Voice of Revolution

Katrina Survivors Demand:

Funding to Return and Rebuild Now!

Katrina survivors took action in Washington, DC February 8-9 to affirm their Right to Return and Rebuild. Chanting “Cut the Check Now!” survivors demanded that the government take up its social responsibility to meet their needs as a collective. They demanded immediate funds for housing and for rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

Traveling more than 24 hours by bus from San Antonio and Houston, Texas and Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana, hundreds of survivors came to DC to hold the government accountable. They protested at the White House and the Capitol building, and took their demands directly to House and Senate members. Large numbers of women participated in the various actions organized by ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now).

The survivors represented all those scattered across the country, demanding that the government provide funds for rebuilding homes, reopening public housing and for temporary housing so people can return and rebuild. They called for “Category 5” levees to protect against future hurricanes, emphasizing the need for government action before the hurricane season begins in June. They also opposed planned government evictions of survivors from hotels, scheduled to begin for some February 7 and for many others, February 23.

Refusing to accept demands by the Capitol police that they not march because they had no permit, everyone together organized to gather on the Capitol grounds and then “walk” up the sidewalk to the House office building. With fists in the air, participants marched up the hill chanting “Housing Now!” “We Want Justice!” “Rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast!” “Cut the Check Now!”

The militant crowd then packed a hearing room to speak to government representatives. The anger of people who rose to speak one after the other was clear, each denouncing the failure of the government to meet their needs. A show of hands revealed that nearly all participants had already been turned down by the Small Business Administration (SBA) as not “credit worthy.” The official there to “explain” why the SBA was rejecting applications was repeatedly interrupted. Said one women, “Why in a country as rich as ours do you have us begging on our knees for what belongs to us.” Said another person, “I am a businessman and I cannot get any funds to rebuild.” When the official said he would look into individual cases and asked everyone to provide specifics, another women interrupted to say, “This is not an individual problem. It is a collective problem. Tens of thousands of people are being denied funds. It’s unjust, it’s wrong and the government needs to address our collective needs and do it now!” Again the chorus of “cut the check” went up.

Later that day, a rally took place at the White House. Survivors came with placards adorned with large photos of their homes still in ruins and debris on the streets, along with photos of efforts by the people themselves to go forward with clean-up and rebuilding. Signs demanded “Right of Return” and “Rebuild Now.” Chants targeted the government and their failure to provide for the needs of survivors. With their diversity and spirit of resistance, they also rejected existing government plans to block the rebuilding of New Orleans’ communities. “You Can Rebuild Without Us, But You’ll Get Soup Not Gumbo!” protesters chanted. A vigil was then held in honor of the many women, children and men who died as a result of the government-organized disaster in the aftermath of Katrina.

The next day, survivors and many youth and activists rallied at the Capitol, specifically targeting the Senate. Democratic leader of the Senate Harry Reid, presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton and Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu all came to say they would assist survivors. People in the crowd said they wanted concrete actions, not more promises.

After two vigorous days of organizing together to take their stands for rights, the hundreds of participants boarded buses in high spirits. Many immediately began planning together how to carry forward the fight to return and rebuild.

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Lower 9th Ward Residents Say, "We Are Here To Stay!"

- Common Ground Collective -

Lower 9th Ward residents and Common Ground Collective staged a press conference and march in response to a tour led by Governor Kathleen Blanco. The tour was designed by Blanco to show lawmakers some of the hardest hit neighborhoods.

Seen by many as a political stunt designed to repair her image, the tour attracted less than half of the states 144 legislators.

After the press conference at which some lower ninth residents voiced their concerns about the re-building of levees and other issues, more than 60 residents and supporters marched through the devastated neighborhood.

Some carried signs that read "Electricity and Water Now, Rebuild Category Five Levees, and We Want Trailers Too!"

Although Blanco shirked the press conference staged by residents, she could not avoid the marchers who lined North Prieur chanting "We are here to stay," as buses carrying the governor and legislators rolled through en route to view the site where a loose barge crashed through the Industrial Canal flood wall.

