A discussion at the Community College of Allegheny County Allegheny Campus took a new approach at examining the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina.

On Sept. 18 New Orleans natives Alex Johnson, Ph.D., president of CCAC and Mary Smith Peters, chair of the board of directors for YWCA Greater Pittsburgh, tied the experience of the Ninth Ward residents living in poverty to those in Pittsburgh.

NEW ORLEANS NATIVE—Mary Smith Peters of YWCA shows before and after photos of her destroyed childhood home.

“It’s important that we revisit national occurrences like Hurricane Katrina for many reasons,” Johnson said.

Johnson and Peters showed presentations highlighting the fragile infrastructure present in New Orleans before Katrina. They both discussed problems involving the economy, healthcare and public safety saying these problems are also present in Pittsburgh.

“What we need to think about is that the poverty that existed in New Orleans, not only existed there, but it exists here,” Peters said. “You can look around this community and say the same conditions are present.”

The average annual income for individuals in New Orleans and in Pittsburgh is around $31,000, according to Peters’ presentation. Peters also noted that in Pittsburgh one in two Black adults have no full-time job.

Despite the poverty in New Orleans, Johnson and Peters also focused on the rich culture found there. They explained that staying to weather hurricanes was part of their culture and residents often celebrated afterwards.

“The culture that existed there exists everywhere in this country,” Peters said. “It is here in Pittsburgh.”  

Prior to the presentations, video clips from hurricanes Katrina and Rita were shown.

“It’s not only sympathy for the people in New Orleans. It should be concern for what we have here,” Peters said. “The structure that exists communally is our responsibility.”

During the discussion President Elmer Haymon, PhD, of CCAC’s Allegheny campus, Homewood-Brushton center and the Downtown center mentioned how much had been donated to Hurricane Katrina funds by Pittsburgh citizens. While praising this generosity Haymon pointed out it is also important to donate to those living here.

 “We still have homeless people,” Haymon said. “We still have people displaced.”

In light of recent hurricanes and the effect they have had on Pittsburgh as far as electrical outages, panelists discussed how the city has handled the crisis. Johnson said this particular crisis did not reflect poverty lines because it had affected neighborhoods inhabited by all classes.

 “What you might want to consider is whose electricity is being turned on first,” Johnson said.

However, Johnson did believe electricity issues would prove not to be biased in terms of economic status.

As education administrators, Peters (who is Associate Dean of Students at Point Park University), and Johnson see education as a key component to fighting poverty across the country.