What would MLK think of President Bush?

With President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration around the corner, it seems like Dr Martin Luther King's dream may have been realized. With all the good will and racial reconcilation the new administration represents, Obama will also be taking over the crap the previous administration left behind.

It begs the question: has President Bush set back America, and would Dr King approve of his actions?

Lets look back at some highlighted notes I took down over the last eight years:

1. Did Bush have pre-knowledge of 9/11?

2. And why after 9/11 did he enact executive privilege to protect Condi Rice and Dick Cheney?

3. While Saddam Hussein was eventually capture and killed, the Bush administration has sent over 4,000 service men and women to their deaths based on a lie.

4. Collin Powell lost his credibility around the world when he lied at the UN in support of the Iraq War.

5. Why did the Bush administration deny support for stem cell research and climate change?

6. Why did the Bush administration deny support to those in the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina?

7. No Child Left Behind is still leaving American children behind.

8. The ABC Policy is also leaving a lot of other people behind in the developing world.

9. Shouldn't the Bush administration be prosecuted as war criminals for inhuman behavior going on in Abu Gharib and Guantanamo, which is the "gulag of our time"?

10. Who thought the Patriot Act and wire tapping made any sense in the first place?

11. During the Clinton administration, the budget had a surplus of more than $100 billion. Why is the fiscal 2009 deficit approaching $700 billion under Bush's tenure.

I don't usually like to predict what the deceased would say about things if they were alive today, but I am pretty sure that Dr King and I would agree that most of the nonsense that went down during the Bush years have just set back social justice in this country by many years.

In hindsight, Mr Bush, thanks, but no thanks for the memories.

So in honor of his last hurrah, here are President Bush's greatest moments, courtesy of David Letterman.

Racial strife continues in NOLA

WTF!

And thanks to The Nation on this piece of great journalism. Read the full article on this here.

Am I thankful?

Well, I guess there are two things to be thankful for this year.

The one thing I am really thankful is that I got my consulting group off the group, despite a bad economy.

The other thing is that Americans proved that my cynicism wrong (slightly) by electing Barack Obama their next president. Never in my lifetime did I ever think a black man would live in the White House. Even some black radicals, who were skeptical of Obama's candidancy, are coming around.

From Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

As a black nationalist, I have considered myself an American only as a technicality or an accident of birth. I’ve never hoisted the red, white and blue, only the red, black and green. I gave up on the American dream a longtime ago. I have worked and looked forward to autonomy and self-determination in our communities. I never imagined that I would live long enough to see an African-American president. I never even believed that I would live to see a black Miss America. But America fooled me! Even as I predicted an Obama nomination and then a presidential win, the reality of what happened on Nov. 4 still has me totally stunned.

Obama ran on the mantra of change, but his win has forced me to change too! My perspective on American society has changed and I am in the process of re-adjusting my philosophy to accommodate the fantastic thing that has occurred. This milestone is not just significant for African-Americans but for everyone. Politically, it is simply astonishing!..

...I am still wary of the promise of these opportunities because of the gross structural inequities built into “the system.” But given the psyche-shattering results of this election, I am willing to at least meet anyone halfway in the new pursuit of that promise.

The author's wariness is not unfounded.

From Associated Press:

Dozens of infants and toddlers who lived in Louisiana's biggest trailer park for those displaced by Hurricane Katrina were anemic because of poor diets, at a rate more than four times the national average.

About 41 percent of 77 children under the age of 4 suffered from the condition this year, according to a study released Monday by the Children's Health Fund. Most, and possibly all, lived in the Renaissance Village trailer park in Baker.

Iron deficiency anemia can cause fatigue and learning problems. Severe deficiency in young children can delay growth and development and even cause heart murmurs.

The national rate for children that young is below 10 percent. Louisiana has one of the nation's highest anemia rates, with about 24 percent of all children below the age of 5 affected, according to the 2007 Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance survey.

Dr. Irwin Redlener, president of the Children's Health Fund and director of Columbia University's National Center for Disaster Preparedness, said the Renaissance Village rate was double the rate for homeless children the same age in New York City shelters.

The study used records for all 261 babies and children who lived in New Orleans until Katrina and were treated last year at CHF's mobile clinics at the trailer park and Baton Rouge schools, said Roy Grant, the organization's director of applied research and policy analysis.

While most of the affected children were storm evacuees, it was possible that a few were natives of Baton Rouge.

But studying the problem further and providing follow-up care for the children is difficult because the state closed the parks in May.

