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Commentary: ?Standing in the gap’ in New Orleans
Aug. 10, 2006
A UMNS Commentary
By Carolyn Dandridge*
Less than a year ago, the world watched as generations of Gulf Coast residents — the
poor, the physically challenged or mentally impaired, infants, families, community
leaders, preachers, gang members, immigrants, seekers and good old-fashioned
God-fearing people — struggled against a powerful act of nature called
Hurricane Katrina.
Recently, nearly three dozen African Americans formed the
first all-black United Methodist team to go into New Orleans and Waveland,
Miss. The visit
was arranged and funded by the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries
in collaboration with other churchwide agencies, jurisdictional offices, annual
conferences and the denomination’s black church initiatives.
Our team spent two and a half days in dialogue
with African-American pastors, relief workers and survivors of Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita. Then
we left the
comfort of the InterContinental New Orleans Hotel on fire and ready to do the
work of “agents standing in the gap.”
A caravan of four vehicles traveled first to Waveland. The 60-minute drive
went through a wonderland of brown grass and broken trees still leaning from
the weight of the hurricane devastation. Huge trees had been uprooted, the
tips of those roots appearing as if they were reaching out to touch something.
They seemed to symbolize the lost and uprooted lives in the wake of the storm.
This now vast wilderness continues to reach out for hands to help build, restore
and create a community that can be called home again.
It had just rained, and God wanted us to feel
a sample of what it must have been like on that day Katrina came ashore.
As we drove
farther into Waveland,
we could see empty foundations that called to mind a cemetery with no headstones.
We saw tangled piles of wood that once were homes, waiting for attention from
anyone or anything — even a bulldozer.
We began to see those famous white trailers provided by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency. Some trailers stood alone, and others were in front of homes
where the occupants were trying to rebuild.
In the midst of it all, I could clearly sense God watching and waiting. It
seemed as though God was yearning to see who he could use to build new relationships,
rekindle spirits of fire, and create in his people clean hearts, willing to
stand on tiptoes and ready to labor in the vineyards again.
Devastation at Gulfside
The journey carried us to Gulfside Assembly — or what used to be Gulfside,
one of the United Methodist Church’s historic retreat and assembly centers.
We saw more of the same kind of destruction we had already observed, yet it
was worse than before because many of the team members remembered what Gulfside
used to look like.
What was left of the beachside was full of debris and displaced signs. The
sand that once was white was now brown, and the only thing left of the pier
were the poles that once supported the boardwalk. As we reached our worksite,
mosquitoes swarmed the vehicles.
We left Gulfside speechless, emotionally charged, and puzzled that almost
a year later, after so much money had been spent, so little was visibly accomplished
in this area.
By the time the team returned to New Orleans,
I thought I was ready to view the Lower Ninth Ward. We were going to see
Brooks United
Methodist Church,
where members of our group would be doing cleanup work, and then drive by one
of the Louisiana Conference’s storm recovery centers, where we would
help with administrative tasks.
Most of the roads were clear for passage. I have to admit I had no idea what
I was going to find in this most devastated area of New Orleans. I was not
prepared for what I observed.
Most of the homes we saw were brick. If a home’s structure was laid
with bricks, it was still standing. If a home was made of wood or had shingles,
it was gone, caved in or just rearranged in another location. Marks clearly
highlighted the water levels that stood for days in some homes after the city’s
levees broke. The number of boats that were washed into the Ninth Ward from
the more affluent areas of New Orleans was almost comical. There were cars
in houses, under houses and smashed beyond recognition.
Spiritual fix needed
What I saw in New Orleans was not about material things. They come and go.
I saw God destroying something old so the people can build something new. I
talked with pastors, social workers, relief administrators and storm victims,
many of whom were trying to rebuild without proper knowledge of the system.
I heard about contractors stealing from survivors and trying to make a dollar
by performing unsafe renovations. Many homes, unless they are elevated by an
Aug. 29 deadline, face possible seizure by the city under eminent domain. The
victims left in those storm areas are searching through rules, regulations
and red tape and are running on empty.
They need a great spiritual fix. They need someone to tell their story.
They also want to see black people that look like them down in the trenches
getting their hands dirty. They want to see minority-owned contractors gutting
homes in the not-so- fashionable space suits and masks. They want to feel the
victory of re-establishing their communities, reuniting with lost family members,
and overcoming the obstacles in front of them.
Storm victims are calling on senators, civil liberties unions, the NAACP,
the Rev. Jesse Jackson, commentators Tavis Smiley, Michael Bason and Tom Joyner,
100 Black Women and Men groups, black fraternities and sororities, black leaders,
the Supreme Court and anyone ready to lend a helping hand to bring light to
the darkness in New Orleans a year after Katrina and Rita.
We need these citizens to be an active part of society again. They need people
marching beside them in the fight to recover their lives despite racism, classism,
ignorance, broken families and lost loved ones. There is a war going on in
New Orleans as this effort continues.
The team members were from the United Methodist Boards of Global Ministries,
Discipleship, Higher Education and Ministry, as well as United Methodist Communications,
the Commission on Religion and Race, the Southeastern Jurisdiction Office,
Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century, and the North Carolina,
California-Pacific and the North Georgia annual conferences.
We all went to work and to make a difference. We all left searching, praying,
praising the mysterious works of the Almighty Father, and asking for directions.
We can’t rest until all of the people of
the Gulf Coast see other teams that look like them. We are calling all black
Americans,
Africans and those
from the African Diaspora to take your time, talents, and tactics and use them
to help save the people of the Gulf Coast region. It affects us because next
time it could be your city, state or region.
*Dandridge is communications project coordinator for the United Methodist
Board of Discipleship.
News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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