Today in Washington, DC, the Rebuild Hope Campaign Task Force (and here) will meet to develop a plan to help victims of Hurricane Katrina rebuild their lives. Melanie Campbell of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and Joe Leonard of the Black Leadership Forum are spearheading this campaign to help displaced American citizens who have been wrongly labeled “refugees.”
Many black Americans have already stepped up to the plate, including Oprah Winfrey who donated $1 million to America's Second Harvest and NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury who has pledged $1 million. Sean “Diddy” Combs and Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter have also pledged $1 million to the American Red Cross. Diddy told the Associated Press:
We are all descendants from each other’s families. When you hear black people say “brothers” and “sisters,” it’s really true. These are all people that I know I’m related to somehow, some way -- the human race family.
Also, Community Labor United, a coalition of progressive organizations in New Orleans, is convening a meeting at Southern University to ensure that black folks have an opportunity to return to their homes. They are concerned that "federal relief funds [will be] funneled into rebuilding casinos, hotels, chemical plants and the wealthy white districts of New Orleans like the French Quarter and the Garden District. We will not stand idly by while this disaster is used as an opportunity to replace our homes with newly built mansions and condos in a gentrified New Orleans."
