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Randall Amster and Paul Katan left with the Tucson Food Not Bombs group to support FNB in Houston, Texas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Tucson FNB left Tucson on Wednesday, September 7 with a bus that has been converted into a kitchen. When they leave the area the bus will remain behind to continue to serve those in need. Randall and Paul will send reports on their journey via email, and they will be posted here as they come in. Please check back.
October 6, 2005--Announcement from Randall
News from NOLA: The Iraqification of New Orleans
Tuesday October 11th
6pm
Prescott College Chapel
Since Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana and the Gulf Coast over a month ago, there have been many misconceptions reported in the mainstream media. The situation in New Orleans in particular has been portrayed in a manner that does not always agree with the situation as experienced on the ground there. This interactive, visual presentation will reflect the perspectives of people who have been in the city rebuilding communities, distributing food, and confronting militarism. Specific issues to be addressed include:
*Why is President Bush's rebuilding plan called the "Gulf Opportunity Zone"?
*Why was Halliburton given a $500 million no-bid reconstruction contract?
*What is the "disaster-industrial complex" and who profits from it?
*Why are there more than 50,000 troops in New Orleans?
*Why is the 9th Ward still under lockdown while the business and tourist districts are being repopulated?
*Why has the mayor already stated that 70% of the city will be bulldozed?
*How do pre-existing gentrification and redevelopment plans factor into the future of the city?
*What will become of the hundreds of thousands of residents who have been dispersed around the country?
*Why haven't major "relief" entities such as FEMA and the Red Cross been feeding people in the city?
*How do the politics of race and class play out in the case of a "natural" disaster such as this?
*If it can happen in New Orleans, can it happen anywhere?
Join us for an evening of conversation, imagery, and first-hand reporting from the front lines of New Orleans.
For more information: ramster@prescott.edu, (928)350-2238
September 28, 2005, 7:00 a.m.--Email from Randall
Greetings all, this likely will be my last update from NOLA before returning to AZ. With Rita's arrival and the removal of the Oregon National Guard (this is not a misprint!) the mood here has taken a bit of a surly turn. Friends have been arrested on random bogus charges the past few nights, there are now permanent checkpoints set up at all entry points to the 9th Ward, the NOPD presence has intensified, and the feeling of toxicity here has increased as malthion is being sprayed and as factories/refineries come back on line. Folks are still committed to repopulating the city and re-establishing communities here, but we are seeing an equal number leave for now to take care of themselves and see if this more severe moment passes. Some have even begun to make plans for relocation on a more permanent basis. Others -- like Jeffrey and Andrea from Getyouracton.com -- have resupplied and are digging in even further (these two clever and kind folks even put on a Toxic Art disply in the median by their house that was well reviewed by local art critics!). The Food Not Bombs operation has been taken up by the Hartford FNB crew with help from Maria from Chicago, and they have set up a kitchen for now at Mama Dee's house in the 7th Ward. We are still actively pursuing a store front or abandoned building for a more long-term location, but for now the operation will continue as is. The mobile runs we've done have been the most successful, as many of the folks we have shared food with are completely off the radar of relief agencies and as FNB has no qualms about entering areas of the city that are declared as "no-go" zones. Overall this was a beneficial operation and shows the utility of FNB in a variety of contexts, including a fluid disaster situation such as this. I have mixed feelings about leaving NOLA right now but need to get back to AZ. I know I will return here soon to continue this work, as will the locals who are taking some time to get some sense of their lives back again. It's hard to imagine what it would be like to have your whole life, your friends, your routine, your city taken from you so suddenly, then watch as officials and agencies barely lift a finger to help you put it back together (in fact they create barriers against you re-establishing your life). Folks here have handled all of this as well as could be expected but it is beginning to take a toll. Nonetheless, there is still cause for hope here as long as the desire to go forward remains. Fittingly, this is the mood today here on Desire Street in the 9th Ward.
Peace and love,
Randall
September 24, 2005, 9:30 p.m.--Email from Randall.