"Now it's more difficult, because they're no longer in the trailer area. They're dispersed around the state. So it's a little harder to get follow-up," said Dr. Jimmy Guidry, Louisiana's health officer.

My cynicism never ceases to amaze me.

Katrina 3 years on: Online and recovering

Description: This week marks the third anniversary Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region of the United States, leaving nearly 2,000 dead and many more physically and emotionally scarred. A new report shows that recovery since the disaster has been mediocre at best. While many continue to point blame at different factors for poor recovery, some enterprising activists are getting online and taking care of business on their own.

Digital Tools Being Used: Blogs, Google Maps, other maps

What Are They Doing: Online mapping and blogging have become popular ways to show what areas in New Orleans still need help in the rebuilding process. New Orleans resident Karen Gadbois used her blog to protest pharmacy chain Walgreens wanting to build a store in her NorthWest Carrolton neighborhood to replace a supermarket that neighbors would prefer to have back. Gadbois also used Google Maps to show undamaged homes that were deemed for demolition by the city.

Dartmouth College professor Quintus Jett helped create an open source mapping service, Gentilly Project, to engage New Orleans citizens to take charge in recovery efforts. Gentilly residents can go to the mapping website and enter information about what level of restoration is still needed in that section of New Orleans. Jett says that the map has not only made it easier for contractors to find where rebuilding is needed, mapping has also empowered residents.

“We can use these tools to make the world a better place,” Jett said at a recent discussion. “Technology is important, but the psychology behind it is just as important.”

Katrina: 3 years on...

...and the song remains the same.

There hasn't been much progress in New Orleans.

From Kaiser Family Foundation:

A comprehensive new Kaiser Family Foundation survey of the experiences of New Orleans residents – the second since Hurricane Katrina – reveals a still-struggling population that gives very mixed reviews in key areas of the recovery efforts. Most residents feel forgotten by the nation and its leaders, yet are still optimistic about their city’s future.

In two critical areas, housing (72 percent) and crime (71 percent), the vast majority of city residents see little or no progress. In other key areas – medical facilities, public schools, jobs, and rebuilding neighborhoods – reviews are more mixed, but with majorities seeing little or no progress. Only in one area, levee repair, does a majority (60 percent) see progress.

“Residents are not satisfied with the pace of the recovery effort, but they do see it moving in the right direction,” Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman said.

The survey also finds that an increasing number of residents say they face mental health challenges as the recovery drags on. In addition, the results show some easing of racial tensions, though many residents still see a city divided between haves and have-nots.

Watch Trouble the Water!

Last Friday I got to see a sneak preview of the upcoming film, Trouble The Water, an excellent piece of journalism!

From the producers of Fahrenheit 9/11, the documentary is the first film that actually documents life in New Orleans two days before and two weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck the area and devastated the lives of many with the use of camcorders. There have been many films about Katrina, but this film really touched me, mainly because it was entirely coming from the viewpoint of Katrina survivors. Trouble the Water talks about some unresolved issues that have since been replaced by other things in the mainstream media, like the problematic response from the government on all levels and the emotional well-being of survivors.

In the next few weeks the mainstream media will put its now annual spotlight on New Orleans to reflect on yet another anniversary of Katrina's catastrophe for about a minute. But this film exhibits why the Gulf region needs to remain in our minds year round.

Trouble the Water opens nationwide August and September.

No aid for Katrina victims 3 years on

Just in case you needed more proof that the U.S. government continues to screw over the victims of Hurricane Katrina and Rita three years laters...

From CNN:

Last month, CNN revealed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had stored $85 million worth of household items in warehouses for two years. Instead of giving the supplies to victims of the 2005 hurricane, FEMA declared them surplus and gave them all away to federal agencies and 16 states in February.

The state of Louisiana -- the most hard-hit by the storm -- had not asked for any of the supplies, prompting outrage in the community after the original CNN report.

CNN's investigation showed that Mississippi was one of the 16 states that took the FEMA supplies, but it did not distribute them to Katrina victims.

Jim Marler, director of Mississippi's surplus agency, failed to return repeated phone calls over several months to explain what happened.

Agency spokeswoman Kym Wiggins said, "There may be a need, but we were not notified that there was a great need for this particular property."

That doesn't sit well with most aid groups in Mississippi. "You would have to be living under a rock not to know there is still a need," said Cass Woods, the project coordinator of Coastal Women for Change...

...Bill Stallworth, executive director of the Hope Coordination Center in Biloxi that helps rehouse Katrina victims, said he's astounded that the supplies were given away.

