What Librarians Can Do to Help New Orleans

In the wake of the historic disaster of Hurricane Katrina, many people feel overwhelmed. They may want to help in the recovery effort, but feel at a loss to contribute their meager skills. My philosophy for providing aid and assistance in any situation has been inspired by a quote from Nkosi Johnson, a young AIDS activist from South Africa. This young man has accomplished more in his short life to raise AIDS awareness than most people will accomplish in decades. He said, “Do all you can, with what you have, in the time you have, and the place you are.” I feel that librarians, and in particular African-American librarians, can do a lot with our God-given talents and professional skills no matter where we may be physically, emotionally or spiritually. I propose that librarians do all we can to provide four types of aid and assistance to communities and individuals affected by Hurricane Katrina. These are:

1. Information


2. Labor


3. Fundraising


4. Recovery, Restoration and Recordation

First, information is the hurricane survivors’ and evacuees’ most critical need. Librarians should disseminate the information via the Internet, newspaper and radio announcements. I would also propose the distribution of brochures or pamphlets at community centers, stores, health clinics, social aid and employment offices. Librarians should collect and organize information on any subject that is vital for people to reconstruct and recover disrupted lives, including:

• FEMA assistance (we all know how difficult it is to get straight answers from this organization)


• Housing assistance and housing vouchers


• Insurance claims


• Employment assistance


• Mental health and counseling assistance


• Access to social programs (WIC, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.)


• Animal shelters


• Updates on rebuilding processes in LA, MS and AL


• Construction contracts and bidding process


• Missing Persons (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)


• Healthcare (where to go, what services are offered, what payments are accepted)


• Public, parochial and higher education (what schools are opening, when, and at what capacities )


• Youth services (any aid or info that is specific to the needs of children and teenagers)

Second, librarians should do all we can to assist in the rebuilding process of severely damaged and destroyed libraries. It will be a difficult and counterproductive process for librarians to provide information to others if we do not have our own headquarters. Although I myself am not a handy person with a hammer and a nail, I feel that I could still contribute something to the rebuilding of a library in the same way that ordinary people help build homes for Habitat for Humanity. I could perhaps assemble shelving, apply a fresh coat of paint on the walls or assist wherever I was needed. This form of assistance will also serve to help librarians (re)build a sense of ownership in our communities.
Third, I recommend that librarians should do all we can to help raise funds to rebuild. These funds should not only be used to rebuild libraries, but entire communities. I propose that:

• Librarians lobby our professional organizations to donate funds.


• Professional organizations lobby Congress for funds for libraries and communities.


• Librarians hold fundraising activities such as book sales.


• Librarians at the New Orleans universities (Tulane, Dillard, Xavier) also contribute to the fundraising effort in the community.

Finally, I believe that librarians should do all we can to salvage any historical items from the disaster zone and make sure that this historical event is recorded for posterity. I call this type of aid Recovery, Restoration and Recordation. On the news, I have heard that homes of many jazz legends are located in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. When I imagine the jazz history that must currently founder in mold and filth, it breaks my heart. Furthermore, many African-American artifacts from the slavery-era are also likely located in the Ninth Ward. I am also concerned about the historical artifacts in the old houses of the Garden District and the French Quarter of New Orleans. If any of these houses are still unoccupied, their contents are at risk. Although located in a wealthy and predominantly white area of town, I believe that the historical artifacts located there are no less essential to the telling of the African-American story. The same principle also applies for the destroyed towns of Mississippi and Alabama. I propose that librarian commando squads could be recruited from libraries around the country (or the world). We could come into the areas affected by Katrina with a mission. We are to: 1) recover historical artifacts from risk of destruction or theft, 2) restore and repair damaged artifacts, and 3) record the aftermath and recovery of Hurricane Katrina via still photo, digital photo, digital video, survivor narratives and written reflections.
I love Nkosi’s quote because it demands that when you get an opportunity to make a difference, you should look at yourself instead of your neighbor. It also demands that you look at your assets instead of your liabilities. On the other hand, if you are a flawed individual (and who among us is not?), Nkosi’s quote permits you to make small contributions in your own time, while working through your own issues and without feeling that your efforts are meaningless.
Librarians don’t necessarily have a lot of political power because nations do not rise and fall at our whims. No, our power is derived from our organizational, literary, analytical, archival and critical thinking skills. We hold the keys to a society’s history. Lord knows that we don’t make a lot of money, so we are unable to make multimillion dollar donations to the Katrina Fund. Yet, we have a passion for literacy, civic responsibility, and community involvement. We are not a monolithic force -- we are located across the country and the world; we work in many different capacities; we practice many different faiths; we hold many different opinions. Nevertheless, we are all bound by the same beliefs in a free society, an accountable government and an educated and informed populace. I propose that librarians do all they can and with what they have to offer 1) Information, 2) Labor, 3) Fundraising and 4) Recovery, Restoration and Recordation to the Hurricane Katrina Recovery effort. However, we must each decide whether to take up this mantle; we must first discover where we are and we will do with our time.
“Do all you can, with what you have, in the time you have, and the place you are.”