Greetings from Washington, DC -- I traveled here with the New Orleans contingent to participate in the big march today. We temporarily left NOLA to get out of the way of Rita and to meet up here in DC with the national Green Party crew that had invited some of my friends to speak. The march was quite large and interest in NOLA happenings was very high. In fact, many of the signs and banners displayed today carried references to the hurricane and issues surrounding it, such as: "Make Levess Not War," "Hurricane George is Destroying America," "Bush is a Natural Disaster," and "End the Occupations of Iraq and New Orleans." We were able to provide a lot of much-needed info and on-the-ground perspective throughout the day that definitely struck a chord with folks here, many of whom contributed money and promised resources to help with the effort to re-establish communities in NOLA. Tomorrow we are heading back there to get the kitchens and community centers up again. Much of course remains to be done, and the environment there is still very harsh, but we are all looking forward to getting back there and continuing the work we've started. I feel privileged to have been adopted by these folks to help out and be part of this important and rewarding process. More soon from NOLA, . . . Randall
September 23, 2005, 10:00 a.m.--Frank spoke with Randall this morning. The Arizona Food Not Bombs crew has left New Orleans and returned to Arizona. Randall and Leenie are on their way to the anti-war protest in Washington DC and will return to NO after the weekend to reestablish the kitchen.
September 18, 2005, 10:30 p.m.--Food Not Bombs opens community center in the 9th Ward, New Orleans:
Message below from a friend out here, also check out: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/09/18/wkat18.xml
more soon, luv/R.
Over the past three days Food Not Bombs collectives from Arizona and
Connecticut have moved from their base in Covington, LA where we were
running supplies into hard-hit areas of Louisiana and Mississippi into the
9th Ward neighborhood of downtown New Orleans. We are working with local
folks from the Common Ground Collective here and in Algiers along with
other neighborhood activists to provide aid to those in the city who have
resisted evacuation and those who are returning to shattered neighborhoods
and communities.
Over the coming days parts of NOLA are due to open. Although FEMA crews
have been working 24-7 in uptown and parts of the French Quarter to
restore electricity and potable water, we are being told in the Ward that
these services may not be back on board for months. While parts of the
Ward are devastated and unliveable (like many of the traditionally
impoverished neighborhoods of the city), there are many other sections
that can be recovered. However, the city is threatening to condemn the
entire region, opening it to profit-driven development and reconstruction.
New Orleans is experiencing a land-grab on a massive scale. Upwards of
$200 billion may be spent on reconstruction - as much as the
reconstruction effort thus far in Iraq - and fortunes are being made. It
is people of color and working-class residents who have suffered the worst
in the Katrina tragedy, and will continue to pay the costs of
redevelopment in lives permanently shattered and communities displaced.
Food Not Bombs is working to support the people of New Orleans in their
struggle to save their city. Since Friday Food Not Bombs has been cooking
two community meals a day and running supplies and hot-meals to evacuation
resistors in the neighborhoods. The Desire House at 714 Desire St. is host
to a full-time kitchen, wellness center, information hub and supply
distribution. We are hoping to connect with members of the Plan B Bicycle
Coop in the coming days to begin a community bike-shop and distro. In
addition to our work in the city, we are supporting relief efforts in
Waveland, Mississippi and the Houma Nation in Louisiana. We are in urgent
need of volunteers and supplies. The city is still heavily militarized,
but if you have a good map and some kind of paperwork (any kind of
paperwork) you should be able to get through and around all of the
checkpoints and roadblocks. It may be advisable to go through Algiers
first - they will be allowing residents back in starting on Monday and it
is much easier to navigate.
Money can be donated to the Katrina relief effort through the Food Not
Bombs paypal account at www.foodnotbombs.net.
September 17, 2005, 8:00 p.m.--Greetings from NOLA. This is my first chance to really sit down and write for any length of time -- it's still hard to describe what's been happening here. It's an incredible combination of hope and tragedy here, with many scenes of carnage and destruction to report mixed in with moments of inspirational courage and self-sufficiency. This is a really unique part of the country, and the people of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA) are so crazy beautiful and strong of spirit that the city already has a spark of life to it that hasn't been widely reported. All of us working here are moved and feel deeply connected to the people and place. It's a special moment and the only shame is that it took a crisis to bring it on.
