Editor’s Remarks

Rodger French here with “Greetings from Ghana”and the latest edition of UP From the ROOTS. It’sgood to be working with the ROOTS Staff again -via the miracle of the internet tubes - from my out-post in Accra.

As you may know, Ghana just celebrated its 50thanniversary - a most auspicious occasion - andcommemorated with great ceremony, including visitsfrom over thirty heads of state. A Ghanaian acquain-tance asked me if President Bush was going tocome. I couldn’t resist. So, paraphrasing KanyeWest, I said “Bush doesn’t even care about Blackpeople in America. What makes you think he gives adamn about Africa?” (Incidentally, he didn’t come.)

Which brings us to the major focus of this issue ofthe Journal: the ongoing tragedy of New Orleansand the Gulf Coast. The perfect confluence of badweather and worse government, this is a failure ofthe public trust so profound, it is rivaled only by thehorrific occupation and civil war continuing in Iraq.And whether the result of premeditated mendacity,laissez-faire incompetence, or appalling arrogance,the fallout from each of these manifestly preventablecatastrophes will impact generations of Americans,changing our society in ways we are only beginningto fathom.

A major American city still lies in ruins after morethan eighteen months. A demographic shift appropri-ately described as “biblical” is still underway. Andyet, this story has all but disappeared into the mediamiasma, and did not merit inclusion (to the surpriseof no one, unfortunately) in the last State of theUnion address. Not. One. Word.

But the story is still out there - and in here. If youwant to know some of what is happening on theground in New Orleans, a city that looms very largeindeed in the story of Alternate ROOTS, read on.Meanwhile, there is some cold comfort to be takenfrom this terrible mess. As Rebecca Solnit, an artcritic, writer, and activist unambiguously states:

“We all owe New Orleans and those who sufferedmost in Katrina a huge debt. Their visible sufferingand the visibly stupid, soulless, and selfish responseof the federal government brought an end to theunquestionable dominance of the Bush administra-tion in the nearly four years between New York’s

great disaster and this catastrophe.”

Speaking of the light of hope in dark times, the otherfocus of this Journal concerns the growing “SocialForum” movement; a movement that operates onmany levels from the personal to the global and isfraught with optimism and possibilities. The articlespublished herein should be of great value to you,especially if you are unfamiliar (as I was) with thismost salutary and potentially transformative socialdevelopment.

It’s good to be back. Thanks for your time.

Rodger

UFTR Editor Rodger French (Accra, Ghana)

Up from the ROOTS Spring 2007Alternate ROOTS Staff

Carolyn Morris, Executive DirectorCarlton Turner, Regional Development Director

Etta Purcell, Administrative AssistantOfficers

Stephen Clapp, ChairMarquez Rhyne, Vice-Chair

Nayo Watkins, TreasurerTrina Fischer, Secretary

Regional RepresentativesDenise DelgadoLelaLombardo

Toni ShifaloOmari FoxApril Turner

Shannon WooleyJerita Wright

Maurice TurnerNick Slie

Adrienne ClancyAshley Sparks

S.T. ShimiJamie Merwin

Nora HillLaverne Zabielski

Gwylene GallimardMeg Anderson

Printed by Walton Press

For Africans enslaved in the USA, the struggleagainst white supremacy and for political liberationbegan as soon as their feet touched these shores.For Native Nations, the struggle against manifestdestiny began the moment the invaders steppedfoot on their shores. I mention these two groups asa way to understand that the struggle for positivepolitical and social change on behalf of all peoplesof the world who find themselves colonized andenslaved did not begin with the hurricanes of 2005,or any other catastrophic event.

Catastrophic events act merely as wake up calls,opportunities to seriously step up and do somethingthat is going to make a difference. The smallest actof resistance and each gesture towards the allevia-tion of the suffering of others, whether on the GulfCoast or elsewhere, is a step toward our own eman-cipation. Considering the condition of the worldtoday, it is past time to answer the call and rise tothe occasion. The United States Social Forum(USSF) represents an opportunity for individuals,organizations, and institutions committed to radicalprogressive change to rise in opposition to whitesupremacy and the ideology of manifest destiny.

As artists and cultural workers, we often use cat-astrophic moments in history to frame our work andto challenge the thinking of others. What we some-times neglect to do is to fully educate ourselvesabout the issues, find out who else is workingaround the same issues, and to unpack our ownworld of privilege and prejudice. We sometimes neg-lect to enlarge our frame so that as we educate oth-ers and challenge their thinking we do the same forourselves.

Katrina, a Catalyst for Change?

Katrina was more than a hurricane. Katrina was apolitical ‘a-ha’ moment that sent ripples throughoutthe social change movements, this government, andpeople observing around the globe. For the socialjustice movements, Katrina made it clear that wewere not organized enough, nor strong enough to

offer front line assistance to the grassroots commu-nities most impacted by the natural and manmadedisaster.

For this nation, government neglect and inepti-tude became transparent as we watched desperatepeople beg for rescue, for food, water… any type ofassistance. Meanwhile, Republican opportunism,cronyism, and greed were blatant as evidenced bythe naming of Halliburton as the single-bid contrac-tor paid to clean up a devastated New Orleans. Thiswas done even as they were under investigation forfraudulent billing and mismanagement of millions oftax dollars while performing some of the same tasksin Iraq.

For people across the globe, Katrina revealed thesoft underbelly of the beast. We saw television newscoverage that stood in stark contrast to the standardprogramming that normally presents the UnitedStates as the land of the rich. Instead, peoplewatched in horror as the institutionalized nature ofUSA racism and classism was revealed and shownto be alive and thriving in the waters of Katrina.

