Help Hurricane Katrina survivors get back to Lousiana and get their lives back!

This just in, from Free Radio Olympia 89.5:

Talib Kweli and friends stand up for Katrina survivors!

This is a great opportunity for anyone who cares about what has happened to the citizens of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast after Katrina and our President's (intentionally) botched rescue efforts and non-existent reconstruction.

Please attend this event and bring money to donate to help this effort be a success. And if you know anyone who survived the hurricanes and came up here, bring them to this event as well. It should be a really good time.

Sunday, November 19, from 2 to 3:30 PM
at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center,
104 17th Ave. S., Seattle, WA

Nationally and internationally renowned hip hop artist Talib Kweli will be taking time out from his latest tour to voice his solidarity with displaced and returning hurricane survivors of the Gulf Coast.

For more information contact:
Linda Warren, Lagniappe Caravan (206) 914-6288
Leith Kahl, PHRF (206) 940-3807

SEATTLE RIGHT TO RETURN COMMITTEE AND TALIB KWELI SAY:
SUPPORT THE LAGNIAPPE CARAVAN!
DOWN WITH THE LOUISIANA RECOVERY AUTHORITY!
AN INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL MUST CONVENE!

On Sunday, November 19, from 2 to 3:30 PM at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 17th Ave. S., Seattle, WA, nationally and internationally renowned hip hop artist Talib Kweli will be taking time out from his latest tour to voice his solidarity with displaced and returning hurricane survivors of the Gulf Coast. He stands in solidarity with the People's Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition (PHRF/OC), the Lagniappe Caravan, and the International Tribunal on Katrina.

The hurricane survivors of Louisiana are marching on their governor's office on Saturday, November 18th, in a demonstration organized by the People's Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition, demanding "We Want Our Money". Governor Kathleen Blanco has hijacked over $10 billion from the Federal Government. Congress appropriated this money to assist displaced people and to reconstruct New Orleans and other areas damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. To control these funds, Blanco created an extra judicial body, accountable fundamentally only to her, called the
Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA). The LRA is wholly unrepresentative of Louisiana's population, particularly of New Orleans, in both its race and class composition. The LRA represents the interests of major developers.

PHRF/OC, Seattle Right to Return Committee, and Talib Kweli demand:

1. That the LRA be disbanded and a representative institution or body is created to oversee and govern the recovery and reconstruction process;

2. That renters are compensated for their losses and be provided with resources to aid with moving costs, deposits, and rent assistance;

3. That all of the public housing units in New Orleans be reopened immediately;

4. That there be no demolition of any of the public housing units in New Orleans;

5. That rent gouging cease and decent affordable housing be made available; and that funds for the total replacement of privately owned homes be made available.

Members of Lagniappe Caravan and Common Ground Collective in Seattle declare their solidarity with the demonstration and action by the PHRF. The action is occurring on the same day that the caravan is holding a benefit comedy show, here in Seattle. Lagniappe Caravan and Common Ground Collective speak in unity with PHRF: "We Want Our Money Back, Too!" Since the funds have been hijacked, they find that the approximately 200,000 residents that were displaced from the New Orleans area alone are still struggling to return home, including 3,000-5,000 evacuees stranded in
the Seattle area. As a response to this problem, they have formed Lagniappe Caravan, a Hurricane Katrina survivor-led organization that is planning to help survivors relocate, reunite, and participate in the rebuilding process (Lagniappe is a commonly used New Orleans word meaning "just a little bit more"). The first caravan will leave in spring, 2007, and will be of no cost to survivors who wish to return home.

The PHRF has also called for an International Tribunal to try the governments of the United States, Louisiana, and the municipalities of the Gulf Coast Region with the crimes against humanity that have been committed against an internally displaced people inside the United States. An initial Commission of Inquiry, including delegates from South Africa, France, Venezuela, and Brazil, has traveled to Biloxi and New Orleans, and taken testimony from survivors that clearly demonstrate the need to convene such a tribunal, which has been called for 2007. The Seattle Right to Return Committee and Talib Kweli join in the call for this tribunal.

This event is endorsed and organized by:

Lagniappe Caravan & Common Ground Collective in Seattle,
P.O. Box 70873, Seattle, 98133
http://seattle.commongroundcollective.org

People's Hurricane Relief Fund, 1418 N. Claiborne Ave, Suite 2,
New Orleans, LA 70116, (504) 301-0215
http://www.peopleshurricane.org

Common Ground Collective, 1415 Franklin Ave,
New Orleans, LA 70117, (504)947-0270
http://www.commongroundrelief.org

People's Institute Northwest, (206) 938-1023
email: pinwseattle(at)yahoo.com

Change the Game, (917) 407-3018
http://www.changethegame.org

Hip Hop Back To Its Roots, (206) 386-1177
http://www.diamondlifepresents.com/backtoitsroots.shtml

The International Tribunal
http://www.peopleshurricane.org/international-tribunal

Socialist Organizer (The Organizer Newspaper) Seattle,
(206) 940-3807; (206) 355-6572.
http://www.theorganizer.org


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