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KATRINA BITS: Jesse to lead voting march; NAACP's Voter Assistance Centers; ‘Extreme Makeover’; ‘Celebrity Poker Showdown’; Cuba donates WBC money.
*Rev. Jesse Jackson will lead a coalition of organizations and leaders in a march into the “Katrina Zone” on April 1, demanding the right to return, the right to rebuild, and above all, the right to vote.
Jackson will be joined by actor Bill Cosby, Bishop Paul Morton, former Louisiana AFL-CIO President Sibal Holt, State Senator Cleo Fields, and scores of political, religious, and labor leaders, entertainers, and thousands of citizens to demand the right to an open, free and fair election on April 22 where all have equal access to the ballot.
The NAACP has opened 15 Voter Assistance Centers across nine states to help displaced New Orleans voters who want to vote in the April 22 city election or May 20 run-off. (See full list of center locations below.)
NAACP President Bruce S. Gordon has asked Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco to postpone New Orleans’ primary election for April and the general election in May by executive order until there are assurances that all New Orleans voters, regardless of where they live, will be able to vote.
In early March, the U.S. District Court of Louisiana denied a lawsuit which sought to delay the elections and allow special measures which would enable the displaced and dispersed residents of New Orleans voting access.
Gordon said, “We are afraid that many African American voters will be disenfranchised due to unclear directives, misinformation and acts of omission on the part of those officials charged with ensuring equal access to the polls.”
Although Louisiana election officials have announced plans to have satellite voting locations in the state outside of New Orleans for early voting only, they have refused to authorize satellite voting locations in several other states where a large number of New Orleans voters now live. Gordon noted that such centers were set up for Iraqi citizens temporarily living in the United States to vote in the recent Iraq national elections.
“The citizens of New Orleans deserve no less a chance to participate in democracy than do Iraq citizens living abroad. Additionally, the NAACP plans to bus voters to New Orleans, if necessary.”
The NAACP Voter Assistance Centers are staffed almost exclusively by NAACP volunteers and Katrina survivors. The centers will provide assistance to individuals with absentee ballots and voter registration forms. In addition, there will be information about early voting and voting in person. Center personnel will take information to create a record of the incredible difficulties that have been produced by the displaced voter process.
The NAACP Voter Assistance Centers are at the following locations:
Chicago Westside - 1140 N. Lamon Ave. 773-261-5890
Chicago Southside - 800 E. 78th St. (SW Corner of Bldg.)773-487-9600
Mobile, Ala. - 419 Lexington Ave 251-604-0419 or 251-433-1145
Marietta, Georgia - 605 Roswell St. 770-425-5757
Stone Mountain, Georgia - Victory Baptist Church, 1170 North Hairston St 678-476-6000
Atlanta - 2034 Metropolitan Parkway 404-761-1266
Memphis - 588 Vance Avenue, 901-521-1343
Dallas - 4200 Fitzhugh St., 214-421-9006
Houston - 4205 Fannin Ave., 713-521-1289 or 713-526-3389
Austin, Texas - 1704 E. 12th St., 512-454-6161or 512-476-6230
San Antonio - Barbara Jordan Center, 2803 E. Commerce, 210-224-7636
Little Rock, Ark. - 1124 Martin Luther King Drive., 501-376-7399, 501-376-2227
Los Angeles - 3910 W. Martin Luther King Blvd., 323-296-2630
Jackson, Miss. - 1072 West John Lynch Street, 601- 353-6906 or 601-750-8451;
Baton Rouge - 1150 Florida Blvd., 225-214-7804
To receive further information, New Orleans voters may call the special NAACP voter hotline, 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683).
*In other Katrina-related news…Sears and ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” have launched “Winds of Change,” a fundraising effort inviting people from across the country to contribute to rebuilding efforts spearheaded by NeighborWorks America. The campaign is an extension of the Sears American Dream Campaign's involvement coinciding with a four-part series of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” programs titled "After the Storm." The first episode aired last night; the series will continue for three consecutive Thursdays from 8 - 9 p.m. EST to coincide with the Winds of Change campaign. From April 2 - 29, Sears and ABC will rally viewers and customers to contribute at Sears' approximately 930 stores and on sears.com. All donations will benefit the Gulf Coast region rebuilding efforts of NeighborWorks, a national nonprofit organization focused on community-based revitalization efforts.
*The Bravo network will donate $1 million toward organizations helping victims of Hurricane Katrina through is series, “Celebrity Poker Showdown.” The show will also shoot its next tournament in New Orleans as part of a partnership with Harrah's Entertainment. "New Orleans is a city with a heart and soul like no other American city, and being that it is the birthplace of poker, there was no better place to take our show," executive producer Marcia Mule says. "And in the process, to be able to give away a million dollars to help bring back the Big Easy, that's a winning hand." The New Orleans-based shows will air on the network later this spring. The lineup of celebrities, and the Katrina-related charities they'll play for, will be announced later.
*Cuban president Fidel Castro has announced that his country's runner-up prize money from the recent World Baseball Classic (WBC) will go to help victims of Hurricane Katrina living in the United States. The Cuban team lost the championship game to Japan 10-6, but were given a hero’s welcome Tuesday upon returning to the country. Castro saw the win as a triumph over the U.S. government, which had tried to prevent the Communist country from playing in the 16-nation tournament, citing 40-year-old sanctions against Havana. But pressure from the baseball world, and Cuba’s vow not to pocket the prize money, prompted Bush to reverse his decision and allow the team to play. As runner-up, Cuba is entitled to 7 percent of the net revenue of the tournament. "Whatever we get will be used there for the martyrs of Katrina, be it one million (dollars), two, three or four," Castro, 79, said in a speech. "The money will go there without any doubt and with great satisfaction, because it will heighten the moral of our athletes."
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