The disaster looks different here.
I've been staring at hurricane damage for a year, and I keep seeing more everyday. There is a difference between the devastations of Mississippi coast and New Orleans. While the levees broke in New Orleans causing massive floods, Mississippi is where the hurricane hit and houses are flattened. Today, we drove west on Highway 90, beachside of the Gulf, surveying the areas most devastated by the actual hurricane.
Biloxi, Pascagoula, Gulfport, Pass Christian. Some of these towns on the cost are where the eye of the storm passed. Beachfront, most all of the buildings have been knocked down, only the floor and/or foundation left. Concrete slab after concrete slab lining the highway tombstone reminders of buildings that once was. Some slabs still have remnants of colored tile, linoleum or faux wood. Further from the coastline, back in the neighborhoods people, have turned their concrete slabs into patios for their FEMA trailers.
At one bus tour stop, we talk to a family of parishioners. As we stepped off the bus we were greeted by the scent of flood, and fish, we met an entire family that has been displaced. They told us of the practical difficulties of rebuilding. Not only are construction materials scarce, they have become more expensive. Homeowners here face difficult and confusing choices: If an insurance inspector decides that a home is "over 50%" damaged, the home must be demolished. For homes that are less damaged, homeowners can still opt to demolish their homes now (a service offered for free) and hope that whatever insurance money they ultimately receive will cover a rebuilding, or elevate their homes now, at a cost of about $60,000. The elevation requirements are not straightforward, and it takes a very long time for insurance companies to respond.
At this evening's listening session we were asked to introduce ourselves by stating our names and one word that describes how we felt at that moment. Karen Madison, working mother of two teenage daughters stated simply that she felt "left out." Karen and her fellow residents of the LC Jones public housing development recently received a letter telling them that they have three months to leave their home. The letter offers no suggestion or assistance in how Karen might find affordable housing. We plan to speak to her tomorrow to hear more about this forced eviction.
Housing and issues around property rights dominated the conversation. Affordable housing has disappeared in hard hit areas. In the case of New Orleans, for example a three bedroom that in 2005 that would cost an average $868 dollars now costs an average $1206 (from a factsheet produced by The Opportunity Agenda). Women this evening explained that the community needs income dependant affordable housing. Section 8 vouchers recipients are often to pay 30% from their salaries, according to Councilwoman Ella Marie Hines.
Without wavering and without anger, the Councilwomen plainly stated that "our people are embattled, and the battle is quite deadly." It has recently come out that FEMA trailers have toxically high levels of formaldehyde. One pastor, and host of the evening, Mary Spinks Thigpen, has already gone to the hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning. It is reported that long-term exposure can lead to throat cancer.
In areas already environmentally devastated, this is one more nail in the coffin. I learned from women here that people along the entire Gulf Coast are experiencing chest infections. The soil is toxic, one woman told a story about her garden -- she found a tomato that was large (a little too large) and ripe, when she cut it open, it was bruised and purple.
These are the some of the conditions of displacement for the black communities in the Gulf south. For states with high concentrations of black people (Mississippi had the highest in the country) this means a cultural and political death for some of the roots of African American heritage. Even as they face these challenging conditions as they rebuild their lives, they have to fend off predatory land grabs on behalf of private companies that are threatening the return of their neighborhoods. Ultimately if people are forced to give up their property it limits an intergenerational transfer of wealth that enables future generations to build prosperity.
We end the listening session with song, "This little light of mine." I'm learning that rebuilding solidarity and political power among African Americans is so important to a just rebuilding process. It is not just about airing grievances but developing solutions together. Women here believe that coming together to share information and experience is the first step in that process.
The Opportunity Agenda invited New Orleans writer and activist Mayaba Liebenthal to create a daily travelogue as she participates in this week's Gulf region "Hear Me Now listening tour" hosted by the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation.
From August 23 to 30, Mayaba will be riding a bus from city to city - from New Orleans to Mobile, AL, Gulfport and Moss Point, MI, Lafayette and Baton Rouge, LA, talking with communities of color as they rebuild their lives. In this travelogue, she shares her thoughts and observations.
Read More at Trouble the Water