There is a long dark history of racism and clas-sism that lives at the heart of New Orleans politicsand social structures. The history of our nation wasstripped and paraded naked around the world whilewe all bore witness to callous public and privateemployees who left the elderly, sickly, and impris-oned to suffer a horrible fate in the rising toxic

Alternate ROOTS and the

United States Social Forum (USSF)

by Alice Lovelace

New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward post-Katrina

C. Turner

waters. It is one thing for the U.S. Social Forum to put the

Gulf Coast disaster on their list of important politicalmoments in our collective history, one of those cata-strophic moments that open a political window. It isanother for the people and grassroots organizationsfrom the Gulf Coast to have a presence at theUSSF in large enough numbers to present to - andfor - the world the history of the region and the con-tinuing aftermath of this disaster; and to help therest of us make some clear connections. It is impor-tant that we understand we are all living our ownpersonal, social, and political Katrina’s.

USSF: Where it All Began

Early in the World Social Forum (WSF) processthere was a call for a United States Social Forum.The call was resisted because there was not broadpublic awareness about the WSF process within theUSA. This lack of awareness made it impossible toget broad representation from the diverse groupswho have historically represented the front lines ofresistance in the United States.

According to Michael Leon Guerrero, who isemerging as the USSF historian, it all began in June2003 at a meeting of the WSF International Council(IC) when Grassroots Global Justice Alliance (GGJ)decided to begin the discussion among USA organi-zations about a U. S. Social Forum. Two meetingswere convened in 2004 to begin the discussionsaround policy, advocacy, and solidarity among thegroups who agreed to support the USSF. This led tothe cre-ation of anationalbody toorganizetheforum.Some oftheobjec-tives setwereintention-al in theiroutreachto grass-rootsgroups working in communities of color and repre-senting working class people, and in figuring outhow to make this gathering a part of movement

building. In 2005, to acknowledge the impact thatsocial and political struggle in the South have hadon this nation, Atlanta was selected as the site forthis historic gathering.

Why ShouldPeople Come?

The most com-pelling reason Iknow to attend thissocial forum is toraise your con-sciousness aboutthe diverse socialand economic movements in this country, so as tobetter see the world through a frame of socialactivism. We live in a world where corporations areafforded more privileges than people. We live in aworld where the cry for corporate globalism hidesthe destruction that runaway capitalism visits on thepoor and landless masses. Even working class peo-ple and most of the middle class are negativelyimpacted by this move to force poor and strugglingcountries to open their markets to corporate capital,often at the risk of forcing homegrown businesses toclose, farmers to abandon their land, and pushingmore and more people into poverty.

Another reason to attend is to network, dialogue,share a meal, commune, and reason with peoplewho would normally not be in your circle or on yourradar. Organizations involved include NGO’s likeCARE and Amnesty International, labor unions like

AFL-CIO and Jobs with Justice, andgrassroots organizations like ChineseProgressive Association and the Coalitionof Immokalee Workers. 20,000 organizersand activist from across this country andaround the world in one place for you tolearn from and share with - that has to betempting.

How Will One Benefit?

For artists, the USSF represents a rareopportunity for us to gather with otherartists from outside our normal circle ofusual suspects. Instead of being amongartists who all think like us, we will be with

organizers from every ethnic group in this country,working on every conceivable social change issue,who view the world and the work/worth of artistsvery differently from us. As artists, it is exciting to be

Alternate ROOTS and the United States Social Forum (USSF)

G. Gallimard

G. Gallimard

World Social Forum 2007 Nairobi, Kenya

World Social Forum 2007 Nairobi, Kenya

among people who will possibly challenge us tomake our lives and work relevant to the worldbeyond our world of art andart making. The questionsthat frame these benefitsare the questions that areposed to us individually andas a community, questionsthat push us out of our com-fort zone:

- How connected areartists/cultural workers toissues that communities incrisis face?- How connected are artists/cultural workers to glob-al movements for economic and social change?- Do artists/cultural workers understand neo-liberal-ism? - How do you define the difference between arts ascivic engagement and art for social change? Art asdialogue and art as action?- What is the difference in working on issues withfront line organizations and organizers versus work-ing with victims of social issues?

How Will One’s Community Benefit?

When we grow as artists we bring a larger senseof community and connection to each other andglobal movements. We understand better how wecan connect to serious issues as we work with oth-ers working for social change. Artists and culturalworkers can gain an integrated sense of self as partof an historical movement in this nation for socialchange. The USSF offers us an opportunity to deep-en our interconnectedness as a community.

By posing questions, conducting workshops,offering arts based dialogue, and sharing ourprocess and stories, we have the opportunity to bein community with organizers who seek a deeperunderstanding of the role art can play in creatingcommunity and moving people to embrace change.

Making Another World Possible?

The final day of the USSF will include an assem-bly of social movements in the United States.Through this process we plan to collect a calendarof activism that will let us support each other’s workat a national level. We will demonstrate how ourissues all intersect. Hopefully, people will be inspiredto strengthen our social and political connections,

and campaigns. In 2008 there will not be a World Social Forum,

so the IC has called for aseries of global days ofaction. This offers an oppor-tunity to create integrated,powerful actions that demon-strate to this country and theworld that we are united witheach other and with otherglobal movements as wework towards an end to per-sistent poverty and home-lessness, for a livable wage,for free and secure sources

of water, for protection of the environment, to reformthe criminal and juvenile justice systems, and makeforward movement around the countless otherissues that represent ways people and groups areworking to create another world.

18 months before America elects another U.S.President people are asking if the forum is a spring-board into strong political activism. Will it inspire usto create a third party? Will it energize communitiesto ask harder questions of those running for elec-toral offices? Will we learn strategies for holdingthese people accountable to our communities andour needs?

What is possible following the USSF is depen-dant on the level of commitment and participationpeople and groups invest in the social forumprocess. This is the world’s largest open space; agathering of civil society to educate each other,share our visions and create strategy for true andlasting change.

