Briefing during Essence Fest was prelude to RISE Katrina 10 conference

13th July 2015   ·   0 Comments

By Kelly Parker
Contributing Writer

The four days millitary loans of events celebrating the 2015 Essence Festival highlighted culture, music and empowerment; and with the help of the National Urban League, the state of recovery and the African-American community, post-Hurri­cane Katrina was also examined.

On July 3, National Urban Lea­gue President/CEO Marc Morial co-hosted a briefing at the Morial Convention Center with Fest goers and national and local media outlets to discuss some of the early data points detailed in the state of Black New Orleans: 10 Years post Katrina report. The former Mayor, along with Urban League Greater New Orleans Presi­dent/CEO Erika Mc­Conduit-Diggs touched on some of the key topics highlighted in the report, which will be released in its entirety during the up­coming: RISE Ka­trina 10 conference.

The publication will include es­says, editorials and research by local scholars and will produce a clear set of recommendations for the continued recovery and development of New Orleans in a more equitable and sustainable manner. Research partners for the State of Black New Orleans publication in­clude: The Data Cen­ter, Dillard University, Xa­vier University, Tu­lane Univ­ersity, Loyola Univ­ersity, South­ern University of New Or­leans, the University of New Or­leans and the Urban League Wash­ington.

The media briefing served as a prelude to the conference, which will take place August 26-29, at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans. Early statistics on unemployment, housing, poverty, income disparities and education were discussed; with the former Mayor lending not only his insight, but his honesty in regards to the city’s current progress and the state of recovery as the 10th anniversary of the storm approaches.

“The theme of the conference, ‘Rise: Katrina 10,’ symbolizes the continual growth in our city’s re-emergence,” McConduit-Diggs states. “While there will be many worthy commemorations taking place through­out the city, the goal of this conference is to substantively evaluate the last decade and make systemic recommendations for continued improvement for all New Orleanians.”

Morial said that the Urban Lea­gue has to speak “truthfully and candidly” — and has to basically ‘lay out the facts’ on these important issues.

“The challenge of Black male em­ployment is not a challenge uni­que to New Orleans, but a problem across the nation; but to highlight and spotlight it is why you need a stronger commitment to job training; not simply by the city, but by the state,” Morial stated, in res­ponse to the news that 52 percent of African-American men in New Orleans are unemployed; which is an increase since 2000.

He mentioned the healthcare in­frastructure in progress as an example for potential planning to payday loan maili create job placement and opportunities for African American men in the city.

“One way that many states have tried to address this is by raising the floor on the minimum wage — [that step] has been taken by almost by 20 states— and it’s been taken because of congressional ‘foot-dragging’; but many states have decided to act on their own. When you raise the minimum wage, it pushes all wages slightly upward — it’s not a magic pill that can eliminate income disparities but this is one step that a community can take — that a state can take to try to address it,” Morial told those in attendance.

“If people work, they should be able to afford the necessities in life: a roof over their head, food, and health care,” There ought to be a basic notion in this county that we shouldn’t be talking simply about a minimum wage, but a living wage,” he adds.

The National Urban League, along with Essence Festival brought career and entrepreneurial empowerment to the Career Con­nections zone on the second floor of the Convention Center. Attendees had the opportunity to speak directly to hiring recruiters, learn best practices in starting a small business, how to network and get on-the-spot resumé feedback.

Another disappointing statistic discussed was the state of youth poverty, which shows that in 2013, over 50 percent of African-Ameri­can children under the age of 18 were living in poverty, as to 44 percent in the year of hurricane Katrina.

“That is just a startling statistic.” McConduit-Diggs said to the audience and the former mayor echoed the sentiment.

“This is one of the things that strikes at my moral fiber and my moral core,” he said. “The idea that in a prosperous nation — with a $14 trillion economy, we can stand that children are growing up in poverty; that in a great city, with great assets, we can have a situation where more than 50 percent of our children are growing up in poverty — many of these are children of working women; women who get up and work every day, working minimum and low-wage jobs — they’re struggling, they’re fighting. We also have to change the face of what some people see when we say poverty. They immediately see a person who’s not motivated, a person who doesn’t want to work. In New Orleans, this is an area in which the numbers have not gone in a right way; this is a state whose governor has refused to take advantage of Medicaid expansion — cash loan new jersey by doing so denying many working people the chance to have affordable health care. So let’s just talk about the “whys” so we can understand that some of these things can be fixed.”

The comparison of median house­hold incomes in New Or­leans was also conferred.

McConduit-Diggs stated that although it’s often framed by gender, the largest income disparities are between African Americans and whites.

In 2005, the median household incomes for African Americans was $23,000, vs more than $49,000 for white families in New Orleans.

In 2013, the gap widened, according to statistics provided by the Urban League. The African-Ameri­can median income was $25,000, in comparison to (over) $60,000 for incomes of whites.

Both McConduit-Diggs and Morial noted the direct correlation between high rate of unemployment for African-American men, the widening gap in income disparities between white and African-American residents and the staggering poverty rate amongst African-American children.

“They are all linked, they’re all tied together.” Morial states.

One area that has shown some improvement is that of the graduation rate of high school students in the city.

“Some positive news,” McCon­duit-Diggs said, “is that our high school graduation rate has in­creased. Now we are close to ap­proxi­mately 73 percent in our grad­uation rates. Approximately 75 percent of our public schools were deemed failing in 2005. Now, the rate has lowered to seven percent.”

In 2005, the high school graduation rate was 54 percent.

Morial didn’t shy away from the matter of controversy regarding the state of public education post-Katrina.

“We have to applaud results,” he said. “We know there’s a debate around how it has occurred, but there should be no debate about the results. The key to these changes and successes is whether these im­provements are sustainable-where they can maintain and indeed continue.”

The discussions will continue during the conference, in which the Urban League will host a RISE: Katrina 10 luncheon, which will include a national correspondents’ panel to share perspectives of the recovery from journalists who were in New Orleans during and following Hurricane Katrina. The conference will also feature the Urban League Annual Gala, which will recognize the notable accom­plishments of “Katrina Heroes.”

The event will conclude with a Youth Town Hall, providing a critical platform for youth to lend their voice to their post-Katrina expe­riences and vision for youth engagement in the city moving forward.

This article originally published in the July 13, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.