On October 13, Tulane University, a bastion of privilege in the South, hosted Ehud Olmert as a featured speaker. In response, more than 70 demonstrators engaged in protests and direct actions both inside and outside the event, and were interviewed by local media. Despite much hostility, they also found a lot of support, and have found their organizing now has even more momentum. Click "Read More" below to hear from Emily Ratner, an organizer, mediamaker and Tulane Alum. And another perspective from the same event: My first non-violent direct action...
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The National Day of Action Against Police Brutality comes early to the fifth district... Who will be the next victim of our city's rampaging, murderous cops?
Will it be you, or someone you love? Who will NOPD kill next? Who will
they murder and then defame? You've seen the headlines, you've heard
the stories; if you've lived here for any length of time, you know the
deal. NOPD is a haven for thieves, rapists, child molesters, jacked-up
tweaked-out psychopaths, murderers, liars, perjurers, drug dealers,
pimps: the absolute scum of humanity.
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We Glued those Banks Up, baby.
On Friday, September 25, the ATMs and doors of three banks in New
Orleans' French Quarter were sealed shut by the New Orleans Political
Fashion Police.
[[Read the rest of the statement by clicking "Read More" below]]
This Sunday 8/23 marks the 82nd anniversary of the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti, two Italian immigrant Anarchists who were very likey convicted of a crime they did not commit. Gathering of eating, drinking, celebratory their struggle at the Iron Rail, 511 Marigny from 2pm until sunset. illustration by Ben Shahn
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A group from New Orleans traveled to the Gaza Strip in June 2009 to document, witness and talk with people affected by Israel's massive attack in December 2008 and January 2009 on this 140 sq mile section of land bordering Egypt and Israel/Palestine. Includes recordings of several speakers who went to Gaza, along with the delegation's answers to audience questions. Biographical sketches of New Orleans Human Rights Delegation to Gaza Members who spoke at the event.
Abdul Aziz is a social justice activist, photographer, and
filmmaker. He has worked with the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana
(JJPL) organizing among, and advocating for, youth in the criminal
justice and juvenile incarceration systems. He is also a founding
member of the photography collective Monde Noir. Jewel Bush is a journalist/writer who has received numerous accolades for
her work, including distinctions from The New York Times Regional Media
Group, Louisiana Press Association, and American Association of Sunday
and Features Editors. The New Orleans native has freelanced for The
Times-Picayune, New Orleans Homes & Lifestyles Magazine, and El
Tiempo, a bilingual Spanish newspaper. Jewel currently works in public
relations and marketing, having developed successful media/marketing
campaigns for nonprofit organizations like the American Cancer Society,
institutions like the George & Leah McKenna Museum of African
American Art in addition to annual events such as Patois: The New
Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival. Lily Keber is a documentary filmmaker and teacher living in New Orleans. Her
film T. Don Hutto: America’s Family Prison brought the plight of family
detention to national attention and continues to be used as an activism
tool across the country. She currently is media trainer for New Orleans
Video Voices, a grassroots media organization devoted to fostering
critical, independent thinking through the direct and meaningful use of
new media. Lily is also the organizer for the New Orleans Documentary
Night (NODOC), a monthly public screening of current non-fiction film.
Taslima van Hattum is a social worker and public health
professional for the University of California San Francisco’s Institute
of Aging. She works on late-life recovery and life reorganization
post-disaster research in New Orleans. In addition she is a
photographer and an active organizer with New Orleans Palestine
Solidarity (NOLAPS). Emily Ratner is a Jewish American
who is the co-director of Patois: The New Orleans International Human
Rights Film Festival and an active organizer with New Orleans Palestine
Solidarity (NOLAPS). She is one of many Jews in the New Orleans area
who is interested in starting a conversation among American Jews about
their continued support for the Israeli government, and is going to
Gaza in part to bring back photographs, footage, and experiential
knowledge to share with the Jewish community here as we prepare to take
a strong stand on our communities’ direct support for the Israeli
occupation and oppression of Palestine and the Palestinian people.
