Mississippi African-American Remote Communities Struggle for Survival

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=53041

In Katrina's Wake, Mississippi African-American Remote Communities Struggle for Survival; Community Groups Dedicated to Preservation Now Seek Resources to Rebuild

9/9/2005 4:42:00 PM

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To: State Desk

Contact: Derrick Evans of Turkey Creek Community Initiatives, 617-688-0846; Trisha Miller of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, 202-294-3547

NORTH GULFPORT, Miss., Sept. 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, cities and municipalities in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama are scrambling to deal with massive infrastructural, commercial, residential and emotional destruction. While the public focuses on the billions of dollars of damage to metropolitan areas like the once-bustling hotels and casinos along the Mississippi coastline, the destruction experienced in remote, poor communities has garnered less attention. Two such communities are North Gulfport and Turkey Creek, historically African American neighborhoods located a few miles north of the Mississippi coastline.

North Gulfport and Turkey Creek are communities rooted in African American history. Purchased and settled by a group of recently emancipated African Americans in 1866, the few acres of land later known as Turkey Creek was a vibrant, self-sufficient neighborhood, replete with farms, homesteads and the first African American school in the Gulfport region. In the early 1900s, North Gulfport and Turkey Creek also served as refuges for African Americans that were banned from Gulfport's local beaches due to the growth of lucrative resort development. At the time that Katrina struck, North Gulfport and Turkey Creek were the sites of numerous historic homes and minority businesses. Community groups and residents have been working hard to obtain historic preservation status and build affordable housing. Now, the communities are fighting to survive.

The wrath of Hurricane Katrina has seriously damaged these areas. Residents who survived the hurricane report that the flooding from the storm water had reached the rafters of homes, while winds ripped away hundreds of rooftops. The elderly that stayed behind were rescued by neighbors using makeshift boats and floatation devices. While many residents have been accounted for, some have lost everything they own. Since relief efforts have concentrated in the metropolitan areas of Gulfport and New Orleans, survivors in the remote areas of North Gulfport and Turkey Creek have not received adequate resources and are still in dire need of medicines and supplies to subsist and rebuild.

North Gulfport and Turkey Creek residents are committed to rebuilding their communities and need help now. If you have questions and/or would like to help, please contact Derrick Evans, Executive Director of the Turkey Creek Community Initiative at 617-688-0846 or Trisha Miller, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law at 202-294-3547.

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The Lawyers' Committee is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights legal organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to provide legal services to address racial discrimination.

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