We forward the message thereafter for publication as kindly asked by GOGO Music head Ralph Gumm.
Toni Sea who just releases her first dance single, produced by Ralf GUM, on GOGO Music helps the victims of hurricane Katrina with a benefit to raise money. Would be nice, if you could publish.
Best regards,
Ralf (GOGO Music)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joy-Ann Reid, (954) 558-9762
Moss Point, Mississippi residents: 'we've been abandoned'
Family of first Black Miss Mississippi, local pastor say aid bypassing Moss Point, Escatawpa in favor of more affluent areas
Residents of Moss Point, Mississippi feel cut off from the world. The city of 16,000 people near the Alabama border, 70 percent of whose residents are Black and most of whom are low- to moderate income, was heavily damaged by the flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina. Much of the city remains flooded, and many residents are living in homes pooling with foul water and dwindling supplies.
A local pastor who has spent the last week delivering what aid he could to Moss Point says that while media attention and relief aid have flowed to neighboring towns like Pascagoula and Biloxi, predominantly Black towns like Moss Point are being ignored.
"We're being treated worse than the people of New Orleans," said Rev. James Harris of First Missionary Baptist Church. "FEMA isn't here. The Red Cross isn't here. Everything that they give away is in Pascagoula. ... We're trying to feed and help people in this community and we are doing it alone."
"The place looks like somebody dropped a nuclear bomb on it," says Cynthia Seawright-Wright, who along with her sister, Toni Seawright, the first African-American woman to be crowned Miss Mississippi (1987-1988), is working to focus attention on the Moss Point area. The home of Toni Seawright's twin sister, Tina, was destroyed in the hurricane, as was Cynthia's home in neighboring Escatawpa.
"People are still stuck in flooded homes, they are in need of food and water, people are running out of their medication," she says. "The governor says everything is working fine and the federal government is doing such a great job. Obviously he hasn't been out here."
FEMA has promised to open an aid center near Moss Point in the coming days, but Harris and Seawright-Wright are skeptical. They say Moss Point desperately needs fresh supplies, including clothing, food, water and children's' items, and they need them now.
Toni Seawright, meanwhile, has reached out to friends in the entertainment community in New York, and plans a benefit to raise money -- and awareness -- for the plight of her hometown.
"Moss Point is still struggling more than a week after they should have gotten help," Toni Seawright says. "That's not acceptable. Where is the governor? Where is the federal government?"
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Contacts:
Toni Seawright, New York (917) 862-9747 - cell
Cynthia Seawright-Wright, Biloxi, Mississippi (228) 238-7650 - cell, (248) 390-3392 - text
Rev. James Harris, First Missionary Baptist Church, Moss Point (228) 475-6172 - church / aid distribution headquarters, (228) 326-1285 - cell
Aton Edwards, New York - (718) 222-8306 - home, (917) 848-6905
Xavier Bishop, Moss Point mayor, Moss Point City Hall: (228) 475-0300
Links:
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