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GUEST: Dr. James Crowell, President of the Biloxi chapter of the NAACP

Last Wednesday, religious leaders protested a plan to divert housing recovery funds to expand the Port of Gulfport in Mississippi. The group of more than a dozen challenged Republican Governor Haley Barbour to answer their protest within 24 hours. Last September 7th, Governor Barbour announced a proposal that would redirect $600 million dollars of Community Development Block Funds for the purposes of rebuilding and expanding the Port of Gulfport. The Mississippi Development Authority claimed through a statement that the proposal sought to upgrade the port while restoring jobs and stimulating the gulf coast’s economy. Community members and housing advocates bemoan the move as tens of thousands of Mississippians are still displaced in the two year wake of Hurricane Katrina. They say that port is being prioritized over low and middle income residents and that it is just the latest in a series of waivers sought to ignore needs of displaced persons in need of housing assistance. The public comment period for the proposed reallocation of funds ends on September 24th.

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