Stallworth and other community leaders said if they had known the FEMA items were available, they would have begged for them.

"And when I hear people stand up and just beat their chest and say we've got everything under control, that's when I just want to slap them upside the head and say, 'Get a grip, get a life,' " said Stallworth, who is also a Biloxi city councilman.

What is bad tourism?

The PBS documentary series P.O.V. recently gave its "Film Your Issue" award to Brandon Odum, the director of "New Orleans For Sale."

From P.O.V.

Odums is a 22-year old New Orleans college student who is part of a young filmmaking collective called 2-cent that makes projects to inspire change within young people. When they noticed the gawking tourists who had come to see the devastated 9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina, they decided to make a video about the locals' reactions.

In addition to winning the P.O.V. award, New Orleans for Sale also garnered an FYI Jury Award 2008, the NAACP Award and the AFI SILVERDOCS Award.

As you all know, I went to New Orleans last March for the NTEN conference. While I was there, some of my colleagues wanted to go on a bus tour of the Lower Ninth Ward. I couldn't in good conscience go on such a tour, where people are taking pictures and pointing fingers at a space that has become so sacred to many who have either lost their lives and/or livelihoods.

I realize that my colleagues and others like them only had the best intentions when they went on this tour. Hurricane Katrina really opened hearts and minds to the realities of poverty in America. Many "poverty tourists" believe that by going down to the devastated areas, they would have a better understanding of the issues the people there are facing.

However, I also believe that this crosses the thin line into voyeurism. If these people really wanted to understand the problems Katrina survivors were going through, then when going down to the Lower Ninth, go there with open hands instead, asking what you can do to help rebuild the city, which in the three years since the storm, rebuilding has been slow to stalemate.

(For the record, NTEN organized a "day of service" for attendees to share their tech expertise with New Orleans nonprofits devastated by Hurrican Katrina. The bus tours were organized separately by conference attendees.)

Like I have blogged about before, poverty tourism seems to be worldwide phenomenon right now. But my question is when do we start treating other people like human beings, rather than animals in a zoo?

Bush regime finally outed

The Bush administration is "bewildered and puzzled" by revelations about how the White House handled Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and CIA leaks in former Press Secretary Scott McClellan's new book.



The White House is asking "Why the sudden revelation from McClellan?" Shouldn't the question be directed towards all the Bush loyalists as for why they are all coming out so strongly against this book if nothing in it is true.

Things that make you go hmm...

"Slow Response" to Nargis: What about Katrina?

First Lady Laura Bush had a rare press conference in response to the catastrophic Cyclone Nargis that the Burmese government is now saying killed at least 22,000 people and 41,000 people have gone unaccounted for.

From Voice of America:

"The United States stands prepared to provide an assistance team and much needed supplies to Burma as soon as the Burmese government accepts our offer," said Laura Bush. "The government of Burma should accept this team quickly as well as other offers of international assistance."

..."I think in front of their own people and in front of the world, if they don't accept aid from the United States and from all the rest of the international community that wants to help the people of Burma that that is just another way the military regime looks so cut off and so unaware of what the real needs of their people are," she said.

Mrs. Bush says the Burmese government seems to value its own survival above all else. She says despite all the havoc created by the cyclone, the regime is going forward with a referendum scheduled for this Saturday on a new constitution drafted without input from opposition and minority groups.

"Burma's ruling generals have had their chance to implement the good government they promised to their people," said Mrs. Bush. "If it proceeds under current conditions, the constitutional referendum they have planned should not be seen as a step towards freedom, but rather as a confirmation of the unacceptable status quo."

Most importantly she complained about the "slow response" on the part of the Burmese government to provide aid. With all due respect to Mrs Bush, where was her outrage in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when it took five days for the federal government to get down to the Gulf region to provide aid?

I just watched the full press conference on CNN, and it's just a hot mess. Here are my observations:

1. Mrs Bush said that Burma should work with the United Nations to expediate aid. Since when does the Bush regime cooperate with the United Nations?

2. She complained that Burma refuses to take foreign aid to support cyclone victims. The United States refused aid from countries like Cuba and Venezuela - two countries that were the first to pledge assistance - in Katrina's aftermath.

3. Most importantly, Mrs Bush said in her conference that Burma's "military regime looks so cut off and so unaware of what the real needs of their people are" because of the "slow response." Need I say more?

