Common Ground Collective
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Common Ground Collective is a network of volunteer organizations offering support to the residents of New Orleans. It was formed in the Algiers neighborhood of the city by Malik Rahim, Scott Crow and other anarchist organizers in the days after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.[1]
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[edit] History
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Theory and practice
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Common Ground started with delivery of basic aid (food, water, and supplies) and an emergency clinic in Algiers. The effort expanded to providing assistance to homeowners and residents trying to move back into other areas of the city and region—such as the Lower Ninth Ward, St. Bernard Parish, and Houma—where flood-protection infrastructure failed after the hurricane.[2]
Common Ground Health Clinic had its beginnings when four young street medics, who had heard Malik Rahim's plea for support, showed up in Algiers a few days after the hurricane. They began riding around on bicycles asking residents if they needed medical attention. Locals were apparently surprised to be approached in this way, since no representatives of government agencies or of the Red Cross had appeared up to that point. The medics offered first aid, took blood pressure, tested for diabetes, and asked about symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other disease.[3]
After forming as a more cohesive organization, Common Ground began recruiting volunteers to help gut homes and provide other free services in the Upper & Lower Ninth Wards. Common Ground utilized a large volunteer base across the Industrial Canal in the Upper 9th Ward of New Orleans in the St. Mary of the Angels school. Thousands of people volunteered for various lengths of time, creating an unusual social situation in the predominantly black neighborhoods, since most of the volunteers have been young white people from elsewhere.[4] An ABC News Nightline report described the volunteers as "mostly young people filled with energy and idealism, and untainted by cynicism and despair, and mostly white, [who] have come from across America and from countries as far away as Indonesia." The health clinic was especially helpful to remaining residents of New Orleans immediately after the hurricane since Charity Hospital and other emergency care providers were not available.[5]
Common Ground initiated a number of programs and projects following its inception in September 2005. Its organizing philosophy is dubbed "Solidarity Not Charity," reflecting the anti-authoritarian or anarchist philosophies of many of its members.[6] [7] Some of the projects that were free to residents included debris removal, aid distribution centers, roving medical clinics, bioremediation for toxic areas, house-gutting, roof-tarping, building neighborhood computer centers, free tech support for residents and other non-profits, stopping home demolitions in the Lower 9th Ward, supporting community and backyard gardens, anti-racist training for volunteers, tree service, and legal counseling services.
| “ | Common Ground can boast one of the most multidisciplinary of all teams. There are (categories not mutually exclusive) nurses, doctors, psychiatrists, pharmacists, anarchists, herbalists, acupuncturists, community organizers, journalists, legal representatives, aid workers, proletarian neighborhood members, EMT’s, squatters, gutter punks, artists,mechanics, chiropractors, clergy, and so forth involved. A huge sign outside the door reads, “Solidarity Not Charity” and this statement exemplifies the perspective of those involved. | ” |
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—James Chionsini, Common Ground volunteer, [8] |
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In early 2006, Common Ground volunteers effected an unauthorized clean-up of Martin Luther King Elementary School in the Lower 9th Ward.[9] In the winter of 2007 Common Ground opened a family homeless shelter in the 7th ward of New Orleans which was closed a few months later.
[edit] Woodlands Apartment Complex
In May 2006, Common Ground assumed management of the Woodlands Apartment Complex, a 350 unit complex of buildings initially to be purchased by Common Ground. Common Ground management froze the rents at the Woodlands to pre-Katrina levels, helped create a tenants union and ran a workers' cooperative with paid skills training. However, after 150 apartments were rehabilitated the owner, Anthony Reginelli reneged on the verbal agreement and sold the building to Johnson Properties Group LLC. More than 100 families were evicted from the property. [10] Common Ground lost approximately $750,000 in payroll, landscaping, electrical, plumbing and carpentry expenditures.[11]
[edit] Current
Common Ground eventually split off into multiple independent organizations—Common Ground Relief, Common Ground Tech Collective, New Orleans Women's Shelter, Rubarb Bike Collective and the Common Ground Health Clinic. Thomas Pepper is the current operations director of Common Ground Relief. [12]Antor Ndep Ola is currently the Executive Director of Common Ground Health Clinic.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Mizell, Billie. "Fifty Dollars and a Dream", Alternet, 2006-03-02. Retrieved on 2006-05-06.
- ^ DeRose, Jason. "Anarchists Providing Medical Aid in New Orleans", National Public Radio, 2005-09-23. Retrieved on 2006-03-19.
- ^ Shorrock, Tim. "The Street Samaritans", Mother Jones, March/April 2006. Retrieved on 2006-04-25.
- ^ Capochino, April. "Common Ground volunteers bridge racial divide", New Orleans CityBusiness, 2006-04-17. Retrieved on 2006-04-25.
- ^ Hamilton, Bruce. "Algiers health clinic fills crucial post-Katrina niche", Times-Picayune, 2006-01-09. Retrieved on 2006-03-19.
- ^ Crow, Scott. "Anarchy and the Common Ground Collective", Infoshop.org, 2006-03-13. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
- ^ "What Lies Beneath: Katrina, Race, And The State Of The Nation (publisher’s overview)", 2007-02-15. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
- ^ "Solidarity Not Charity", Common Ground Relief Volunteer Handbook, 2006-01-06. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
- ^ Dyer, Kerul. "New Orleans School Clean Up Begins!", Common Ground Collective site, 2006-03-16. Retrieved on 2006-05-06.
- ^ "Hundreds Face Eviction in New Orleans", Democracy Now, 2006-09-27. Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
- ^ Drummer, Marina. "Notes to Financial Statements", Community Futures Collective Site, 2006-12-31. Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
- ^ "Just And Sustainable New Orleans: Common Ground Relief", KNYO, 2007-11-29. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
[edit] External links
- Common Ground Relief
- Common Ground Health Clinic
- Common Ground Tech Collective
- New Orleans Women's Shelter
- Rubarb Bike Collective
- A Healthy Dose of Anarchy: After Katrina, nontraditional, decentralized relief steps in where big government and big charity failed - Reason Magazine, December 2006
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