We're so accustomed to brief frenzies of wall-to-wall national media coverage of all of the little Katrinas that happen around us from year to year--tornadoes, flash floods, bridge collapses, all the usual suspects--that we forget to notice, I think, whether we're told, later on, what ever became of all those miniature 9th Wards in small towns and forgotten rural corners.
Places like Shannon County, South Dakota.
More on this, and nifty things said today by Kossacks, in the Land Below the Fold.
Shannon County holds the unusual distinction of not having a county seat; instead, it makes up a large portion of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home of the Oglala Lakota Nation. It also holds the dubious distinction of ranking consistently among the poorest counties in the nation, often as the very poorest.
Shannon County also holds the proud distinction of casting the highest percentage of Democratic ballots in the 2004 Presidential election, 85%.
On the night of June 4-5, 1999, in the waning years of the Clinton administration, a series of powerful tornadoes ripped their way through Shannon County, killing one, injuring 40, damaging or destroying more than 150 homes, and ultimately impacting the lives of at least 600 families. President Clinton declared the county a disaster area, Federal funds were given, and FEMA began to deliver trailers. In the national media narrative, thus ends the story of Shannon County and the 1999 tornadoes.
While the national media will periodically send a camera crew to Pine Ridge to document the poorest of the poor in their native habitat, analysis is not deep, and the continuing impact of the Oglalas' own little Katrina as a further dimension of the county's web of poverty is given no notice.
So how does this community fare, nine years later? Shannon County continues to jockey with Buffalo County, where the Crow Creek Indian Reservation is, for the title of poorest county in the nation. 52.3% of the population live below the federal poverty line, a number that goes up to 60.8% for those under 18.
Nikki Pipe On Head (that's her son James, a descendant of Chief Big Foot who died at Wounded Knee, to the right) of the Loneman School in Oglala, which serves 335 children from pre-K to 8th, estimates that as many as half of the school's students meet the HUD definition of homeless because of the exceedingly poor conditions of their residences, some of which are now-dilapidated FEMA trailers left over from 1999 or from even older tragedies. The Loneman school district's Median Household Income is $17,368 with an average of 4.8 persons per household, well below the national poverty threshold of $20,444 for a family of four.
With the community in some ways worse off now than it was the morning of June 5, 1999, what, if anything, can we do to end the perpetual cycle of poverty there? To me, the obvious first step is to get a Democrat in the White House, but that is only the beginning, here and elsewhere. As we move forward this year in that endeavor, we need to keep asking ourselves what other 9th Wards sit just off the Interstate, ignored as we drive by.
This weekend, I'll continue this narrative with a different focus: the efforts of one small group of people, in South Dakota and elsewhere, to bring to the students of Loneman School at least one small improvement in their lives: the simple opportunity of books.
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So, on to the nominations!
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Nominations received in our TopComments AT gmail.com account - send your nominations each evening before 9:30 eastern and don't forget to include your UID!
Our harvestings tonight are few, but we make up for it in quality. :-)
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Found by ScottyUrb:
Its All So Goofy offers perspective on the Rev. Wright saga.
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From RickMassimo:
The meme "(Fill in the blank) II: Electric Boogaloo" has become an easy and popular one - heck, kos used it today. And while I expanded on it rather lamely, I'm proud to say it gave knicely the opportunity to take it to the streets in this mini-thread.
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kath25 adds:
homo neurotic on marrying for health insurance.
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My own picks for the day:
In a Lonely, Unrecommended Diary That Shall Remain Unnamed, JeffLieber expressed his exasperation at the whole thing by uttering, apparently, the name of a Welsh village. decembersue, among others, didn't miss a beat, and hilarity ensued. Go figure.
In the comments of today's High Impact Diaries, Land of Enchantment gives us a heads-up regarding a potential GBCW of a different sort. Thoughts, prayers, warm fuzzy glow, and good thoughts to LofE.
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TOP MOJO courtesy the ever-brilliantly-multitasking brillig. Thanks, friend!