If another world is possible, another UnitedStates is necessary!

Alice LovelaceNational Lead Staff OrganizerUnited States Social Forum(404) 586-0460, Ext. 32 office(404) 525-4728 fax

In Person:USSF/AFSC92 Piedmont Avenue2nd FloorAtlanta, GA 30303

By Mail:USSF/Project South9 Gammon Avenue SWAtlanta, GA 30315

alovelace@ussocialforum.org

Alternate ROOTS and the United States Social Forum (USSF)

Cultural Organizing - An Exchange

At the 2005 Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA)Conference, eight individuals - activist artists, com-munity organizers, and funders - began a conversa-tion about the purposeful intersection of art andactivism. That session stimulated follow-up emailexchanges and writing among the conference partic-ipants and others, facilitated and edited by CaronAtlas. The resulting article, originally published inthe Grantmakers in the Arts Reader, consists ofthree parts:

Part I- Practicing Connection - breaking throughthe lines that separate us.Part II- Principles and Methodologies - giving thiswork rigor, purpose, and integrity.Part III - Grantmaking - exploring both barriers andpossibilities.

In this issue of UP From the ROOTS, we arepleased to republish Part III. We enthusiasticallyencourage our readers to view the complete text ofthe article on our website: www.alternateroots.org.

“We are asking, what is needed for this work to suc-ceed? We want to further understand the contextsfor cultural organizing, including the backlash to it,and explore how funders can support it. In doing sowe recognize the challenges of connecting work thatseeks to shift power with institutions that embodypower.”

- Caron Atlas, Project Director; Center forCivic Participation

Part III - Grantmaking

[Ken Wilson is Executive Director of theChristensen Fund. The Fund, which is mainlyfocused on indigenous and tribal peoples interna-tionally, supports people “dreaming, carving, strug-gling, and adapting to their cultural, livelihood, andenvironmental futures.”]

So why are we foundations not doing more? Indeedthe field of cultural organizing IS difficult for founda-tions, involving as it does age and ethnic demo-graphics that are little represented on our staffs, letalone on our boards, and, typically, the field is notreplete with 501(c)(3) agencies making neat applica-tions on a quarterly basis. But beyond this weshould be thinking about other reasons this field is

difficult for us:

- We as foundations tend to look for solutionsamong the powerful and the experts, and we areless oriented to making a bet on communities devel-oping their own ways to envision and realize theirvoices. Even when we are prepared to listen we’renot always very good at hearing such voices and atbacking things that are so nebulous when viewedthrough grants administrative eyes. This is difficulteven with existing community voices, let alone withvoices from transnational communities, communitieswith new demographics, and the increasingly globalhip-hop generation.- Many of us are still grappling with the implicationsof the digital revolution in terms of people’s power toproduce their own content and decide what toaccess. The digital world offers a totally differentmodel of the public space and challenges our habit-ual linking of “production quality” to “social rele-vance” in public-interest content.- Cultural organizing is an approach that straysacross the boundaries (and transgresses foundationdocket structures something rotten!) that, even forautonomous creative institutions like foundations,still seem rather fundamental: boundaries like, “Isthis art or social justice?” and “Is this culture or poli-tics?” boundaries that have the arts and culture staffsaying to applicants, “Try the environmental divi-sion,” and the environmental division saying, “Thislooks to us like culture not ecology.” Above all thisapproach transgresses that miserable old fencebetween Art and Life. It discomforts us by givingculture a small “c” when there’s precious little fund-ing even for culture with a big “C” beyond that forpeak institutions in major urban centers.

“At the same time, it has become common sense, acliché: young people are apathetic. They don’t careabout politics the way Baby Boomers did when theywere our age. This, too, is a lie. They aren’t apathet-ic; they are militantly skeptical. How, they ask, wouldvoting change things for us?”

- Jeff Chang, Organizer; 2004 National Hip-Hop Convention

- Support for the cultural end of social movementsis also a little scary. It suggests an ambiguous ordownright dangerous unleashing and deployment ofpower, and it doesn’t fit the current enthusiasm for“stakeholder” approaches and “win-win” partner-ships. Stakeholder approaches have been popular

because power and wealth has become so concen-trated that managed reforms can yield results, evenif these are not transformational. On the other hand,the kinds of cultural movements that we’re describ-ing here - 1968 is a national and international refer-ence point - are not manageable; they actually self-replicate without a grant report or a new proposal,and they ARE transformational but only when and ifthey take off. We know that this kind of fundingwon’t allow us to predict - let alone control - theproduct that will come out of it.- Finally, it is problematic that the very processesthat make this cultural organizing and these socialmovements powerful stem from their lack of centralfunding and guidance. Even when a foundation canglean an understanding of what is happening - andwhat might happen - with funding, it is not at allclear how best to support the process.

“The emphasis on social contributions coupled withthe pride about cultural identity is important to devel-op a sense of ownership of the land and an interestin being part of community-wide efforts to solve pub-lic problems.”

- Samuel Orozco, Director of News andInformation; Radio Bilingüe

[Dudley Cocke is Director, Roadside Theater andInterim Director of Appalshop. In addition, Dudley isa trustee of the Bush Foundation.]

Organizing, using culture or not, is about theprocess of learning, individually and collectively. Themajority of foundations strike me as managementorganizations rather than “learning organizations.”Management organizations are more fixed in theirculture, almost as if the solutions to increasinglycomplex, global problems are known and the instru-ments for their implementation are the objects ofsupport. Learning organizations are more flexible,assuming that solutions are not necessarily knownand the process of discovery should be supported.The former asks what strategies can deliver thesolutions; the latter asks what strategies will supportthe active search for solutions.