So the on-the-ground scene here is unlike anything I've experienced. NOLA is a militarized zone, very much America's Baghdad. There are upwards of 60,000 troops here, and thousands more cops, but nary a relief worker. Some of the folks we've served meals to said they hadn't had anyone inquire about their well-being let alone serve them a hot meal. We've been out around the city the past two nights serving dozens, and today came in 15 strong with over a ton of supplies to establish a cooperative kitchen and community center in the city. This is being done despite the curfews, military patrols, roadbloacks, and other forms of disincentivization designed to keep people from repopulating the city. So we've created the Ninth Ward Common Ground Collective to bring food, hygiene products, medical supplies, and emotional support to folks here who really need it. We've even served a few police officers and national guardsmen along the way. This is what Food Not Bombs does, and we're all proud to be part of this leaderless effort where folks simply work hard and get things done without waiting for the state or bureaucratic organizations to get their act together. For a number of reasons (ie, inefficiency, ineptitude, profiteering, cruelty, cronyism, etc.) they either can't or won't. So we do.
The work is hard but rewarding. We're not just handing people food but also trying to model what a cooperative, egalitarian, sustainable society could look like. We don't want people to merely become dependent, but ask them to volunteer and thereby empower themselves. They don't just get a meal but become part of a community and culture. This may well be the first FNB of this nature in a militarized zone, and it is more than worth the risk and hassle to help make it happen. We've met so many amazing people here and have been welcomed warmly at every turn. This is an evolutionary movement under way, which makes revolution seem kind of irrelevant and misplaced.
The overarching picture here, unfortunately, has a lot to do with concepts such as deterritorializtion, diaspora, and a good old fashioned "land grab." Official relief here consists mainly of $2000 and a permanent one-way bus ticket out of town. The city has systematically been purged of most of its poor people and people of color. In neighborhoods that developers have long coveted they are simply letting fires burn rather than attempt to bring services back on line. Bulldozing is already under way and gentrification is proceeding even before refugees have been attended to. Halliburton has secured a no-bid reconstruction contract and NOLA is on the Iraq plan of "rebuilding." Residents have related stories of the levees being dynamited to strategically flood certain poor neighborhoods. Soldiers with night-vision goggles patrol the streets despite the lack of any tangible threat. The official policy is one of intimidation and profiteering. This is Baghdad by the Bay.
So we have joined with local activists and artists to try and get a foothold here before the city is deemed a lost cause and deeded over to developers. If it can happen in NOLA it can happen anywhere, and it is crucial to try and organize positive communities here and everywhere before the die is cast. I don't want to overstate or romanticize this, but this seems to many of us here a crucial moment in American history. It's a horrific enough thing to take another country, but to do it here at home is nothing short of shocking. Our hope is to help people here get back on their feet and be a counterbalance to these forces. It is the Battle of New Orleans.
What can you do to help? Send money to Foob Not Bombs (www.foodnotbombs.net). Organize a Common Ground Collective in your own neighborhood. Read Indymedia ( www.indymedia.org) and not just the mainstream news. And come to NOLA if you can -- we need people to sustain this effort. There's hot food and a welcoming community waiting for you!
I think I've slept 20 hours total in the last 10 days. Now that we're encamped in NOLA we hope to stabilize and get into a more regular schedule. But things keep shifting on the ground so no plan is ever safe here. For now we are looking at another week or two at the least, then many more trips here over the coming months. I'm thinking of you all and hope to write again when the time is right. Amor y rabia, . . . . Randall
September 16, 2005, 8:30 p.m.--An email from Randall.
There's too much to say about what we've seen and done these past days. We've been to Algiers to support the Common Ground Collective (a community based effort to provide medical, food, bikes, etc.), to Waveland in southern Mississippi where we helped feed hundreds, and to New Orleans itself where today we were the first to bring hot meals to the people of the city. Aside from continuing to do triage, it seems like the push now is to help residents reestablish themselves in the city despite heavy official dissuasion. To that end we are setting up a solid Food Not Bombs kitchen in the city tomorrow and are working on a bike coop, radio station, and other community efforts -- basically doing land support for folks who want to get back into their homes before Halliburton bulldozes and gentrifies the whole place. The people of NOLA are really strong and have much spirit and will get themselves back up again much sooner than you think. We are here to help them and will be staying on for a while longer to do what we can. Meanwhile, it's been an amazing and exhausting 10 days, but in many ways the work has only now just begun. It's safe to say that for many of us we have simply fallen in love with this area and are ready to fight the good fight for the Battle of New Orleans. If you can get here, we need you! We all miss AZ for sure, but this is where the arrows are clearly pointing us now. Will write again when I can. Love & thoughts, . . . Randall
September 12, 2005, 8:30 a.m.--Blessings Friends and Neighbors, Paul Katan here.
