HungryBlues

Keiva Melissa Colomb, Plaintiff In Class Action Against FEMA

Plaintiff Keiva Melissa Colomb was a resident of Orleans Parish when Hurricane Katrina struck. Her apartment was completely destroyed and she was evacuated to Texas, exhausting her savings getting there. On August 30, 2005, she called FEMA’s 800 number throughout the day to apply for benefits, but was unable to get through. Finally, at 2 am, Ms. Colomb reached a FEMA worker and was able to register. In San Antonio, prior to receiving FEMA housing assistance, Ms. Colomb found an apartment she could afford with the help of a roommate, another victim of Hurricane Katrina. Three weeks after Ms. Colomb called FEMA, $2,358 appeared in her bank account. However, she received no information regarding how the money was to be used, and when she tried to call FEMA, Ms. Colomb was unable to get through. Having lost most, if not all, of her possessions in the storm, she used the $2,358 for rent and to replace the bare necessities that she had lost: a toothbrush, towels, sheets, pots, food, a mattress and other essentials. Through word of mouth she heard that she could get assistance from FEMA for up to a year and was counting on it to make ends meet and to stay in her apartment. Yet, weeks later, when Ms. Colomb was finally able to talk to a FEMA representative, she was told for the first time that the money she previously received was solely for rental assistance, and that the only way she could get additional assistance was to prove through receipts that she spent all of the money on rent.

(From Part III of the Complaint.)

"If we're so smart and have all the answers, how come the movement is so small?"

Last month, I posted about Wade Rathke's self-seving, racist attack on Curtis Muhammad, Community Labor United, and the People's Hurricane Relief Fund. Though I posted Open Letter to the Labor Movement, an important response from a group of activists, I never got around to the further commentary I had promised. In the meantime, one of the signers of the Open Letter, Marsha Steinberg, has written a response of her own, much stronger than anything I could have done, in the wake of a supposed apology from Rathke to Muhammad. Immediately following Marsha's comments is the "apology" from Rathke, to which she is responding.

Marsha Steinberg to Wade Rathke:

Your apology to Curtis Muhammad again badly misses the point!

It is not personal attacks that are the most relevant although I personally doubt your explanation of "being over the top" because Chalabi was a liar and a thief, facts which I am sure you knew when you wrote the piece. It is the attack on CLU and The People's Hurricane Relief Fund ("couldn't organize a two car funeral") that deserve an apology. I personally believe that the attack was done in a personal fit over the fact that a coalition of community based, African American led, groups without staff or union money had out organized you and you felt free, as a white male, to attack them without fear of rebuke. How could they have accomplished some thing that you hadn't; specifically getting recognition in the national progressive movement here and in Europe as the legitimate voice of the poor backs of New Orleans which you think of as your personal turf. The arrogance and racism of the comments continue to send me "over the top".

As a SEIU staffer I see the same syndrome every day. White, mostly male, leadership at the top, feel free to plan for the lives of the membership of a union that is overwhelmingly poor, mostly female, people of color. They remain convinced that in every situation they know better than the members themselves and the field staff, what the members need and should care about. Only they know how to plan and build for the future. Again, what racist crap!

At some point the continued top down approach of the ACORNS and SEIUs will either have to be abandoned and genuine leadership be allowed to emerge and be nurtured with real education, training and sharing of the members resources or this country will continue it’s descent into fascism and barbarism.

I call on all white progressive activists to see this approach for what it is and understand that we must be prepared to relinquish the privilege and the right to lead that has come to us from a racist and classist country built on the labor of those without power or privilege. We must ask ourselves: if we're so smart and have all the answers, how come the movement is so small? We must accept the right of community-based groups to lead and speak for themselves. We must share our skills and resources generously. We must call racism when we see it. “If not us, who? If not now, when?”

Still today, white areas of New Orleans have electricity at least part of the day while the adjacent black areas have none. Whites are returning to the city while black males convicted of no crime are held hidden in jails throughout the South. Wade, why don't you write an over the top piece about that?

