Gulf Coast Reconstruction in the Post-Katrina Era

The destruction of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita exposes the historic forces of genocide, slavery, and militarism, as well as widespread exploitation, white supremacy, and sexism. The total devastation demonstrates the environmental crisis facing the world; and highlights local, state and federal governments' abandonment of low-income communities and communities of color, including immigrant communities, and their women, children, elders, and disabled. The ongoing struggle to win the right of return for all displaced people and the right of working people to return to their jobs, including in the public sector and especially in the public schools, points to growing struggles against gentrification and massive privatization - the right to housing, education, health care, to all public services, and the right of workers to collective bargaining in their workplaces. These struggles also point to the need for new strategic alliances among organizations in the African American, Indigenous, immigrant and other communities of color, and among working people, women, and queer communities to make our vision of Gulf Coast reconstruction a reality.

Speakers:

Viola Francois Washington, Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund

Sharon Harshaw, Coastal Women for Change

Nandi Marumo, Fyre Youth Squad

Mwalimu Johnson, Capital Post-Conviction Project of Louisiana

Uyen Le, National Alliance of Vietnamese American Service Agencies

Daniel Castellanos, Alliance for Guest Workers for Dignity and the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice

Moderators:

Monique Harden, Advocates for Environmental Human Rights

Jerome Scott, Project South

Cultural Artists from New Orleans

Sonny Patterson

Kalamu ya Salam