Œhl |Jn rtlan ò (©hseruer
Page A4
September 14. 2005
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
Letter to Bush:
ÖEvoTBb SO MUCH *
OF OUK R^oURCES
|
To
A Ö H T R>K .
-W
WOmAMD SECURITY
> MOME14HP/:, >
LS^T
HAVE. H o T hi H ó -
Pretend New Orleans is Iraq
Editor’s note: Michael Moore, the Flint, Mich, director and
producer o f 'Fahrenheit 911" wrote the following open letter to
President Bush five days after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans
on Aug. 29.
Dear Mr. Bush:
Any idea w here all our helicopters are? It’s D ay 5 o f H urricane
K atrina and thousands rem ain stranded in N ew O rleans and need to
be airlifted. W here on earth could you have m isplaced all our m ilitary
choppers? Do you need help finding them ? I once lost my car in a t
Sears parking lot. M an, w as that a drag.
A lso, any idea w here all our national guard soldiers are? W e could
really use them right now for the type o f thing they signed up to do
like helping with national disasters. H ow com e they w eren ’t there to
- V~NvT*MA4/M5t>,Á-o5t>
Turn P ain from K atrin a Into P ow er
Hurricane deemed
decade’s ‘Bloody Sunday’
by J udge G reg
M athis
Hurricane K atrina’s victim s have suffered
through and endured what will surely be marked
as one o f the w orst natural disasters in U.S.
history, despite being largely abandoned for
several days by the federal govern­
ment.
Now, as flood w aters recede in New
O rleans and clean up begins across the
G ulf, these survivors m ust use the
painful lessons this ordeal has imparted
to em pow er them selves, their fam ilies
and their com m unities. By doing so,
they ’ 11 ensure that they will never again
be privy to such neglect and victim ization.
The people o f the G ulf C oast were hit by two
disasters: Hurricane K atrina and the failure o f
the federal governm ent to respond to it in a
tim ely m anner. A ccording to recently released
reports, Katrina ravaged the G ulf for nearly five
hours before M ichael Brow n, head o f the Fed­
eral E m ergency M anagem ent A gency, re­
quested any aid for the region. The airline
industry says the governm ent d id n ’t request
help with evacuating storm victim s until three
days after the storm hit. W hile no one had any
way o f predicting ju st how m uch havoc the
storm w ould w reak, new s reports indicated
Katrina w ould com e dow n hard. As N ew O r­
leans and other cities evacuated, preparing for
the w orse, it d o esn ’t m ake sense that the federal
governm ent d idn’ t have an em ergency response
team at the ready. If they had, m any m ore lives
could have been saved.
Many experts estim ate it will take nearly $200
billion to rebuild the lives and com m unities that
Katrina 's victims
cannot let those who
abandoned them dictate
w ere tom apart by H urricane K atrina. H ow this
money is spent will directly affect the futures o f
those affected. It’s ironic that the federal g o v ­
ernm ent - the sam e governm ent that w as slow
to respond when these tax paying citizens
needed them the m ost - is now discussing how
the funds should be allocated.
G u lf C oast residents m ust organize and b e­
com e active participants in the rebuilding pro­
cess - K atrina’s victim s cannot let those w ho
abandoned them dictate how they reestablish
them selves. C itizens in this overw helm ingly
A frican-A m erican and im poverished region
m ust lobby for funds that can be used to create
jo b training centers; w ith gainful em ploym ent
com es eco n o m ic em p o w erm en t, econom ic
pow er breeds independence.
On Sunday, M arch 7,1965, ci vil rights m arch­
ers, attem pting’ to bring attention to voting
rights violations, peacefully w alked east out o f
Selm a, Ala. T hey only m ade it six blocks, to the
Edm und Pettus Bridge. There, law enforcem ent
officials attacked the dem onstrators w ith tear
gas and billy clubs; several m archers were
injured. T he assault w as captured by news
m edia and televised for the entire nation to
see. A m ericans saw firsthand the brutality
and victimization blackcitizensendured. Sup­
port for the civil rights m ovem ent sw elled
after "B loody Sunday.”
