A Call to Action: Commemorating the 2-Year Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina
On the heels of the success of the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans last month, which brought in more than $120 million to the New Orleans economy, editorial director Susan Taylor along with other civic-minded leaders have sparked a mobilization effort called A Day of Presence.
This event is scheduled for Wednesday, August 29th.
Why are they doing this? Despite the festivities of this year's successful annual festival, a disturbing reality remains:
* 200,000 displaced people from Katrina are still living in trailers; those very trailers are now being reported to have excessive levels of formaldehyde which has been known to cause health problems ranging from respiratory diseases to certain kinds of cancer.
Katrina Victims Will Be Moved from Possibly Toxic Trailers
* More than 250,000 evacuated residents are still scattered throughout the nation;
* There still are no mental health services or hospitals to serve the uninsured poor;
* 70 public schools in Orleans Parish remain closed.
* Nearly a billion dollars in donated foreign aid went undistributed to assist the Gulf coast region and its victims.
What to find out more? Our sistah has details.