Jordan Flaherty was the first journalist with a national
audience to write about the Jena Six case, and played an important role
in bringing the story to worldwide attention. His post-Katrina writing
in ColorLines Magazine shared a journalism award from New American
Media for best Katrina-related coverage in the Ethnic press, and
viewers around the world have seen the TV news segments he’s produced
for Al-Jazeera, TeleSur, and Democracy Now. Map of the Gaza Seige 2008/09 courtesy of Solidarity Maps blogSee Related Stories: Starting Over in Gaza - Report from a New Orleanian in GazaNew Orleanians in a delegation during the siegeLocal Protests Continue in January Protesting the Attacks on Gaza via New Orleans
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Dozens of protesters converged on the Housing Authority of New Orleans' headquarters today demanding jobs and housing. They expected a board meeting, but were told at the last minute of its cancellation. HANO did not offer a reason but said Friday it will reconvene the board. see criticism of Times-Picayune's coverage of the event
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Organizers of the Job Action emphasized that Section 3 of the U.S. Fair Housing Act requires that 30% of the new hires for redevelopment work should be local, public housing and low-income residents, and demanded a massive Public Works Jobs Program see related criticism of Times-Picayune coverage
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On Monday, July 6, a murder case from 1971 against former Black Panthers fell apart in a San Francisco courtroom. Evidence against the defendants primarily consisted of forced confessions obtained under torture by the New Orleans Police Department in 1973. poster by Emory Douglas, found at Just Seeds Visual Resistance Artists' Cooperative.
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In post-Katrina New Orleans, anarchist truths found fertile, if toxic grounds to take root and grow. New paths were walked on. Antiauthoritarian principles emerged as important guides for both reconstruction and the struggle against disaster capitalism. A million or more equally important stories can now be told about mutual aid, cooperation, subversion of authority, disruption of state and capitalist plans. And yet Brandon Darby's morality tale has become a media darling, due in no small part to his perfect and full adoption of his role as a state agent, regardless of whether it was official in 2006, or whether the FBI is still cutting him paychecks. We owe it to ourselves to tell these other stories of New Orleans, St. Paul and beyond. photo taken in October 2005 in New Orleans by unknown photographer.
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Major investors have created enormous economic and political pressures on LSU to build its $1.2 billion hospital in lower Mid-City Casual observers might think that the pro-Charity vs. LSU teaching hospital conflict is an argument over two competing plans to bring health care back online in New Orleans. It is not. The difference between the two camps is in fact much more fundamental with the pro-Charity coalition valuing health as a human right versus LSU and its supporters valuing health care as a business anchor around which an industry can grow, land values can inflate, and hospitals can make money. No set of facts better illustrates this divide and fleshes out the LSU camp's motivations than the machinations of major real estate developers in Mid-City. In spite of the post-Katrina rise in mortality and morbidity rates —due to the local health care system's bedraggled state— LSU and its allies have stubbornly refused to entertain the notion of reopening Charity, favoring their economic development centered plans over what pro-Charity advocates define as an issue of the human right to medical care. Into this conflict numerous journalists have intervened with facts and analysis. We (“A. Caritas” is a pen name for several researchers) reported in December about real estate acquisitions of several developers in and around lower Mid-City, questioning the for-profit motivations driving the LSU-VA project. New information about these developers and biotech boosters has compelled us to chime in again, especially in response to Times Picayune reporter Kate Moran's glowing profile of one Mid-City developer published in April.
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Attorneys sought for the crucial and new position of New Orleans Independent Police Monitor. Keep the police honest! Keep the police from using unnecessary force! Bring back community voice in creating safe and strong communities! Applications are due by May 31, 2009. Job Announcement Included in Text.
