[URBANTH-L]NEWS: Remembering Katrina, Re-Committing to Justice

Angela Jancius jancius at ohio.edu
Thu Aug 30 19:13:12 EDT 2007


Remembering Katrina, Re-Committing to Justice

Please forward widely!

Dear Friend of United for Peace and Justice,

Today, August 29th, is the 2nd anniversary of Hurricane
Katrina. Today there are still tens of thousands of
families without homes. 30,000 families are scattered
across the country in FEMA apartments, 13,000 are in
trailers, and hardly any of the 77,000 rental units
destroyed in New Orleans have been rebuilt. And this is
just one of the many issues the people of New Orleans
and the Gulf Coast are still dealing with.

Today, United for Peace and Justice re-affirms our
commitment to the struggle to shift the use of our tax
dollars away from war and toward the rebuilding of the
communities still suffering from Katrina, and serving
the many other needs of communities around the country.
On this sad anniversary, we urge you to re-commit to
this critically important work, a struggle that is
interwoven with our efforts to end the war and
occupation in Iraq.

We want to call your attention to a new short film
produced Brave New Foundation, "When the Saints Go
Marching In." http://whenthesaints.org/

Here's what the filmmakers have to say: "During the
making of this video, we heard the heartbreaking
stories of good people unable to return home. We have
heard the story of the Aguilar family who lost their
home to the storm and only received $4,000 in payments
from their insurance company. We have met Mr.
Washington, an 87-year-old man and former carpenter,
who owned three homes prior to the storm. He is still
living in a FEMA trailer today. And we've met Julie,
who could have returned to her job and normal life, if
the government had opened up the public housing units
that she had lived in prior to the storm."

Click here to watch their stories:
http://whenthesaints.org/

After watching the film and hearing these voices, there
is something very specific you can do to help. Sign the
petition urging the Senate to pass the Gulf Coast
Recovery Bill of 2007 (S1668). The bill is expected to
come to a vote after Labor Day. Its passage will be an
important step toward rebuilding the infrastructure in
the Gulf Coast region.

Sign the petition today: http://whenthesaints.org/

Please pass the video on and encourage people to sign
the petition. It's important we all support the Gulf
Coast region's right to return home and put the needed
resources toward rebuilding these families' lives.

** Save the date! Saturday, October 27th ** National
Mobilization to End the Iraq War! 10 Massive
Demonstrations for Peace and Justice!
http://www.oct27.org

============================================

Help us continue to do this critical work: Make a
donation to UFPJ today --
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/donate

UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
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