“... we are constantly in a state of learning, unlearn-ing, and relearning. A dynamic process that is notlinear, it’s about what it means to be in this moment,in this period of time, and to ask, am I open to hearit or feel it? How do I share this? To us, learning is a

process in and of itself and is never one-sided. Weare always both teachers and learners.”

- Amalia Anderson, Co-Director; RaícesRural Latino Capacity Building Initiative

[Peter Pennekamp is the Executive Director of theHumboldt Area Foundation. Peter closes this pieceand opens a continued dialogue.]

Embracing discomfort and making a commitment -Art does not always benefit community organizing,but when it does, it is a powerful agent. For thosewho sit on boards of directors art can sometimes betoo powerful when it invokes cultural democracy, notin rhetoric but in action. If conflicted, such boardmembers should reconsider not their discomfort, forit is real, but their honest commitment to a demo-cratic society. Democracy cannot exist without thediscomfort of competing beliefs and priorities. Art, aspracticed by the people in this article, is about dis-comfort, but it is also about communication beyondand beneath the shallow debates of our society. At atime when many worry about the strength ofAmerican democracy, art should be supported toenliven the body, spirit, and community of ournation.

“I believe that if we can keep our values close, ourimaginations open, and our stories fierce, we canand will win.”

- Thenmozhi Soundararajantion, ExecutiveDirector; Third World Majority

[Participants in the conference session and follow-up discussion included: Amalia Anderson, MainStreet Project; Minneapolis, MN (www.mainstreet-project.org); Caron Atlas, Center for CivicParticipation; Brooklyn, NY (www.ccp.org); JeffChang, hip-hop journalist; Berkeley, CA(www.cantstopwontstop.com); Dudley Cocke,Roadside Theater/Appalshop; Whitesburg, KY(www.appalshop.org); Hugo Morales, RadioBilingüe; Fresno, CA (www.radiobilingue.org); PeterPennekamp, Humboldt Area Foundation; Bayside,CA (www.hafoundation.org), ThenmozhiSoundararajan, Third World Majority; Oakland, CA(www.cultureisaweapon.org); and Ken Wilson,Christensen Fund; Palo Alto, CA (www.christensen-fund.org).]

A year and a half after Katrina “chocolatecity” is melting with a disturbingly high murder rate,and its poorest black residents have been kept fromreturning to their homes in undamaged housing proj-ects that remain fenced off and await the bulldozer’swrath. Rising in the shadow of the broken promisesby a re-elected mayor to bring all people back is abrown labor force of mostly Mexican workers. Theyhave migrated here since the storm and are chang-ing the demographic color scheme of a NewOrleans village where “enchiladas” are becoming ascommon as Jambalaya.

At the corner of Spain and Chartres Streets,I recently saw a group of cowboy-hat wearing work-ers in blue Levis, snakeskin boots, and of “Mestizo”Mexican descent awaiting instructions for a repairjob on a nearby house. In their classic white-straw“vaquero” hats, they resembled extras out of aSpaghetti Western movie, and their presence hadthe normality of sights encountered in a San Antoniosquare, not the Fabourg Marigny. A few blocks awayon St. Claude Avenue, entire immigrant familieshave resettled the Bywater, a once predominantlyAfrican American area.

So the “hood” is transforming into the “bar-rio,” and on numerous occasions, I have beenreferred to as “amigo” by gringos - black and white -who at least know this one word of Spanish. Now, Ido look stereotypically Latino with my caramel com-plexion, and I don’t mind having become the ubiqui-tous “amigo” man. In 1984 when I first arrived, I wasactually called a “Yankee,” as my New York accentgave me away immediately. Raised in the industrialNortheast, I had been called many things before,but never a “Yankee.” Quickly, I realized that theSouth has a lasting memory and old wounds are noteasily forgotten; however, I took delight in my novelhybrid identity as a “Latino Yankee” in the “BigEasy.”

To this day, its Iberian heritage is proudlyproclaimed at French Quarter intersections with his-torical mosaic placards that read: “When NewOrleans was the capital of the Spanish Provinces

from 1762 to 1803, this street bore the name ofCalle Real,” (Royal Street). Vestiges of thorough-fares with Spanish names still abound, and City Hallis located on Perdido Street. “Perdido” in Spanishmeans lost. Twenty-two years ago, I found thatamusing, but today, it’s not a good sign. (In fact, themayor’s office is at 1300 Perdido; which is not themost reassuring street name and number combina-tion, but it may be the more mythic reason for thepost-Katrina absence of a clear and effective recon-struction plan from officials at this address.)

But like Latin cities, New Orleans’ modusoperandi embraces a “mañana” culture schedulewhere things are put off to the following day or dayafter that. Unfortunately, this accepted social normhas been detrimental to our recovery. Where I live,the large Robert’s Supermarket serving the Marignyhas not reopened, and I have to shop in the Quarterat small, pricier food stores. The electrical grid is stillfragile, and during strong storms, it is not uncom-mon to experience blackouts. In general, we aresubject to low-pressure showers and on severaloccasions last summer, our water was cut off entire-ly for hours without any warning. With the MilitaryPolice patrolling the area and the high murder rate,we are reminded that our most constant “state” isone of war - war with the feds that have forgotten usagain, and war with ourselves in battling the perva-sive melancholia that comes with life in a dysfunc-tional village.

I imagine that our immigrant “compadres”feel at home in the Third World “pueblo” we havebecome, but I am concerned for the rampantexploitation of their labor and the serious violationsof their human rights. I have spoken to a few ofthem, and quite often, they are engaged in arduousand toxic work and are not paid the American dol-lars they were promised. Without any English lan-guage skills to demand their just wages, with thenational demonization campaign against them, andwith constant fears of deportation, they are the mostvulnerable to abject abuse by pirate constructioncompanies, the local police, and immigration agents.