Mental Health Is A Victim Too

Nearly two-and-a-half years after the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, many Louisianans still experience negative health effects related to the storms, especially mental health problems, according to a new report from the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

Researchers conducted a telephone survey of 800 Louisiana adults from April 9 to 16 for the report. Nine out of 10 respondents were living in the state or along the Gulf Coast at the time of the hurricanes.

From the Baton Rouge Advocate:

About 60% said there are few specialized health care services and medicines
available for mental health care;

Nearly 90% said their mental health is just as important as their
physical health, and 30% said the current health care system treats the
conditions equally;

More than 55% said the health care system gives physical health more
importance;

About one-third said there have been improvements in access to health
care professionals in the area, 40% said the access has remained the same
and 20% reported access worsening;

Almost 70% said in general residents feel ashamed or embarrassed about mental
health problems; and said the hurricanes did not have a significant effect on their mental health.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune also reports that two-thirds of respondents in coastal parishes said the hurricanes affected the mental health of their community. Furthermore, while 46% of respondents across the state said the storms did not leave them displaced, "depression and stress were still commonly mentioned health effects of the hurricanes." Karen Goraleski, research director at Research!America, said the results will have a greater impact on local lawmakers.

The Hero Within

Sometimes it takes the most egregiously painful events in our lives to trigger us to rise to the occasion to get things done.

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the worst natural disaster in US history, tested Americans’ willpower to deal with a terrible situation and become heroes.

Alice Craft Kerney is one of those heroes.

After being evacuated with her family to New Mexico in the immediate aftermath of the storm, Kerney came back to New Orleans to start life all over.

In the process of rebuilding the city, it became very apparent that many resources that existed before the storm no longer existed, most notably healthcare. Before the storm, Charity Hospital was the only healthcare space in the city that provided medical and mental health services for low-income residents. Louisiana State University, which operated the hospital, did not reopen it after the levees failed and the hospital’s basement flooded. Due to the closure, Kerney, who worked for Charity for 20 years, was one of many to lose their jobs.

With the hospital gone, the health needs of Kerney’s neighbors in the Lower 9th Ward were going unaddressed, especially the mental health needs of Katrina survivors suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

A friend came up with the novel idea of Kerney starting up a clinic in the community to address these needs. At first she was hesitant to do it because she had no administrative experience, but after realizing that no one else was going to deal with the growing health crisis in the community, she changed her mind.

So, her friend, who owned a mansion in the neighborhood, allowed Kerney to turn it into a community health center. After major refurbishing and construction, the Lower 9th Ward Health Clinic opened its doors to the community in February 2007.

“We do our part to provide quality, culturally sensitive healthcare to our patients,” Kerney said at a recent panel discussion in Boston. “Everyone who comes through the clinic treats each other with respect.”

While the clinic doesn’t have all the modern tools and conveniences that would be found in a typical American hospital, it does provide a space for those who otherwise wouldn’t have anywhere else to go. Many of the clinic's small staff are people entired paid with private funds and there is a larger number of volunteers from around the country. Kerney said that unlike big hospitals that only treat patients when they get sick, her clinic attempts to deal with patients’ overall wellness even when they have no ailment. Since the clinic opened Kerney says that mental and dental healthcare are the most chronic problems.

Many patients also come into the clinic that are disgruntled about the rebuilding process, such as price gouging at nearby retailers and contractors stealing money – all issues the mainstream media hasn’t discussed too much since the storm occurred.
While the media and the federal and local governments have all but forgotten about the victims of Katrina, Kerney wants others to keep telling the story of her community.

“You can tell people that there is still a lot of work to do,” she continued. “It is a tale of two cities in New Orleans – one for the haves and the other for the have-nots. So we ask that you keep the discussion going."

Read more about the clinic's work here.

Outrage continues in the Gulf Region

There are four news stories just in the last week I wanted to bring to your attention that proves that even after two and a half years, this country continues to fail the victims of Hurricane Katrina:

Not only have some Katrina victims not received rebuilding funds from the federal government, but now they are being taxed on money they haven't even received yet. Find out how in this article. Follow the conversation on Field Negro's blog.

In yesterday's New York Times an article that show that Ray Nagin and company has failed New Orleans by making promises they can't keep.

Louisiana-based construction company EPCO will give $100,000 to a "lucky child" who writes the best essay about why their family deserves to have their home rebuilt. Is it just me, or I thought everyone deserved to have their home rebuilt???

New Orleans City Councilor Stacey Head had this to say about people who need to stay in FEMA trailers beyond the May 30 deadline in a recent Times-Picayune article:

“At what point are we going to say that in New Orleans it’s not OK to live in a trailer as a lifestyle choice?” she asked. “There are many, many trailers in the non-flooded areas (where) people just would rather live there than deal with a house that they didn’t put any money into for a long time before that.”

