COLLEGE STUDENTS NATIONWIDE
PLAN SPRING BREAK IN THE GULF REGION
January, 2006 (New York, NY) - - College students will hit the Gulf Region Sunday, March 5th – Saturday, April 1st for Spring Break opting to engage in rebuilding instead of recreation. Katrina on the Ground is a Spring Break initiative organized by hiphop generation leaders and college students like Kevin Powell (Writer/Activist), Wesli Spencer (James Madison University undergrad), Rukia Lumumba (Howard University Law student) and BET's Jeff Johnson. They are partnered with leaders and organizations out of the Gulf Region like the Mississippi Disaster Relief Coalition, Malika Sanders of the 21st Century Youth Leadership, the People's Hurricane Relief Fund and the Grassroots Legal Network to provide much needed assistance in the trenches.
In the spirit of America's historic Civil Rights Movement, the mission of the Katrina on the Ground project is to aid in the rebuilding process, which is a direct result from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. This coalition of college students, regional and national leaders and organizations, along with Katrina survivors will focus on three major areas during this Spring Break initiative: 1) physical and emotional rebuilding of communities and lives; (2) legal and civil rights issues; and (3) financial literacy and empowerment for the affected citizens and region.
During the month of March, college students from colleges and universities nationwide will trek, first to Selma, Alabama for a day of orientation. Selma is the location for the 21st Century Youth Leadership, a nationally respected camp site for leadership training. And Selma is also where Dr. King led his last great march, in 1965; that march led directly to the monumentally Voting Rights Act of 1965. After this comprehensive session, students will be sent to provide hands-on assistance to Katrina survivors in Mobile, Alabama; Biloxi, Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Students will literally be living in the homes of local residents and will be working with local leaders and organizations, again in the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement.
"The purpose of Katrina on the Ground is to both bring national attention to this on-going tragedy that has devastated thousands of peoples' lives, and to usher in a new generation of leadership with the energy, vision, and drive to effect change," says Kevin Powell. "There has been nothing like this since the student-led anti-apartheid movement of the 1980s or obviously, the great student sit-ins and freedom rides of the 1960s. We expect anywhere between 500 and 700 students in March, then another wave throughout the summer of 2006, and for as long as it takes to rebuild that region for all the people who need help, who want to return, and should not be forgotten."
For more information on Katrina on the Ground, and participating organizations, please visit
www.katrinaontheground.com.
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Sounds like a GREAT ENDEAVOR!!
Katrina on the Ground: Spring Break Initiative
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