Eyewitness Report from New Orleans

On Saturday September 3, award-winning filmmaker Gloria La Riva, internationally-acclaimed photographer Bill Hackwell and A.N.S.W.E.R. Youth & Student Coordinator Caneisha Mills, a senior at Howard University, arrived in New Orleans.


The following is an eyewitness report of the crisis in the area written on Sunday, September 4.


Their conclusion.



Those who manage a system that always and everywhere puts the needs of business and private property ahead of the people, that always find money to fund wars that benefit the rich of this country rather than meeting people’s needs should be held responsible and accountable. The real problem however, is not with the managers of the system, but with the system itself. They call it the free market. It is the economic and social system of plutocracy, the system of modern capitalism, of, by, and for the rich that in words declares itself to be of, by and for the people. The reality, however, can now been seen in the streets of New Orleans.


It’s time to get in the streets again.


National Day of Emergency Action
Wednesday, September 7
Support the People of New Orleans!
Jobs/Income & Housing
for All Displaced Families
Real Relief – Yes! Racism – No!


Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle. Details



It is becoming clearer every day that this crisis goes far beyond a “natural disaster.” The massive death and destruction did not have to happen as a result of the hurricane; rather it is caused by a government that prioritizes profits, war and conquest over human needs.


The government is preparing to bail out the oil companies, insurance companies, other big corporations and casinos. Big Oil is also using this catastrophe as an opportunity to line their pockets. Working people in the United States need to stand with the victims of this crisis and demand that the government provide both short and long-term assistance to those who have lost everything.