When Blanco stepped off the bus for a moment she was quickly surrounded by the demonstrators. Residents took the opportunity to voice to the Governor their list of demands.

1. To have a voice on the issue of what will happen to their properties.
2. To maintain ownership of their properties.
3. Services such as electricity, water, sewage, and gas.
4. FEMA Trailers
5. A fair share of the 6.2 billion dollars alloted by the federal government for hurricane recovery.

Although she assured home owners help was on the way, and that they would be able to participate in rebuilding decisions, she did not to make any concrete statements regarding plans to re-build the area.

"We need to find out what the government gonna do about our situation here, we need to know if we gonna be able to build back, or if they gonna pay us for our land." said home owner Earl Odems.

Residents were protesting the fact that five months after the Lower 9th was ravaged by Katrina the area seems frozen in time. No clean up effort is underway. Many residents expressed concern about a proposal to turn the area into a green space, and fear that they will lose their land. "I don't want them to tear down my place where I grew up..." said Trinetta Woodberry Victorian. "I'm coming back, thats why I paid my property taxes."

Several residents speculated that the neighborhood had been deliberately used to drain other parts of the city. "Give us category five protection on the Industrial Canal. A levee that has broken 3 different times. For some reason they want to use this are a a spillway, we will not accept that. Said Lower 9th home owner Robert Spriggins.

Lower 9th residents have been meeting regularly with the Common Ground Lower 9th Ward Project, and Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund for several weeks in an effort to organize and rebuild their community.

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Government Source of Insecurity

Florida SWAT Team Guns Down Eighth Grader

On the morning of Friday, January 13, 15-year-old Christopher Penley of Winter Springs, Florida was shot by members of the local SWAT team. More than 40 officers were involved in cornering and isolating him in the bathroom of his public school. The school, with 1,100-students, was put in lockdown, like a prison (no one allowed in or out and all classroom and building doors locked).

Christopher had only a plastic pellet (BB) gun (a nonlethal weapon). He had not injured anyone. There were no other youth or teachers in danger at the time he was shot. There was a well-armed and trained SWAT team that had him surrounded and isolated when they shot him. Police claimed he pointed the gun at them and that this justified shooting him at point-blank range. As police themselves stated, there is no policy that “calls for anything less than shooting to kill.”

His parents, Ralph and Donna Penley, made an effort to intervene to talk with their son. The police prevented them from doing so. The Penley’s also repeatedly told police the weapon was a fake. It is generally agreed by family, school and church people who knew Christopher that if his parents had been able to speak with him, they would have been able to resolve the problem without violence.

Christopher Penley died from massive injuries to the brain, on Sunday, January 15. Family and friends held a vigil for him that day.

His family and the entire community are devastated and angry at his senseless killing and the clear police impunity to use violence. More than 200 mourners, including three busloads of students, crowded Northland Community Church for Christopher’s service.

Police continue to justify the -killing as a legitimate use of force. They refuse to admit any guilt, apologize, or offer any reparations. When students returned to classes on Tuesday, the school was filled with deputies and extra security officers. Already, as a daily occurrence, the school forces students to go through metal detectors and have their backpacks checked. Governor Jeb Bush, on Monday, January 16, emphasized that metal detectors, backpack searches and police in schools are not enough. “Quick and certain punishment” is needed, he said.

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Keep Police Out of Our Schools

- Buffalo Forum -

Buffalo’s mayor and school superintendent recently announced that Buffalo police will have a greater presence in and around the city’s public schools. Initially, the police presence will focus on Burgard, Grover Cleveland, Lafayette and Riverside. Students arriving at schools the following day saw many squad cars at their schools. Superintendent James A. Williams emphasized that police in the schools is simply “how we live now.”

In addition to an increased police presence, inside and outside the schools, the police department’s nine-member Flex Squad, used for “trouble spots” will also be focused on city public schools.

There is little evidence that police prevent violence, in the schools or the communities. There are many examples, such as the most recent one of an 8 th grader killed by a SWAT team, showing they are a main source of violence.