FromChocolate

City

to an Enchilada VillageVillage

Called New Orleansby Jose Torres Tama

WHAT NOW?by Kalamu ya Salaam

Less than half the pre-storm population hasreturned to New Orleans. Housing for non-homeowners is expensive to non-existent. Health care,ditto. Other than construction and fast food service,jobs are scare, benefits miserly. Public educationand the lottery have a lot in common: you can play,but only a handful hit the jackpot. Beyond the dailybattles a new and even more disturbing trendemerges: seniors are dying, youth are leaving.

Rodneka called me from Baton Rouge.Initially I didn’t recognize the voice, she didn’t soundlike her usual jovial self. I told her it must be a clonetalking. Then she said she had bad news. Her moth-er had died. Mardi Gras day. A heart attack.

Seniors used to be our social safety net.From babysitting to first responders to crisis, wecounted on Big Mamas and Auntees, Parans andNannans (God-parents), uncles and older cousins.Post-Katrina, instead of helping families standtogether, seniors are now struck down by strokes,coronary diseases, cancer, and the like. Their pic-tures fill the daily obituary pages.

Although the stress of living in a trailer com-bined with a fourteen-month history of untreated dia-betes or undiagnosed cancer is a lethal cocktail, it’snot dramatic enough to become national news; afterall tens of thousands of Americans survive withoutadequate health care or insurance.

For youth on the edge of adulthood, the out-look is even bleaker. Imagine, your name isTyeasha. You’re seventeen. The housing develop-ment where you lived has been boarded up for overeighteen months. The high school you attended maynever re-open. Your family is flung across city andstate lines. Is that why you find yourself staring atempty buildings?

Or you could be Aaron, unable to go outsideafter school because the smell from across thestreet aggravates your asthma. The local drug lordis cooking cocaine, which he will later dispense fromthe corner. But you’re no snitch, and besides, thepolice are corrupt and won’t protect you. Sinceyou’re a high school sophomore, you only have twomore years to put up with this and then you’re out ofhere.

Gabe graduated from the University of NewOrleans this past December and now she is workingin a high school writing program. Gabe wants tohelp rebuild her city but she’s pretty sure she won’t

raise her family here. Crime is bad and the educa-tional system worse, but it’s the little things that real-ly get to her; like no grocery store anywhere nearher neighborhood. Should you really have to drivethree or four miles just to buy beans, rice, andchicken?

Theresa is trying hard not to drop out. She’llbe twenty-one soon. One year kept back... one yearlost to Katrina... the following year shunted betweenschools until finally she was informed: we can’t findyour transcript; you’ll just have to repeat.

Joshua attends high school via public trans-portation but lives in a suburb, catches a 6 a.m. busfor a two hour weekday commute, and works on theweekends to pay for his $6-a-day bus fare and to tryto take some of the pressure off his mother who isthe head of their household. Josh’s family doesn’thave a car, their home was flooded, and he’d reallylike to go out to a movie or a dance from time totime, but he can’t fit fun into his schedule.

An Angelica at one school was doing wellbut her family broke apart and so now she’s inMemphis after both she and her mother were bat-tered by her father. Meanwhile, Angelica at anotherschool had vowed to finish her senior year but nowthey’ve moved across the river and…

I wish Brittany good luck in dodging theMarine recruiter. In a moment of confusion shesigned an intent to volunteer. She was seventeen.What else was she going to do? Her mother diedwhen she was eight. Her father, well, forget aboutthat. Katrina scattered her siblings. Brittany currentlyhas nowhere to live in the city. So she gets up at 5a.m. to catch a commuter bus from Baton Rouge toNew Orleans in order to finish her senior year whilestaying with a sister who lives eighty miles fromschool. It’s not even a month yet and Brittany can’tkeep it up.

Kenneth’s cousin was killed on Christmaseve, or was it Christmas day? It seems like badnews never stops.

None of these stories are sexy enough fornews anchors to share. People succumbing to can-cer. Children dropping out of public school. So whatelse is new?

What we do hear is that they had Mardi Grasin New Orleans, so everything must be getting backto normal.

Pre-Katrina “Big Easy” was already a disas-ter. Now New Orleans sometimes gives Baghdad afierce run for the money - twelve murders over the2007 New Year’s holidays - and we’re officially theper capita murder capitol of America.

If you drive across town you will constantly

Not surprisingly, the construction industry ofNew Orleans in the 21st Century has become like thecotton industry of 18th and 19th Century servitude.But instead of black abuse by Caucasian slave mas-ters, we have brown exploitation by pirate companieswith the same disregard for humanity. As always, it iseasy to abuse a people who are considered less thanhuman, in this case undocumented and illegal. It iseven more ironic that one of the early primary loca-tions to engage this labor force was under the contro-versial statue of the Confederate General Robert E.Lee, which stands with his folded arms at the uptowncircle bearing his name. Until recently, it was notuncommon to find hundreds of individuals waiting atthis landmark to be picked for jobs at disparate sitesacross the city.

In the evening and into the night, just asmany were found living on the streets in the sur-rounding area, or sleeping under the concrete phallusof this iconic “good ole boy.” Unpaid for their labor,many of them have been left to homelessness andtragic despair, totally abandoned and without a dimeto attempt a return to their domiciles south of the bor-der, thousands of miles away. These are hard work-ing human beings, and they are the most isolatedpeople in our current environment. Just as thousandsrecently marched on City Hall to decry the violentmurders marking a bloody beginning to the New Year,we need to collectively “mano a mano/hand in hand”stand together and oppose the human rights viola-tions of these honorable men and women.

Let’s not forget that they have toiled at jobsno one else will, such as cleaning the human refuseof the Superdome and Convention Center after thestorm. Like the heroic Chinese before them who wereimported to build the railroads in the 1800s, the lega-cy of these immigrant Mexican workers will be therebuilding of New Orleans in the 21st Century. Thesweat of their grueling labor will sprout a new hybridrace of future Latinos in the Deep South, and wemust cultivate our resurrection as a multiracial hybridport city of the hemispheric Americas in this new mil-lennium.

