A Requiem in Four Parts

As I prepare to head to my second Jazz Fest in about 10 days, I wanted to take the opportunity to remind people that New Orleans - indeed, the entire Gulf Coast - still desperately needs our help. You see, Dubya still doesn't care about black people. Large sections of the city and the entire region have barely been touched in the almost 20 months since Katrina made landfall. FEMA's still fucking people out of their trailers. No one (coughcough Federal Government) is putting any pressure on the insurance companies to give people their goddamn money. The local economy is shredded. The three major local industries, shrimping (and fishing more generally), the oil industry, and tourism, are all still struggling to recover. Actually, between the oil-industry facilitated loss of wetlands and the hurricane damage, Gulf fishing may never recover.

So what can you do?

1. Inform yourself about what happened in August of 2005. Watch Spike Lee's excellent When the Levees Broke. Don't close your eyes.
2. Pay attention. For hundreds of thousands of people who are still displaced, whose homes are still destroyed, whose tight-knit families and communities are still dispersed, it ain't over yet. The Times Picayune won Pulitzers for their heroic hurricane coverage, and the paper remains an excellent source of news. And tell other people what you find out.
   
3. Support charities. No, not the damn Red Cross. Spend locally. There are lots of good options: the Tipitina's Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, the Musicians Relief Fund, Common Ground...there's an almost endless list of choices. You don't have to give $1 million (although if you have it lying around...) - many of these organizations can do amazing things with as little as $10.
4. Support wetlands restoration. One of the reasons the entire region is increasingly vulnerable to hurricanes is the tremendous loss of wetlands in the area. Mike Tidwell, founder and director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and all-around righteous dude, has written an excellent book that lays out what's happened to date, the mounting dangers, and the possible solutions, Bayou Farwell. Mother Jones did a great piece on the book, and you can check it out of your local library.
5. Visit. The city - the whole area - is struggling to rise from its knees. You can help, and have a ball at the same time. Jazz Fest 2006 was my first trip back to the city after the hurricane. I had a fair amount of time to hang out in watering holes and talk to locals. I asked every person I met the same question, "What can I do to help?" and every one gave me the same answer: "Tell people we're open for business and to come visit!" And it's true, and you should. You'll get a chance to do good while doing well.

Laissez les bons temps roulent encore et toujours.