We are just about to head out to Covington. We will likely be running supplies and serving food in Hackley or another poor rural community of Washington Parish. George Seaman went ahead to plug in with Veterans For Peace. They have been approved by FEMA to mobilize their medics and continue outreaching to many communities still cut off.
Last night we served about 60 truckers, a FNB first! They are on the clock for FEMA and have been sitting for two weeks in a Baton Rouge parking lot. They were very happy to have some recognition and hot food.
Check out www.arizona.indymedia.org for pictures. I will report back as soon as I can.
In Solidarity,
Paul
September 11, 2005, 1:00 p.m.—From Randall.
Hi all, last update for a little bit, as we are off to serve dinner at a few local shelters. Tomorrow we're heading east toward Covington, which is a jumping-off point to rural eastern LA, western MS, and New Orleans areas including Algiers. We've heard the sense of crisis & shortage increases markedly as we move deeper into these places -- some folks still haven't seen food resupplies, clean water, power, etc., since all this went down. Our hope is to spend the next week running shipments and foodstuffs to these areas, using Covington and Baton Rouge as our base camps. FYI, here's a partial inventory of what we're starting out with tonight:
100lb carrots
50lb apples
25lb onions
200lb oats
275lb potato
225lb white rice
25lb brown rice
50lb black-eyed peas
15lb pintos
50lb white beans
50lb basmati rice
60lb assorted pasta
30lb garlic
20lb pearl barley
50lb black beans
50lb soy beans
20lb kamut
25lb granola
25lb navy beans
80lb random grains & beans
50lb lemons
canned/jarred foods: tomato, peppers, chipotle, beets, peaches, fruit cocktail, enchilada sauce, coconut milk, mango habanero sauce, pickles, cilantro lime sauce, soybean oil, sesame oil, vinegars, 1 gal. soy sauce
condiments/other: many spices, tea bags, instant Thai Kitchen noodle dinners, coffee, watermelon, baby food
hygiene products/etc: tampons, toilet paper, blankets, formula, toiletries, clothes, stuffed animals
I'm not sure how all of this (and us) fit on the bus out here, but it did. Today we went through it all and sorted it out better. We're hoping to be resupplied by week's end by FNB folks coming out from Tucson, Boulder, LA, Minn., etc. But we clearly have enough stuff to keep us busy for a while.
Much love to all & I'll be in touch again soon . . .
R.
September 11, 2005, 2:00 a.m.--Blessings Friends and Neighbors, Paul Katan here in Baton Rouge.
Walt contacted a friend he knew from his year at LSU. Stacey welcomed us and took us to her office at LEAN. The Louisiana Environmental Action Network's director Marylee and two volunteers (Walter and Christy) applauded us when we arrived. As soon as we walked in we learned that LEAN has been directing its resources to offer direct aid to folks in and around New Orleans.
Walter has been experiencing cold like symptoms after some time working with doctors at the N.O. airport. They all recognize that the toxic waste and air quality is far worse than is being reported.
Christy has been working with local churches and shelters. When we arrived, she was racing off to pickup and deliver menstrual pads for the women of Baton Rouge’s only women’s prison. They are being transferred to Angola State penitentiary, one of the most notorious men's prisons in the country. There is no official plan yet nor statement. But folks here are certain the State is making room for N.O. prisoners to be transferred.
Marylee told us that they have been the only group to effectively deliver supplies into St. Bernard parish. They also had a team of doctors and nurses volunteer to aid "survivors" in Baton Rouge. They were turned away but eventually got connected to aid N.O. police officers. The officers, like the citizens remaining in New Orleans are all in pretty bad shape.
Marylee offers us support and her offices as a staging area. We held a strategy meeting to close the night. The plan is to meet with Baton Rouge FNB volunteers first thing in the morning and coordinate regular evening servings in addition to their regular servings.