Top Mojo - excluding search-identifiable tip jars and first diary comments (top 30 of each plus ties):
1) Two observations... by Lava20 — 148
2) Yeah - but this is a lost cause. by Christin — 111
3) Great post by TocqueDeville — 102
4) What a great video!!!!! by notquitedelilah — 99
5) I simply love that woman by jenontheshore — 96
6) I have so much respect for Obama as a man by ronnied — 95
7) Something that's missed here by Rorgg — 94
8) bye by Shahryar — 92
9) NY Times Article is Outrageously Optimistic by FishOutofWater — 87
10) The AA community will understand that Rev Wright by TennesseeGurl — 83
11) With all due respect Costello7 by SteamPunkX — 82
12) Jezuz mof***'ing Kripes: With all the gawd dammed by Samwoman — 79
13) Obama's campaign is doing something similar by Muzikal203 — 78
14) Check it! by jenontheshore — 76
15) Olbermann said yesterday by louisev — 76
16) Cross-posted at by LithiumCola — 75
17) Like the FBI is going to do jack squat about it. by One Pissed Off Liberal — 73
18) Whoa! I just donated $100 and all I got by Naranjadia — 70
19) Damn, that brought tears to my eyes by The Lighthouse Keeper — 69
20) I feel really bad for Barack by Muzikal203 — 69
21) Look it! by jenontheshore — 67
22) So funny and beautifully moving by myelinate — 66
23) I can't keep track of all these buses. by canoeist — 65
24) Again, Andrew Sullivan nails it: by jeepdad — 64
25) Thanks for your great work by AussieJo — 63
26) Indeed, they won't care by The Bagof Health and Politics — 63
27) The saddest thing about this to me is by Ambboogie — 63
28) oh give me a break, Wright behavior in the by calalaila2008 — 62
29) Awesome and Inspired ! G'damn em all to hell ! by Johnny Rapture — 60
30) Yeah, enough already. by dft — 59
31) The sound you're hearing ... by Fozzie Bear — 59
32) I was at least trying for... by chrisfreel — 59
Top 30 (including ties) with no exclusions:
1) Tip jar... rec for donation dollars! by chrisfreel — 1118
2) tips/recs by WinSmith — 692
3) tips/recs by maxnyc — 612
4) Tip Jar by LithiumCola — 496
5) Tips to superdelegates who make up their minds... by JedReport — 425
6) Tips? Flames? by Something the Dog Said — 381
7) tips, comments & don't forget to rec by DrSteveB — 347
8) Anyone have more info? by ProgressiveSouth — 318
9) Tips/ Recs by Steven R — 311
10) Tip Jar by Oreo — 279
11) It's put up or shut up time for Conyers... by markthshark — 165
12) This diary is about politics - by teacherken — 153
13) Two observations... by Lava20 — 148
14) Barack has over a million donors by Dallasdoc — 131
15) Let it go, Kos! :) by StrangeAnimals — 124
16) Drive to the basket! by jeepdad — 123
17) Yeah - but this is a lost cause. by Christin — 111
18) Great post by TocqueDeville — 102
19) May R.C., Shaun, and Guadeloupe rest by blue jersey mom — 101
20) What a great video!!!!! by notquitedelilah — 99
21) I simply love that woman by jenontheshore — 96
22) Tip jar... by oxfdblue — 96
23) I have so much respect for Obama as a man by ronnied — 95
24) Something that's missed here by Rorgg — 94
25) bye by Shahryar — 92
26) NY Times Article is Outrageously Optimistic by FishOutofWater — 87
27) Another item beyond debate by Scott Kleeb for Senate — 86
28) The AA community will understand that Rev Wright by TennesseeGurl — 83
29) With all due respect Costello7 by SteamPunkX — 82
30) Jezuz mof***'ing Kripes: With all the gawd dammed by Samwoman — 79
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Going out to Prairies, the Highlands, the Lowlands, and all the ships at sea,
Progressive Witness