The Common Ground Collective is a decentralized network of

non-profit organizations A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

offering support to the residents of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Algiers neighborhood of the city in the days after Hurricane Katrina resulted in widespread flooding, damage and deaths throughout the city.

History

Common Ground Relief, or Common Ground Collective, was founded on September 5, 2005, based on the ideas of

Malik Rahim Malik Rahim (born Donald Guyton in 1948) is an American housing and prison activist based since the late 1990s in the New Orleans area of Louisiana, where he grew up. In 2005 Rahim gained national publicity as a community organizer in New Or ...

, 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 Jackie Sumell (born 1973) is an American multidisciplinary artist and activist whose work interrogates the abuses of the American criminal justice system. She is best known for her collaborative project with the late Herman Wallace, one of the fo ...

, Jimmy Dunson, Kerul Dyer, Suncere Shakur, Naomi Archer (Ana Oian Amets), Emily Posner, and Jenka Soderberg. Common Ground started with delivery of basic aid (food, water, and supplies) that was arriving daily from the

Veterans for Peace Veterans for Peace is an organization founded in 1985. Initially made up of US military veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War, and as well as peacetime veterans and non-ve ...

Bus. Led by

Desert storm The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

Veteran Dennis Kyne, they carried food and supplies brought in from

Camp Casey, Crawford, Texas Camp Casey was the name given to the encampment of anti-war protesters outside the Prairie Chapel Ranch in Crawford, Texas during US President George W. Bush's five-week summer vacation there in 2005, named after Iraq War casualty US Army Sp ...

. Plenty International would also play an instrumental role in the beginning of relief efforts and the establishment of a greatly needed medical

clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care nee ...

in Algiers. The effort expanded to providing assistance to homeowners and residents trying to move back into other areas of the city and region—such as the

Lower Ninth Ward The Lower Ninth Ward is a neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. As the name implies, it is part of the 9th Ward of New Orleans. The Lower Ninth Ward is often thought of as the entire area within New Orleans downriver of the Indust ...

, St. Bernard Parish, and Houma—where flood-protection infrastructure had failed after the hurricane.

Common Ground Health Clinic The Common Ground Health Clinic is a non-profit organization that provides quality health care in Algiers and Gretna, Louisiana. Common Ground Health Clinic provides programs to address community health care needs through collaborative partnerships. ...

had its beginnings when The

allocated contributions to purchase medical supplies. This money would come from the messages

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ...

sent to his followers. 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 The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

had appeared up to that point. The clinic offered

first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...

, took blood pressure, tested for

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

, and asked about symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other disease. 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. An

ABC News ABC News is the journalism, news division of the American broadcast network American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other progra ...

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News' Late night television in the United States, late-night television news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other network ...

'' report described the volunteers as "mostly young people filled with energy and idealism, and untainted by cynicism and despair, and mostly white, hohave come from across America and from countries as far away as Indonesia." The health clinic was especially helpful to remaining residents of New Orleans immediately after the hurricane since Charity Hospital and other emergency care providers were not available. 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

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...

philosophies of many of its members. Some of the services and facilities they provided free to residents included debris removal, aid distribution centers, roving medical clinics,

bioremediation Bioremediation broadly refers to any process wherein a biological system (typically bacteria, microalgae, fungi, and plants), living or dead, is employed for removing environmental pollutants from air, water, soil, flue gasses, industrial effluent ...

for toxic areas, house-gutting, roof-tarping, building neighborhood computer centers, free tech support for

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

s, stopping home demolitions in the

Lower 9th Ward The Lower Ninth Ward is a neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. As the name implies, it is part of the 9th Ward of New Orleans. The Lower Ninth Ward is often thought of as the entire area within New Orleans downriver of the Indus ...

, supporting community and backyard gardens,

anti-racist Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate ...

training for volunteers, a tree planting service, and legal counselling services. Common Ground volunteers established seven health clinics and nearly 100 community garden projects within a year. In early 2006, Common Ground Relief volunteers completed an unsanctioned clean-up of

Martin Luther King Charter School Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

in the Lower 9th Ward, which was subsequently reopened. 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

. In November 2007 Thomas Pepper was the current operations director of Common Ground Relief.

Woodlands Apartment Complex

In May 2006, Common Ground Relief (CGR) assumed management of the

Woodlands Apartment Complex Woodlands may back refer to: * Woodland, a low-density forest Geography Australia * Woodlands, New South Wales * Woodlands, Ashgrove, Queensland, a heritage-listed house associated with John Henry Pepper * Woodlands, Marburg, Queensland, a herit ...

, 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 Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonia (gens), Antonii'', a ''gens'' (Roman naming conventions, Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were ...

reneged on his verbal agreement with CGR and sold the building to

Johnson Properties Group LLC Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

. In November 2006, they took action to evict more than 100 families from the property. Common Ground Relief lost approximately $750,000 in payroll, landscaping, electrical, plumbing and carpentry expenditures.

FBI infiltration

Brandon Darby Brandon Michael Darby (born November 2, 1976) is an Americans, American conservative blogger and activist. He first became known in the fall of 2005 for actions in New Orleans in efforts to help residents, where he was a co-founder of the Common G ...

, an Austin activist who moved to New Orleans to help after the hurricane and served as Director of Operations of Common Ground Relief from January to April 2007, admitted in 2008 to serving as an FBI

informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informant ...

in the months before the

2008 Republican National Convention The 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008. The first day of the Republican Party's convention fell on Labor Day, the last day of the popu ...

. According to ''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González (journalist), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, whi ...

'', "Darby has admitted to wearing recording devices at planning meetings and wearing a transmitter embedded in his belt during the convention. Darby testified on behalf of the prosecution at the trial of

David McKay David McKay or MacKay may refer to: Arts * Dave Mackay (musician) (1932–2020), American jazz pianist, singer and composer * David Mackay (producer) (born 1944), Australian record producer/arranger and musical director * David McKay (activist) ( ...

Midland, Texas Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States. A small part of Midland is in Martin County. At the 2020 census, Midland's population was 132,524. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas metropolitan ...

who was arrested at the RNC on charges of making and possessing

Molotov cocktails A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with flammab ...

References

External links

*
Common Ground Health ClinicNew Orleans Women's ShelterRubarb Bike Collective
{{Authority control Hurricane Katrina recovery in New Orleans Anarchist collectives Anarchist organizations in the United States Medical and health organizations based in Louisiana

History

Woodlands Apartment Complex

FBI infiltration

See also

References

Further reading

External links