The one-year anniversary of Katrina is less than a week away. As politicians, the media, and the American public briefly refocus on the disaster, we are briefly presented with an opportunity to frame this issue in the public’s mind and push for real progress towards a more equitable and just Gulf Coast.
The battle over this media narrative – and the policy outcomes that will determine the Gulf Coast’s future – has already begin on both the left and the right.
To this end, we at The Opportunity Agenda have compiled a list of resources that people can use to fact-check the media and the administration, write informed blogs, write letters to editors and to Congress, and talk to their friends about the current state of the Gulf. Below the jump, you will find potential message frames, research/fact sheets, letter writing tools, petitions, calendars, wikis and a number of other resources for taking action to help restore the Gulf.
There’s a lot here, but there’s probably just as much – more – that we missed. Please add more resources in the comments section, and if you have feedback on the materials presented here, or ideas on how they can more effectively be used, please share them with the community. We hope you find these tools useful.
- Framing Katrina
Based on public opinion research we conducted, We recommend that Katrina communications convey two core messages:
- Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath show the need for a public effort to achieve our national promise of opportunity for all. Race, wealth, and other aspects of who we are still heavily influence Americans’ life chances in the Gulf Coast region and around the nation.
- Building a safe and prosperous nation in which we all enjoy opportunity means investing in an effective role for government systems.
Sample Messages:
- Building a safe prosperous nation in which we all enjoy opportunity means investing in an effective role for government. The FEMA that responded to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita was weakened by systematic disinvestment over time, which diminished the agency’s ability to address national disasters. This is part of a broader pattern of disinvestment in our federal government’s ability to address national problems, which has left many of our institutions without adequate resources or authority to accomplish their goals.
- Katrina’s biggest lesson is that it’s time to reinvest in government systems that ensure opportunity for everyone in our country. We must revamp a broken health care system that exposes millions of Americans to the risk of poor health and financial ruin because they lack health insurance, and that too often treats patients unfairly on the basis of gender, race, and social class.
You can read more messages, as well as some of the research from which they were drawn, here.
Those interested in finding ways to talk about the positive role that government can, and does, play in our lives, should also read these publications:
- How to Talk About Government – Demos
- Framing Public Issues – The Frameworks Institute
- Fact Sheets
Below you will find a number of fact sheets covering the most pressing issues now facing Katrina survivors. Each fact sheet has easy to follow facts about the Gulf Coast, and draws parallels to national conditions as well as offering a list of potential policy solutions.
- Working Conditions in the Gulf Coast Region
–In the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, local companies and small businesses were passed over for lucrative contracts, and multimillion dollar opportunities were outsourced to large out-of-state companies. For example, as of November 2005, only 5.4% of the $3.7 billion that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has spent on contracts related to hurricanes Katrina and Rita went to Louisiana companies.
–An Economic Policy Institute analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data revealed that African American (41.5%) and Latino (42.1%) evacuees were more than twice as likely as white evacuees (17.5%) to be unemployed two months after the storm.
- Health Security Among Katrina’s Victims
–Currently, in Louisiana, the rate of uninsurance is between 35-50%. The lack of health insurance among the population will make it even more difficult for providers and health centers to recoup costs and rebuild their practice. As of July 2006, only 55% of Orleans Parish’s hospitals have resumed operation.
- Housing Conditions One Year Later
–Prior to the storm, 67% of the New Orleans’ extremely low-income households dealt with housing costs that exceeded 30% of the household heads’ incomes in 2000. 56% of very-low-income households used more than half of their incomes to pay for housing.
- Government Disinvestment in Social Infrastructure
–According to the DHS’s inspector general, a shortage of qualified staff contributed to a lack of oversight and overwhelmed FEMA employees in the response to Hurricane Katrina. When Katrina hit, FEMA was understaffed by approximately 500 employees. As the 2005 hurricane season began, many of the people on staff were new and untrained.
- Voice: Voting and Political Expression in the Gulf
–In predominantly African American Orleans Parish, voters were incorrectly purged from the state’s registration rolls, and many voters faced unwarranted police presence at polling stations, poorly marked polling sites, and early closures of polling locations.