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ARISE 3 DEADLINE: MAY 8! Send your writing or photos (or questions about us) to imc-neworleans@lists.indymedia.org OR publish online here on the website. Last issue we focused on the after effects of Hurricane Gustav, as well as police harassment and healthcare. (http://neworleans.indymedia.org/news/2009/02/13658.php) This issue's theme will be determined by your entries!
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Gathered today on the posh Uptown campus of Tulane University in New Orleans a crowd of two hundred citizens, the vast majority of them older white men dressed in conservative grey and blue suits, most of them representing oil and gas companies, gathered to hear and be heard by the Obama administration's Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar. The event was equal parts sales pitch and public hearing on a major new energy plan being proposed for the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) by the administration.
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 Judge Orders Restraint Against Further Dissemination of Documents and Handover in 24 Hours for His Inspection.
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This article is a critique of a draft proposal by five progressive non-profits providing policy recommendations to the U.S. Congress concerning the promotion of affordable housing in the storm devastated areas of the Gulf Coast. This analysis is the collective work of New Orleans housing activists who have been fighting for affordable housing in the city since Katrina and longer. The main criticism of this analysis is that the proposal of the five non-profits, in general, represents a continuation of the failed private sector driven approach to rebuilding the Gulf Coast begun in 2005 under the direction of the Bush Administration.
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Residents of public housing and supporters gathered in the cold outside of the Lafitte development today rallying against evictions and demolition.
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"We arrived inside Gaza at 5pm last night. We were met by Anees, a 23
year old Gazan. He has guided us around the community. When we first
came in tonight, kids were playing soccer in the street. We saw lots of
heavily damaged buildings, especially government buildings and homes
near the border." Kathy Kelly is with Voices for Creative Nonviolence. Audrey Stewart is a human rights worker with Loyola University New Orleans. They have been in Egypt since January 8, 2009.
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Repost from The Nation; an investigative report supported by the Nation Institute. In Algiers Point, white vigilantes shot African Americans with impunity in the days following Hurricane Katrina.
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A small group of protesters gathered in the freezing cold today in front of the Avery C. Alexander Charity Hospital demanding it be reopened. They also voiced concerns about the massive VA-LSU project that will demolish 70 blocks of lower Mid-City, ostensibly to replace Charity and the old VA hospitals. Also a related indymedia article on mass land acquisition in the footprint by a wealthy New Yorker: Land Acquisitions in Mid City Raise Questions by A. Caritas.
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Katie Hunter-Lowrey, a New Orleans resident and a former employee of the gay rights advocacy group Mass Equality, talks about her trip to California before the historic November 2008 election to fight the passing of Proposition 8, which bans equal marriage for gay couples.
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City officials and LSU still working to pull together controversial LSU hospital plan. Hundreds of Mid-City homes will be demolished from area, and Big Charity Hospital will still be closed.
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Albert Woodfox, who has spent 37 years in prison at Angola Penitentiary, must be released on bail, according to a ruling issued today by United States District Judge James Brady. On September 25th, Judge Brady overturned Woodfox's conviction for the 1972 murder of prison guard Brent Miller. Though the State has announced its intention to appeal that decision, until such an appeal is successful, according to today's ruling, there is no conviction on which to hold Woodfox. Read more...
Time is of the essence on Charity Hospital and the surrounding neighborhood. Decisions may be made as early as this Friday that will decide the fate of the VA and the neighborhood. Read more...
New Orleans is ringing with the sounds of celebration. Having endured the brunt and brutality of the Bush administration's neoliberal economic agenda and neoconservative political agenda more heavily than any other community in the United States, the city has begun a party like only this town knows how to throw. The sounds of ship horns along the Mississippi River blasting in jubilation mix with cars honking along the main avenues. Cheers of hooray resonate across the town from victory parties at bars and crowded households.
