World Social Forum Global Day of Action: Bay Area Residents Demand Justice in New Orleans!

More than 200 protesters crowded the street in front of Dianne Feinstein's estate Saturday afternoon calling for an end to disaster capitalism and neo-liberalism New Orleans, Louisiana.

Protesters were participating in the World Social Forum's Global Day of Action, which brings together national and international movements for human rights, economic and social justice and was part many of nationwide solidarity actions for Gulf Coast recovery.

Demonstrators targeted Senator Feinstein due to her ambivalence on Senate Bill 1668, the "Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act of 2007," which would allocate funding for housing in New Orleans and guarantee one for one replacement of any destroyed public housing units.

Protesters were appalled that the post-Katrina housing crisis has reached a state of emergency. There are currently more than 12,000 homeless in New Orleans and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is set to demolish more than 4,500 habitable public housing units. In March, FEMA plans to begin trailer evictions, leaving 50,000 more families without homes. HUD's corrupt secretary Alphonso Jackson continues to exacerbate this crisis by cutting New Orleans housing recovery monies another $600 million last week.

Demonstrators called on Feinstein to hold HUD accountable and provide federal protection for Katrina Survivors' Right to Return by supporting the demands of the New Orleans-based Coalition to Stop the Demolition:


1. Stop the Demolitions. Reopen existing public housing units and rebuild dignified housing at former public housing sites.

2. Guaranteed one-to-one replacement for all public housing residents.

3. All available public housing units should be made available for the homeless and those at risk of homelessness from the pending loss of rent vouchers and trailer evictions.

4. Demand a Federal investigation of Housing and Urban Development head Alphonso Jackson regarding the illegal no-bid contracts he awarded to his cronies.

5. Enact rent control (*at pre-Katrina rates*) to provide deeply affordable housing so that all will be able to return to the city.

6. Stop the privatization and gentrification of the city.



Local groups highlighted how displacement and lack of government accountability in New Orleans is linked to the gentrification of communities in the Bay Area. People of Color in the San Francisco Bay Area are finding it increasingly difficult to afford skyrocketing rents as housing for profits is prioritized over housing for working class people of color. As rents rise, immigrant raids continue and other racial profiling laws such as San Francisco's gang injunction give police an excuse to jail community youth for so much as walking to a grocery store after night falls.

The protest culminated as a delegation of protesters marched up the stairs to Feinstein's front door delivering their written demands and dozens of keys meant to symbolize the keys of Katrina Survivors being locked out of their homes by HUD.

Organizations in attendance included: Katrina Solidarity Network, School of Unity and Liberation, POWER, St. Peters Housing Committee, Just Cause Oakland, Partnership for Immigrant Leadership and Action, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Center for Political Education, Center for Media Justice, Heads Up Collective, Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research and Action, Poor Magazine, Catalyst Project, and Incite! Women of Color Against Violence.


photos and video by rebecca ruiz-lichter