Jose Torres Tama, a New Orleanswriter, visual, and performanceartist, was awarded a 2005/06 FordFoundation Fellowship through theNational Association of Latino Artsand Culture (NALAC) to develop hislatest solo “The Cone ofUncertainty: New Orleans afterKatrina,” and his book manuscriptentitled “The Dream Knows Morethan You: Performance Chroniclesof a Latino Immigrant.” This essay isfrom the collection “Hard Living inthe Big Easy: Exiled in New Orleansafter Katrina.” www.torrestama.com

run into broken traffic lights. Sparsely populatedneighborhoods are patrolled by armed NationalGuard troops. Did I mention our guardians killed aman who had a history of mental illness? Seems asthough there was a minor altercation on the street,the man ran into his house, both soldiers and policepursued the man. Inside, the man had a gun and…well, you can guess the rest. In New Orleans theemergency trauma center - should you have an acci-dent - is located five miles outside the city limits andthe local hospitals don’t have adequate beds to admitnew patients. As you negotiate these truly meanstreets, the thought is never far from your mind: whyam I still here?

I’m 59. I teach five high school classes, fivedays a week. New Orleans was my home. This “new”New Orleans is another country in which I feel like analien.

It seems like one non-native consultant oranother arrives daily to do a study or offer a bold,innovative rebuilding plan. Meanwhile the physicaland social infrastructure disintegrates, undeliveredstate and federal aid is shrouded in bureaucracy, andthousands of vacant houses have not been touchedsince before the flood.

Every day I face young men and women,each with a particular story, a specific need, and anindividual reaction to the aftermath. They are trauma-tized. Mekele says she couldn’t stop crying NewYear’s day and she is trying hard to rationalize awayher fear of rain.

What I want people to understand is simple:New Orleans doesn’t have to be this way. The federalgovernment is de facto ignoring us while Americaspends over eight billion dollars a month in Iraq.Worse yet, a recent government audit declared thatthere was $8 billion in cash unaccounted for floatingsomewhere around Baghdad. How much has thegovernment spent to rebuild post Katrina?

It may be difficult to understand right now, butI believe New Orleans is “Everywhere, USA.” Wereally need to prioritize the social and physical recon-struction of urban America. Our seniors are dying.Our youth are leaving. We’re ignoring the past andkilling the future.

This is no way to live.

[Writer and filmmaker Kalamu yaSalaam (Kalamu@aol.com) is co-director of Students at the Center, awriting program in the New Orleanspublic schools. More details about hiswork are available at:www.kalamu.com.]

What Now? continued from page --From Chocolate City...continued from page --

Alternate ROOTS artists from the Gulf Coastand New Orleans joined together over the last yearand a half to build a play and residency workshopabout Katrina and her affect on their lives and homes,and the ongoing recovery. Thirteen artists have con-tributed their ideas and talents as actors, musicians,

dancers, director, playwrights, educators, and techni-cians to collaborate on both the play and residencyactivities.

Artists performing and participating include:Bruce France, Millicent M. Johnnie,Saddi Khali, Sean LaRocca(Designer/Technician), StephanieMcKee, John O’Neal, WilliamO’Neal, Valentine Pierce, KathyRandels, Roscoe Reddix, Jr.(Director), Nick Slie, Carlton Turner(Project Managing Director), MauriceTurner, Nayo Watkins, GwyleneGallimard and Kathie deNobriga(Residency Collaborators).

“UPROOTED: The KatrinaProject” had its first work-in-progressperformance at the Arts & IdeasFestival in New Haven, CT in June2006, where the artists had the privi-lege of working on the play and resi-dency activities for a full week, con-cluding with a performance for anappreciative audience. In addition to

the Arts & Ideas Festival, “UPROOTED” is supportedthrough the National Performance Network (NPN)Creation Fund, and was co-commissioned by threeorganizations that will present the play: Jump-Start,San Antonio, TX; Scottsdale Center for the Arts,Scottsdale, AZ; and Alternate ROOTS, Atlanta, GA.

“UPROOTED” premiered atJump-Start Performance Companywith a weeklong residency March26-31, 2007 and performances onMarch 30-31. Jump-Start is anartist collective organization andduring the week of residency activi-ties, the company worked withcommunity organizations withwhom Jump-Start collaborates. Theartists also conducted story circlesessions with those new residentsof San Antonio who had to leavetheir homes because of Katrina.

On April 13, the play will beperformed at the Reston CulturalCommunity Center in Reston, VA.The performance will be followed

with story circles and audience dia-logue.

From April 14-21, the “UPROOTED” artists willbe in residence at the Scottsdale Center for the Artswith performances scheduled for April 20-21. As in SanAntonio, this residency week will be filled with artist

“UPROOTED: The Katrina Project” Visits Three Cities in Spring 2007

UPROOTED participants lead a story circle with San Antonio residents displaced from the Gulf Coast.

From l-r: John O’Neal, Kathy Randels, Maurice Turner, Stephanie McKee, Bruce France, NickSlie (sitting), Millicent Johnnie, Saddi Khali, William O’Neal and Valentine Pierce (sitting)

workshops and story circles with many of the thou-sands of Gulf Coast and New Orleans evacuees whohave found a new home in the Phoenix/Scottsdalevicinity.

Plans are under way for “UPROOTED” to beperformed in autumn 2007 during the State of theNation Art & Performance Festival held in Jackson,MS, as well as at the Carolina Theatre in Durham, NC,and in Atlanta, GA. The planning and discovery of part-ners for the spring and fall tours of “Uprooted: TheKatrina Project” has been a collaborative effortbetween Michael and Theresa Holden of Holden & ArtsAssociates and Alternate ROOTS.