No, she doesn't blame FEMA, Ray Nagin or even herself; she chooses to people who didn't choose to be in this situation.

Jesus, take the wheel!

La. Mental Health Bill Unveiled

Not sure what to think about this yet...but it seems like a step in the right direction.

Jindal unveils plan to aid mentally ill
By Laura Maggi
Originally Published in the New Orleans Times-Picayne

Nicola's Law, named for officer, would mandate treatment Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Potentially violent patients suffering from mental illness who are vulnerable to slipping through the cracks of a fractured post-Katrina health care system would be more effectively treated under a proposed law that gives judges the authority to mandate treatment for certain people, Gov. Bobby Jindal and other state leaders said Monday.

Jindal unveiled a package of legislation at a news conference in New Orleans, including a proposal to require involuntary outpatient mental health treatment that was prompted by the late January shooting of New Orleans police officer Nicola Cotton. Cotton was killed with her own gun, allegedly by a man described by his family as a paranoid schizophrenic in and out of mental institutions his entire adult life.

"Nicola's Law is designed to balance the issue of public safety with ensuring that people have the dignity of getting the care they need," Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine said at St. Thomas Community Health Center on St. Andrew Street.

Bernel Johnson, the man charged with killing Cotton in Central City, had made threats of violence against family members and often stopped taking his medications when he was not in an institution, his sister said earlier this year.

A state grand jury indicted Johnson, 44, on a charge of first-degree murder in February. A hearing to determine whether he is competent to stand trial is scheduled for next month.

Jindal's proposal is modeled after a New York law passed in 1999. It would give Louisiana judges the authority to require that certain patients comply with prescribed treatment, take their medication, go to therapy and obtain substance abuse counseling. Judges also could require patients to undergo blood testing to ensure medicines are being taken.

Patients would not be affected by the law unless they demonstrate a history of failing to comply with treatment. A judge first would have to find that the person was either hospitalized twice in the past three years for a mental illness or in some way acted violently or threatened violence during that same period.

Under current Louisiana law, the mentally ill can be sent to a facility against their will, but there are no provisions to require people to follow medical treatment plans after they are released.

$26 million from state

Mandating treatment -- and checking on patients to ensure they are complying with court orders -- would require a massive expansion of the outpatient services available in the New Orleans area, which have been significantly lacking since Hurricane Katrina.

But Levine said his agency's new focus on the issue, including an infusion of $26 million in state money announced last month, will result in services that can support such court orders. For example, the state announced the creation of "assertive community treatment teams" of social workers, psychiatrists, nurses and employment counselors who would go to clients' homes and help them stay on their medication, find housing or jobs, or kick substance abuse habits.

New York's state legislature adopted Kendra's Law in 1999, inspired by the death of a Manhattan office worker who was pushed into the path of an oncoming subway train by a paranoid schizophrenic man. Jindal cited several statistics that show hospitalization, arrests and homelessness of mentally ill people in New York have plummeted since the law was enacted.

A controversial proposal

While more than 40 states have since passed laws that allow judges to require outpatient treatment of mentally ill patients, the concept remains controversial.

Part of the criticism is that no studies have been conducted that directly link the forced-treatment aspect of the law with the decreases in hospital stays and arrests, said Harvey Rosenthal, executive director of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services. The wide expansion of available services could also explain the more successful treatment rates of the mentally ill, he said.

Rosenthal said there is a human-rights objection to mandated treatment.

"Policies forged in an atmosphere that condemns people with psychiatric disabilities of being uncooperative increases fear and distrust of services," Rosenthal said.

Several states that have recently considered similar proposals -- including Virginia, in the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting that left 32 people dead -- have rejected the concept, he said.

Along with Nicola's Law, Jindal announced a series of legislative proposals meant to address the shortcomings in Louisiana's mental health system for the uninsured.

"Our goal is not just to repair the damage done from Katrina," Jindal said. "Our goal here is to improve a safety net that wasn't even adequate before Katrina."

One bill would create regional "crisis centers," places where police could bring people in the throes of a mental crisis instead of to local emergency rooms. The first crisis center would open in New Orleans, hopefully six months after the legislation is approved, Levine said.

Another proposal would expand local control of public health dollars across Louisiana, while also trying to impose more oversight on "human services districts." Levine said the Jindal administration supports the idea of local districts deciding to spend health money on problems specific to their areas, proposing to create more districts across the state.