–Although thousands of voters were residing outside Louisiana, satellite polling stations were confined to the state, a problem that disproportionately affected African American voters who were unable to return to their homes.
For more fact sheets on conditions in the Gulf Coast, visit the Season of Prayer website.
- Working Conditions in the Gulf Coast Region
- Advocacy Tools
Write a Letter
Write to Your Elected Officials on the following topics. Each link will provide you with a pre-written letter or provide you with talking points and research to write your own letter (generally a more effective strategy).
- Jobs and Business
- Health Care
- Affordable Housing
- Investing in Effective Government
- Voting Rights and Political Expression
Letter to the Editor Tool – Write to the national news outlets.
Organize a Petition Drive
The National Alliance to Restore Opportunity to the Gulf is organizing a petition drive in support of a fair and equitable reconstruction process in the Gulf Coast region. The petition will be presented to Congress and the administration in September as part of the Opportunity Platform for Rebuilding the Gulf.
Download the petition (PDF), and collect signatures from your congregation, union, neighborhood association, or any other civic or faith group to which you belong.
- Miscellaneous – Calendars, Wikis, Maps, and More
- Clearing House on Katrina Advocacy Activities:(pdf) Hundreds of organizations are working to improve conditions for those living in the Gulf Coast. This comprehensive list from the Center for Social Inclusion is an information resource of over 130 organizations conducting Katrina related advocacy.
- FEMA Answers: A one-stop-shop for all information related to the federal agency. Forms, FAQs, Policy Updates and Advocacy Tools – you can find them all, and contribute your own material – at this comprehensive wiki.
- Fema Photo Library: FEMA offers a large collection of photographs depicting the disaster and the relief and rebuilding efforts. These photos are all in the public domain.
- Katrina Events Calendar: Our partners at the National Alliance to Restore Opportunity to the Gulf have compiled a comprehensive calendar of Katrina-related events leading up to, and beyond, the one-year anniversary. The calendar is an open resource for all Katrina advocates, and all organizations are encouraged to coordinate their activities by publicizing their events through this calendar.
- Katrina Legislation Tracking: Stay informed about policy changes impacting the Gulf Coast region. The Katrina Legislation Tracking blog aggregates information about local, state, and federal legislation, which can keep you abreast of potential policy changes and help advocates coordinate their efforts.
- Katrina Timeline: With the one-year anniversary of Katrina less than a month away, media outlets will soon begin pumping out a flood of “anniversary stories.” Make sure they get their facts straight. This detailed – and well-sourced – timeline from Think Progress catalogues the government response to the Hurricane from August 26th through September 3rd.
- Opportunity Maps:Produced by the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, these maps illustrate the barriers to opportunity for many poor residents and communities of color in New Orleans along the following indicators: economic health and mobility, education, environmental health, housing and neighborhoods, and public health.
- And if you haven’t yet, go and listen to Sen. John Edwards speech on poverty at the National Press Club. It’s amazing.
- Katrina Bloggers
Here’s (I’m sure) a partial list of bloggers that have been focusing on the anniversary and the rebuilding process in teh Gulf:
The Third Battle of New Orleans
There have also been some great diaries over on Daily Kos. Here are just a few that deserve another look:
Breaking Report: One Year After Katrina
Spike Lee, Katrina, and Daily Kos . . .
Coming Home: The Katrina Blog Project
Little Progress in New Orleans One Year Later
New Orleans, The Forgotten City
The Mental Health Crisis in New Orleans
- Footage from the Field
The Opportunity Agenda was fortunate enough to have a camera crew in New Orleans last July in preparation for a DVD project we are doing with Deep Dish TV and Pacifica Radio. On our YouTube channel you can find some rough cuts of interviews we conducted with volunteers, activists, and citizens.
This is our first foray into video work. If you have suggestions on how we can better use our video, or YouTube, please let us know in the comments.
Again, there’s a lot here, but this only scratches the surface. Please add more resources in the comments section, and if you have feedback on the materials presented here, or ideas on how they can more effectively be used, please share them with the community. We hope you find these tools useful.