I came to labor as a long time community organizer because with a dues base, that's where all the money is. I was actually shocked to see the disregard for the members’ priorities and the 'we know what's best' attitudes.

I call on organized labor to examine its practices openly and honestly and to share the resources with community folks and their organizations. Rhetorically we say that our members and the community are the same people. Let's make that real. Let's admit that labor does not have the right to pick the leadership of community based organizations or expect them to follow labor's lead without true coalitions of equals. One start would be to post this message on your blog which I doubt you will do. Let's have an open dialogue about the nature of our organizations and labor's obligation to freely share resources and relinquish leadership.

In the meantime, I will send your "apology" around to my lists with my response.

Looking forward to an honest dialogue.

Wade Rathke's "apology" to Curtis Muhammad:

Posted by: Wade Rathke - November 3, 2005 02:38:04

When I wrote these comments a month ago, I was searching for a way to grieve for my city. It is amazing to find how few people really care about what happens to New Orleans on one hand and the level of opportunism from many folks who couldn’t find the city without a map. I still feel that way.

Nonetheless, there were 3-4 comments we received from people several weeks after the blog ran either posted to the blog or sent to me directly. All the ones to me I answered.

Their message was that the treatment of Curtis Muhammad was wrong. They took particular umbrage at the metaphorical comparison with Chalabi.

Chalabi after years in exile returned in hopes of running Iraq. Though that has not worked out exactly as he – and some of his supporters -- dreamed, he has been a constant presence in the political life of the country since the occupation. He in fact is now a member of the ruling government with a significant position in the coalition arrangements and a base in various sides of the religious power blocs.

Feelings about Chalabi are obviously intense. My point was lost here and insult was taken, where observation and metaphor were meant. I am very sorry for all of that. My train was going one way and ended up on a side track. Reading the piece again one is reminded of how dangerous a form of communication these unfiltered, unedited blogs can be. There is a lesson for me to remember there, but my lesson should not have been at the expense of others, and I’m deeply sorry it occurred. I played with fire, and I got burned.

Curtis also contacted me directly by e-mail indicating his unhappiness with the piece. I sent him back an email offering to get together with him and straighten it out directly. I did not receive a reply.

I did see Curtis while I was visiting the October 29th rally in Baton Rouge on the capitol steps. I walked over to visit with him. He was still understandably not happy about all of this. He asked for a public apology.

I meant no harm to Curtis and in my ham handed and inarticulate way, I thought I had expressed that even in the piece. Obviously I failed, therefore I agree with Curtis that an apology is warranted, and here he has it, because I am sincerely sorry for any inadvertent insult I have given him and any offense he has felt. None was meant, but to the degree some was taken, that’s on me, and I hope over time perhaps he will come to accept my apology, because he certainly has it here, exactly where the offense was rendered.

This post-Katrina syndrome is real. There is no question that I am "over the top" these days, and more than one person has pointed it out to me. My boiling point is very low. My judgment is not as sound as it sometimes needs to be. I bet I am not the only one in the same situation. All of which makes this even more regrettable. Untoward comments, like mine, blurted out thoughtless to the full impact, are perhaps felt more deeply and taken more hurtfully than normal times would allow.

Thurmond Price, Plaintiff In Class Action Against FEMA

Plaintiff Thurmond Price was a resident of Orleans Parish whose home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Price has diabetes and a serious heart condition. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Price was living by himself in a shared house. He had no relation to the other people who lived in the house. In early September, Mr. Price applied with FEMA for Temporary Housing Assistance. Mr. Price was denied housing assistance because someone else living in the same shared apartment had applied for housing assistance. He is currently living by himself in the Red Cross Shelter in Baker, Louisiana.

(From Part III of the Complaint.)

