Jackson addresses recovery funding, Imus at town hall forum (Louisiana)

ascensioncitizen.com ^ | 04/13/07 | Wade McIntyre

[Ellesu]

LUTCHER - The Rev. Jesse Jackson announced Tuesday a march and rally to be held in New Orleans April 28 to help evacuees of New Orleans and South Louisiana return home.

During the town hall-style event at First Community Antioch Baptist Church, Jackson also jumped into the storm of controversy surrounding radio talk show host Don Imus and Imus' recent comments regarding the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

Jackson addressed a crowd of supporters from Ascension, St. James, St. Charles and St. John the Baptist parishes.

The rally is set to call attention to what Jackson termed the "log jam of federal funds" for Hurricane Katrina recovery work that is held up in Baton Rouge.

"Twenty billion dollars in federal funds has come to Baton Rouge, but only $2 billion has gone to New Orleans," Jackson said. "The money got to Baton Rouge and it is bottlenecked."

Jackson said his Rainbow Push Right to Return and Reconstruction Project was called to act because 250,000 Louisianans are "in exile," and only about 3,000 of 150,000 who have applied to the Louisiana Recovery Authority for loans have had their applications processed.

Those who march will do so for the right to return to their homes, reclaim their land, rebuild their houses and businesses, and register to vote, Jackson said. He called on churches and labor organizations to send members to the march which will begin at Frederick Douglass High School in New Orleans and proceed into the Lower Ninth Ward.

"It's not just for black and brown people," he said. "Everybody has a right to reclaim their land."

Jackson said persons who have been exiled from New Orleans must be counted in the census, and must have easy access to voting including satellite voting.

"Just because you are away does not mean you are not in New Orleans," he said.

Jackson, who was about 30 minutes late for the meeting, said he had been doing media work in New York on "the Imus outrage" that erupted after the acerbic talk show host said on his program that members of the Rutgers women basketball team were "nappy headed hos."

Imus has publically apologized for the comment and has been placed on two weeks probation by his parent company, CBS.

CNBC, who carried a simulcast of Imus' morning show, also announced Wednesday that it would cancel the coverage. Thursday, CBS fired Imus.

Jackson said Imus had been placed on probation before for derogatory remarks after he said on air that tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams would have a better chance posing in National Geographic magazine than in Playboy magazine.

Jackson blamed both Imus and "his team of cohorts" for the conversation about the Rutgers women, and he called for Imus to be fired.

Today, more black men are in jail than in college, and jail management and construction has become an industry, he said. But, when black women achieve "they get to Rutgers and they are still nappy headed hos."

Jackson said while Imus broadcasts 1,040 hours per year of air time on MSNBC, the station does not have single black host.

"Every day the media portrays blacks as less intelligent than we are, less harder working than we are, less universal, less patriotic, and more violent," he said. "There is no counterbalance in the way the media portrays blacks."

Jackson, who said he would be attending the wake of Grambling football coach Eddie Robinson later in the day, also asked those in attendance to donate money to fund the April 28 "holy day" march. He first asked for $100 donors to stand up, then $50, $25, $10 and $5.

[GeorgiaDawg32]

consider the source..

[tsowellfan]

I hope Jesse replaces Imus on MSNBC. Jesse Lee Peterson, that is.

[Feckless]

Every time I see or hear this scumbag I want to dig up James Earl Ray and kick his decomposing ass.

[BBell]

I get so tired of the give me give me crowd down in New Orleans. I live just North of NOLA and we were inundated with upwards of 7 feet of water in my neighborhood. People have either rebuilt or are rebuilding. Most of my neighbors had this novel thing called INSURENCE. I sometimes wonder why we even had insurance when the government is bailing out those who didn’t have any or had inadequate insurance. We could of had a big big screen TV with the money we payed out in a single year.

[Brilliant]

My suspicion is that Sharpton, Imus, and Jackson are in cahoots, and are trying to breathe new life into Imus’ flagging ratings.

[ThisLittleLightofMine]

You too can be a Reverend.....at www.ulc.com, it’s fun and cheap.