5 Easy Actions to Resist Demolition of New Orleans Public Housing

Please read this and pass it on!

Dear Local and National Friends in Solidarity with New
Orleans Tenants:

Re: Five Easy Action Options!

As we promised when we first announced our new e-mail
address, we are back to you with specific action
steps. Here they are:

1. You can help us get the Gulf Coast Housing
Recovery Act of 2007 adopted by the US Congress.
This piece of legislation (S.1668) would stop the
demolitions in New Orleans! The bill has already
passed the US House, but must also be adopted by the
US Senate. It is now stalled in a Senate Committee,
the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Committee. It is not clear why the bill is not moving
forward in that committee since the Committee is
Chaired by Sen. Chris Dodd (presidential candidate)
and chief sponsor of the bill ( S.1668). Democrats
have a majority in the Committee (11-10) and in
addition to Sen. Dodd, three of the Democrats on hte
committee are co-sponsors of hte bill! In addition,
withthe exception of Sen. Shelby of Arkansas (ranking
Republican on the Committee) there are no Deep South
Republicans on the Committee. Most are from the west
(Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming). Another positive
note is that Sen. Hagel (R-Nebraska) is on the
Committee and several Katrina Survivors in Omaha
could be paying him a visit while he is home for the
Thanksgiving Recess. (Earl: is this one for you?)
Actually, several of he Committee members could stand
a little "visit" and gentle nudge to GET THIS BILL
MOVING! Aside from Sen. Hegel (R-Nebrasks), the
nearest Senator to Minnesota is Sen. Tim Johnson
(D-South Dakota) but our friends/allies in the eastern
states have better opportunities since there are
Comittee members (all Dems) from New York, Delaware,
Rhode Island, and New Jersey. All in all, it is hard
to imagine a better Committee for us so let's see what
we can do together to get this important bill moving
again! Time is getting short, but there still is time!
To review the entire Committee membership, see
http://banking.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Information.Membership&IsTextOnly=1
. More on this later.

2. Get ready to publicly condemn HUD Abuse of Human
Rights at the nearest HUD Office! By a separate
e-mail message, we have sent you a copy of the
Provisional Notice of Condemnation that we have sent
tonight to federal officials [Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD)]who are responsible for
the planned demolition of the 5,000 housing apartments
in New Orleans. We have given the HUD officials 48
hours to publicly announce that they are halting the
demolition and will work with tenants to design the
future of public housing in New Orleans. We will let
you know if HUD announces a change of plans. We do
not think they will at this point, so get ready for
the next stage: after the CONDEMNATION NOTICE becomes
"final" we would like you to print out copies of our
CONDEMNATION NOTICE and organize demonstrations or
"visits" to HUD OFFICES to deliver copies of the
CONDEMNATION NOTICE in person and to deliver a clear
message: "The US is a Human Rights Abuser! Respect
Human Rights of ALL People! Stop the Demolitions in
New Orleans!" Let us know what you do and what you
experience. If you make video of your action, post it
on websites available to you and send us a copy so we
can publicize your action here.

3. Send us your Solidarity Poems, Prayers, and
Promises! Last Saturday, we sent you a message
introducing the idea of world-wide "Poems, Prayers,
and Promises". If you have a poem, prayer, or a
promise that you would like to share with us and the
people of New Orleans, please send it!

4. Radicalize your friends & family BEFORE that
Thanksgiving dinner conversation! Continue the Slide
Show Education & Outreach: Visit one of the greatest
websites focusing on the New Orleans housing struggle:
www.justiceforneworleans. There you will find,
among other things, the New Orleans Housing slide show
http://justiceforneworleans.org/index.php?module=article&view=98&page_num=2
). But EVEN MORE IMPORTANT, you can easily forward
the Slide Show to friends. It's easy to do. Just
click on the word "email" at the bottom left of the
slide show and you can send the whole deal to friends.
Here is what the page looks like.

Bill Quigley's presentation about the housing
situation is New Orleans. Quigley shows who wins and
who loses. Guess who?
SlideShare | View | Upload your own

5. Forward these Action Options to friends and
allies.

Together we can! Together we will! In solidarity,

The Minnesota-New Orleans Solidarity Committee