Billy Smith, Plaintiff In Class Action Against FEMA

Plaintiff Billy Smith was a resident of Orleans Parish when Hurricane Katrina struck and destroyed his home. He rented a room in a building where six other men also lived and shared a phone number. On September 2, 2005, Mr. Smith applied with FEMA for Temporary Housing Assistance. The FEMA worker told him that his application would be frozen because someone else had applied for benefits with the same phone number. Within the week, Mr. Smith called FEMA again to check the status of his application and was accused of making multiple applications. At about the end of September, Mr. Smith received a packet of information from FEMA, which stated that he needed to fill out an SBA loan to receive FEMA benefits, which he submitted the next day. Mr. Smith has since been told by FEMA that his application is still “pending.” He is currently living at the Red Cross Shelter in Baker, Louisiana.

(From Part III of the Complaint.)

John Hubbard, Plaintiff In Class Action Against FEMA

Plaintiff John Hubbard was a resident of Orleans Parish when Hurricane Katrina struck. His pre-disaster home, in which he lived with his sister and her four daughters, was destroyed. Mr. Hubbard is disabled and illiterate, and therefore applied for housing assistance directly with a FEMA representative at the River Center Shelter in Baton Rouge. To date, he has not received any Temporary Housing Assistance or any further information from FEMA regarding his request for housing assistance.

(From Part III of the Complaint.)

Van Patin, Plaintiff In Class Action Against FEMA

Plaintiff Van Patin was a resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana when Hurricane Katrina struck. His pre-disaster home is uninhabitable due to Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Patin had a leg amputated and is wheelchair bound. In early September, Mr. Patin applied for FEMA housing assistance. He was told by FEMA that he would receive a handicap-accessible trailer, that the trailers were on-site and that they were in the process of installing ramps for the trailers. To date, he has not received a trailer, any Temporary Housing Assistance or any further information from FEMA regarding his request for housing assistance.

(From Part III of the Complaint.)

Reginald Jones, Plaintiff In Class Action Against FEMA

Plaintiff Reginald Jones has yet to receive any Temporary Housing Assistance. He was a resident of Plaquemines Parish when Hurricane Katrina struck and destroyed his home. He was evacuated on August 29, 2005, to the Belle Chasse Community Center in Belle Chasse, Louisiana. After a week, Mr. Jones was moved to the Melville Community Center in Melville, Louisiana, where he finally was able to apply for FEMA benefits. Mr. Jones was then forced to evacuate from Melville because of Hurricane Rita, and spent three days in a Red Cross Shelter in Monroe, Louisiana. After Hurricane Rita passed he was instructed to leave the shelter in Monroe and return to the River Center shelter in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In mid-October, Mr. Jones went to the DRC in Belle Chasse to apply for a trailer. That same day, Mr. Jones was told that, to receive benefits, he would need to complete an SBA loan application, which he did. On October 14, 2005, the River Center shelter closed and Mr. Jones was again moved, this time to the Red Cross shelter in Baker, Louisiana. He has repeatedly asked FEMA about the status of his application for a trailer and has been told that there is no facility available on which he may put a trailer.

(From Part III of the Complaint.)

Calvin Davis, Jr., Plaintiff In Class Action Against FEMA

Plaintiff Calvin Davis, Jr. has not received any Temporary Housing Assistance from FEMA even though he applied 2 months ago. Mr. Davis was a resident of Orleans Parish. On August 29, 2005, he was evacuated and brought to the River Center shelter in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he lived for the next six weeks. On approximately September 5, 2005, Mr. Davis registered with FEMA for Temporary Housing Assistance. FEMA workers at the River Center shelter told Mr. Davis that he would receive a check for $2,358 in rental assistance. Approximately one month later, Mr. Davis went to the DRC near the shelter, where he was told that his rental assistance was still “pending.” On October 14, 2005, the River Center shelter closed and Mr. Davis was moved to the Red Cross shelter in Baker, Louisiana. When he is able to get through to FEMA’s 800 number, he is simply told that his application is still “pending.” Mr. Davis still has not received his housing assistance from FEMA.

