Hurricane Relief Fund

On Sunday Nov 26th we joined Talib Kweli and over 120 activists, artists, videographers, photographers and writers at a people’s press conference in downtown LA. Talib was in LA on tour and took time out to speak on behalf of the Peoples’ Hurricane Relief Fund (PHRF) to raise awareness around the issues that have yet to be resolved, so people can return to their homes in New Orleans.

The event was organized by PHRF, Change the Game, SAJE & the Community/Labor Strategy Center. Talib, the PHRF and the other organizers are focusing on the actions of Governor Kathleen Blanco, who has created the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) to hijack over $10 billion funds that have been allocated by Congress to reconstruct New Orleans and other areas damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The community of Katrina survivors are not included in the decision making around the fund allocation, the LRA answers only to Governor Blanco. This is not acceptable, as she has shown herself to not be a friend of the Black community, the largest group displaced by the disaster.

On the panel, Kweli was joined by Freddy Munroe, Hurricane Katrina survivor and activist, Patrisse Colors, organizer with the Community/Labor Strategy Center and Karl Carter from Change the Game. The panelists talked about the many facets of the Katrina survivor struggle, from local LA delegations that have witnessed the lack of progress in New Orleans, to legislation in congress that must be supported, to the importance of utilizing & generating peer to peer media around this issue as a tool to increase awareness.

Read the demands and take action! For more information go to PeoplesHurricane.org