Flag Desecration is a First Amendment Right of Free Speech (Original Essay)

I am opposed to the proposed constitutional amendment that will ban desecration of the U.S. flag. As of this date, the bill has passed in the U.S. Senate. In order for the bill to be ratified as a constitutional amendment, it must also pass in the U.S. House of Representatives and among two-thirds of the states. In my opinion, patriotic state representatives will also vote against this amendment. This bill is so obviously a violation of the First Amendment rights for free speech that I am shocked and appalled that it has already passed the House. Additionally, doesn't anyone in Congress grasp the irony of passing a law that restricts constitutional rights by prohibiting the desecration of a symbol of constitutional rights? HELLO!?! Was I asleep in my American Government class or wasn't this the reason that the country was founded in the first place? I personally don't agree with desecrating the flag. I agree with the authors of the bill that it is disrespectful. I could also add several other adjectives -- reprehensible, offensive and objectionable, for a start. However, our country is based upon the principle that people may make statements or commit actions that offend others. Free speech should not be limited only to that speech that other people find agreeable and pleasing. If it were to be so, then it would not be "free" at all. In fact, it would be speech that is more akin to North Korea, Iran or China. Voltaire has been attributed as saying, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." The larger, and more frightening, implications of this proposed amendment are the slippery slope that will follow if this bill passes. If desecrating the flag is "disrespectful" and becomes a sacred cow that no one can touch, then what other criticisms, protests, satires and documentaries regarding the government and symbols of the governement can be considered "disrespectful"? Regardless of your political affiliation or personal feelings, consider for a moment a USA where the following are considered "disrespectful," and therefore are banned:1) Documentaries that portray the government negatively 2) The Daily Show and other political satire 3) a late-show comedian's monologue Finally, the U.S. will rise to the epitome of hypocrisy if she claims to be the shining light of democracy that wants to influence other nations to follow in her path, while at the same time restricting the constitutional rights of its citizens. I wrote Kay Bailey Hutchison, the TX Representative, a letter to express my views. In a form letter, she told me that she welcomed my thoughts and comments on the issue. Her letter said, "The American flag is recognized around the world as a powerful symbol of our heritage and our freedom, which many have died defending. I support this legislation because I believe it is important to protect our beloved national symbol." My response to Hutchison is that the soldiers are not supposed to die defending the symbol of freedom. They die defending the freedom itself. I do not understand how politicians do not grasp the supreme irony that they are restricting the very freedom which they claim to be defending. It seems that since 9/11, the country has forgotten what it truly means to be patriotic in a democracy. Patriotic Americans are not hypocrites who express agreement with government policies when they actually do not believe in them. They do not blindly believe government assertions or follow governmental policies if they oppose moral or ethical beliefs. Patriotic Americans love their country enough to publicly (and perhaps even obnoxiously) state their opinions, criticisms and dissension. If the U.S. House of Representatives allow this bill to pass, they are in effect allowing the terrorists to win because they are turning the U.S. into the type of country that the terrorists want -- a country that is more autocratic, intellectually stifling, and democratically repressed.

