POC

Today we switched groups and this week my group along with 3 other groups will be working with POC or People's Organizing Committee. We went to the location, which was a church in the lower ninth ward. There we talked with Joshua and some two other individuals. We talked and then went on a levee tour. The first levee we visited was the on at the Lower ninth ward. That levee was just made of concrete and is flat. The rumors that are going around was that an unknown Barge was not entirely tied and it banged against the levee and that caused the breach in the levee, which lead to the flooding. Joshua told us that locals said that they heard explosions and thus believe that the levees were blown up again. In addition, he told us that investors are constantly driving through the lower ninth ward, looking to see what they can do with the property and who loved in that property. When the find out who lives on the property, the investors tell the landowners that the property is not worth it and that they should sell the land to them. Many of those individuals do not have much, are in a deep depression and need money. Most likely, they are so disparate that they would accept that offer. In addition, we were told that the lower ninth ward was the first areas that allowed freed slaves to purchase and own homes. Thus it had the largest black homeowner ship in the US. He also told us that plans for that party was to make it into some sort of casino place or a place were people can go walk their dogs. As we drove to the next location, we saw how there levee before the floods looked like and that was very low to be a levee.

The next location was the levee at the Holy Cross district and that was a much better levee. It was a not made of concrete but a large mound of sold with grass and at the top, people can run on top. It also has at the bottom of it some rocks that break the waves and slows down the water. Next we visited the levee at New Orleans University and that was insane. I had stair that were 30 feet in the water. It had a park near it and on top of that it had another barrier, or levee to stop the water. As you can imagine, this is near were the wealthy reside. On top of that there were these poles or stands that Joshua stated that cost $1500 each. These were used to help the trees get back into place and there were many of them.

Next we visited the Housing Projects or public housing near the French Quarter. Joshua stated that HANO have wanted that property for a very long time and have been looking for excuses to take that valuable property. Well, the flooding of New Orleans was a golden opportunity for them. Joshua told us that when the flood happen, people were calling their relatives who lived in the public housing if they can stay with them because they were the safest buildings during the flood. This is so because they are made of brick and they are raised 3 feet high. When the flood happened, some water entered the building but when the water settled, it did not harm those buildings. However, HANO are claiming that they are unsafe and that there is a lot of damage. They put huge steel gates on the doors and windows of these buildings to not allow the individuals who lived there to return. They have been sued but we were told that Hano will try to drag it out in court until the locals run out of money or give up. Many of these individuals are not being listened to and are not wanted back in New Orleans. Most likely, this property will be turned into a mixed income neighborhood. What was interesting was that a police officer from HANO came by and asked us what we were doing and that we could not enter those buildings. How can we if they are boarded up with steel? We were also told that they plan to demolish those public houses in early June.

After that we went to have lunch, and went back to the POC headquarters. There we were informed about what we will be doing for the rest of the days we work with POC. We will be talking with the locals and just try to invite them to come to the Survivors committee meets that are held on Saturdays from 11 to when ever. The Survivors Committee is made up of locals and they fight for the issues that are important to them. This committee is mode up of 5 or six other organizations. What was interesting was that we were told that POC has been the grassroots organization that is the most vilified for with it does. The reason why is because they get the job done and are challenging the structure or system. They have worked on gutting a school that was supposed to be demolished but is now going to be turned into a charter school because of them. Anyways, good night and I will talk tomorrow about my first day on actually working with POC. Until tomorrow.

Ebelio