Strict supervision

But persistent problems with the Metropolitan Human Services District, which controls many of the mental health and substance abuse programs in New Orleans, St. Bernard Parish and Plaquemines Parish, prompted the Jindal administration to embrace stricter supervision of the independent agencies. The new law would allow the state health agency to hold districts "accountable" if they can't meet standards.

A final bill would allow doctors to use "telemedicine" technology -- essentially video conferencing -- to interview patients in the throes of a mental health crisis in order to issue emergency commitments. This provision would make it easier for patients in remote locations to receive an emergency evaluation by a doctor, Levine said.

So What Is Black Liberation Theology, Anyway?

With today being Easter, there was nothing but religious programming on television this morning. As I channel-surfed, I stumbled upon TV One, which was showing a December 2007 sermon by Rev Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's embattled spiritual advisor and former pastor of Trinity United Churc of Christ.

Amid all the talk about Wright over the last few days, this was the first time I actually watched a full sermon to really get a idea of where he was coming from. It got me to think about what black liberation theology is.

According to Wikipedia, black liberation theology is a Christian theology that came out of the 1960s and based on the ideals of progressive social change and pan-Africanism. "This theology maintains that African Americans must be liberated from multiple forms of bondage—social, political, economic and religious," continues on the website. "This liberation involves empowerment and seeks the right of self-definition, self-affirmation and self-determination."

Rev. Wright is considered "a national leader in promoting theological education and the preparation of seminarians for the African-American church."

Below are the quotes by Wright most people are familiar with:

"We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye...and now we are indignant, because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought back into our own front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost."

"The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color" and "[t]he government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people...God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme".

Okay, with all this said, I did watch a full sermon - not slicing or dicing by the cable networks - jus the straight talk from his mouth. In this sermon he spoke a great deal about how the nation wants to pretend racism no longer exists and how it has neglected victims of Hurricane Katrina. For all intensive purposes what he said in the sermon was correct. This is a country that wants to put on blinders and act like racism is dead, and this country is neglecting recovery in the Gulf Coast.

While I do agree that his statements on 9/11, HIV/AIDS and Israel are a bit extreme, maybe if everyone looked at a full sermon they would have a more balanced view of this guy...

By the way, what the heck is post-racial??? Seems like a new term created since Obama got into the race.

08NTC: Communications in Crisis and for Uplift

Two years ago Microsoft tycoon and philanthropist Bill Gates criticized Nicholas Negroponte, co-founder of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for his new project One Laptop Per Child, which gives free laptops to children in the developing world. Gates got initial press coverage for mocking the lack of efficiency the computers had. But, what struck me were his other comments that providing good health care is more important than providing technology to the poor and marginalized.

The second plenary of the 2008 Nonprofit Technology Conference used its time to discuss this matter. Given the location of this year's conference, it was only be appropriate to reflect on the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the recovery that has been going on every since.

While technology can't fix all the problems the poor and marginalized face, it can provide efficiencies that can make life easier.

Deborah Cotton, editor-in-chief of LouisianaRebuilds.info talked about how her website has become a trusted online destination for residents affected by Hurricane Katrina. Cotton moved from Los Angeles to New Orleans in 2005, just three months shy of the storm, or the 'thing' as Katrina survivors refer to it as now. After evacuating to Houston for two months, she returned to New Orleans and began writing about residents, businesses and organizations in the process of recovery on the website.

"People can find grocery stores, medical help, legal resources and possible funding information to rebuild homes," Cotton said. "The website is designed to rebuild lives."

Cotton has made every effort to make sure the website is accessible as possible for all Katrina survivors. Case in point, because of the high illiteracy rate in New Orleans, all written content on the site doesn't go above the 7th grade reading level and there is a three-click minimum. Also, part of the website is written in Vietnamese. Cotton says that she wouldn't have been able to do all the work for the website without the collaboration of nonprofit, community groups, who are the real driving forces behind rebuilding New Orleans.

Cotton also cited the websites Katrinahelp.info and Katrinahousing.net, which were influential in helping to search for missing loved ones and housing, respectively. Think New Orleans is a another outlet that is an on-going resource to continue the story on the storm's aftermath. The organization is currently seeking funding to support a Geographic Information System (GIS) for mapping areas that still need recovery help.

Patricia Jones, executive director of the Lower Ninth Ward Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association (NENA), is one of those collaborators. NENA's mission is to empower residents of Katrina's worst hit community to play a strategic role in rebuilding.

