Montford Point Marine Still Serves

Thursday, September 1st, 2016
David Ferguson, a Montford Point Marine gives the memorial garden a drink in this archived photo dated Aug 21, 2015. Photo/Renee Carrerre

David Ferguson, a Montford Point Marine, gives the memorial garden a drink in this archived photo dated Aug 21, 2015. Photo/Renee Carrere

In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 executive order established the Fair Employment Practices Commission. This opened the door to “full participation in the defense program by all persons regardless of color, race, creed or national origin.”

The Marine Corps would eventually adhere to Roosevelt’s demands to start enlisting African Americans in June 1942.

Marine Corps put out a call to enlist 900 African American recruits between the ages of 19 and 29. Upon entering the military, “Colored” would be stamped upon their service record book. And the Marine Corps kept them segregated and established a training base at Montford Point in North Carolina.

They would come to be known as the Montford Point Marines.

Read More » Leave a comment

Timed for 11th anniversary of Federal Flood, Levees.org releases compelling video

Sunday, August 28th, 2016

Even now, there is still one last and very hurtful myth still lurking 11 years after the flooding in New Orleans during Katrina.

Fed up with this stubborn and erroneous piece of conventional wisdom, we have created this 3-minute video.

Timed for the 11th anniversary of the 2005 flooding, this video puts a dagger into a victim-blaming myth – that the pre-Katrina Orleans Levee Board neglected to properly inspect and maintain the levees.

Narrated by H.J. Bosworth, Jr. Thanks to Dan Poulin who kindly loaned his Ferrari. American flag art by Stanford Rosenthal. Filmed and edited by Ralph Madison.

Read More » 1 Comment

Could better inspections have saved New Orleans during Katrina?

Wednesday, August 24th, 2016
Complexity of urban flood protection systems in terms of cost, total population and value of property protected, and infrastructure investment.

Complexity of urban flood protection systems in terms of cost, total population and value of property protected, and infrastructure investment.

The Greater New Orleans urban flood protection system has no peer. On a scale of one to ten, if the GNO system were a ten, the next closest – Cape Girardeau, Missouri – would be a three.

And appropriately, for a system of this scope, each project in the $14.5 billion GNO system has – or soon will have – a highly detailed Operation and Maintenance, Repair Replacement and Rehabilitation Manual (OMRR&R).

The Army Corps of Engineers writes the guidelines. The local levee districts and the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Agency (CPRA) administer them. Nothing is left to chance for this, the most complex urban system in the nation in terms of cost, total population and value of property protected, and infrastructure investment.

Read More » Leave a comment