Press Conference and Rally:
B.W. Cooper Housing Development Residents Speakout!
When: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
What Time: 11a.m.
Where: B.W. Cooper Housing Development, 3328 Earhart
Who: B.W. Cooper Residents and NOHEAT
Why:
B.W. Cooper Housing Development, once known as Calliope, is home to 1400 African American working-class households, with about 3000 residents total. Because of Hurricane Katrina, residents were scattered throughout the United States, including many who are in shelters and motels right here in Louisiana.
At least this TP article actually included mention of live people. All previous articles, whether on St. Thomas, River Gardens, Iberville, have failed to interview the actual tenants of the complexes.
However, what this article fails to do is mention the extreme difficulty people are having with the prospect of having to vacate their apartments and find suitable storage for their possessions by December 30. Many of these people have been scattered to other states, and don't have the resources to deal with coming back in town to secure their belongings.
HANO is using the excuse of vandalism, to put a time table on residents vacating their apartments, yet HANO, until now, did little to secure people's units, and therefore, their possessions.
National Call From Grass Roots New Orleans Activists:
Convergence on New Orleans
MLK Day (2006)
March to Rebuild the Gulfcoast and the World
Local social justice activists, some of whom have the spent decades on the front lines in New Orleans fighting for economic justice and social equality, are working to build the Martin Luther King Day March (2006) to Rebuild the Gulf Coast and the World.
Having a place at that particular table meant that you are able to speak up for
all those unable, or uninvited, to take part. You, as you've seen, also run the
risk of having your ideas and suggestions taken up, put on the table, and then
watered down, or changed, as those in charge see fit. They probably won't give
you any credit for suggesting them. And, yes, they're fast tracking this
process. The faster they go, the less time there is for other, "uninvited"
voices to come forward, and rightfully demand that there be affordable housing,
or quality schools, or any number of items that have somehow not made it onto