January 24, 2012 – It is 12:06 am and I have just turned 45 years old on the front porch of my grandparents’ home on Rippy Road. I am sitting alone on the smooth concrete slab where my cousin Carmel n’em played “jacks” for hours on end when I was two and three years old.
This article is adapted from my comments on the panel “Laying the Groundwork: Why do we need to understand gender to understand the major housing issues of our day?” with Gary Perry of Seattle University, and Charmel Gaulden with the Gulf Coast Fair Housing Center.
Every year the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) honors the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by hosting the "Fit for King" conference on housing. James Perry, Director of GNOFHAC, kicked off the event on Friday, January 13th, by explaining why this year's theme was "Women and Fair Housing":
It’s uncanny timing. On September 30th 2011, a federal grand jury indicted Stan Wright, the Mayor of Bayou La Batre, Alabama, for stealing from a housing development built for Hurricane Katrina survivors. The very next day, October 1st, residents of that same development faced a rent hike that is forcing many of them to move out.
Press release from Survivors Village. New Orleans -- Survivors Village, a community group of former St. Bernard public housing residents and their allies, joined forces today with recently evicted Occupy NOLA protestors to successfully disrupt a Sheriff’s sale of foreclosed properties.
In far New Orleans East, between Lake Pontchartrain and I-10, sits the forgotten community Little Woods. Since Katrina, few resources and programs of assistance have reached this community, which is 95% Black.
On August 29, 2011, the 6th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I asked Mr. James Perry to reflect on the significance of the day, and what positive developments he’s seen since the storm.
Right after Hurricane Katrina, newly homeless New Orleanians gathered on Claiborne Avenue under Interstate 10, and lived under tents and blankets. Some worked in hotels in the French Quarter and the Central Business District, but still didn’t make enough to pay for a place to live. For a time, their numbers went down. But now, six years after the storm, homeless folks are under the Claiborne Bridge, and under the Earhart Bridge, in large numbers again.
I recently had the opportunity to speak with several neighboring friends and associates that are from New Orleans, but now living in Houston. Two I met, and they became a part of my life, while I was residing in Houston after Hurricane Katrina. I wanted to know, more than five years after leaving New Orleans, why were they still in Houston? Did they consider themselves displaced? What did they think about New Orleans and returning home?
Thirty years ago, I was living in lush, beautiful Marin County, on the other side of the Golden Gate from San Francisco. At that time it was one of the most expensive places in America to live. Well, as faith would have it, my mom got sick, and I moved home to New Orleans.
January 24, 2012 – It is 12:06 am and I have just turned 45 years old on the front porch of my grandparents’ home on Rippy Road. I am sitting alone on the smooth concrete slab where my cousin Carmel n’em played “jacks” for hours on end when I was two and three years old. 
This article is adapted from my comments on the panel “Laying the Groundwork: Why do we need to understand gender to understand the major housing issues of our day?” with Gary Perry of Seattle University, and Charmel Gaulden with the 
Every year the 
It’s uncanny timing. On September 30th 2011, a federal grand jury indicted Stan Wright, the Mayor of Bayou La Batre, Alabama, for stealing from a housing development built for Hurricane Katrina survivors. The very next day, October 1st, residents of that same development faced a rent hike that is forcing many of them to move out.
In far New Orleans East, between Lake Pontchartrain and I-10, sits the forgotten community Little Woods. Since Katrina, few resources and programs of assistance have reached this community, which is 95% Black. 
On August 29, 2011, the 6th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I asked Mr. James Perry to reflect on the significance of the day, and what positive developments he’s seen since the storm. 
Right after Hurricane Katrina, newly homeless New Orleanians gathered on Claiborne Avenue under Interstate 10, and lived under tents and blankets. Some worked in hotels in the French Quarter and the Central Business District, but still didn’t make enough to pay for a place to live. For a time, their numbers went down. But now, six years after the storm, homeless folks are under the Claiborne Bridge, and under the Earhart Bridge, in large numbers again.
I recently had the opportunity to speak with several neighboring friends and associates that are from New Orleans, but now living in Houston. Two I met, and they became a part of my life, while I was residing in Houston after Hurricane Katrina. I wanted to know, more than five years after leaving New Orleans, why were they still in Houston? Did they consider themselves displaced? What did they think about New Orleans and returning home?
Thirty years ago, I was living in lush, beautiful Marin County, on the other side of the Golden Gate from San Francisco. At that time it was one of the most expensive places in America to live. Well, as faith would have it, my mom got sick, and I moved home to New Orleans. 
