Between The Lines - Jordan Flaherty: Many Poor and Black Residents Driven Out of New Orleans by Post-Katrina Recovery Policies (Week Ending Sept. 4, 2015)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

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Many Poor and Black Residents Driven Out of New Orleans by Post-Katrina Recovery Policies

Posted Aug. 26, 2015

Interview with Jordon Flaherty, journalist, community organizer and author, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

August 29th marks the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and all the devastation and displacement it caused. The city of New Orleans, in the direct path of the storm, has been rebuilt in ways that have excluded many of its poor and black residents. One Louisiana congressman observed that Katrina enabled the power structure to do what it hadn't been able to do previously -- tear down virtually all the public housing and rebuild mixed income developments that are better for those who got to live in them, but which prevented thousands of poor African Americans from returning to their city.

Approximately 100,000 black residents are still displaced ten years after Katrina and housing prices continue to rise. According to a survey conducted by Louisiana State University's Center for Media and Public Affairs, nearly 80 percent of New Orleans' white residents say that Louisiana has "mostly recovered" since the storm, while nearly 60 percent of black people say that the state has "mostly not recovered" in their view.

Between The Lines Melinda Tuhus made several trips to New Orleans following Katrina, where she reported for this program and other media outlets, as well as volunteering in various capacities. Melinda spoke with Jordan Flaherty, a journalist, community organizer and author of the book, "Floodlines: Community and Resistance From Katrina to the Jena Six," about the changes that have come to the city since Katrina, and the grassroots struggles to promote the interests of people who've been marginalized by those changes. Here he begins by talking about the takeover of the public schools by the charter school movement after Katrina.

For more information, visit Jason Flaherty's website at jordanflaherty.org.

JORDAN FLAHERTY: Before the storm we did have a very problematic school system; we had some very good schools and some very bad schools. And when the storm came, I think certain powerful forces saw this as an opportunity to reshape the school system. And in doing that...breaking down roughly along lines of race, the white power structure of the city felt the problem with the school system was the school board and the teachers and the teachers' union. So they went about destroying the power of the school board, the teachers' union and the teachers. I would say overall - obviously there are differences - but many black people in the city felt the problem was lack of funding, infrastructure that was falling apart and low teacher salaries. And those problems were not really addressed. Now, there's been a lot of money that's come in because there's a lot of these foundations, including Oprah Winfrey and the Gates Foundation, that are very excited about charter schools. It's sort of a cause that unites liberals and conservatives and neo-conservatives. You recently had a couple years ago, Newt Gingrich and Al Sharpton doing a tour together where they were both talking about charter schools as the one item they could agree on. So you had this unified front of money that went in to these charter schools and it did make some better, but it brings up the question, Couldn't you also have improved local schools if you put that money into them? So now there is more money being spent, too, but I think for a kid with small resources, they're not necessarily better now than they were before Katrina.

BETWEEN THE LINES: I was talking to a homeowner from New Orleans last week who said she'd never be able to afford a house in the post-Katrina market. So what caused the big jump in housing prices?

JORDAN FLAHERTY: Right, exactly. Well, home prices overall citywide have gone up 46 percent since Hurricane Katrina; that's to buy homes. And in certain neighborhoods prices are going up about ten percent per year. Rent prices have gone up even more, especially in some neighborhoods. And it's still very inexpensive when you compare it to home prices in New York or California, but we just don't have the economy of those cities. Most people are still reliant on these service economy jobs, jobs in the tourism industry, many of them being minimum wage jobs and with a minimum wage job it's very hard to afford rent or almost impossible to buy a home in the city today. So increasingly, black residents of the city are pushed further out or indeed into the suburbs; the percentage of black people in the suburbs has gone up slightly because they cannot afford to live in the city anymore.

BETWEEN THE LINES: So, big picture, Jordan Flaherty, what do you see as the forces reshaping New Orleans into a whiter, wealthier city than it was before Katrina?

JORDAN FLAHERTY: When you look at it, overall it's about the direction of the recovery. There was $71 billion of federal funding that was spent, and a lot of that disproportionately went to the wealthier neighborhoods. I think the clearest example of that is the federally funded, state administered program call the Road Home program. This was probably the biggest source of money to people that wanted to rebuild. First of all, this program only went to homeowners so it completely left out renters in the funding support to be able to come back. Then, even within homeowners, the money the people would get was based on property values, so you could have two homes that had the same amount of damage, same square footage, same cost to rebuild, if one of those homes was in a white neighborhood they would get more money than a home in a black neighborhood. And overall within that program, white homeowners got about 40 percent more money than black homeowners, which added up to tens of thousands of dollars per person in difference. So that's a huge part of why it became harder for people to live here.

You also had the demolition of public housing - that's thousands of units of affordable housing that were taken off the market. And when you take thousands of low income units off the market, that raises the market for everybody.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Do you have any final words on the current situation?

JORDAN FLAHERTY: I would just say there's an incredibly vibrant resistance here, incredible organizing that's happening. The Congress of Day Laborers is an organization in the Latino community here that has up to 400 members coming to their weekly meetings. You have Breakout, which is an organization of LGBT youth of color who are dealing with the prison industrial complex who have won real changes in policies around policing and in the jail. You have Women with a Vision, that's an organization that's worked with indigenous women, especially drug users and sex workers, and have organized for rights for that community. So you have a really vibrant social justice tapestry here that is fighting for changes and I think what people from other cities can learn from this experience is the way that people have fought against these neo-liberal changes.