On New Years Day, men and women made homeless in the wake of Katrina spoke out at a press conference to address the city's housing crisis and other issues harming working poor families, such as the demolition of public housing. The decision was made at an emergency meeting called by the homeless committee concerned about the anticipated cold weather predicted to severely affect them throughout the week.

Several homeless New Orleans residents spoke at 12 noon beneath the Claiborne Bridge, between Canal and Iberville Streets. Following the press conference, they led a walk to the Lafitte public housing development, which most of them believe should be reopened.

Many of New Orleans more than 12,000 homeless people are currently on the streets because of sky-high rents and low wage jobs. The homeless claim that existing forms of assistance from the city and various charity organizations falls far short of their needs.

"We need good jobs and decent affordable homes," explains Tony, who has been homeless since early 2006. "What programs there are to help just aren't cutting it. We need the government to take action to open up housing, make rents cheaper and create living wage jobs."

Tony, like many others on the street, is a former public housing resident.

"They should open those developments back up," says Luther, who has also been on the street since returning to New Orleans in late 2005. "Most of my people still aren't back. They're in Houston and Mississippi waiting to come home, but they can't. And they won't be able to, if the projects get torn down."

A majority of the homeless in New Orleans work. Most of them had homes before Katrina. The city's recovery programs have been totally inadequate for working class and poor people. Today's press conference was an opportunity for some of New Orleans' homeless to share their experiences with the city's recovery, while offering solutions.

It's cold outside!

The homeless encampment at Canal and Claiborne and along the stretch underneath the freeway overpass are in harm's way of freezing temperatures. Pregnant women and children who are sleeping there are especially vulnerable.

Blankets, generators and portable heaters are needed immediately. The weather will be freezing for the rest of this week, at the very least. All of the shelters are currently over capacity.

Please lend some assistance by contacting Sam at (504) 319-3300, Antonio at (504) 272-5720 or Don at (504) 401-2101.

For more information, contact Sakura Kone', Common Ground Relief, P.O. Box 6128, New Orleans, LA 70174, (504) 861-5017, cell (504) 583-0750, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , www.commongroundrelief.org, http://cghc.org.

How sweet it ain't: Leafletting at the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day

Football fans flooded into New Orleans thinking the city is all right. We were there to inform them of the truth. Our fliers encourage folks to contact Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawaii, who sits on the key Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, where Senate Bill 1668 is being held up, and convince him to do more to pass the bill. See http://banking.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Legislation.Detail&Legislation_id=470.
We gave them a list of businesses to boycott because they support and/or benefit from the demolition of housing in New Orleans.

Concrete ways that you can support

1. Come down and help! We need for as many people who are able, particularly Black and other oppressed people, to come to New Orleans to help with outreach, coalition-building and base-building and engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience in line with the resident council's principles and the coalition's pledge of resistance statement (see www.peopleshurricane.org). To engage in this initiative, we ask that you contact the coalition at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

2. Pressure, pressure, pressure! We need to continue bombarding all of the aforementioned targets with calls, faxes and emails demanding that they comply with our demands.

3. Take action in your state! We need our supporters throughout the county to take action on Friday, Jan. 25, or Saturday, Jan. 26, targeting your Senate representatives and demand that they let SB 1668 out of committee if they reside on it or to take a position in favor of its passage if they are not.

4. Help re-register internally displaced persons! Outreach to IDPs in your area and encourage them to re-register to vote in New Orleans and support the recall initiative. For more information on the recall, visit www.peopleshurricane.org.

5. Boycott, boycott, boycott! Spread the word to everyone in your area and various networks to boycott Mardi Gras and the NBA All Star Game. Let them know that the City of New Orleans should not be supported until the mayor and City Council make a firm commitment to stop the demolitions, address the housing crisis and ensure the right of return for all. Contact should be made with all of the professional basketball players we can reach and encourage them to support the boycott reprisals and to make a statement against the demolitions.

6. Make media and get the word out! We need to reframe the struggle to stop the demolition based on the demands of the coalition. To this end, we need everyone to

a. Write letters to the editor for your local news outlets,

b. Blitz the major newsprint, TV and cable media networks and demand that they cover the issue, and

c. Write articles on the issue based on the coalition's demands and post them to as many listserves, blogs and websites as you possibly can. Topics to cover include connecting the New Orleans struggle to what's happening in your community; the violence used to try and silence and suppress dissent at the City Council hearing on the 20th; and the recent letters and statements from Pelosi, Reid, Edwards, Obama and Clinton and Mayor Nagin's letter to Alphonso Jackson.

The Coalition to Stop the Demolition calls on our national and international allies to support our demands

1. No demolitions - reopen the existing units and rebuild dignified housing at former public housing sites.

2. Guaranteed one-to-one replacement for all public housing residents.

3. All available public housing units should be made available for the homeless and those likely to face homelessness from the pending loss of rent vouchers and trailer recalls.

4. The federal government needs to suspend demolition until they complete their own investigation of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson regarding the illegal no-bid contracts he awarded to his cronies.

5. Rent control - at pre-Katrina rates - to provide deeply affordable housing so that all will be able to return to the city.

6. Stop the privatization and gentrification of the city.

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