A professor of psychology, Dr. Nath is currently on a two-year leave of absence in New Orleans, La., serving as the Mennonite Central Committee listening and discernment worker. This essay was written Dec. 15, 2007.
Two weeks ago, the demolition of 4,605 public housing apartments in New Orleans was set to begin on Saturday, Dec. 15, the very day that I’m writing this reflection on what civic engagement means to me. This is an elimination of 82 percent of public housing apartments in a city with thousands of displaced residents and a large population of homeless persons (12,000 and growing). Two weeks ago, all avenues being pursued to stop this planned demolition—both in the courts and in the legislature seemed exhausted and demolition a done deal.
But today, on Dec. 15, I’ll soon be heading to a celebration at St. Bernard Housing Development after a week of encouraging successes. A growing number of public housing residents and allies have been attending city council meetings and court hearings, holding marches and rallies and press conferences, and organizing faith leaders and other community members to request meetings with the mayor and the city council. Although the struggle is not over, today we celebrate the fact that demolition of three of the four complexes has b
een put on hold. Our next uphill battle is working to convince councilpersons to say no to demolition.
A few days ago, an old college friend of mine, who used to live in New Orleans, e-mailed me, writing that one of her friends had “predicted right after the storm that corporations and the government would step in to gentrify the city that we love so much.” He had been right, she continued, and she feared that “there’s nothing that can be done to stop the demolition.”
Nothing that can be done? Tell that to Stephanie, a resident of the still-shuttered St. Bernard housing complex, who found time, even while working a full-time job and caring for her grandchildren, to cook an incredible meal for more than 30 public housing residents gathered to build unity for the impending struggle. Tell that to Renee, Clare, Jonah and Lydia, four young persons who blockaded the front of the local housing authority building by chaining themselves to the fence and to each other. Dressed in pajamas and Santa hats in front of a banner which read “Homes for the Holidays,” they sang Christmas carols, as police worked for three hours to remove them and place them under arrest. Tell that to 82-year-old Miss Rozellia, a resident of public housing, who attended the candlelight vigil in front of the apartments where she used to live, still shuttered since the storm despite receiving minimal damage. At the vigil, Pastor Lois (whose father had baptized Miss Rozellia) led us in singing “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize,” “Amazing Grace” and “This Little Light of Mine.”
What civic engagement means to me is that people like Stephanie, Renee, Clare, Jonah, Lydia, Miss Rozellia and Pastor Lois stand together with many others to insist that the world change direction and become a better, more humane place for all of us. And maybe, just maybe, standing together we’ll be able to stop the bulldozers.
Followup
Pam Nath phoned on Feb. 29, 2008, with the news that demolition has begun on St. Bernard’s housing project in New Orleans. In her work for MCC, Pam has been involved with a group of citizens struggling to save their homes. St. Bernard’s and other projects in the area were not damaged by the floods. Most of the people living in them are African American working families. The plan is to rebuild – but with fewer, “mixed-income” buildings. Where 5000 people were living, they plan to house 750. The others have few resources to re-establish themselves. They organized protests and informational campaigns, but their efforts have now failed.
