George Carter at Rethink banquet
Another senseless killing. Another young, black male killed. Another wasted life full of potential. This time in New Orleans which when you look at the statistics looks like a slaughterhouse for the young and vulnerable.
All eyes were on New Orleans during Katrina and for a short time after. But we have a short memory and that has been put behind us as we struggle with other issues. But in New Orleans, the aftermath of Katrina has left permanent displacement for the minority neighborhoods which had been most severely affected. Before Katrina there had been a cultural cohesiveness about the minority population in the city. A distinctive culture rich in music, food and acceptance. But, they have lost so much and those that have not relocated are still dealing with their losses.
Katrina pummeled huge parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, but the desperation was most concentrated in New Orleans. Before the storm, the city’s population was mostly black (about 67 percent); moreover, nearly 30 percent of its people lived in poverty. Katrina exacerbated these conditions, and left many of New Orleans’s poorest citizens even more vulnerable than they had been before the storm.
In all, Hurricane Katrina killed nearly 2,000 people and affected some 90,000 square miles of the United States. Hundreds of thousands of evacuees scattered far and wide. Today, after years of recovery and rebuilding efforts, people along the Gulf Coast have made great strides in returning to life as usual even as they continue to rebuild.
Brentin Mock at Grist tells the
story of George Carter found dead in an alley in New Orleans this week. Another statistic. But when you get into George's story the loss of potential is heartbreaking.
I met George Carter when he was 10 years old, at a banquet where his organization, Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools*, was receiving an award. The “Rethinkers” are young people who came together in 2006, after Hurricane Katrina, to ensure that students’ voices would be heard in the rebuilding of public schools. George joined when he was just 8 years old, following his older sisters and brothers who were leading the Rethink cause. He was the youngest of the group, and hence was dubbed a “Pre-Thinker.”
His thoughts helped mold the organization, which took on school administrations by demanding healthier foods for school lunches and safer learning environments. He loved gardens. He believed they could be a calming presence for young students, especially those recovering from the most traumatic storm disaster the U.S. has known. His thought seeds grew into the kinds of ideas and projects that helped earn Rethink an award that night, Oct. 25, 2009.
George's thought when he was in fourth grade :"To me I think all schools should have gardens because you can use the plants, and plants give you oxygen. I like to go out in the garden because it calms me down. … If you just had a fight, you can just go in the garden, calm down, eat some strawberries, and you’ll feel safe because you’ll be around nature. And nature, it won’t hurt you."
“This insight was one of the first that connected the idea of school gardens and fresh food to school to the prevention of school violence,” stated Jane Wholey, one of the founders of Rethink.
I can personally relate to George's statement because as a child I felt the same way. Being outdoors surrounded by nature is therapeutic and nourishing and that connection is one of the reasons I work so hard to protect our stressed environment today.
All violent losses of young people are heartbreaking. Read Brentin Mock's piece for an indepth look at the vision, energy and compassion lost when George Carter was killed.