Why I started HUMAN INTONATION - part I

As I mentioned briefly in my last entry it was brought to my attention that many of my followers are still unaware of the reasons why I started HUMAN INTONATION a year and a half ago. So I will embark on a 3-part series to bring the back-drop to life starting with Katrina and leading up to our current work in HIV/AIDS prevention. I will also feature some of the classic H.I. tees associated with these stories and feel free to visit our website (http://www.humanintonation.com/) if you'd like to purchase and support!

HUMAN INTONATION - Classic Katrina KA Aftermath Men and Ladies Tees

20% of proceeds benefits Hands On New Orleans (http://www.handsonneworleans.org/)

Link to Purchase: http://www.humanintonation.com/proddetail.php?prod=kt004

True Life from Verneda: 29 August 2005 marked the beginning of a new chapter. My life would never be the same after that day when the powerful fury of Hurricane Katrina descended on New Orleans, LA. Every home, street, shop, and family heirloom that I knew growing up would be uprooted from existence as I knew them to be. My grandmother’s home in the lower 9^th Ward of New Orleans sat under 15 feet of water for two weeks after the levies broke. Nothing to be salvaged except one framed photo of my cousin Wesley that had survived on the marble coffee table in the front room although the ceiling had caved in and the rest of the furniture laid dismantled and rotting from water damage now 4 months after the storm.

Four months later, the storm looked like it had happened just days before. I drove not only through the 9^th Ward, but also into areas of New Orleans East where more members of my family lived. This area was not highlighted as much by the news so I was shocked to get off the highway to find nothing there- A dead suburban neighbourhood, four months after the storm. If I had the expectation that parts of the city were back up and running, I can only imagine what those who have no immediate connection to New Orleans, who are solely taking in their information by the media think. In many ways four months after the storm, New Orleans looks the same, as if it happened yesterday. FOUR years after the storm.

I needed to do something, a creative outlet to empower and support the rebuilding efforts in New Orleans, thus…apparel by HUMAN INTONATION. Today, the re-building efforts in New Orleans that HUMAN INTONATION has been fortunate enough to be a part of are making a difference in the lives of each person we’ve touched. In partnership with Hands On New Orleans (www.handsonneworleans.org), HUMAN INTONATION has completed two successful volunteer trips to New Orleans bringing volunteers to assist families in salvaging remains from the homes they have lived in for generations, removing debris from lots where nothing remained but a home’s cement foundation, and installing a playground in the yard of a charter school that spent months without electricity in its determination to bring education back to the city. Four years after Katrina, the work continues. Families are still trying to move back home. You too can continue to be a part of the rebuilding process by supporting Hands On New Orleans through the purchase of a classic HUMAN INTONATION Katrina KA Aftermath Tee. 20% of the proceeds from each sale are donated to Hands On New Orleans. This is the NEW Purpose of Fashion.

Fan Question: Do you think the post-Katrina work is done in New Orleans?