In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Sharon Hanshaw realized the women in her East Biloxi, Mississippi, community needed a political voice to counteract the big developers and casino owners who took the lead in reconstruction efforts. She helped found the group Coastal Women for Change and now serves as its executive director. Hanshaw and other East Biloxi women work to communicate with their local and national political representatives and keep the community informed on what it needs to know to rebuild.
While many homeowners and business owners still haven't recovered nearly five years after the hurricane, the community is bracing for the full impact of the BP oil leak that's spewing millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The oil will affect communities and fishermen throughout the Gulf region. TAP spoke with Hanshaw about how fishermen, restaurant workers, and landowners are dealing with the environmental tragedy and preparing for the upcoming hurricane season.
What are you all doing so far to deal with the oil spill?
We've had three meetings thus far, and another meeting tomorrow. It's a very panicky situation because people are afraid. Hurricane season is about to start in two weeks. In these communities [fishing] is their livelihood. They ask, can I work? Can I take care of my family? Can I take my boat even though I don't have insurance?
BP is trying to answer them, but it's not enough. All the seafood's going to go; the restaurants are going to suffer. It's still out there. It's in the sea -- that means it's out there. We should take precautionary measures at this point.
We're just trying to not put fear in people. We're trying to stay positive and hopeful, but we still know that we should be active in this.
What are you doing to get active?
We're trying to make sure [BP] gets the accurate information out. That's all we can do for now.
You're still recovering from Katrina. How devastating is the oil?
I can't describe it. It's like a death sentence or something. I can't even imagine what that could be like. If it comes, you won't have any jobs. You would have to think about, what could we do besides clean up? What else can people do? They really want to know what their career is. They want work for a paycheck. If you can't fish now, it's like, OK, let's clear the debris.
How has it already affected the community?
It's panicky. You know, it's sort of irrational thinking because people don't even understand how Katrina is still sort of here. It's still kind of resonating in our minds. When we think of any type of devastation, we think of Katrina automatically because people still live in the cottages. Others don't fully understand what people who live in it feel; they think people should be over that. But if you don't have a house, and you're still paying for a mortgage, but it's only a slab there ... that gives you a hopelessness. Then we have the job market, [which] failed because all the businesses failed. While we deal with that, we're still going to the [Environmental Protection Agency], BP, and asking for any information that they have.
How many people live off the seafood and restaurant industries?
About 13,000, a huge number. All these different constituents are having meetings. They're having meetings separately, and I'm like, do you know that you all have the same plight? But that's our problem. We don't know how to think that way.
A majority of fishermen are Vietnamese, but there are black and white fishermen. But they're having their own meetings, and it's like, "Oh, here we go." It's redundant to be separate, and you got the same plight here. I see it all the time.
Why do you think they're still meeting separately?
Just cultural, and territorial, and racism. We have Mexicans, Latinos, and Jamaicans, and Vietnamese, and all these nationalities are here. And it's like, "Our culture, don't let people take it away." But I don't think it's taking away your culture; it's just sharing information. That's how individuals feel -- you can't fight against that. That's just my two cents.
Are people there joining the cleanup effort?
Locally, they're stepping up big time. They're doing debris cleanup, without any training. They can't go into the water because they have to have serious training to do that. All they're doing is getting debris and stuff on the beach.
Do people you talk to have more faith in the government now, or has the response to Katrina ruined that for good?
It's damaged. You just have to show me. I don't want to hear any conversations anymore -- just show me. This oil spill is happening right now; we're in a major fight for our schools. So we're meeting Monday with schools and meeting with BP oil on Tuesday. There are just too many fights going on at one time, so how can one person accrue all this information and be really positive and stay in tune? There's so much going on. You can't even choose. Both of them are major fights; both of them are our livelihoods.
What is the community doing to prepare for hurricane season?
We're partnering with the Red Cross and Salvation Army and letting them know what they need to have in place. We have a few shelters, but we're not relying on shelters on the coasts. We're trying to identify places inland. We're trying to get people with their insurance papers three months of medicines, water, clothing, cash money, all those things in case they have to go anyway. Those kinds of things -- we're trying to keep the immediate needs in place, and those things can help even with the oil spill.
We still have people that are calling wanting to come back here just to live. We still have people gone from Katrina.
