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3 things you can do to help rebuild democracy in New Orleans 
Tell Congress to stop bickering and start rebuilding New Orleans
The main reason that many families have not been able to return to New Orleans is the lack of affordable housing. While the politicians in Washington bicker, Louisiana residents languish in desperate need of federal funding for housing and flood protection. With another global-warming-fueled hurricane season right around the corner, it's time for Congress to fast track much-needed aid.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has taken a step in the right direction by amending a stingy House aid bill to include additional resources, including $4.2 billion to provide affordable housing for Louisiana's Katrina survivors.
Tell your Senators: Immediately approve important new funding for housing and flood protection in Louisiana by supporting the Senate Appropriations Committee's amendments to the supplemental appropriation bill (H.R. 4939).
Volunteer to help Get Out The Vote in New Orleans:
If you can get to New Orleans to volunteer on Saturday April 22, you will be an instrumental part of efforts to help Katrina survivors cast a vote that counts on Election Day. Please join us.
New Orleans elections are held on Saturday. And parties are a tradition in New Orleans. We need 40 volunteers to help us throw parties to increase turnout at two of the largest polling places serving African American voters.
Learn more about volunteering
to help get out the vote:
100 volunteers are needed to help monitor the polls and help work the neighborhoods to get out the vote on Election Day.
It's not just about voting, it's about making it possible to come home again. ACORN, one of the largest and best organizations fighting for the rights of the poor, is helping New Orleans families reclaim their community, one house at a time. After the election, volunteers are needed to help clear the debris from flooded homes so that low-income families can return to New Orleans and start the process of rebuilding. Housing is provided and help is urgently needed.
If you can't volunteer, forward this email to someone who might.
Tell your friends about how they can volunteer to help New Orleans get back on its feet. Forward this email to anyone you know who might be able to join us in New Orleans on April 22 or help begin the rebuilding process.
Let Katrina Survivors Vote
Iraq, South Dakota, the Supreme Court. In the shadow of the Bush administration, the list of our losses continues to grow, while the human cost compounds. But America perhaps knows no greater shame in the Bush years than our government's failure to protect its own citizens — those who were poor and black, that is — in the flood that followed Hurricane Katrina.On Saturday April 22, New Orleans voters will go to the polls to cast their ballots for mayor and city council. Those elected will help determine whether the survivors of Katrina will have a "right to return" to the city they love or a say in the distribution of billions of dollars in much needed funds for rebuilding. Sadly, because of inaction by the federal government, those most affected by Katrina will be the least likely to vote.
Half of the voting population in New Orleans has been displaced, and the vast majority of those voters are African American. A local political consultant has said that he thinks that 90 percent of the people who are going to vote are within 100 miles of City Hall. That means, it's of vital importance that we help get African American voters in and around New Orleans to the polls on Election Day, and fast track aid to bring affordable housing — and displaced Katrina families — back to New Orleans for good.
Filed under: grassroots democracy, reform, US Politics Tagged: | Uncategorized
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