The problem is not individual police officers or simply their presence. Rather, it is a culture of violence and impunity by government at all levels. It is the orientation that says the violence of social problems, like poverty and widespread youth unemployment, is acceptable. As Williams says, this social violence is simply “how we live now.” More police does nothing to deal with these problems. How then can it stop violence?

Buffalo teachers know well that a main source of problems among the youth is the repeated attacks on the youth by government — such as the wrecking of their schools, the large classes imposed, the lack of books and basic resources. As well there is the high level of poverty, unemployment, and lack of recreational facilities. Targeting these problems and increasing funding to education and the needs of youth more generally is what will actually assist. Instead, these social problems are turned into law and order issues and the only solution given is more police and more repression. This is a dangerous direction.

More police in and around the schools will give rise to more violence against the youth, including police brutality and killings. This is what life is already telling, in Buffalo, in Florida, across the country. What is needed is to keep police out of the schools and increase funding for education and all social needs. What is needed is defending the rights of the youth and teachers.

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8th Grader Killed by Police

“Shoot to Kill” in the Name of Security

- A Buffalo teacher -

On January 13, an eighth grader at suburban Milwee Middle School, in Longwood, Florida, was shot by police and died two days later. The student, 15-year-old Christopher Penley, was chased, cornered in a bathroom and then shot by a SWAT team for bringing a plastic BB gun to school. He injured no one.

The police claim they did not know the toy was not a real pistol until after they shot Penley. Ralph Penley, the boy’s father, however, contacted authorities with his cell phone upon learning what was happening at his son’s school to notify them that the gun was not real. Mr. Penley came to the school, but he was not allowed to enter the school, nor were any efforts made for him to communicate with his son.

It is well known that loved ones play a key role in assisting police to safely end situations like this without the use of force. News reports claim there were police negotiators on the scene, but it is not clear that they were utilized.

All the norms of public safety and service were thrown out the window and replaced by deadly force as soon as the police arrived. Jim Pasco, the executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police said of the shooting: “These officers made a judgment when confronted by an armed individual and they did what they were trained to do, which is shoot to kill. I am not aware of any policy that calls for anything less than shooting to kill. It just isn’t done.” The message to all youth is clear: If you cross us, you will be killed.

The norm of non-violent conflict resolution, taught to every kid these days, is being eliminated. The norm of calling on loved ones for help, of negotiating without use of force is being eliminated. The norm of gathering accurate information, of calmly making informed, rational decisions is being eliminated. All of these norms are being replaced by police impunity.

This brutal shooting in a public school shows that government impunity, from the President on down, is impacting -local police and situations in our schools. And at a time when police are becoming more violent, school officials are calling to have more police in our schools! This will only mean greater insecurity and violence, as this and similar incidents show.

The police and the monopoly media have tried desperately to justify the shooting by claiming Penley pointed the BB gun at the officer who shot him. Since when does the safety of police officers come first? The police are duty bound to protect and serve the public, not themselves. It is their job to put their lives on the line for the public they have sworn to protect. Imagine a firefighter pointing to a burning building and saying, “I’m not going in there! I might get hurt!”

A sixteen-year SWAT team veteran, with full body armor, and armed to the teeth can’t get a BB gun away from an eighth grader? This was not protecting and serving, it was a cowardly execution. Anyone who has any familiarity with handling firearms, which this officer would have had vast amounts of, knows that a handgun is very difficult to shoot accurately, even for professionals, and even at shortened distances. Even if the pistol was real, there is no way an out-of-breath, scared kid with no weapons training, cornered in a school bathroom is going to be able to carefully aim, slowly squeeze off a shot, and actually hit a living, breathing, moving target all within the time it would have taken for the officer to calmly walk over and grab the gun out of the kid’s hand.

Impunity is the order of the day. For the people, there is no security with “increased security measures,” like police in the schools and shoot-to-kill orders as the accepted practice. The only source of real security for the people rests with the people themselves. We need to keep the police out of our schools!

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