Work of New Orleans advocates honors Martin Luther King's legacy

By James Perry, Executive Director
Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center

40 years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on the balcony of a Memphis hotel. Since then, Dr. King's reality has been replaced with a seemingly mythological character of the same name. America has forgotten much of the soul awakening substance of King's work and has been entranced in a 40-year old dream state. A careful review of King's advocacy reveals a body of work that transcends King's ubiquitous dream and draws close parallels to the current day social justice advocacy of New Orleans' citizenry.

In post-Katrina New Orleans, advocacy has been reborn through a myriad of group efforts to better our community. Citizens Road Home Action Team (CHAT ) holds the government and ICF accountable for Road Home program failures. Public housing protesters made the world aware of New Orleans' affordable housing woes. The Women of the Storm doused Capitol Hill with information about the needs of our community in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Louisiana Housing Alliance (LHA) pushed for more Road Home money and funding of the Louisiana Housing Trust Fund. Citizens from Lakeview, New Orleans East, the Lower Ninth Ward and Broadmoor refused to quietly accept the recommendations of the Bring New Orleans Back Commission. Each effort exemplifies citizen advocacy at its best. But there are two particularly important aspects of these and other post-Katrina advocacy efforts.

First, post-Katrina advocacy coalitions have almost uniformly transcended race and ethnicity. Examine the ranks of supporters of CHAT, public housing, Women of the Storm, the LHA and the neighborhoods noted above, and you will find that diversity is the norm. This is not unlike the movement that King sought to galvanize against racial discrimination. Under King's leadership, African-Americans partnered with white-Americans to investigate housing discrimination. White college students joined efforts to register black sharecroppers to vote. Black civil rights lawyers used logic and reason to sway white judges and legislators into stewarding the cause of ending indefensible legal segregation.

Second, each of these post-Katrina advocacy coalitions have made progress in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, using legal advocacy and other non-violent pressures. They have demanded that local, state and federal governments make changes for the better. Similarly, King noted in his letter from a Birmingham Jail, "We have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure." King noted that a key to successful advocacy is making the situation ripe for negotiation. He advised that this can be done by using non-violent advocacy to make a situation "so crisis packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation." One can only imagine the discomfort of members of Congress as they looked into the eyes of Women of the Storm and members of the LHA who lamented story after story of the government's failure to provide for the needs of Americans in the wake of the 2005 storms. The result: billions of dollars were allocated for Gulf Coast recovery.

Undoubtedly, King's work now has an enhanced meaning for New Orleans. The efforts of New Orleans' citizens embody and honor King's work.

Seven days after King's assassination, Congress passed the federal Fair Housing Act. They did so because for all King's accomplishments, he was unable to fully challenge and defeat housing discrimination and provide for the affordable housing needs of America in the 60's.

Similarly, New Orleans' advocacy community has accomplished much. However, 12,000 New Orleanians remain homeless. Families are living in gutted homes and poisonous FEMA trailers unfit for human habitation. There is an unprecedented housing supply shortage and persistent housing discrimination. However, New Orleans advocates have an opportunity that was denied to King when his dream was deferred by an untimely bullet. While some advocates may tire or even quit, there are many who have shown the determination to continue the push for New Orleans' recovery and affordable housing choice. As the track record demonstrates, our efforts are unprecedented and our ranks continue to grow. With each new advocate, we take a step closer to making New Orleans better for all citizens. Together, we will attain this goal.

Honor Dr. King's legacy by joining an advocacy effort today.