The Fish Foundation news and events

We began our day with an attempt to film residents and volunteers organized by the People's Organizing Committee. They planned an action to repair and rebuild a classroom in Thomy Lafon School, one of the public schools shut down after the hurricane. Actions like these are often interrupted and dispersed by law enforcement, so it was potentially a dangerous situation. Thomy Lafon sits right by the C.J. Peete (Magnolia) housing projects in the predominately black Central City section of New Orleans. We've heard stories of public housing residents who have returned with plans to reclaim and rebuild their apartments, only to be evicted by the police. To this day, I don't understand why it's illegal to go back to your home to claim your property or go back to your school to try to rebuild a learning environment for your children. Historically, community ownership is a huge problem in inner-city areas, especially among African-Americans. When you feel like you don't own anything, why would you feel entitled to take it back?

Central City was deserted; block after block of shuttered homes and broken streets. We arrived at Thomy Lafon School to find a group of contractors boarding up the windows and doors. They said they were sealing off the school until the city decided what to do with the property. We thought the timing of the contractors' work on the day of a planned rebuilding action was suspicious, to say the least. They also seemed pretty suspicious of two black people with cameras, so we took off. We grabbed some footage outside the school and the housing projects, and spoke at length with a former Magnolia resident. He said that the school and the projects are being kept clean and closed so that someday, the city can sell the properties to Tulane University on the cheap. When we asked him why people haven't moved back into their homes despite the fences and barbed wire, he explained that the projects were now totally unsafe. Law enforcement doesn't patrol the empty buildings, so criminals use the area for their dirty work. He also said that the city didn't put up fences fast enough to protect the projects -- looters have removed most of the copper wiring and pipes to sell on the black market, making it nearly impossible to restore electricity and plumbing in the buildings. From what we could see, these brick buildings were structurally sound. Only one to two feet of water came to Magnolia, but it was enough water for city government to put people out of their homes.

We saw the other side of black community ownership on our next stop in Petal, Mississippi. About two hours away from New Orleans, Ben Burkett farms okra, corn, peas, watermelon, squash and other crops and sells them at various farmer's markets in the city. His family has managed their 350 acres of land for generations now, and Ben himself is one of the founding vendors of the Crescent City Farmer's Market in downtown New Orleans. He's also active in many farm co-operative efforts, coordinating black farmers as part of the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives, the Indian Springs Farmer's Association, and the Federation of Southern Cooperatives. As he took us through his fields, we spoke about the importance of getting fresh food into poor communities, and the heritage of African-American farming. Ben and other farmers in the cooperative deliver their produce not only to downtown New Orleans, but also to two markets in the predominately black Upper and Lower 9th Ward, sponsored by the Downtown Neighborhood Market Consortium. Ben is even doing work to bring farmer's cooperative models and agricultural know-how to nations in western Africa.

We were surprised to learn from Ben that there are approximately 50,000 black farmers, operating mostly in Mississippi and Texas. Many of the farmers in Mississippi, like Ben, were adversely affected by Hurricane Katrina. Ben's old-growth trees were twisted and felled by 100-mph winds, and most of his crops were destroyed, along with his home. It's been a long road back to self-sufficiency, but Ben is back in action, spreading the gospel of good greens to the city. Ben has even found the time to mentor two boys with disciplinary problems (pictured above with Ben). It was very encouraging to speak with a person who dispels the stereotypes that African-Americans are powerless to control their own destiny. Mr. Burkett symbolizes the kind of community spirit of cooperation and empowerment that we would like to foster in New Orleans. We'll be posting portions of our video interview with Ben Burkett as soon as we're able, so you can hear him for yourself.