"Our goal is to be a means for all of us to share our stories, reconnect with each other, and put the past behind us so we can turn our attention fully to the future," Jones said. "People are coming back home and we want everyone to know that NENA is here to help."

Jones said that the Ward had almost no internet access for nearly a year after the storm, and there are still areas that don't have regular electricity. The vast majority of residents didn't even have email addresses. Nonetheless, the organization's website has been successful in providing long term recovery for those who returned to the Lower Ninth, and also for those from the Katrina "Diaspora" who want to reconnect with loved ones living all over the country. Jones also said that she loves how the community is embracing new technologies.

"This 90-year-old woman came into my office one day, and her cellular flip phone rang," Jones said. "She came to me and asked me "How do I answer this thing?"[chuckles]

Jones, being a Lower Ninth resident, was personally affected by the storm. Jones and her family just moved back into their home two weeks ago. However, she and others in her community are disappointed not only by the slow movement of federal monies flowing in to help with recovery, they are also offended that the government now wants to tax residents on federal money they haven't even received yet.

"We feel personally insulted," Jones said.

(Can you blame her?)

Below I have listed organizations/websites that are using technology to provide support for the poor and marginalized around the world who were featured or mentioned at this conference:

Kiva.org - ordinary people make microloans to entrepeneurs in the developing world

Intrahealth International - providing support for human resources to the developing world, specifically in the healthcare sector

Forum One - provides online technology support for many leading nonprofit organizations.

Gnosis Medical Project - supplies electric, medical record-keeping software for clinics in Central America.

I also shouldn't forget that text messaging/SMS are popular funtions for communications during a crisis. A great deal of Katrina evacuees used texting to find missing loved ones. Also, cell phones are very popular in the developing world. I loved the example someone told me about a Kenyan man who looked up and texted a couple of high level UN officials about a food shortage in his remote village. The food was delivered to the village almost two days later. Now that, my friends, is technology at work!

Clinton makes good...for now

It’s good to see President Bill Clinton taking a break from being the “race pimp” for his wife’s presidential campaign, and focusing on something he is actually good at – humanitarian aid work.

This weekend Clinton joined actor Brad Pitt and 600 students from around the world for the inaugural meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative University, which was held at Tulane University in New Orleans. The meeting was an opportunity to look at some of the world’s most pressing issues, such as poverty alleviation, climate change, global health, and education. It is no coincidence that this event was held in New Orleans, where two and a half years after Hurricane Katrina, the lives of victims are still shattered. All the attendees participated in rebuilding homes in the devastated Lower Ninth Ward.

I have been down there twice since the hurricane, and it is still hard to believe that Americans are beginning to forget what happen there. But it is not surprising either, as many Americans, especially those in the White House, want to believe that social injustice and poverty is an “over there” issue, as in a problem that only exists in the developing world.

One of the best things to come out of the now deceased president campaign for John Edwards was the idea of “Two Americas” – one for the rich and secure and the other for the rest. The United States has one of the highest rates of citizens without health insurance and the lowest performing schools for a Western nation – and these problems are interconnected with economic and racial disparities.

New Orleans embodied all of these problems prior to the storm, and only increased afterwards. The city is now not only dealing with a severely increased crime rate and housing crunch, but is also dealing a major problem of treating mentally ill residents who have been displaced when Charity Hospital, the only hospice for severely mentally ill in New Orleans, was closed indefinitely after Katrina. And let’s not forget about the Katrina victims who are still living in trailers and waiting for FEMA checks all over the country.

So, for all the criticism President Clinton has received for things he has said recently about Barack Obama, he is making good use of his time now.

Mental Health Crisis Plagues New Orleans

The US House of Representatives will possible vote on a bill today that will require parity for mental health coverage by insurers. Mental health parity is the theory that mental illness should be covered at the same level as other ailments. The subject is a highly controversial and largely ignored matter in US health policy. However, this matter is really coming to the forefront now with recent news about the high rate of untreated mentally ill people in New Orleans, and specifically the closing of Charity Hospital, which housed many of the city’s mentally ill.


By Rick Jervis
Originally published in USA Today

NEW ORLEANS — Bernel Johnson showed all the signs.

He was diagnosed by a psychiatrist as aggressive, homeless and schizophrenic. He was kicked out of a Salvation Army homeless shelter late last year for holding a fork to a fellow resident's throat. On Jan. 4, Johnson was committed to a psychiatric facility for causing a disturbance at a bank. He was released and, a few weeks later, attacked New Orleans police Officer Nicola Cotton, 24, in a parking lot.
Johnson wrestled Cotton's service handgun from her and shot her 15 times, killing the officer, police said. Johnson remains in jail without bond, charged with first-degree murder.

