Report from the Common Ground Speaking Event

> The idea is to start organizing for something catastrophic

What is it about Portland that makes people expect imminent personal or public "catastrophe"?

If you wait for an obvious, impending disaster and THEN start preparing, it is probably too late.

Just because you don't see catastrophic events on the horizon doesn't mean preparing for such an event is futile.

Maybe you've heard of these things called earthquakes? There is a fault off the coast that periodically produces 9 point quakes. Now don't you feel stupid making such a stupid, pointless comment?

i cannot upload the video files here at all. i cant get ftp to work on video.indymedia or on internet archive. so, i am going to attempt a torrent and see what happens.

it looks like the first video file isnt working any longer, however, you can download the rest via torrent here: common ground torrent. this has all the images and at least two of the videos.

the torrent is hosted through indytorrents.org where you can get many other independent video and audio files.

pics!

I like your idea of setting up an anarchist (or at least non-authoratarian) disaster preparadness/relief group. Is there any follow-up to this idea? As in, is there a group of people interested in setting such a group up? If so, I would love to help out. Maybe an email or a phone number or someone I could contact?

A good rule of thumb for trying to make contact with people who may be reviewing the article and comments is to leave your e-mail address. The comment form has a nifty spot where you can type your e-mail or even your phone number if you're so inclined.
Leaving YOUR contact info is a great first step if you'd like to make contact with other people.

to kerul and sakura -
thank you very, very much for doing this. i wish i could have come. for the entire time that the new orleans situation was critical, i pondered trying to find a bus and drive it to NOLA to help. i heard that no one was being allowed into the city, so i didn't go. i should have gone. i regret it to this day. i should have done more.
i regret that i did not spring fully and totally to the aid of people who deserved my help.
in thinking about how to help each other in the worst-case scenario, the discussion inevitably leads to how to help each other in the chronic crisis we face. the crisis is economic but it's also a crisis of being out of practice; we are unaccustomed to trying to solve problems on this scale, yet the Katrina experience demonstrated that no one but us is qualified to help.
Kerul: your activism, enthusiasm, your width and depth of vision in fighting everything from the Biscuit to the post-Katrina whitewashing of NOLA, is inspiring.
Sakura, I wish I could have heard you speak, and I will come if you ever meet again. The fight is beyond important.
As John Trudell wrote, we have a problem in fighting things directly. The problem comes from the fact that our opponents are simply more violent and callous than we can be. So, we fight their reality and recognize a different source of authority and strength--the Earth itself.
The elements of life bind us together; we experience these things in common. Lacking food, water, and shelter in New Orleans is viscerally disturbing to imagine for any person who has actually lacked these things before.
I hope you find some solidarity in Portland. It is not unreasonable to look at the worst case, particularly if it is done without fear and with a sense of hope for the opportunities that arise in even the worst moments.
Thank you again. Just thinking about these issues helps me remember why our fights are common fights, and why we all have to work daily for a more compassionate future.
Meet a neighbor today. Spread the revolution.

MUCH LOVE!

- Stand Alone


"They teach our boys to drop fire on women and children, but they won't le them write "FUCK" on their airplanes because it's obscene...I am beyond their timid, lying morality, and so I am beyond caring."

To 'Stand Alone': New Orleans and other flood-affected communities still need your help. Maybe you're sad that you missed the "cool" time to go, but Sakura and Kerul's presentation made it clear that the city has yet to be rebuilt. If you want to work with some very un-glorious toxic mold to help folks move back into their neighborhoods, go!

I'd suggest reading "Solidarity not Charity: Racism in Katrina Relief Work," by Molly McClure, before you take off. Find it on the web.

Listen to streaming audio:

 http://radio.portland.indymedia.org:8000/content/OnTheAir/OnTheAir-02-19-2006.pls

Gee, I wonder, seriously!
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we just watched an entire US city disappear under crumbling levies that were deliberately left unfixed?

Or could it be the two ruinous wars, an imperial regime of torture and mass murder worldwide, an economy on the brink of national collapse, with an inflated housing bubble ready to burst, collossal trade deficits, zero social safety net, forty five million people with no access to regular healthcare, and legions of homeless people on our streets starving and freezing to death? Looks pretty f'n apocalyptic to me already.

For whatever reason, Portland seems to attract a disproportionate number of us who aren't wearing some weird rose colored lenses surgically implanted in our brains by corporate media.

Thank Goddess for Portland!

Hey Folks,

I love Portland, and think the idea of a disaster preparedness group that is independent of the government is good. Hurricane Katrina exposed how #$@%^$$$ed up the government can be at dealing with these things. (if we didn't know that already...)

The main thing Katrina exposed for me, and a lot of folks here, is how racism has turned a natural disaster into a horrible human rights disaster. For more information about how racism has effected what happened during & after Katrina, feel free to write to me & I can try to answer questions or send you other people's writings.

I think its important to support the struggles of people here in New Orleans. And it's important to do that in ways that fight racism. When organizing to support hurricane Katrina survivors, please
consider supporting community based groups lead by people of color, such as People's Hurricane Relief Fund, Mama D's (Soul Patrol), Community Labor United, Critical Resistance, St. Augustine Church
(which is about to be closed down), Daughters of Charity, St. Thomas Clinic (a free clinic), the Survivor's Counsels, the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, and for more names (or for help
tracking down contact info) please write to me personally. Common Ground is a mostly white group of out of town volunteers, from the organizers to those who come just for a week and gut houses.

Portland's hallmark is be local, be community based. I think Portland could be a great example of how to support Hurricane Katrina survivors while reaching outiside of the mostly white, mostly young networks of resources, power, and communication.

As a white/mixed race volunteer relief worker in New Orleans, I want to bring the lessons I am learning here back to my communities at home, to help create some positive change. So please think about these lessons. And, if you are white, please think about supporting the work that people of color are already doing, as well as organizing yer own communities to fight racism. And please ask for/listen to guidance by local people of color, both in New Orleans and in Portland.

Sera
Herbalist, Common Ground Health Clinic
New Orleans, LA


PS- FEMA pays $250 per head per day for its own staff, Sewage and Water Board workers, as well as some of our volunteers on the to stay in its tent city. The man who runs the tent city is paid $10,000 a month. He does not work for FEMA but for a private company that is contracted out. Black Water Security is also there. One day they had Salmon for dinner. The military is also there.

Meanwhile thousands of people are getting evicted from hotels this month (the last group will be out March 1), where FEMA has been paying for them to stay. But its not giving them any options about where to go.

The city was about 70 percent African American before the storm, now its about 15 percent I've heard. City elections are scheduled for April, but its unclear who is going to get to vote, especially if
people stuck in other cities will be sent ballots.