4/26/2008 Community Gumbo

Listen | Democracy Now (4/24/08)

• The US Role in Haiti’s Food Riots
• Thousands of Delegates Tackle Climate Change Issues at UN Forum on Indigenous Issues
• “Welcome to the Axis of Evil”—Bolivian President Evo Morales to Paraguayan President-Elect Fernando Lugo
• Up the Yangtze: Documentary Takes on Social Impact of Three Gorges Dam in China

Under the Claiborne Overpass

Despite strong statements made by Mayor Ray Nagin that he would have homeless people removed from an encampment underneath the Claiborne I-10 overpass, the makeshift homeless gathering of troubled post-Katrina victims remains. A deeper understanding of the problems of the homeless is provided in three interviews.

Listen | Tommy

Tommy says he chooses to live in the streets because "The Mission" rules are too strict to let him have a night job, and he prefers his freedom to following rules.

Listen | Jesse

Equal parts street-wise and guardian angel, once living among the homeless in Duncan Plaza in front of City Hall, thanks to Unity of New Orleans, Jesse now has an apartment, and uses his time away from work to help those still living on the streets.

Listen | Eddie Cox

On his nineteenth trip from Texas to New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina, Eddie Cox spreads the message of Jesus through his "Smokin' for Jesus Barbecue," and exhibits a genuine understanding of, and compassion for, the homeless.

Music Played:

Robert Pete Williams, "It's a Long Road," Louisiana Blues, Takoma, 1980.

John Lee Hooker, "House Rent Boogie," The Hook, Chameleon, 1989.