Past Activities
Our past activities have included advocating against the demolitions of public housing in New Orleans. We have worked with community members, student groups and national and international housing justice organizations in this endeavor. During our “Stop the Demolitions Campaign”, we facilitated public education programs, met with city officials and conducted marches. We also collected petitions and attended conferences where we discussed the hardships that continue to face survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
Current Activities
Local Campaign
We recently initiated the “Anti-One Strike Campaign” that examines the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO)’s Family Obligations Law. Under the Family Obligations Law, public housing, Section 8 and other subsidized housing residents have lost their homes for minor violations, such as cracks in a light switch panel. Many of our community members have suffered evictions due to this law. As part of the One Strike Campaign, May Day New Orleans, in partnership with the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative, has drafted a survey that will be given to public housing and Section 8 residents that will assess the effects of the policy on their right to housing. We plan to publish a report of findings that will aid in our conversations with HANO around the Family Obligations Law, which will hopefully lead to positive resolution of the most troubling aspects of this policy.
National Campaign
May Day is a member of the Campaign to Restore National Housing Rights. The Campaign has been calling on Representative Maxine Waters (Chair of the House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity) to hold congressional field hearings on the crisis in public and affordable rental housing. New Orleans is one of the cities the Campaign has selected for the field hearings. To learn more about the campaign visit here.
International Campaign
We have been involved in the International Alliance of Inhabitants (IAI) Zero Evictions Campaign. Launched at the 4th World Social Forum (Mumbai, January 2004), the movement aims to mobilize international solidarity, starting with those directly impacted by evictions, to restore their hope of achieving dignity and security in housing. New Orleans was the first U.S. city adopted into this campaign. Through the IAI we have attended international conferences where we discuss the challenges that continue to face post Katrina New Orleans, share our success stories and learn best practices from residents living in other parts of the world.
Additionally, we have been working with other housing rights groups in the United States to assist the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing and the UN Advisory Group on Forced Evictions in their planned visits to the United States in 2009 (read more here). The visits will include a fact finding mission to New Orleans, which May Day will help coordinate.
Future Campaigns
May Day New Orleans’ vision for the future of our community is one of stable, adequate housing, education, and safety in the streets. We plan to help bring about this stability through community outreach and public education programs for children and the larger community. We also plan to bring the community together in the effort to control crime on our streets; this will involve not only community policing, but also assistance to those still dealing with the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and to those who feel they have no options other than crime. Such assistance will involve tutoring and other forms of educational support, as well as peer to peer counseling.
The only community capable of affecting change is a solid one. Men and women in our community feel powerless and hopeless. May Day New Orleans endeavors to heal this breach, to bring these men and women together, to restore a sense of responsibility for the well-being of all in our community.
View our July 4th protest where we urged New Orleans city officials to open public housing rather than demolish them so that displaced Katrina survivors could return home.
Watch May Day Founder Sam Jackson present at Culture Project’s “Articles of Impeachment” program, where he discusses the government negligence that occurred following Hurricane Katrina.