Janet's Tribute

On May 5, 2005, we had to make the difficult decision to put our black Labrador-Chow named Janet to rest. She was 14 years old. During the last few weeks of her life, she became extremely finicky and I was almost standing on my head trying to get her to eat. When she stopped eating and drinking completely, we took her to the vet. The vet said that she could feel a mass in Janet's abdomen, hear pneumonia in her lungs and found evidence of diarrhea in her stool. According to the vet, she also had congestive heart failure and pain in her spine. In addition, she had lost almost twenty pounds and she seemed to be in pain every time I tried to pet her. In retrospect, I now see the signs that I should have seen earlier that she wasn't well. She stopped greeting me at the door when I came in. She stopped wagging her tail when I petted her. She slept so much of the time that I felt I had to make her go outside so she could get fresh air. She had problems sitting down and getting up, but I thought that this was due to the arthritis that we were treating with Metacam. The vet said that she was in a lot of pain and I hope that she didn't think I was being mean to her to not realize she was suffering. I hope she realized that I still loved her. I hope that her lack of enthusiasm and affection for me didn't mean that she started to love me less.I hope that she is somewhere with lots of grass, bright sunshine, a pond, and a cool breeze. She loved running, chasing birds, swimming in the bayou and being outdoors. I hope she eats all the stuff that she wants -- dog bones, food scraps and even the gross stuff that I never understood (mud, frogs, flying insects and snotty tissues, ugh). I hope she has someone to rub her on her favorite places -- under her chin, behind her ears, on her belly and right above her tail. I hope she has someone to play tug-of-war and chase with her.She would sit at my feet and lean the weight of her body against my legs. I think it was her way of hugging me since she had no arms. I had to brace myself for 60+ pounds of weight or I would lose my balance. She liked to nuzzle with her head between my legs. She was either being affectionate or freaky, I couldn't tell which. She also would crawl under my desk and sleep at my feet when I was on the computer. She followed me everywhere -- even to the bathroom. She slept in my bedroom on the side of my bed. When she became frightened during thunderstorms, I would soothe her until she calmed down. Besides thunderstorms, she was also afraid of vacuum cleaners. She would run away from it every time I cleaned the living room. When she had her epileptic seizures, I did what I could to help her get through them. She loved eating table scraps that we would mix in with her dog food. Because she had epilepsy, we also added a Phenolbarbitol pill to meat twice a day. She came to expect her pill in the morning and the evening and would wait in the kitchen until she received it. However, it was a trick to get her to eat the meat without spitting out the pill. Now, I feel like I'm wasting food to just throw it in the trash.
She was a good watchdog. I felt safe being alone in the house with her. She had such a deep bark that she should have scared off any would-be intruders. I felt safe answering the door to strangers with a large black dog snarling at my side. (Yeah, this is my dog. And what might YOU want?) I also felt safe going for walks with her. For sure, I didn't have to worry about guys hitting on me.If someone even set foot on the front sidewalk, she would know it. She went berserk for at least half an hour after the meter man or lawn care guy came by.
I remember one occasion in which she protected me from a threat. I was taking her for a walk down the bayou. Dogs appeared from a neighboring yard and started growling at us. I was worried that they would attack her or me. Janet put her body between the mean dogs and myself and growled back at them. She provided a buffer for me while I retreated back to the house.She was popular with other dogs in the neighborhood. Even though she was spayed, she routinely entertained "guests" in the backyard. In her earlier years, she would chase the other dogs away once she saw that we were watching her through the window (I really am doing my job and protecting the house, see?). As she got older, she let them hang around and play with her. I guess she figured what the hell. She was also talkative with other dogs in the neighborhood. Late at night, they would all carry on barking conversations that carried for blocks.
Even though she was 14, I still called her my puppy. Although I am considering getting another dog, no one will replace her. I want to also make sure that I don't get another dog too soon because it seems like that would be disrespecting her memory. She was such a jealous dog that she hated to see any other dog getting our attention. I think it would hurt her feelings to know that another dog was getting her attention.