[Imc-miami] New Orleans People's Committee Press Conference Tuesday in Houston- Please distribute

[Naomi]

*OR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:*

September 5, 2005 , 3:30 p.m. CST

*Press conference: *

*Tuesday, September 6, 2005*

*4:00 p.m. CST* * outside the * *Reliance* * * *Center* * at Kirby and 
McNee*

*New Orleans* * Black Community Leaders Charge Racism in Government 
Neglect of Hurricane Survivors*

/Press conference to announce plan to save lives and /

/demand role in rebuilding effort/

//

HOUSTON – A national alliance of black community leaders will announce 
the formation of a New Orleans People’s Committee to demand a 
decision-making role in the short-term care of hurricane survivors and 
long-term rebuilding of New Orleans .

*Community Labor United (CLU)*, a New Orleans coalition of labor and 
community activists, has put out a call to activists and organizations 
across the country to work on a “people’s campaign” of community 
redevelopment. Organizing efforts will take place across hundreds of 
temporary shelters.

The population of New Orleans is 67 percent black and over 30 percent of 
the population lives below the poverty line, reflecting the current 
demographic of hurricane survivors displaced all over the South.

While the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the White House, 
and Governor Blanco attempt to regain the public’s trust by evading the 
question of who’s to blame, a short and long-term plan for New Orleans 
hurricane survivors has remained in a political vault of silence.

“This is plain, ugly, real racism,” states Curtis Muhammad, CLU 
Organizing Director. “While some politicians and organizations might 
skirt around the issue of race, we in New Orleans are not afraid to call 
it what it is. The moral values of our government is to ‘shoot to kill’ 
hungry, thirsty black hurricane survivors for trying to live through the 
aftermath. This is not just immoral—this has turned a natural disaster 
into a man-made disaster, fueled by racism.”

Leaders of CLU, in alliance with nearly twenty other local organizations 
and several national organizations will discuss their plan at a press 
conference on *Tuesday, September 6, 2005* *, at * *4:00 p.m. CST* * 
outside the * *Reliance* * * *Center* * at Kirby and McNee*. The 
coalition will announce:

· The formation of the New Orleans People’s Committee composed of 
hurricane survivors from each of the shelters, which will:

1. Demand to oversee FEMA, the Red Cross, and other organizations 
collecting resources on behalf of the black community of New Orleans

2. Demand decision-making power in the long-term redevelopment of New 
Orleans

· Issue a national call for volunteers to assist with housing, 
healthcare, education, and legal matters for the duration of the 
displacement

Tax-exempt donations for the People’s Committee and the national 
coalition can be made out to: Young People’s Project, 440 N. Mills St., 
Suite 200 , Jackson , MS 39202 or visit www.qecr.org 
<http://www.qecr.org/> .

/Community Labor United is a coalition of progressive organizations in / 
/New Orleans/ / formed in 1998. Their mission is to build organizational 
unity and support efforts that address poverty, racism, and education. 
CLU organized in the areas hardest hit by the hurricane./

//

/Curtis Muhammad is a veteran Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee 
(SNCC) organizer and co-founder of CLU./

*For more information, please contact:*

Curtis Muhammad

Community Labor United (CLU)

muhammadcurtis at bellsouth.net <mailto:muhammadcurtis at bellsouth.net>

Becky Belcore

Quality Education as a Civil Right (QECR)

bbelcore at hotmail.com


Becky Belcore
Volunteer Organizer
Louisiana Research Institute for Community Empowerment (LaRICE)
bbelcore at hotmail.com <mailto:bbelcore at hotmail.com>