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> Update, 01.02.09.

Fluxview have made a video about Everybody's Kitchen, who, with help from Common Ground Relief, have been providing free meals for residents of Point-aux-Chenes and the surrounding area in the wake of last years Hurricanes.

Watch the video below!

> Update, 12.22.08.

The Nation, a weekly publication of progressive politics, has published a lengthy investigation into the attacks on black survivors of Hurricane Katrina by white vigilantes in the weeks following the storm:

A.C. Thompson writes:

"The way Donnell Herrington tells it, there was no warning. One second he was trudging through the heat. The next he was lying prostrate on the pavement, his life spilling out of a hole in his throat, his body racked with pain, his vision blurred and distorted.

It was September 1, 2005, some three days after Hurricane Katrina crashed into New Orleans, and somebody had just blasted Herrington, who is African-American, with a shotgun. "I just hit the ground. I didn't even know what happened," recalls Herrington, a burly 32-year-old with a soft drawl.

The sudden eruption of gunfire horrified Herrington's companions--his cousin Marcel Alexander, then 17, and friend Chris Collins, then 18, who are also black. "I looked at Donnell and he had this big old hole in his neck," Alexander recalls. "I tried to help him up, and they started shooting again."

Read the complete article here, along with The Nation's response from Congressman Conyers, a video of two of the victims of the attacks, along with The Nation's editorial commentary.

Additionally, please visit www.colorofchange.org to sign the petition demanding an investigation into these shootings:

In the weeks following Hurricane Katrina, White vigilantes hunted down Black men who entered Algiers Point and even tried to expel their Black neighbors. Louisiana's broken law enforcement agencies have refused to investigate these crimes.

Tell Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, and the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the racist shootings, and to demand accountability from Louisiana's dysfunctional criminal justice system.

> What we do.

Common Ground Relief's mission is to provide short term relief for victims of hurricane disasters in the gulf coast region, and long term support in rebuilding the communities affected in the New Orleans area. Common Ground Relief is a community-initiated volunteer organization offering assistance, mutual aid and support. The work gives hope to communities by working with them, providing for their immediate needs and emphasizes people working together to rebuild their lives in sustainable ways.

 

> History.

Seven days after Hurricane Katrina struck, Sharon Johnson, Malik Rahim, Brandon Darby and scott crow founded the Common Ground Collective. With a starting budget of $50, these four began a collective effort to rebuild the spirit of community in Southern Louisiana. Authoritarian military control and many incidents of racial violence dominated the mood of New Orleans during this time, flavoring post-Katrina New Orleans with a dark and hopeless atmosphere. After their call out, veterans, doctors, lawyers, human rights activists and others responded by traveling to New Orleans and collectively offered hope and solidarity.

Meanwhile, mismanaged government programs and inadequate funding deepened the needs of historically neglected communities all around Southern Louisiana and Mississippi after the historic storms. While hundreds of thousands of people were stranded away from their homes, teams of corporate contractors and government officials came to New Orleans and laid out specific privatization and development plans for the future.

In an attempt to counter the widespread suffering caused by these and other factors, Common Ground Relief worked to reconnect families displaced by the storms, clean and rebuild homes and community centers, measure levels of toxins in the soil and water, provide legal advocacy, feed people through our community kitchen and offer volunteer support to large, community-wide projects.

Since this formative phase, Common Ground has sustained vibrant volunteer-led programs that have served tens of thousands of people. We continue to host a wide variety of volunteer run projects, which provide services ranging from free legal advice to mowing lawns, from construction assistance to wetlands restoration. We hope that you will join in efforts to ensure a more just and sustainable future for all of the communities of the Gulf Coast. Please consider donating time or funds to support these projects. These programs depend on contributions to continue.