Received from the National Hip Hop Political Convention:
After
Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf
Coast and uprooted the lives of more than a million, predominantly
Black and working class people, Venezuela, under the leadership of
President Hugo Chavez, was one of the first nations to offer
humanitarian aid to the United States government and all those
displaced.
The
US government, under the leadership of George W. Bush, rejected
Venezuela’s offer and closed a venue of life saving support sorely
needed by the Black and working class Survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
Why? The answer lies with the racist and imperialist structure and
worldview of the US government. It is this structure and worldview that
left Black people to die in New Orleans after the great flood and
deliberately attacked them, scattered them, and abandoned them without
aid or humanitarian protection. It is this same system and worldview
that has repeatedly sought to disrupt and undermine the democratic
process in Venezuela and threatened to assassinate its President.
Building solidarity between the Bolivarian Revolution and the Katrina Self-Determination and Reconstruction Movement
Thursday, May 24th - Sunday, May 27th
Dillard University
New Orleans, LA
After
Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf
Coast and uprooted the lives of more than a million, predominantly
Black and working class people, Venezuela, under the leadership of
President Hugo Chavez, was one of the first nations to offer
humanitarian aid to the United States government and all those
displaced.
The
US government, under the leadership of George W. Bush, rejected
Venezuela’s offer and closed a venue of life saving support sorely
needed by the Black and working class Survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
Why? The answer lies with the racist and imperialist structure and
worldview of the US government. It is this structure and worldview that
left Black people to die in New Orleans after the great flood and
deliberately attacked them, scattered them, and abandoned them without
aid or humanitarian protection. It is this same system and worldview
that has repeatedly sought to disrupt and undermine the democratic
process in Venezuela and threatened to assassinate its President.
Venezuela’s
offer of humanitarian aid to the peoples of New Orleans and the Gulf
Coast is an extension of its own humanitarian social transformation.
This social transformation is called the “Bolivarian Revolution” and
its fundamental premise is using grassroots participatory democracy to
attain human rights and equitable development to challenge and
eradicate the legacies of racism, colonialism, and imperialism that
have stunted the growth of the Venezuelan people. Although national in
its present scope, the Bolivarian Revolution is a continental and
international vision inspired by the American revolution, activated by
the Haitian revolution, articulated by Simon Bolivar, reignited by the
Cuban revolution, and advanced by Hugo Chavez and Bolivarian Circles
throughout Venezuela and the world.
Progressive
elements within the Katrina Self-Determination and Reconstruction
Movement have, from the beginning, been inspired by the solidarity of
President Hugo Chavez and the Venezuelan people. The Katrina
Self-Determination movement has been emboldened by President Chavez’s
principled stance on the right of Katrina Survivors to return with
justice and human dignity, and his administrations consistent
challenging of the US government internationally on the question of its
human rights performance and commitments to those internally displaced
by Hurricane Katrina. Most encouraging of all has been the Bolivarian
movements recognition of the historic struggles of Black, Native and
other oppressed peoples within the US and the acknowledgement that the
struggles of our respective people’s are one and the same.
Why New Orleans and the Gulf Coast? Why Venezuela? Why Now?
Sixteen
months after Hurricane Katrina, the program of ethnic cleansing in New
Orleans and the Gulf Coast is in full effect as there are still close
to 500,000 displaced persons being systematically denied their right of
return throughout the Gulf Coast by the programs and policies of the US
government. The strict adherence to free-market, neo-liberal polices to
guide and dictate the pace and scope of the regions recovery have been
the most devastating and exclusionary. Grassroots forces of resistance,
like the People’s Hurricane Relief Fund (PHRF) and Common Ground Relief
(CGR), have been working tirelessly to counter this assault through
autonomous relief and recovery efforts including free housing gutting
and health clinics, social movement initiatives like the Affordable
Housing campaign, and human rights initiatives like the International
Tribunal on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. However, to beat back the
ethnic cleansing assault and win the right of return these forces
desperately need national and international support and solidarity.
Venezuela,
despite its social advances, is also in desperate need of solidarity.
To stop the advance of participatory and economic democracy being
developed in Venezuela, the US Government, multinational corporations,
and ruling interests continue to threaten President Hugo Chavez and the
Bolivarian Revolution with political and economic sabotage, disruption,
and worse. Progressive forces within the US, particularly within the
most oppressed sectors, must stand up and stop this threat being
committed in their name, as an “injustice anywhere, is a threat to
justice everywhere”.
Therefore,
a call for a “Mutual Aid and International Solidarity Conference”
between these two movements couldn’t come at a more critical time.
The Conference
Inspired
by the achievements of the Bolivarian Revolution and moved by the
ongoing human rights crisis in the Mississippi Gulf Coast, grassroots
organizers in the Katrina Self-Determination and Bolivarian Movements
throughout the country have agreed to come together to host the “Mutual
Aid and International Solidarity Conference” in New Orleans, Louisiana
at Dillard University May 24th – 27th, 2007 to share organizing
experiences, explore opportunities for mutual aid and assistance, and
stand in solidarity with each others democratic struggles for human
rights and self-determination.
We
call on all progressive forces in the US to join us at the “Mutual Aid
and International Solidarity Conference” to build the Katrina
Self-Determination and Bolivarian Solidarity Movements and to build
person to person, grassroots links between the peoples of Venezuela and
the United States.
What You Can Do
You
can help this grassroots initiative by making a donation towards its
operating expenses, which include venue fee’s, international travel and
accommodation, printing, translation, etc. Make all donations out to:
People’s Hurricane Relief Fund (earmark Solidarity Conference) Send all
donations to: Vanguard Public Foundation 383 Rhode Island Street, Suite
301 San Francisco, CA 94103. To make an online donation visit: https://www.vanguardsf.org/index.php?s=40 (please indicted Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund)
If
you or your organization is interested in sponsoring the conference
please contact Janvieve Williams at the US Human Rights Network at
404.588.9761 / jwilliams@ushrnetwork.org or William Camacaro at 718.510.5523 / cbalbertolovera@gmail.com.
Volunteers are also needed for logistics, outreach, etc. If you are interested in
volunteering, contact the People’s Hurricane Relief Fund at 504.301.0215 / phrfoc@gmail.com.
Conveners
African World Studies Program, Dillard University
Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle , New York, NY http://nybolivarian.blogspot.com
People's Hurricane Relief Fund (PHRF) www.peopleshurricane.org
National Hip Hop Political Convention (NHHPC) www.myspace.com/hiphopconvention_nyloc
Common Ground Relief (CGR) www.commongroundrelief.org
5 ways to endorse the Mutual Aid and International Solidarity conference
1. Endorse the conference with financial support
Levels of support:
* $50 -100: Conference level supporter
* $100 - 500: Film screening + conference level supporter
* $500 - 1,000: Student scholarship level supporter
* $1,000 - 5,000: Opening reception + scholarship level support
2. Endorse the conference by registering to attend.
3. Endorse the conference by sending the link to www.MutualAidSolidarity.org to your email list(s). Encourage others to support the conference.
4. Endorse the conference by contacting your local public radio station. Ask for interviews of the organizers and speakers of the conference.
5. Endorse the conference by placing a link on your website.
Do you want to sponsor, pre-register, or endorse the conference?
Click below to complete the form.
MutualAidSolidarity.org
Posted by: 2007 MAIS conference | March 19, 2007 at 06:32 PM