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More than a dozen people marched in the streets of New Orleans Sunday evening with a “Starbucks Stop Your Union Busting Now!” banner in solidarity with Starbucks baristas across the nation. At the end of the action, police unlawfully arrested one protester for allegedly "interfering" with officers who were detaining a fellow demonstrator without cause. After twenty four hours and bail payment, the arrestee was finally released.
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A panel of legal experts, social justice organizers and local indigenous leaders came together to reclaim what is normally "Columbus Day" just a month after another hurricane pummeled southern Louisiana tribes.
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N.O. Council member Stacy head officiated the DDD meeting and was praised as a consensus builder by developers and preservationists alike for providing leadership toward a solution that addressed the concerns of both parties. Head, well known for her leadership in the demolition of public housing touted the DDD plan as one that put an “academic background and expert opinion around the issue,” and provides various stakeholders with influence over the final reports recommendations. This was in stark contrast with her leadership during the debate over the future of public housing when she eschewed attempts to forge common ground between those who sought homes for residents of the “big four” developments, and those who advocated immediately tearing down the developments: Head was adamantly for demolition and entertained zero discussion with public housing residents and their allies about how to provide immediate affordable housing opportunities for working class New Orleanians.
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The School Facilities Master Plan for Orleans Parish, released in mid-August, received its first hearing for public comment on Thursday September 18, 2008. From more than 30 public comments, there were no unconditional supporters of
the plan and several people mentioned that there needed to be more time
for public comment on such a large and technical document that will
have a tremendous impact on this city well into the future. A petition is underway. See Indymedia's feature on the petition.Click on the title of this feature for the first audio installment. The second installmentThe third and final installment
In response to a federal judge's decision overturning the conviction of Albert Woodfox, one of the two 'Angola 3' members who remain in prison, lawyers for the men called on the State Attorney General's office to drop any further charges and release the men immediately.
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Hurricane Gustav killed 18 people in Louisiana and displaced 1.9 million. Over 800,000 homes are without electricity. In Haiti, Gustav killed 77 with another 8 missing and damaged nearly 15,000 homes. Tropical storm Hanna, which closely followed Gustav, killed at least another 60 people. Tens of thousands of people have sought safety on rooftops and temporary shelters.
As this hurricane fell at the end of August and the beginning of September, many returning evacuees are faced with mounting bills from landlords and utility companies after footing the cost of at least 4 days of evacuation. The financial hardship for many is unbearable. Attached is a drafted tenants agreement that tenants can present to their landlords to strike agreements to defer rent payment for a reasonable amount of time.
Despite the rosy media reports of light damage from Hurricane Gustav, several of southern Lousiana’s coastal Indigenous communities are reeling from a direct hit by Hurricane Gustav’s 115mph winds and large storm surge. Their communities lie in shambles. The communities of lower Pointe-au-Chien, home of the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe (PACIT), and the Isle de Jean Charles (“The Island”) Band of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Confederation of Muskogees (BCCM) are still trying to assess the severe damage and what it will take to rebuild after Gustav’s devastating winds and storm-surge flooded homes, knocked buildings off their foundations, and decimated the primary source of income in the early season commercial shrimp harvest. The Island is still inaccessible due to prevailing flood waters. ( the most recent update from community leaders follows this action alert)
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Your assistance is urgently needed to help the low-income women of color and their families evacuate safely if need be, stay safe for the duration of the evacuation, and return to the city as soon as possible so as not to fall prey to the pushout that has kept so many folks from being able to return to New Orleans since Katrina.
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In the blazing midday sun, hot and thirsty little children walk around bags of diapers and soft suitcases piled outside a locked community center in the Lower Ninth Ward.
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Immigrant workers receive safe evacuation assurances from Department of Homeland Security
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We cannot let history as told by those who assume Power forget. Forget today, forget 2005 or forget the 500 years of neglect, abandonment and indifference that lead to the slow disasters on communities like those in the Gulf or anywhere in our world. Some of you may be aware there is a hurricane named Gustav that is working its way into the Gulf Of Mexico as we speak.
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