Forum examines social, political and environmental aspects of disaster

SAN FRANCISCO, November 7, 2005 – San Francisco State University will host the “Katrina Teach-in: Rebuilding on a New Foundation of Justice,” from noon to 10 p.m., Tuesday, November 15. The forum, open to students, faculty and community members, will be led by SFSU faculty and guest speakers from the Gulf Coast. Presentations will address the social, political, cultural and health-related issues that arose in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Organizers hope to increase awareness about government and community responsibility in the rebuilding of New Orleans. Discussions will focus on how issues of race and class determine the impact and response to disaster as well as ways in which rebuilding efforts can be designed and supported by grassroots, community-based efforts.

Sessions from noon to 4 p.m. will provide perspectives from SFSU faculty on the environment, politics and people in the Gulf States region. The afternoon will conclude with a musical performance by well-known New Orleans saxophone and flute player, Red Morgan. A Cajun buffet and "Dinner Dialogue" on health and social justice will precede the evening program.

Guest speakers for the events from 7 to 10 p.m. include Malik Rahim, founder of Common Ground Relief and native of the Algiers district of New Orleans; Curtis Muhammed from the Community Labor United and the People’s Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition of New Orleans; Judith Maxwell of Tulane University, an authority on the African American community in New Orleans; and Dr. Tomas Aragon of the San Francisco Department of Health, an expert on disaster preparedness.

The Katrina Teach-in was organized by the SFSU Department of Health Education, Public Health Organization of Graduate Students, Health Education Student Association, Health Education Access Link, College of Health and Human Services, Community Health Works, and the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences.

All events will take place in Jack Adams Hall in the Cesar Chavez Student Center on the SFSU campus at Holloway and 19th avenues in San Francisco. Admission is free. For more information visit www.sfsu.edu/~urbinins/katrina/ or call (415) 338-1413.