gulf Coast Renewal Campaign released this statement:
Yesterday FEMA announced a two-week extension for all hotel/motel
residents in Louisiana and Mississippi, which enables them to remain in
their rooms until March 15, 2006. Once again, we witness the impact
that a coalition of conscience and a unified commitment to action for
Katrina survivors can have on the otherwise unfettered execution of the
Bush administrations authority. For this reason, we are postponing
our press conference, March and vigil until March 14, 2006.
However, the Gulf Coast Renewal Campaign is not demanding that FEMA
move deadlines, but that FEMA move Katrina survivors into viable and
affordable transitional and long-term housing. We demand that FEMA move
the displaced into trailers so that they can work to rebuild their own
homes. We protest the psychological cruelty of this agency in
constantly holding the peril of homelessness over the heads of our
brothers and sisters. We object to FEMA holding survivors in limbo,
perpetually uncertain about what should be guaranteed for these victims
of government neglect and ineptitude. Sending people long distances
from their communities, to live in temporary shelters or trailers where
they cannot keep their jobs is unacceptable. Offering limited rental
assistance to a selective group, which cannot pay for real apartments
in a city where price gouging has sent rents sky high, is unacceptable.
We are postponing our rally in Lafayette Park and press conference
accordingly until March 14, but we are not postponing our call for
justice: NO EVICTIONS UNTIL REAL TRANSITIONAL & PERMANENT HOUSING
IS AVAILABLE FOR ALL TO RETURN HOME! TRAILERS IN NEW ORLEANS NOW! PASS
H.R. 4197!
Over the next two weeks, we will continue to build our campaign on
the ground and in Congress to pass “The Hurricane Reclamation,
Recovery, Reconstruction and Relief” Act for comprehensive assistance
to enable all Katrina survivors to return and rebuild their communities.
Please join us on March 14 for this historic press conference, March
and vigil in front of the house where George Bush serenely sleeps while
thousands face the prospect of their families having no shelter.
Press Conference: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
(Press Conference: Rayburn House Office Building – Room #2237)
Mardi Gras Style March for Justice: 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
(March will start from Capitol South Metro Stop at 2:00 p.m. to the White House)
Rally & Protest at the White House: 3:00 p.m. – 11:59 p.m.
(Rally & Protest at the White House – Lafayette Park)