(From Part III of the Complaint.)

Florence Jackson, Plaintiff In Class Action Against FEMA

Plaintiff Florence Jackson has not received any Temporary Housing Assistance from FEMA even though she applied over 2 months ago. Ms. Jackson is 62 years old, and was a resident of Orleans Parish, where she lived with her 42-year old son, who suffers from epileptic seizures and cerebral palsy. Ms. Jackson has a herniated disk and sciatica. Both Ms. Jackson and her son are on disability. Like countless others, their home was rendered uninhabitable by Hurricane Katrina. Ms. Jackson and her son had no way to evacuate from New Orleans. She and her son were stranded in their apartment as the storm roared through New Orleans. After the storm, they watched the water rise, saw people on the interstate dying, and watched futilely as rescue workers ignored their cries for help. It was not until five days later, on September 2, 2005, that the government evacuated Ms. Jackson and her son by helicopter. They left their home with only the clothing on their back, and some essential paperwork that Ms. Jackson was able to quickly pull together. Left on a crowded, open field with little or no security, Ms. Jackson found a piece of cardboard to sit on and another evacuee generously gave up his cot for her son. While her son slept, Ms. Jackson watched, guarding herself and her son. She and her son were eventually herded onto a bus, and taken to the airport where, wet and physically exhausted, they waited for further direction. Later, when people were lined up for a plane, Ms. Jackson found a chair for her son, who was no longer able to walk, and pushed him inch by inch along the line until they finally boarded a flight – destination unknown. Ms. Jackson and her son were flown to San Antonio, Texas and then taken to the Kelly USA DRC, where they waited standing in line for 7 hours to register. They were told if they left the line for any reason, they would not be registered. Ms. Jackson waited, all the while praying that her son would not have an epileptic seizure. Finally, Ms. Jackson and her son were taken to the Kelly USA shelter where, for the first time in days, they were able to get out of their wet clothes. There, Ms. Jackson was diagnosed with pneumonia and an intestinal virus, brought on by the wet clothes and the exposure to germs during the evacuation. It was not until September 5, 2005 – a week after Hurricane Katrina had made landfall – that the Kelly USA DRC was equipped with telephones and computers. Using those phones, Ms. Jackson was able to register for FEMA assistance. Since then, Ms. Jackson has repeatedly called FEMA to inquire about rental assistance and each time is told that her application for housing assistance is “pending.”

(From Part III of the Complaint.)

Beatrice B. McWaters, Plaintiff In Class Action Against FEMA

Plaintiff Beatrice B. McWaters has not received any Temporary Housing Assistance from FEMA even though she applied 2 months ago. Ms. McWaters was a resident of Orleans Parish when Hurricane Katrina struck. She and her brother lived in a home that her mother owned, and paid her approximately $1,000 per month in rent. Her mother is 93 years old, and her brother is 61 years old and disabled. Her pre-disaster home is now uninhabitable. On approximately September 2, 2005, Ms. McWaters went to the Kelly USA shelter in San Antonio, Texas to apply for FEMA benefits. On October 10, Ms. McWaters was told by a FEMA worker that she, her brother, and her mother had all claimed to be owners of the same residence and that there was the appearance of fraud. Ms. McWaters tried to clear up the misunderstanding over the phone with the FEMA worker without success. The next day, October 11, she returned to the Kelly USA shelter and attempted to clarify the situation in person. On October 26, Ms. McWaters received a call from FEMA and was told that she, her mother, and her brother all had been suspended or eliminated from the FEMA system. Then, on approximately November 2, Ms. McWaters received a call from a FEMA worker telling her that she could get a trailer in New Orleans. Ms. McWaters explained that, by doctor’s orders, she was unable to travel. The FEMA worker told her it would be noted in the file. The FEMA worker did not offer her rental assistance. To date, neither Ms. McWaters, her brother, or her mother have received any housing assistance from FEMA.

(From Part III of the Complaint.)