H u rric an e K atrin a w ill be this d e c a d e ’s
‘B lo o d y S u n d a y .” T h e c o u n try - an d the
w o rld - h as w itn e ssed th e w ay th is g o v e rn ­
m en t g ro ssly u n d e rv a lu e s th e liv es o f the
p o o r an d the liv es o f p eo p le o f co lo r. A m e ri­
can s, b la c k A m eric an s in p a rtic u la r, h av e a
d u ty to r a lly a r o u n d u n d e r s e r v e d an d
m a rg in a liz e d p o p u la tio n s in the w ake o f th is
d isa ste r. O u r b ro th e rs an d sisters in th e G u lf
m u st le ad the w ay.
Judge Greg Mathis is chairman o f the Rain­
bow PUSH-Excel Board and a national board
member o f the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.
by J ennifer
L a verdure
Radical W omen, an international
feminist group with local headquar­
ters at »19 N. K illingsw orth St., is
circulating petitions dem anding
civil rights for w om en in Iraq and
calling for an end to the occupation
o f Iraq.
Iraqi w om en are 60 percent o f
Iraqi society; 93 percent o f them
support m aintaining equal rights
secured in the constitution that has
been in place since 1959. The timing
o f the petition cam paign is designed
to raise attention to the discrim ina­
tory articles in the new draft Iraqi
constitution and the negative e f­
fects the U.S. governm ent’s war.
Radical W om en supports Iraqi
w om en’s w idespread resistance to
the threatened im position o f Sharia
law, w hich condones m arriage o f
fem ale children, polygam y and
other abuses o f w om en, such as
b eating, stoning, flogging, and
forced veiling.
In addition, equal rights in d i­
vorce, education, o w n ersh ip o f
property and em ploym ent are in
jeopardy.
The United States, as an occu­
pier, has invented a need to create
a new constitution. W ith funda­
m entalist clerics in control o f the
process, as a result o f the rushed
election process also im posed by
the U nited States, the new co n sti­
tution is a huge step backw ards for
w om en. T he U.S. is in essence sup­
porting fundam entalists and feed­
ing sectional rivalries. Iraqis see
their country as unified and secu­
lar.
O ur struggles areclosely linked:
U.S. fem inists are fighting m any o f
the sam e encroachm ents on the
separation o f church and state here
at home.
T he p e titio n se ek s to b u ild
aw aren ess and to p ressu re the
Bush governm ent and C ongress to
end the U.S. presence in Iraq, which
ItJnrtlauh (0bscruer Established 1970
USPS 9 5 9 -6 8 0
_______________________________________
has prom oted a clim ate o f violence
and led to k id n a p p in g s, rapes,
prison torture, and m urder o f fe­
m ale activists. W hile the press has
covered the com bat in Iraq and
reports daily on injury to U.S. per­
sonnel, reports gloss o ver the se­
vere effects o f the conflict on civ il­
ians, especially w om en.
W om en in Iraq m ust cope with
the destruction o f a basic infra­
structure - water, sew er, pow er,
schools and hospitals - an u npre­
dictable food supply, and disease
carried by contam inated water; they
also face escalating violence in the
breakdow n o f civil order and from
U.S. m ilitary personnel.
N ow they m ust also anticipate
the o p p ortunistic destruction o f
their civil rights as the m ost reac­
tionary clerics grab for control o f
their governm ent and call it d em o c­
racy.
Jennifer Laverdure is a member
o f Radical Women in Portland.
Charles H. Washington
E d ito k : M ic h a e l L eig h to n
K efoktee : Katherine Blackmore
D is t e ie v t io n M anager : M ark W a sh in g to n
C e eativ e D ie e c t o e : P a u l N e u fe ld t
O f f ic e M anagee : K a th y L in d e r
laugh! Race has nothing — nothing — to do w ith this!
Y ou hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few o f our Arm y
helicopters and send them there. P retend the people o f N ew O rleans
and the G u lf C oast are near Tikrit.
OCTOBER 1 st 11:00 a m - 4:00 p m
Our Environment, Our Health
A N/NE Portland Neighborhood Gathering
Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (IFCC) and Patton Park
5340 North Interstate Avenue
(M AX Yellow Line - Interstate/Killingsworth Stop)
You can learn more about making
your home and neighborhood safer
places to live. Learn about asthma,
mold/mildew, air pollution, lead
safety, recycling, and more!
FREE!
6
♦
6
6
6
Food
Storytelling
IFCC Art Gallery
Prizes
Blood pressure, asthma,
and lead screenings!