It sounds like the communities of survivors, in shock from this disaster, are having a very difficult time with these make shift shelters. They are being encouraged to fill out paper and electronic forms and make phone calls to establish their cases. This institutional support seems void of emotional support or validation of their value. Many of them have left the shelters and are seeking refuge in the surrounding churches and shelters. These folks are fragile and afraid. When Christy delivers a toothbrush she is overwhelmed with crying eyes filled with grace.
We will outreach with Christy to establish whether a central or mobile serving will be of most use. We will continue coordinating a circuit of FNB service with folks in Covington, Algiers, and other communities of survivors. We can still use volunteers who have time to donate to FNB service and can haul donations as part of their trip. Soon it may be better to ship supplies to staging areas like Baton Rouge and Covington. Contact Keith at the 800 number on the www.foodnotbombs.net website to plug in.
When we arrived tonight LSU was playing ASU in football (ASU lost). We witnessed huge congregations of fans concentrating their energy on the LSU Tigers. George proposed we should rally LSU students and fans to do a serving by advertising it as a tailgate party. Maybe it'll work. Until next time. . .
In Solidarity
Paul Katan
September 10, 2005, 9:00 a.m.--Update
Spoke to Ross (from Hatford FNB) in Covington. Covington is huge staging area for refugees, Veterans for Peace, and FNB. Got word that Baton Rouge has folks being directed all around town by FEMA (et al) waiting hours for food and services. Got word that Algiers is doing O.K. with food and water. Houma is up and running. We are all heading to Baton Rouge to serve on the way to Covington.
In Solidarity, Paul
September 10, 2005, 9:00 a.m.--Blessings FNB'rs, Paul here in Houston.
Randall and I joined Geoff, Walt, and Patrick of Tucson FNB in completing Keith's mobile kitchen and loading more than half the bus with food, cooking supplies, and toiletries.
Everyone has just crashed out after a long ride at 55 and a few hours of strategy work. It looks like tomorrow the bus will be going into Algiers ( across the Mississippi from N.O.) In a separate vehicle, George and Geoff will be scouting small towns for folks in need on their way down to Houma. We are contacting Veterans For Peace, and Hartford, D.C. St. Petersburg, Minneapolis, and Los Angeles FNB groups who are also mobilized.
If you are interested in hearing reports from folks in the hardest hit areas and what they are needing take a look at: http://neworleans.indymedia.org/ and http://getyouracton.com/. We will check in as soon as we know more.
In Solidarity,
Paul Katan
From Geoff:
Dear friends,
This may be the last chance I have to write for awhile. After 28 hours on
the bus we've finally arrived in Houston, and today we will be headed into
the New Orleans area. Over the past few days Food not Bombs groups in
Prescott and Tucson gathered thousands of dollars in donations and tons of
food, propane, toiletries and other supplies. After delaying for a day to
install a kitchen on the bus we headed out across Texas (what a state!).
It's not clear where the greatest need is on the New Orleans area. Our
original destination, Baton Rouge, seems too remote, and besides it is
where FEMA, the National Guard, etc. are all concentrated. We have
contacts in Covington (across lake Pontchartrain from the city) and in
Algiers, a neighborhood across the Mississippi from downtown New Orleans
where community activists have vowed to stick it out and are asking for
support. We've heard these areas are accessible to white people who can
bluff their way past the National Guard. George and I are heading out
across the Bayou this morning to do reconnaissance in some of the
communities that are more remote, perhaps establish contacts with some
other folks who are in need.
We're not quite sure what to expect. The scale of this thing is
unimaginable. In the last week FEMA and the military have moved into the
city and the larger population areas but there are still communities from
which nobody has received word - there are thousands stranded.
If you want to help, supplies can be brought directly to Covington or we
can be supported through Food not Bombs in Tucson.
Veterans for Peace has established the operation in Covington and are
doing triage to other areas. This is their address:
The Green Room
521 Boston ST.
Covington, LA 70433
Food not Bombs and Get Your Act On! are in Algiers. Right now there is no
mail service at all, but the address at which they are based is
Masjid
Bilal Mosque
1401 Teche St.
New Orleans, LA 70114
We can get support through Tucson through www.foodnotbombs.net.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. I'll write again as soon as I can.
-Geoff
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This page was prepared by Prescott College faculty member, Joan Clingan. Suggestions for additions or corrections are welcomed. Please check back as this page will be updated daily for as long as it is useful to do so.
Last updated November 7, 2005.
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