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Issue.3

A Look At Hurricane Katrina In o7′

by LaShic Mondrell, Contributing Writer

Hurricane Katrina would hit the Gulf Coast Region in August of 2005. The storm magnified the poverty rate in such cities as New Orleans, which was 40% pre-Katrina according to a study titled “Katrina, Black Women, and the Deadly Discourse on Black Poverty in America” by Barbara Ransby. The same study showed that black women in the region were hit even harder by the storm since some were the poorest in the nation and since women in general “are more vulnerable in times of natural disaster because they are the primary caretakers of the young and the old.”

Many of the storm’s survivors compared the horrific catastrophe to slavery where generations of families of African descent were separated and scattered across several continents only to endure years of inhumane acts and no human rights. Those who survived the storm would be transported away from their relatives and homes without knowledge in the stability of their futures.

Phylicia Bradley attends University of Houston and is a member of the American Humanics Student Association. She and her family are from New Orleans and are survivors of the storm. While Bradley feels that the Bush administration made no verbal promises in handling the storm’s aftermath, she believes it is still assumed that the government would help in some manner.

She believes people “can’t blame [the storm] on the government solely…we allow things to happen even though should have personal responsibility.” She states that the people of New Orleans have some blame in the neighborhood’s neglect and gentrification because many residents in the low-income areas were not educated enough and were not interested in politics to protect themselves. Bradley sees that the average to low income areas, Eastern New Orleans and 9^th Ward, are not being rebuilt and that many “familiar places [are] not coming back” while tourist attractions are up and running again.

She states it is like this because, “they don’t want us to come home. Many want to and will come home. It isn’t theirs. People who want to come were kept from coming back. The Bush administration had contracts and hired illegal immigrants to clean up the area.” As a result, she stated that the residents are not placed in jobs where they are rebuilding their city and instead must work in fast food and corporate services.

Bradley has heard of no news about the levees being rebuilt to withstand a category five or six hurricane or about houses being built above sea level. While “they are in Iraq for democracy and rebuilding whatever they blow up,” she stated that the “people in New Orleans don’t have democracy.”

In response to an editorial illustration of the Katrina survivors as being ignorant and frivolously spending FEMA funds done by The Daily Cougar who has not issued a public apology or showed any accountability, she stated to media outlets who support those stereotypes that “until they really walk in our shoes, they don’t really know.”

After the storm, Bradley went back to work and school just as she did in New Orleans. Phylicia Bradley believes that the survivors of Hurricane Katrina should get educated and get jobs to help others if nothing else in order to gain overall stability.

In recent news, the federal appeals court ruled that Hurricane Katrina survivors whose homes and businesses were destroyed could not recover money from their insurance companies for the damages. Taking personal responsibility and making independent economic choices are no longer optional.

Resurrecting the Black Family

By Alua Aumade

Kudos is in order for the National Black United Front. First off, the organization should be commended for its plasticity of thought as it acknowledges and respects other Afrocentric viewpoints as a viable means of upliftment. With that being said, its Houston chapter recently hosted the organization’s 28^th Annual National Convention at S.H.A.P.E. Community Center July 12^th-15^th. This year’s theme was Resurrecting the Black Family: Revolutionary Tools to Build the African Family, Community and Nation. More influential than the convening of the organization to recognize and celebrate its own was its continual efforts to affect change in the community.

There were a slew of events, workshops and forums centered around the Resurrecting the Black Family theme. Among some off the topics discussed were black male and female relationships, the effect of the criminal justice system and the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the black family. Some of the most noteworthy speakers were former Black Panther Dhoruba Bin Wahad, keynote speaker Dr. Leonard Jeffries and Dr. M. Denise Lovett.

One of the most notable forums discussed the importance of Afrocentric education. I, like many other people of African descent I’m sure, found a certain disinterest in my formative years from the lack of being culturally represented in educational subject matters. Indeed it implied that my heritage was largely ahistoric outside slavery and MLK. I would surmise that if a historical continuum inextricably links the past with the present, then the student may be, in a very real sense, anomalous. So to re-establish the element of cultural connectedness (via black history, black literature, etc.) seems to firmly root a student in self-affirmation.

Mastering Success

By Jasmin Vann

A road map for successfully completing a Master’s degree should include patience, perseverance, tenacity and dedication. Before embarking upon graduate school in literature, one should ascertain if they are dedicated to research and if they possess the internal drive to seek information and conduct research in the face of little to no scholarships or dead ends. Besides taking the GRE, obtaining letters of recommendation, submitting a writing sample, and having a strong GPA in given major as an undergrad, I believe it is also important for a student to consider the university environment and constituents.

A pivotal experience for me was participating in two summer research programs during my undergraduate studies. Doing so allows ample amount of time to consider one’s desired field of study in order to pinpoint and fine tune personal interests. Going into a graduate program with prior research gives the students background from which they can launch into dialogue with professors and fellow scholars alike about the direction of future research interests.

