6/2/07
After a long night and an early morning we loaded the bus and went to ACORN. I had never heard of the organization, but after our group conversation I had an understanding to what the organization was about. ACORN stands for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. It is the nation’s largest community organization of low income families, working together for social justice and stronger communities. For a community that has been destroyed to have so much unity and faith to continue to move forward is very inspiring. I cannot imagine how I would feel to lose my home to something I was totally unable to control and on top of the trauma with the hurricane, afterwards feel like I am not wanted back into my community or my city. I was very disappointed after learning more on the situation of the 9th ward.
We were able to tour the 9th ward, which is one of the lower income neighborhoods. It was like riding through a ghost town. There were many homes that still needed to be taken down and one particular house had these word spray-painted on it, “1600 people died for you to take this picture.” I was confused about the meaning of this quote, but I came up with two possible meanings 1) it was a request to let the story of the residents of the 9th ward not be forgotten; 2) it was a request to not treat that community as a tourist area.