I recently picked up this zine from my local infoshop called “The war at home: NEW ORLEANS AFTER KATRINA / a letter to social justice activists by Joanna Dubinsky”

After coming home from the disaster zone of the Post-Katrina Gulf Coast, I found that people around me were just up to business as usual.  Unlike me, they hadn’t just seen the dismantling of western civilization as we know it, and didn’t seem to have the same sense of urgency that I felt all knotted up in my chest.  I am still challenged to articulate what I saw in New Orleans and what it’s implications are for the rest of us and the living of our lives.  I was excited to find this peice by Joanna Dubinsky, for I found it articulated well my strong feelings about the situation and the political and social implications of what has happened and is happening in New Orleans.

I won’t reprint the whole thing here, but I’ll give you the introduction and the main talking points, and encourage you to go read the whole thing here:

http://www.solidarity-us.org/warathome

It is no exaggeration to call the ongoing situation in New Orleans a war.  When I drive around the city, I see mile after mile after mile of flooded houses – with hardly a sign of life – their brown flood lines still clearly visible, many with windows and doors ajar, some with mounds of gutted walls and furniture piled on the curb.  These piles are taken away, only to be replaced by more debris.  This happens over and over again.

And this is still happening, a year later.

You look around this city and you say: “Something horrific happened here.”

This is war.

What happened in New Orleans is politically important for the broader lessons it can teach us about race, class, gender, poverty, the environment, government “security,” the “push/pull” of immigration, and the crumbling infrastructure of the United States.  All of these forces intersect under disaster capitalism and neoliberal restructuring.  Racism is woven throughout each aspect of the disaster and aftermath.  It is important to apply these lessons to the “many Katrinas” we experience.  In all of our cities ther is poverty and racism, neoliberal restructuring, increased militarization and privatization, and gentrifying forces that continually displace poor people of color.  Ther are also “natural disasters” waiting to happen – earthquakes, flood, fires, tornadoes, tsunamis and more hurricanes – all of which will be exacerbated by a crumbling infrastructure – a system that has declined across the United States precipitously since 2001.

Some fellow social justice activists around the country have told me that the Katrina moment has passed; we need to move on.  This made me realize that we may be far off from understanding the political significance of this event in the way that African Americans have recognized the centrality of Katrina.  There are particular things about the tragedy in New Orleans that will continue to make it an important struggle for years to come.  I want to emphasize 10 critical points that I think can be lost in general discussions.  I will then conclude with some suggestions and resources for moving forward in the fight for a just reconstruction of New Orleans and beyond.

1. The catastrophe that happened in New Orleans was entirely predictable.

2. The flooding of New Orleans could have been prevented.  The destruction was caused by the federal government’s lack of political will, not a natural disaster.

3.  The flooding of New Orleans was the most expensive disaster in U.S. history.

4. The flooding caused massive death and suffering.

5.  In addition to these initial deaths, massive displacement continues to contribute to the deaths and suicides – at triple the national average rate – and continues to tear thousands of lives apart in a way that can only be compared to war – or slavery.

6.  This forced Diaspora is disproportionately made up of poor Black people and households headed by single women.  There could not be a clearer illustration of how institutional racism functions.

 7.  While Bush promised to address poverty and they legacy of racism, the biggest beneficiaries of government aid to the region have been corporations.

8.  Despite all the obstacles and the lack of government support or a real “plan” beyond “free market” reconstruction, folks continue to fight – even if not in mass coordinate struggle – to find their way home.  We, as fighters for social justice, should orient ourselves to this struggel, even if it has not fully articulated itself.

9. This struggle is continuing to manifest and define itself in the face of overwhelming onslaught on every front.  Despite the urgency of the struggle, we need to recognize that it will need to go on for years, not months.

10.  It is strategic and necessary – given the various intersections of social injustice and the complete abandonment by the government – to orient our social justice work to the struggle in New Orleans.  This requires us to think politically about this work, and not simply look at it as a relief effort.  Volunteerism is necessary, but it is not the solution.

for full text, go here:

http://www.solidarity-us.org/warathome