Common Ground Collective
Formation | September 2005 |
---|---|
Type | Network of non-profit organizations |
Legal status | Active |
Purpose | To offer support to the residents of New Orleans |
Headquarters | 1800 Deslonde Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
Region served | New Orleans, Louisiana |
Subsidiaries |
|
Website | www |
The Common Ground Collective is a decentralized network of
History
Common Ground Relief, or Common Ground Collective, was founded on September 5, 2005, based on the ideas of Malik Rahim, a local community organizer and former member of the Black Panther Party; Scott Crow, an anarchist organizer from Texas; and Sharon Johnson, a resident of Algiers neighborhood. Other key organizers included Jackie Sumell, Jimmy Dunson, Kerul Dyer, Suncere Shakur, Naomi Archer (Ana Oian Amets), Emily Posner, and Jenka Soderberg.[2]
Common Ground started with delivery of basic aid (food, water, and supplies) that was arriving daily from the
Common Ground Health Clinic had its beginnings when The Veterans for Peace allocated contributions to purchase medical supplies. This money would come from the messages Michael Moore sent to his followers.[5] The first doctors and nurses providing services came through the VFP volunteer camp set up at PineView Middle School.
Providing outreach many volunteers began riding around on bicycles asking residents if they needed medical attention. Locals were 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 clinic offered first aid, took blood pressure, tested for diabetes, and asked about symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other disease.[6]
Common Ground volunteers helped to provide free services and home gutting in the Upper & Lower Ninth wards. As of March 1, 2009, more than 23,000 people, mostly young white people from throughout the United States and Europe, had volunteered with Common Ground Relief for various lengths of time. They worked in the predominantly black neighborhoods that were severely affected by flooding and damage from the storm, and where many residents were poor.
Common Ground Relief initiated a number of programs and projects following its inception in September 2005. Its organizing philosophy is dubbed "Solidarity Not Charity," reflecting the
Common Ground Relief can boast one of the most multidisciplinary of all teams. There are (categories not mutually exclusive)
In early 2006, Common Ground Relief volunteers completed an unsanctioned clean-up of Martin Luther King Charter School in the Lower 9th Ward, which was subsequently reopened.[13]
Common Ground Collective eventually split off into multiple independent organizations—Common Ground Relief, Common Ground Tech Collective, New Orleans Women's Shelter, R.U.B.A.R.B. Bike Collective, and the Common Ground Health Clinic. In November 2007 Thomas Pepper was the current operations director of Common Ground Relief.[14]
Woodlands Apartment Complex
In May 2006, Common Ground Relief (CGR) assumed management of the Woodlands Apartment Complex, a 350-unit complex of buildings. CGR 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, owner Anthony Reginelli reneged on his verbal agreement with CGR and sold the building to Johnson Properties Group LLC. In November 2006, they took action to evict more than 100 families from the property.[15] Common Ground Relief lost approximately $750,000 in payroll, landscaping, electrical, plumbing and carpentry expenditures.[16]
FBI infiltration
See also
- List of anarchist communities
- Nothing About Us Without Us
References
- ^ Mizell, Billie (2006-03-02). "Fifty Dollars and a Dream". Alternet. Retrieved 2006-05-06.
- ^ crow, scott (2011-10-23). "Black Flags and Windmills: Hope, Anarchy and the Common Ground Collective". PM Press. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
- ^ "LEAH GARCHIK". SFGate. 2005-09-07. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
- National Public Radio. Retrieved 2006-03-19.
- ^ "Google Groups". groups.google.com. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
- ^ Shorrock, Tim (March–April 2006). "The Street Samaritans". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2006-04-25.
- ^ Capochino, April (2006-04-17). "Common Ground volunteers bridge racial divide". New Orleans CityBusiness. Archived from the original on 2006-05-22. Retrieved 2006-04-25.
- Times-Picayune. Archived from the originalon 2007-03-12. Retrieved 2006-03-19.
- Infoshop.org. Archived from the originalon 2006-05-22. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- ^ "What Lies Beneath: Katrina, Race, And The State Of The Nation (publisher's overview)". AK Press. 2007-02-15. Archived from the original on 2011-06-11. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- It's Going Down. 2017-08-30.
- ^ Common Ground Collective (2006-01-06). "Solidarity Not Charity" (PDF). Common Ground Relief Volunteer Handbook. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-10-20. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- ^ Dyer, Kerul (2006-03-16). "New Orleans School Clean Up Begins!". Common Ground Collective site. Archived from the original on 2006-05-26. Retrieved 2006-05-06.
- ^ "Just And Sustainable New Orleans: Common Ground Relief". KNYO. 2007-11-29. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- Democracy Now. 2006-09-27. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
- ^ Drummer, Marina (2006-12-31). "Notes to Financial Statements" (PDF). Community Futures Collective Site. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
- ^ Buncombe, Andrew (2007-03-09). "Desolation row: The betrayal of New Orleans". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2009-08-23.
- ^ "Prominent Austin Activist Admits He Infiltrated RNC Protest Groups as FBI Informant". Democracy Now!. 2009-01-06.
Further reading
- A Healthy Dose of Anarchy: After Katrina, nontraditional, decentralized relief steps in where big government and big charity failed - Reason Magazine, December 2006
- This American Life, "Turncoat" episode
- Community Organizer Lisa Fithian of the Common Ground Collective on Rag Radio Interviewed by Thorne Dreyer, March 23, 2010
- Welch, Diana (January 23, 2009). "The Informant". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved September 13, 2017.