In early 20th Century African American literature, Harlem was referred to as the “quintessential ghetto.” Using Harlem as the measure of progress, advocates, scholars and artists in the African Diaspora were able to uncover and discuss the many socioeconomic and socio-political injustices that continued the underdevelopment of poor people of color, predominantly those of African descent. Then, in the 1970s-1980s, hip hop lifted the otherwise veiled lens of American society so that it could no longer ignore the extended conditions of urban poverty. In 2005, that lens was shifted to the Gulf Coast, specifically New Orleans. With horror and disgust, the nation watched as thousands of poor people, primarily people of color, nearly drowned in the waters of neglect after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.

Today—over two years after the city of New Orleans and many other communities in the Gulf region, were devastated by the combined local, state, and federal governments’ inadequate response to the hurricane—the French Quarter and much of its surrounding areas look normal. Construction projects block easy access to certain streets, but the sounds, the smells, the stores, and Bourbon Street look like they always did, only less populated. On the surface, New Orleans is New Orleans. That is, until you venture a little deeper into the city—into the Lower 9th Ward, where homes are still boarded and empty, where marks still show the number of people who did not survive the hurricane, and where some plots of land host only a concrete foundation to show where a home once stood. The wrongful demolition of homes and the removal of trailers plague families that are struggling to reclaim their lives from predatory contractors, property renters, and other exploitive entities that prey on those most vulnerable to the ongoing tragedy of poverty.

Today, thousands of the predominately poor, elderly, African American residents that were left to weather the storm continue the struggle to achieve their right to live with human dignity. Thousands remain displaced from their beloved New Orleans. Thousands more are unable to live in a healthy environment because of the toxins that surfaced with the flooding after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Even more are still without electricity, without a permanent home, and without the resources to even mow their own lawn. With these conditions, many wonder: Why return? Well, as a colleague in Louisiana described, “In New Orleans, everybody knows each other. There’s only one degree of separation…you feel safe when there’s only one degree of separation.”

Without the legal and political advocacy of organizations such as the Louisiana Justice Institute, Loyola Law School, Justice Policy Institute, and Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, among others, the progress we see today would not have been achieved. It is through the tireless advocacy and commitment of these organizations, their community partners, and the residents themselves, that the rebuilding effort in New Orleans remains conscious of the poor, youthful, and elderly people who demonstrate every day the type of fortitude many of us have only “witnessed” when reading the Old Testament or the narratives of our enslaved and interned ancestors.

I am honored to shine the community spotlight on Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, an organization which provides advocacy for the right to environmental justice. While the nation celebrates former Vice President Al Gore’s recent Nobel Prize-winning effort to raise awareness about the potential impact of global warming, we must also give special consideration of this “inconvenient truth” as it applies to those who also experience human, racial, gender and economic injustice. Here, the role of AEHR will grow increasingly important.

Resources:

Justice Policy Institute

The Louisiana Justice Institute

Loyola University New Orleans Katrina Clinic

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