NEW YORK - February 28 - This week marks the six-month anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. As media outlets, political commentators, and everyday Americans refocus briefly on the disaster, it's important to reopen the discussion of unequal opportunity in America and to build support for real change.
Our communications during this period can make the connection between the people of the Gulf Coast, who were abandoned in the storm and continue to struggle to restore their lives, and the broader problems of vastly unequal opportunity, poverty, and disenfranchisement that continue to exist in so many parts of our country.
To that effect, The Opportunity Agenda has created a set of online tools designed to help people concerned with social justice highlight the vastly unequal opportunity revealed by Katrina and advance solutions that can expand opportunity in the Gulf Coast region and beyond.
Click here to access the toolkit, or go to http://www.opportunityagenda.org/katrina.
In this toolkit, you will find:
- Talking Points for use when talking about Katrina to the media or at public gatherings,
- A Factsheet containing an array of data to help support your messages about opportunity denied, and solutions that work,
- A Letter to the Editor Temate to urge your local papers to keep their coverage focused on the disparities revealed by Katrina,
- Media Watchdog Tips to urge cable and network news outlets to cover opportunity issues and to include more diverse voices in their Katrina coverage,
- A Letter to your Representatives Template to encourage elected officials to ensure that America lives up to its promise as a land of opportunity for all.
The release of these tools marks the first in a series of tools and multimedia focusing on the implications and future of American opportunity in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. We hope that these tools will aid you in your Katrina related work, and continue to promote positive solutions that empower the people of the Gulf Coast and expand opportunity for all.
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