On Monday, April 2nd we arrived at the St. Bernard Housing projects as the last two by fours and roofing panels of Resurrection City were being pushed into a dump truck.

The City of New Orleans, under the leadership of Mayor Ray Nagin and the authority of the Housing Authority of New Orleans, had dismantled Resurrection City.

Resurrection City, an encampment of small wooden huts perched against a chain link fence that surrounds St. Bernard, stood briefly as symbol of resistance and hope for the mainly Black and working class public housing residents who have been barred from returning to home since Katrina. The dismantling of ‘the city’ was one more step in the long battle between public housing residents and the city government -- a battle many of us have been watching closely.

More... Video from St. Bernard Apartment Occupants of New Day Center Jan 2007

Friday, April 6- On Tuesday night, April 3rd, union shipyard workers in Pascagoula, Mississippi voted by a roughly 60-40 margin to accept a new offer from Northrop Grumman and return to work. The vote ended a twenty-eight day strike of 7,000 workers from 13 unions at the Ingalls shipyards, the longest strike in decades. The new contract contains increased health insurance costs, but also a cost of living increase and other very modest financial improvements for workers, which some say are far offset by the increased cost of living on the Mississippi coast post-Katrina.

Wednesday, March 21, New Orleans—In a victory for low-income residents of New Orleans, the US House of Representatives passed HR 1227, the Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act of 2007 by an overwhelming bipartisan vote, 302-125. The bill, co-sponsored by Representatives Maxine Waters (CA-D) and Barney Frank (MA-D), ensures that public housing residents displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will be able to return to affordable housing. To become law, the bill must pass the Senate and escape Presidential veto.

More...

Moved by the ongoing human rights crisis in the Mississippi Gulf Coast, grassroots organizers in the Katrina Self-Determination and Bolivarian Movements throughout the country have agreed to host the Mutual Aid and International Solidarity Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana at Dillard University , one of the country's oldest black educational institutions on May 24th – 27th, 2007. Presenters & attendees will share organizing experiences, explore opportunities for mutual aid and stand in solidarity for human rights and self-determination. The conference calls on all progressive forces in the U.S. to join at the to build the Katrina Self-Determination and Bolivarian Solidarity Movements. This conference is designed to network person-to-person and grassroots links between the peoples of Venezuela and the United States.

Thursday, March 15, New Orleans – More than 100 members, supporters, and coalition partners of the People's Hurricane Relief Fund (PHRF) and Tenants Rights Working Group (TRW) – some as far away as Houston - including Critical Resistance, Survivors Village, the NAACP and other groups won a major concession from City Council on the question of price gouging and the lack of tenant rights in the city of New Orleans. In the face of mounting pressure from the more than 10,000 signatures gathered on the price gouging and tenants rights petition, demonstrations outside the home of Council Woman Stacy Head and other actions, an agreement was reached in principle that the City Council, through its Housing and Human Development Committee, would:

1) Develop policies to address the question of rent control in New Orleans.
2) Work with PHRF and the TRW on this Committee to craft the necessary policies.
3) Would challenge the State Legislature and Constitution to address the crisis of price gouging and lack of tenant rights protections.

More...   Photos of City Council Hearing