Article by Theresa HoldenPhotos by Carlton Turner

(above) Stephanie McKee as Miss Fema.(left) John O’Neal as Mayor Nagin, Bruce

France as President Bush and KathyRandels as Governor Blanco.

(above) Valentine Pierce (front) as Ms. Lily and Millicent Johnnie (back)as Nobi.

(l-r) Saddi Khali as Lil D andWilliam O’Neal as Poonie.

(above) visual artist Gwylene Gallimardpainting the set of UPROOTED.

A Short Background of the Charleston Rhizome

What we call “The Charleston Rhizome” ofAlternate ROOTS is centered on creating collabora-tive art works that strengthen community. Our groupincludes activists, artists, and educators and isdiverse inrace, age,income,talent,education,and pro-fessionaloccupa-tion;diversityreflectedin theactivitiesand proj-ects we initiate. Diversity is our natural resource, ourhigh-octane, renewable fuel. Many of us are bornand raised in Charleston, SC or the South; some ofus born and/or educated in the North; a minority ofus are 1st generation immigrants. We may well rep-resent the Charleston of the future.

Many regular members of the Rhizome havebeen participating in various Spoleto projects asartists, educators, or administrator assistants; forexample: “Places with a Past: Site-specific Art inCharleston,” “Rehearsing the Past,“ and “Making ArtMaking Home,” a partnership with Alternate ROOTSResources for Social Change (RSC). Our collectiveand its members have received project funding fromSpoleto Festival USA, theCharleston Office of CulturalAffairs, the SC ArtsCommission, the CoastalCommunity Foundation, and theSC Humanities Council, as wellas Alternate ROOTS.

Other projects thrive ondifferences, randomness, andthe unpredictable. “SwitchingRoles – Jumping Fences” start-ed as an electronic dialogue onrace but ended up as a public

reading at the City Gallery at Waterfront Park, whereyou would perform someone else’s piece - pickedfrom a hat. For “Changing the Beat” at the RutledgeHumanity Foundation Center, we invited performersto break away from the group they belonged to andimprovise with artists they had never met. They had

two days to perfect and present a piece toan audience, built around the concept of“critical response.”

The Charleston Rhizome grew out ofpresentations of art works or projects bymembers followed by open discussion relat-ing to the specific qualities of the work andits relevance in a world torn apart (by institu-tional violence, racism, free trade, and priva-tization) and challenged (to attain qualityeducation for all, fair trade, sustainabilityand social justice). Then, we ate together,an act that was and still is part of our con-stant effort to remain grounded in earth-

bound activities for the sake of escaping the conse-quences of misinformation, generalities, and ideolo-gies.

Getting Involved in Social Forums

In the face of “globalization,” the code name forneoconservative, one-sided, one-size-fits-all, eco-nomic solutions to the world’s woes, we work for fullacceptance of diversity. On that basis we use com-munity-based arts to experiment with ways of collab-orating across disciplines, races and social classes.Very naturally we have been developing a deepinterest in the Social Forums taking place around

the World and want to guaran-tee that the arts play an impor-tant role.

From “Another South isPossible” (Durham, NC - June2006) and “Another World isPossible” (Nairobi, Kenya -January 2007), to ”Another U.S.is possible” (Atlanta, GA - June2007), we intend to furtherdevelop two projects: - A textile project; an “endless”batik banner composed of

You Comin’?You Comin’?by Gwylene Gallimard &

Jean-Marie Mauclet(With written and

photographic contributions from other Charleston

Rhizome Collective members)

words and images by Forum participants, dyed inindigo and other colors.- A video work; very short dialogues between folkswho have never met but are sharing the presentexperience of theForum. Our teamintroduces them,creates thosemini-events, briefsthem on the pur-pose of the film,and centers thedialogue on twoquestions: Whyare you here?What do you want to bring back from here?

Off to the World Social Forum in Nairobi,Kenya... and AFRICA

Coming back from the SoutheastSocial Forum in Durham, Lasheia Outrésaid: “I am going to Africa.” So we talked. Why gothere?- To be there... to see Africa, where history is in themaking... many colors, many accents, many hopesfor a better world.- To gain understanding, ideas, more hope, allbased on the experience of looking people in theeye. - To gain insight into local/global dynamics anddeepen our understanding of both the similarity ofworldwide problems and the diversity of possiblesolutions.- To bring a son’s spirit there, give him a home. - To see a mosque, to see the schools, and to seethe wildlife.- To be energized.

And so, last November AmyCook, Arianne King Comer, GwyleneGallimard, Pamela Gibbs, Jean-MareMauclet, Lasheia Outré, RebekahStone, and Latonnya Wallace joinedforces to find a way to get to Nairobiin January, 2007. And so we did.

What Do We Bring Back?

“An alternative to discourse,political speech and dialectics to surpass nationalidentity, religion, and race and to motivate others todo the same in their own communities.”

We also brought back our own personalreactions to feeding and sheltering ourselves in

unknown territories. Our group, which had nevertraveled together, was very colorful: young andolder, black and white. Our experiences with planes,borders, visas, vaccines, foreign moneys, and other

non-specifically-American stuff were very differ-ent. But we were complementary in the searchto understand that big wide world and each per-sonal reaction modified all our pre-conceivedperceptions. Despite being very tired some-times, we communicated with superb humor.

(Jean-Marie couldhave seven wives inthe Maasai countryand some of us arepermanently listed aschildren of others onthe hotel file, becauseeight adults staying intwo small rooms withone queen and onesingle bed was appar-ently not an accept-

able situation for foreigners.)We also fought against a rule that we felt

was totally against the principles of such forums: wewere not going to pay the “Northern Countries” feeto enter the forum. It was outrageous. We were notrepresenting Mr. Bush and capitalism. The forumcould not discriminate on the basis of nationalities.After all, we were from South Carolina and had reg-istered an activity. Pam took the lead. And we won.

