Katrina Information Network (KIN)

This initiative draws on interactive technologies to galvanise people to take action online and within their communities to demand justice where they feel that people are suffering wrongly and needlessly. KIN provides information and tools to inspire citizens to raise their voices - for instance, by giving 5 minutes per week to read weekly emails and engage in e-advocacy ("In a few clicks, you will have helped local efforts move national policy.") KIN's solidarity resolution urges Congress and the President to act immediately to adequately fund just recovery for the residents of the Gulf Coast to include victims compensation, complete restitution, and the creation of a formal, independent oversight commission with representation from communities hardest hit by the hurricane. KIN encourages every American to make his or her voice heard by contacting local, state, and/or federal representatives to urge them to sign the resolution. In addition, KIN calls people to participate in its virtual rallies and events, to start a letter-writing campaign, to host an event at universities and/or churches to raise awareness and the profile of the ongoing struggles of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. KIN's 29 for the 29th is list of recommended actions is designed to provide everyone - regardless of how much time or money they may have – opportunities to support the rebuilding effort and help keep New Orleans in the public eye and at the centre of national conversation.

Recognising the centrality of music to the history and culture of the city hardest hit by the hurricane (New Orleans, Louisiana), KIN has created public service announcements (PSAs) such as one featuring local musician Joseph Francois (Joe Blakk), who uses rap and hip hop to educate and organise youth and community members to fight for social change. He is at the forefront of creating a structure for combining the resources of faith networks, the indigenous musically based "Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs", and the hip hop generation to create a resident voice and force for quality public education, safe neighbourhoods, affordable housing, and quality jobs. Creating a PSA featuring his music and encouraging people to take action through KIN is part of Blakk's work.

On the occasion of the 3-year anniversary of Katrina, KIN launched a new phase in its just recovery campaign: a grassroots corporate accountability effort. Using similar strategies as those described above, KIN began ratcheting up its efforts to hold accountable the 11 companies found by Congress to have overcharged taxpayers and placed the lives of Hurricane Katrina survivors at risk. 

Risk Management, Rights.

Although the purpose of KIN is to move beyond providing facts toward sparking people to act, here are a few statistics (provided by KIN) that highlight the situation in the Gulf Coast, more than 3 years after the disaster:

• Number of apartments currently being built to replace the 963 public housing apartments formerly occupied and now demolished at the St. Bernard Housing Development: 0
• Percentage of the rental homes that were supposed to be repaired and occupied by August 2008 which were actually completed and occupied - a total of 82 finished out of 10,000 projected: .008%
• Number of families still living in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailers in metro New Orleans area: 6,982.
• Number of houses demolished in New Orleans since Katrina: 10,000.
• Number of homeless in New Orleans even after camps of people living under the bridge has been resettled - double the pre-Katrina number: 12,000.
• Number of children who have not returned to public school in New Orleans, leaving the public school population less than half what is was pre-Katrina: 32,000.
• Number of Louisiana homeowners who have applied for federal assistance in repair and rebuilding who have still not received any money: 39,000.