Re: After the flood, there were Rainbows - Dallas Morning News - October 23, 2005
- From: "Sanity RE" <sanity-clause@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 23 Oct 2005 09:27:09 -0700
Bravo Filepe!
Rainbow News Service wrote:
> http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/DN-rainbow_23tex.ART.State.Edition1.4270d58.html
>
> After the flood, there were Rainbows
>
> 'Flower people' feeding hurricane victims, winning over skeptics
>
> 12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, October 23, 2005
>
> By ALLEN JOHNSON Jr. / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
>
> SOUTHWESTNEW ORLEANS - It was like two rescue ships passing at noon.
>
> MONA REEDER/DMN
> Nobody speaks for the Rainbows, the Rainbow Web site says, including
> Twilha Deer, whose pantomime and religious dancing provide entertainment
> outside her group's dining hall for hurricane victims in Waveland, Miss.
> The Rainbows are feeding folks in New Orleans as well.
>
> Shortly after U.S. Attorney General Al Gonzales announced a crackdown on
> Hurricane Katrina-related fraud here last week, a small procession of
> stoic federal agents in dark SUVs glided out of the French Quarter.
>
> Led by a wailing police siren, the convoy curved onto a wide boulevard
> near Washington Square. A conspicuous sign, posted by a group of
> colorfully dressed campers in the park, beckoned: "Welcome home New
> Orleans, Community kitchen, free meals."
>
> The federal cavalcade pressed on, en route to Mr. Gonzales' scheduled
> tour of a disaster relief center. Unlike other law enforcement and
> military personnel, the federal agents in New Orleans passed up a hot
> meal cooked by the Rainbow Family of a Living Light, a unique disaster
> response team on the Gulf Coast.
>
> A loose-knit network of about 50 long-haired organic apple farmers,
> medics, midwives and peace activists, members of the Rainbow Family were
> among the first relief groups to reach hard-hit Waveland, Miss., after
> Katrina struck on Aug. 29, a police spokesman confirmed.
>
> Operating under colored tents in a parking lot across from the Waveland
> Police Department, the group cooks and serves three hot meals a day to
> as many as 5,000 people in Waveland. The kitchen in New Orleans, set up
> about three weeks ago, can serve an estimated 500 people.
>
> In Mississippi, the Rainbows are gaining a reputation among law
> enforcement and county officials for hard work and tenacity.
>
> "They have been here pretty much since the beginning," says Lt. Brett
> Ladner, patrol commander of the Waveland Police Department and a 20-year
> veteran of law enforcement.
>
> "They are flower people, but they are busting their butts," Lt. Ladner
> says with a chuckle.
>
> Various church groups and relief organizations have come and gone, Mr.
> Ladner says. The Rainbows endure, and their tenure has not been without
> hardships.
>
> "When we pulled into Waveland, there were dead animals in the street,"
> said Felipe Chavez, 67, a long-haired Yaqui native of Arizona and
> tattooed veteran of the Marine Corps. "There was a big boat right next
> to the kitchen, and we had to move it."
>
> Rainbows proudly note the food they cook is donated, fresh and often
> organic. Yet, they cringe at any suggestion they are organized,
> competitive or otherwise structured. "We're not really an organization;
> we're just people," says Richard Rawski, 49, an organic apple farmer
> from Wisconsin, wearing a bright yellow T-shirt, purple sweatpants and
> sandals.
>
> The Rainbow Family itself defies easy description. The group has a Web
> site (www.welcome home.org), but no leaders or spokesman. The Rainbow
> Web site cautions: "It is a long-standing Rainbow Family consensus that
> nobody has ever, or ever will, represent the Rainbow Family."
>
> However, Rainbows acknowledge some common characteristics: They are
> pro-environment, accept alternative lifestyles, believe in nonviolence
> and worship God, whose definition is left open to interpretation. They
> advocate health and hygiene.
>
> Diners are asked to wash their hands in portable foot-pump-operated
> sinks. The Rainbows encourage peaceful dialogue and communal gatherings.
> Their tented dining room in Mississippi - dubbed "The Waveland Cafe" -
> is an example.
>
> "It was good to see the police and the firefighters sit down with people
> from the community," says Mr. Chavez.
>
> Since 1972, Rainbow "tribes" around the country have gathered during the
> first week of July for prayer meetings and fellowship at various
> national parks.
>
> "We try to be the true ideal of a hippie," Mr. Rawski says. That ideal
> includes freedom from material values and a "9-to-5 job.' "
>
> Mr. Chavez rejects any perception that Rainbows practice "free love."
>
> "We are not here to fornicate. We are God-loving people," he says. "We
> are here to serve."
>
> Near the entrance to the park, the Louisiana state flag hangs next to a
> rainbow flag of equal size. They are strung together between two crape
> myrtles. A kitchen wish list is taped across a tree, near the buffet
> serving tables.
>
> "I'm very impressed by the whole situation here," says Gwendolyn
> Ciniard, 55, a New Orleans painter who sells her works on Bourbon
> Street. "I had the chicken and rice and squash and apple. It was good.
> The pasta I wasn't too happy about."
>
> She politely adds that New Orleanians are Epicurean critics, then sighs
> wearily.
>
> "In times like these, it's great to have a little sense of community."
>
> Allen Johnson Jr. is a freelance writer based in New Orleans.
.
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