For Us, The Journey Continues

Indeed, we brought back more length for ourendless batik banner as well as more video conver-

sations;which are nota documen-tary of theforums, butrather a visu-al under-standing ofhow ouractions anddecisionscan propelpersonal

voices and stories. We believe in the concept of pro-moting voices without the interference of a middle-man, mediator, interviewer, or newsman.

Our method of introducing strangers in frontof a non-invasive camera is a tool perhaps as pow-

You Comin’?

erful, in some situations, as a Story Circle. As ateam of artists and non-artists, we wanted to beactors in the forums, not only viewers and docu-menters. We have not yet reviewed and edited the59 conversations we created in Nairobi, but we allremember being so moved many times.

How notto be movedwhen a widowfrom India and awidow fromTanzania discov-er, because ofus, that they dohave the sameissue, the samedespair, and yet,still somehopes?

And hownot to be movedby a personalinvitation from aKorogocho slumtenant? Weaccepted andregistered the fullimpact of that evening - on each of us and on thepeople we met. What did we bring to them as visi-tors? What did we exchange with the kids we playedwith for a couple of hours? What did we exchangewith the people we danced with? What did we bringto Emmie who served us tea and bread in her tinyhome? What are our responsibilities vis-à-vis themnow? Because of the profound effect of this eveningon each of us, it seems that our film will addresssome of those questions.

We also look at how we are bringing homethose conversations with a world much wider than afamily, a block, a neighborhood, a school, a work-place, a city, the South, or our country.

(And what about our human species con-fronted by herds of elephants, gazelles, zebras,wildebeests, cheetahs and believe it or not the peli-cans are white over there and they watch theKilimanjaro way above the clouds!)

So Now, YouComin’?

The U.S.Social Forum (USSF)will take place inAtlanta from June 27through July 1, 2007.The South CarolinaRhizome is now part-nering with theHealing, Health &EnvironmentalJustice Local Team ofUSSF and theCharleston RhizomeCollective will contin-ue creating andrecording conversa-tions between people

who have never met.This time the questions are being chosen with theHealing, Health & Environmental Justice Local Teamof USSF.

We would like to use this opportunity to intro-duce you to our process - and yes, you can partici-pate! Depending on the number of cameras andpeople interested in our ways of creating conversa-tions, we may animate the streets, the Health Tentor any other venue at any time of the forum*. Anyvolunteer is welcome and cameras do not have tobe professional.

If you are interested or know any youth whomaybe interested, contact us at jemagwga@knolo-gy.net.

You Comin’?

Upper row: Gwylene Gallimard, Pamella Gibbs, Lasheia Oubre, Jean- Maroe Mauclet,Rebekah Stone, Arianne King ComerBelow in front are Latonnya Wallace and Amy Cook.

Keith Knight is a cartoonist and rapper based in San Francisco. His two weekly comic strips, "the KChronicles" and "(th)ink", appear in publications nationwide. Keep an eye out for his work in an upcomingissue of Mad Magazine. His fifth collection of comics, "The Passion of the Keef" (Manic D Press), is avail-able at ww.kchronicles.com. Also look out for his collaboration with ROOTS member Mat Schwarzman“Beginner’s guide to Community Based-Arts” available at www.newvillagepress.net.

Alternate ROOTS is happy to announce the 2007Community/Artist Partnership Program and Artistic Assistancegrant recipients and the artist roster for the 2007 Tour &

Residency Program.

Community/Artist Partnership ProgramRecipients

CAPP was initiated in 1984 by Alternate ROOTS. Since its incep-tion, the project has supported over 38 projects in eight states, con-vened a national gathering of community art workers and initiated atraining program for the advanced study of community arts practice.The projects selected in the latest round of competitive applicationsfocus on social issues in a variety of community settings.

We are proud to introduce this year's C/APP recipients.

* Omari Fox / Healing Health and Environmental Justice Local Team USSF Project South* Lisa Mount / Sautee Nacoochee Community Association* Stephen Clapp / Baltimore Theater Project* Paula Larke / BAMA Kids, Inc.* Maurice Turner / Mississippi ACLU

Artistic Assistance Recipients

Artistic Assistance enables artists to enhance the artistic aspects of their work within their discipline. Allartistic disciplines are eligible. These funds are designed to provide ROOTS member artists with a sourceof critical funding to attend a workshop, study with a mentor, develop new work, or simply explore theircreativity.

We are proud to introduce this year's Artistic Assistance grant recipients.

* Arianne King Comer - Charleston, SC* April Turner - Charlotte, NC* Latonnya Wallace - Charleston, SC* Allen Welty-Green - Atlanta, GA* Bailey Barash - Atlanta, GA* Gwylene Gallimard - Charleston, SC

2007 Tour & Residency Artist Roster

The Residency and Tour Program is one of Alternate ROOTS' longest running programs. For nearly twen-ty years, it has provided fee subsidy support to enable qualified new or emerging presenters in theSoutheastern United States to bring artists on the Tour Roster into their communities for residencies andperformances.

*Laura Schandelmeier and Stephen Clapp*Looking for Lilith*Sandra Hughes and Michael Hickey*Adrienne Clancy*Gwylene Gallimard/Jean Marie Mauclet

*Moving in the Spirit*Mondo Bizarro*Artspot Productions*Elise Witt*Paula Larke*The Carpetbag Theatre

Alternate ROOTS would like to thank the following for their generous support.

Nathan E. Cummings FoundationFord Foundation

The Shubert FoundationThe William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

MAP FundWe Shall Overcome Fund

Alternate ROOTS Members and Friends