♦ Oregon Health Plan sign-up
Featuring Music and
Spoken Word by:
•
•
•
•
•
•
N’Touch
Motown Review
Highland Gospel Choir
Real Recognize Real
Turlya Autry
Cubaneo
To volunteer or for more information please call (503) 988-3663 x 22439
SAVE THE DATE!
You don’t want to miss!
Send address changes to Portland
Observer, PO Box 3 1 3 7 , Portland,
OR 9 7 2 0 8
4 7 4 7 NE M a rtin Lu ther King, Jr. Blvd.. Portland, OR 9 7 2 1 1
E ditoe - in -C hief , P uklishee :
racy in Iraq!
O n D ay 3, w hen you finally left y o u r vacation hom e, I have to say
I w as m oved by how you had your A ir F orce O ne pilot descend from
the clouds as you flew o ver N ew O rleans so you could catch a quick
lo o k o f th e d isa ste r. H ey, I k n o w y o u c o u ld n ’t sto p an d
grab a bullhorn and stand on som e rubble and act like a com m ander
in chief. Been there done that.
T here will be those w ho w ill try to politicize this tragedy and try
to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out.
Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists w ho predicted this
w ould happen because the w ater in the G u lf o f M exico is getting
hotter and hotter m aking a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and
all their global w arm ing C hicken Littles. T here is nothing unusual
about a hurricane that w as so w ide it w ould be like having one F-4
tornado that stretched from N ew Y ork to Cleveland.
No, Mr. Bush, you ju s t stay the course. It’s not your fault that 30
percent o f N ew O rleans lives in poverty or that tens o f thousands had
no transportation to get out o f tow n. C ’m on, th e y ’re black! I m ean,
it’s not like this happened to K ennebunkport. Can you im agine
leaving w hite people on their roofs for five days? D o n ’t m ake me
YOU’RE INVITED!
Women Losing Rights in Iraq
New constitution is huge step backward
begin w ith?
Last T hursday 1 w as in south F lorida and sat outside w hile the eye
o f H urricane K atrina! passed o ver my head. It w as only a C ategory
1 then but it w as pretty nasty. E leven people died and, as o f today,
there w ere still hom es w ithout pow er. T hat night the w eatherm an said
this storm w as on its w ay to N ew O rleans. T hat w as T hursday! D id
anybody tell you? I know you d id n ’t w ant to interrupt y o u r vacation
and I know how you d o n ’t like to get bad new s. Plus, you had
fundraisers to g o to and m others o f dead soldiers to ignore and smear.
Y ou sure show ed her!
I especially like how , the day after the hurricane, instead o f flying
to L ouisiana, you flew to San D iego to party w ith your business
peeps. D o n ’t let people criticize you for this — after all, the hurricane
w as over and w hat the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?
A nd d o n ’t listen to those w ho, in the com ing days, will reveal how
you specifically reduced the A rm y C orps o f E ngineers’ budget for
N ew O rleans this sum m er for the third year in a row. You ju st tell them
that even if you hadn ’ t cut the m oney to fix those levees, there w eren ’ t
going to be any A rm y engineers to fix them anyw ay because you had
a m uch m ore im portant construction jo b for them — building d em o c­
Subscriptions are $60.00 per year
503-288-0033 FAX 503-288-0015
news @portlandobserver.com
subscription@portlandobserver.com
ads (sportlandobserver. com
classjfieds @portlandobserver, com
The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should he clearly labeled and w ill be returned if
accompanied by a self addressed envelope A ll created design display ads become the sole property o f the newspaper and cannot be used in
other publications or personal usage without the wntten consent o f the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition
o f such ad © 1996 T H E P O R T L A N D O B S E R V E R A L L R IG H TS R ESE R V E D . R E P R O D U C T IO N IN W H O L E O R IN PA R T
W IT H O U T P E R M IS S IO N IS P R O H IB IT E D
The Portland Observer-Oregon's Oldest Multicultural Publicalion-is a member of the National Newspaper Association-Founded in 1885,
and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers. Inc. New York. N Y , and The West Coast Black Publishers
Association. Serving Portland and Vancouver
,
i
A N/NE Portland
Neighborhood Gathering
Saturday,October 1, 2005
11:00am-4:00pm