New Orleans health and law enforcement officials say more cases such as this could unfold if the city's mental health crisis isn't resolved soon. Since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city 2½ years ago, the number of public mental health facilities and community outreach centers has decreased dramatically, leaving the mentally ill without medication and monitoring.

Cotton's slaying, another recent high-profile killing involving a mentally ill suspect and an increased percentage of mentally ill inmates at Orleans Parish Prison have galvanized state and local health agencies into trying to resolve the crisis. Last week, state health officials unveiled a $90 million plan to improve the city's mental health facilities, including community-based treatments and housing subsidies for the mentally ill.

Cotton's killing was one of at least eight slayings since Katrina involving mentally ill people, says Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Arthur Hunter, who also runs the state's only Mental Health Court.

"Nos. 9 and 10 could happen at anytime, anyplace," he says. "This is more than just a public crisis. This is a dangerous situation."
One of the casualties of Katrina's 2005 floods was Charity Hospital, a state-run facility that housed a psychiatric ward equipped with 140 inpatient beds and round-the-clock psychiatrists and social workers. It was the bulwark here for treating mentally ill patients, particularly those with violent tendencies, says Jeffrey Rouse, the Orleans Parish deputy coroner and psychiatrist who diagnosed Johnson in January. The hospital has been closed since Katrina.

'Treatment system collapses'

Now, instead of being treated at Charity, mentally ill criminal suspects often are arrested, burdening the city's overtaxed judicial system, Rouse says. That worsens the problem for patients, who may not get proper medication or monitoring in jail, he adds. The patients usually suffer from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or depression.

"When your regular mental health treatment system collapses, the patients become criminalized," Rouse says.

Besides Cotton's killing, there was an incident last month involving a mentally ill suspect. Latina Williams, 23, a nursing student, gunned down two classmates at Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge on Feb. 8 before killing herself. Williams had shown signs of paranoia and had called a crisis counselor the morning of the shooting to say she was planning to kill herself.

New Orleans has a smaller prison population today than before Katrina, but an increasing percentage of those arrested have been mentally ill, says Sam Gore, a physician and medical director for the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff, which runs the city's jails.

"We've clearly noticed there's been an increase in demand for psychiatric treatment post-Katrina," Gore says.

Currently, Orleans Parish Prison, which has 60 psychiatric inpatient beds, is the city's biggest public ward for treating the mentally ill, Hunter says.
The patients get some treatment at the prison but are released without further monitoring, Hunter says.

"They have to get arrested to get any type of treatment," he says. "It makes no sense."

The lack of services comes as mental illness generally has multiplied in New Orleans. The percentage of the city's population showing some sign of mental illness has doubled from 6% before Katrina to 12% today, estimates Kevin Stephens, director of the city's health department.

Illness afflicts homeless

Mental illness also is rampant among the city's homeless, whose population has spiked since the storm from 6,200 to 12,000 today, says Sam Scaffidi of the New Orleans Police Homeless Assistance Unit. Under the Interstate 10 overpass at the corner of Claiborne Avenue and Canal Street downtown, homeless encampments have multiplied since Katrina into a sprawling colony of tents, soiled sleeping bags and cardboard caves.

Scaffidi says the number of mentally ill homeless people he encounters each day around the city has increased from about 10 before Katrina to more than 20 today.
Like the woman under the bridge who defecates each day into a bucket and throws it into Canal Street, yelling at anyone who passes near her, Scaffidi says. Or the woman in the French Quarter who drinks bottle after bottle of vodka and blocks the doorways of shops. Both women show signs of schizophrenia and have been arrested, he says. A few days later, they're back on the street, he adds.

Though the vast majority of homeless are harmless, some show violent traits, Scaffidi says. On Feb. 14, a 42-year-old homeless man living under the interstate stabbed another homeless man in the back and fled, police said. The victim survived.

"It's frustrating," says Scaffidi, a 10-year veteran of working with the homeless. "How do I talk to a person and convince him to get help when I have nowhere to bring him?"

State health officials are considering enhancing the city's community outreach centers, which monitor patients over weeks and months, and increasing affordable and public housing to get some of the patients off the streets, says William Payne, assistant secretary at the state Department of Health and Hospitals.
"There is significant demand and the demand currently exceeds the capacity to address it," Payne says. "It's clearly a critical situation."