Some important questions to ask are the following: do I believe I will be able to thrive academically, survive socially and grow mentally and will it provide avenues for me to recommit and reconnect with foundations and truths I hold at my core? Considering these questions can help a student figure out what type of program suits his/her personal needs. It is important to wade through the papers, seemingly unending readings, and at times, pompous professors in order to realize one’s self as a self-actualized and contributing scholar to the academic community, which is key to remember when considering graduate school. Sometimes as a graduate student, that is all one has to hold onto.

The Storm After Katrina

by Joshua Delano

After Hurricane Katrina, everything became divisive. Whenever I visit New Orleans, I am still reminded of the antiquated beauty that makes the very personality of the southern Queen city. My life growing up in south Louisiana was highlighted every year with a visit to New Orleans. Every time I have gone back, I think of our government and the president’s carelessness towards a city that I share a love with. New Orleans is the American Mecca of beautiful music, people and culture that is unmatched else where in the U.S. Mayor Ray Nagin has garnered criticism since the storm for his actions as well as his inaction. Yet, I cannot think of another man who could do a better job as he has so far been the most honest and progressive mayor.

Now, with the advent of nouveau disaster to include venture capitalists, they seek to pluck the very soul from the city and make it a smaller and whiter New Orleans. There are talks of tearing down towns and not replenishing historic areas due to ideas that it is feasible and quite convenient for those with money to re-create New Orleans in their own image. That image is not the “Chocolate City” that Mayor Nagin referred to in a prior, now famous press conference. GCR and Associates show that 58% of New Orleans’s population has returned. The Louisiana Road Home program has shown, according to a BayouBuzz.com news article, that there have been 30,000 closings to date in south Louisiana.

Many of the cosmetic changes will likely alter New Orleans demographically. Of course, this is what many politicians and businessmen want. What they may or may not realize is that the heart and soul of New Orleans is founded, created and fashioned after the people who have made up the history of the city.

The city has always been riddled with scandals of corruption and organized crime. That history is sometimes ugly and terrible to look back upon, but to use an old cliché, “we don’t know where we’re going until we know where we’ve been.” The people that make New Orleans unique and beautiful are black people who have been grossly mistreated and harmed by mass media reports and disaster capitalists who would rather re-paint the picture that is New Orleans without blacks. Present day race and class segregation is at work as we live and breathe.

Black Economics: Time of Need

By Steven Toliver

Imagine being immersed in water from the neck down with the anticipation of drowning. Try to visualize rescuers tossing a life preserver inches away while succumbing to one of nature’s most destructive forces. For many survivors of Hurricane Katrina, this imagery depicts the ineptitude of FEMA.

During the summer and fall of 2005, our eyes and minds were filled with horrific images of human suffering on American soil. What followed was a revelation of how incompetent our government could be. Many of us are aware of the proverbial tug of war that Katrina survivors have had to play with insurance companies and FEMA in regards to shelter and food, but what about college students? In New Orleans, students who were enrolled were forced to transfer out temporarily until the universities underwent repairs and the city was livable again.

Jesse Parkhurst was one of those students who had to make adjustments to his future aspirations. A Florida native, Parkhurst enrolled at the University of New Orleans to major in naval architecture and marine engineering. UNO did not have student dormitories, so Parkhurst lived off campus in some nearby apartments. Like many of the other structures in the city, UNO was severely damaged forcing Parkhurst to transfer back to Florida. Without funding for housing, food and education, Parkhurst was forced to turn to FEMA.

Parkhurst was given $5000 when he enrolled at University of North Florida with the hope of returning to UNO soon. By November 2005, it became obvious that UNO had been damaged too badly to reopen immediately. The university gave students the option to salvage what was lost or to take a complete loss on everything. Parkhurst chose to salvage what was left and transferred to north Florida permanently. He changed his major and attempted to pick up the pieces.

Life was beginning to look up for Jesse. Then, one day late last year while visiting his parents’ home, he received a letter from FEMA requesting for the money back. The Parkhurst family received the money believing that they would never have to pay it back. Lucky for them, detailed receipts of all their purchases were available.

Families who have experienced FEMA’s incompetence are no longer being hounded. Under the new rules, students who received compensation for damages suffered from Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita can keep the money if they can prove through written documentation that they lived in campus housing for at least six of the 12 months prior to the 2005 storms.

We must learn from this hard lesson of dependence and embrace the concept of Black Nationalism, which is the idea of controlling the politics of our communities. During times of prosperity, black people scoff at the idea of taking the reins of power and shaping our future and look to outside resources during economic hardships. At a buying power of nearly 700 billion dollars, we should not look to FEMA or the U.S. for help after the next disaster. We should look to ourselves.

“Power concedes nothing without demand.”

-Fredrick Douglass-