Confronting Gender After Katrina

An Interview with Shana Griffin
By Elena Everett

(From "One Year After Katrina" a 98 page report released yesterday by Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch)

There have been a lot analyses about race and class post-Katrina, how does your organizing philosophy differ and work to address women’s issues?

I, and the women I work with try to organize from an intersectionality approach that includes an analysis of gender, race, class, citizenship status, sexuality, and a critique of privilege. We try to organize from an unfragmented approach, meaning we don’t expect people to walk through the door and drop 3/4ths of themselves and come in as a just woman or just a black person. We don’t exist as just women, we do have a race and we do have a class and ethnic background. It’s important to look at things from an intersectionality - in the Gulf Coast there are reasons why things are unfolding the way they’re unfolding.

On TV, immediately after Katrina and as things began to unfold in the city with the flood waters, most of the faces we saw were women, poor black women and their children and their families. If you took any urban area and gave it 24 hour notice to evacuate, it would be the same population, the same poor black women in the most vulnerable situations.

What do you see as unique challenges and issues women have been facing in the Gulf post-Katrina?

One of the biggest post-Katrina challenges is the complete absence of consideration or special provisions to meet the needs of women. So many studies related to disaster or times of war and conflict show that women are one of the most vulnerable populations. Violence against women increases as well as their responsibilities since they are generally the primary caregivers for the elderly and children. There’s been an invisibility toward the needs of women of color in the Gulf Coast region.

To me, it’s not enough to have a solid race and class analysis, because beyond those two, you also need a gender analysis. Because of the absence of the gender analysis of many agencies, organizations who identify as women of color organizations have to constantly fight to render ourselves visible and at the same time, we have to justify our existence in the work that we’re trying to do.

New Orleans pre-Katrina population was more than half women and today when you look at the statistics around housing, healthcare, even incarceration  women and especially black women are much more vulnerable. In 2003 in Louisiana 80% of new HIV cases were black women - in public housing, the vast majority of tenants were women…I can go on and on  those who are most directly impacted are women when it comes to the aftermath of natural and man-made disasters.

How do you feel the initiative and clinic will work to address some of those issues?

The purpose of the clinic is to improve low-income and uninsured women of color’s healthcare access and to promote an holistic and community-centered approach to primary to healthcare. At the same time we look at the oppression and violence that have impact on the health status of women and to improve those situations. It’s more than providing healthcare services it’s also about challenging the conditions that limit our access and our opportunities, such as poverty, racism, gender-based violence, imperialism, and war. We see it as more than just a clinic  we want it to also be an organizing center that can meet immediate needs while also working for racial, gender, economic, and environmental justice.

We see our clinic as a great opportunity to talk to people and discuss why these services and this approach is needed. We have the power to reinvent ourselves and create institutions that are equitable.

Shana Griffin is resident of New Orleans and organizer with INCITE: Women of Color Against Violence and Critical Resistance New Orleans. Shana grew up in the Iberville Housing Development and is completing a Masters Degree in Sociology at the University of New Orleans. She is currently working on the Women’s Health and Justice Initiative, which is a coordinating with several organizations to open a Women’s Health Clinic this September in the historic Treme district of New Orleans. For more information, email whji_info at yahoo dot com.

Elena Everett is Program Associate, Institute for Southern Studies and Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch. She can be reached at elena at southernstudies dot org.

Comments

[dsfsd]

助听器协会网
天津助听器之家
中国助听器与耳聋康复网
中国助听器大全
斯达克助听器北京验配中心
丹麦助听器上海验配中心
湖南助听器网
名品助听器（南京）直销店
助听器价格查询网
北京助听器第一验配中心
上海助听器大世界
助听器中国聋儿康复网
中国助听器信息网
中国助听器折扣网
中国助听器直销网
国际品牌助听器(北京)直销中心
安徽助听器资讯网
助听器（广州）验配中心
贵州助听器信息港
中国聋人信息助听器之窗
聋儿家长助听器验配网
江苏助听器特价网
中国聋儿助听器直销网
甘肃助听器直销网
宁夏助听器网
广东助听器之窗
浙江助听器在线
山东助听器信息网
中国助听器联合交易网
中国特殊教育助听器信息网
拉萨助听器信息中心
上海助听器服务网
助听器
全国聋儿助听器展示交易中心
助听器资料库
北京崇文门助听器验配中心
广西助听器验配网
杭州助听器验配中心
非油品
中石化
非油品
中石化
进口轴承
噪音
消音

[yuntrip]

龙达网络昆明宏富昆明康辉云南葫芦丝昆明青旅 云南导游 保龙高速 云南手工艺 昆明中策 看看云南 云南信合 梦达尔 云南旅游 云南手机 云南旅游精品 云南膜结构 昆明洗车 昆明康辉 云南龙纳 昆明恒瑞信 云南旅游 康辉旅行社 云光集团 云南国旅 云南医药集团 云南中药信息网 云南旅游 昆明青旅 云南自由行 神州航空 昆明康辉 云南旅游 tourdesigner 云南省国旅 大唐汉方 精品课程 西部旅游 昆明国旅 昆明国际旅行社 昆明国际旅行社 昆明青年旅行社 玩玩云南云南中青昆明康辉 艾码互联云大宾馆 云建软件 云南海外旅行社云南中青国旅 云南旅游网 昆明康辉旅行社 龙行电脑 旅游云南 癌症治疗 高阳集团 云南民族服饰 康辉旅游 创绿集团 华夏韬略 昆明康辉 昆明商标 云南海外旅游 昆明青年旅行社 云南世博国旅 昆明出国留学 昆明国际旅行社 昆明康辉

云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游云南旅游