It ain't over. It ain't gonna be over for awhile. And we still need you.
We Still Need You.
There's still alot of work to be done - for real people. It's not over - the republicronies have not won. I'm gonna say that again...louder...
THE REPUBLICRONIES HAVE NOT WON.
If you ever wanted to get into this fight, if you still want to get into the fight, if you want to be a part of making the good thing happen, there are opportunities. It ain't over...
Another diarist, stillrockin, put up a diary earlier today about
volunteering in St. Bernard Parish. It's a good diary, it deserves your attention.
Stillrockin's diary tells about his/her recent experience in St. Bernard Parish with Habitat for Humanity. There's a camp - Camp Hope - it's running, it's working, and they need volunteers.
'Course, they need volunteers, 'cause the Feds, they're still not coming. Will you? will you come and help? Please?
'Cause it ain't over. The republicronies have not won. Their strategery of attrition has not totally beaten down the will of the people. The republicronies have made it hard, as hard as possible, for the people to move back, to regain their communities. Still, the republicronies have not won. It's still a fight - and in this kinda fight, every little success counts, 'cause every little success means a success for a real person. Every effort that helps a person...well, that's just it, it helps a real person who needs our help.
It's real. Very very real. You can be a part of making good things happen. For real people.
And in the process, if you are into this part of it and all - you can turn back the republicrony efforts to take from the people and give to themselves.
A coupla weeks ago, I put up a diary about one of Bush's photo-ops in the Lower Ninth Ward and the slow-but-sure recovery of this house. This past Friday, I stopped by the house again, showing the site to another commenter here on dKos (bless this commenter, a truly wonderful spirit who came because she cares...she even wanted to go, and did go, to see Beenie's house, and that takes guts and caring...). We talked with the owner of the Bush photo-op houses, who happened to be around the houses, doing a bit of work before the Labor Day long weekend. The owner's aspirations are simple, real, genuine - to fix up the houses and live in one side of the double (that's what we call a "duplex" down here), and to rent out the other side to good folks. The owner wants to make the houses into homes again. The owner is not looking for rich profits, the owner is looking to regain a little slice of the alleged American Dream, same as it ever was. Same as it ever was. Or maybe to fix it up and sell the property to someone else who will do the same thing. The owner, he's genuine New Orleans, down-to-earth, in New Orleans, we'd say "he's good people", if you know what I mean. The owner was humbly proud to show us around, explain all the evolution of the houses to us, the evolution of the houses revealed by the contruction materials and styles. The owner was completely, genuinely open with us, humbly proud of what he has, and what he wants to make with it. The houses, they're genuine New Orleans, built of boards taken from old Mississippi River barges a hundred years ago. The owner is not very impressed that Heckuvajob Georgie went poking around in his house, he's more tickled that someone put a can o' Busch beer on the porch after the visit. All the owner got outa Heckuvajob Georgie's visit was that can o' beer - and I note that the can o' beer came not from a republicrony, it came from some anonymous person who was making fun o' Heckuvajob Georgie. Know what? I bet that the owner is gonna do it. Know what else? In that diary a coupla weeks back, I put up photos of the houses across the street from the photo-op houses. A coupla weeks ago, the houses across the street were not-worked-on-at-all. Two weeks later, this past Friday, they were worked on, the yards were cleared and work, slow but sure work, was being done on those houses as well. Some folks are not giving-in to republicrony inertia and attrition.
See...it ain't over.
Come and see for yourself. Come help. Come get in this fight. Come help good things happen.
If Habitat isn't your style, there's Common Ground, and there's a buncha other groups also still doing work down here. I hope that folks will post additional appropriate links in comments below.
'Cause it ain't over. There's still work to be done. Helping real people remake their lives. You will never, ever regret doing it.
The Anniversary, it's come and gone. There's still work to be done. We need you. We need your hands, we need your mind, we need your heart, we need your spirit. 'Cause it ain't over.