Katrina Rita Diaspora Solidarity Caravan

The Mission:

We are dedicated to representing and serving the survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the local communities where they are living and furthering the efforts in building a national movement of advocacy for the Right of Return.History: August 29, 2005, The Katrina and Rita hurricanes,governmental neglect and racism has displaced over 136 million people from the Gulf area, New Orleans, Alabama and Mississippi.

“New York Times” Sept 23, 2005 – www.nytimes.com/imagespages posted a map of the immediate dispersal of Gulf Area evacuees. Johnnie Stevens (New York Coalition for Katrina Rita Solidarity) compared the government's response towards the disaster, to the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the Indian " Trail of Tears". The deliberate scattering of the survivors highlights our motivation to demand from Bush and State governments that there is a need for a one stop center to serve."

Per Bill Quigley (lawyer and law professor at Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans ) "Given the political and governmental officials and policies in place now, one of the major casualties of Katrina will be the permanent displacement of tens of thousands of African Americans, the working poor, their children, the elderly and the disabled."

We are focused on 4 primary goals:

1) To engage community in a fact finding census to gain much needed information of where the survivors are and if they want to return to the Gulf Coast.

2) To build regional Survivors Assemblies for a 2008 National Assembly in the Gulf Coast

3) To generate support for the Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act 1668, which makes the Right of Return possible. (See Below *)

4) To demand that Bush, HUD and FEMA set up one-stop Centers for survivors in those 49 states, to support the survivors who do not want to return to the Gulf Coast, at this time.

Objectives:

To achieve our goals, we aim to travel in a coast to coast tour of the 49 states where survivors are now living in order to partner with local coalitions between survivors and communities. We plan to facilitate a census of New Orleans and Gulf Coast survivors in the 49 states. An artistically visible bus painted under the direction of artist Parl Deo (also a Katrina survivor) would be used to set up a traveling video lab, a census station and a rallying stage. We have enjoined with students at Sara Lawrence University, Columbia University, Fordham University and Thurgood Marshall Academy to be part of the city wide coalition providing outreach and technical assistance. We will challenge the non coverage of the displacement in the 49 states by the media and provide leverage to address this. Through national visibility and local outreach, we strive to motivate and mobilize the local and national partners to direct official Congressional hearings.

One action for building awareness and mobilization is the "Green Ribbon Campaign". Supporters for Justice for the Katrina and Rita Survivors will be asked to wear a Green Ribbon as a show of support the demands of the Right of Return and passage of Bill 1668. See website for more www.WeChargeGenocide.com

We will enjoin further with the U.S. Human Rights Network and other organizations and individuals, all working to bring the US into compliance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Visible Outcome:

The starting base is located in NYC and connecting then with New Orleans, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas and Houma, LA.

The targeted start date for the Caravan is June 26, 2008 to September 9, 2008. This is the 1st phase of theCaravan which will end at the site of the Republican National Convention. .. Myspace Layout Generator-Layoutgen.com
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