Ten Days In – The Campaign Continues

While it has been only ten days since the Justice for Our Neighbors Coalition first took shape, the people of Cedar Rapids who found themselves caught in the flood zone have been suffering for more than two years. Enduring forced buyouts, evictions, the decay of public services and public property while the interests of the rich are catered to and C.R. is rebuilt in the image of the elite, the people are now standing up and declaring: enough is enough!

Our Coalition has grown. It will continue to grow. As we head into our third weekly meeting this Saturday and begin the plans for our public activities, we are pleased to announce the launch of CR Today, a growing compilation of images and videos that display for all to see the suffering that has befallen our city since the summer of 2008.

You can now also follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with our campaign to create a worker and survivor-controlled flood recovery program in C.R.

Welcome!

Welcome to the official web page of the Justice for Our Neighbors Coalition, a group founded to promote a working peoples’ flood recovery in Cedar Rapids.

Since the flood of 2008, flood survivors have been ignored, pushed aside and abused by all levels of government as they affect a recovery that is in their vision – that is, a recovery that favors big business and their loyal servants in office as opposed to the needs and desires of the survivors.

These attacks, which are detailed in our Founding Statement and will continue to be detailed in JfONC’s public releases, have not gone unnoticed. Since the immediate aftermath of the flood there have been courages individuals standing up to the government-business plot to cheat flood survivors out of the recovery and assistance that is owed to them. While the Mayor and the Chamber of Commerce pat each other on the back for their “job well done”, we have been organizing. While the city implements a forced buyout program to clear the Time Check neighborhood and make way for an expanded business district, we have been organizing.

Now we come together as an established coalition, structured democratically from the bottom up with the aim of placing recovery into the hands of the people whose lives will be affected by it. JfONC invites all individuals and organizations who agree with our Founding Statement to join our efforts, whether they are flood survivors themselves or Iowans who wish to stand in solidarity with their beleaguered brothers and sisters.