From America Online (Black Voices):


SHEILA E.


BV: I saw you on Entertainment Tonight. Like a lot of people, I didn't know that you had family from New Orleans. Has your family been from there for a long time?


S.E.: Yeah, my mom, all her brothers and sisters and her mom and dad and my grandparents, everybody was born there in New Orleans. My mom is Creole.


BV: Is your family okay? Were they able to evacuate?


S.E.: We have over a hundred relatives there in New Orleans, so it's hard to find that many people in the first place. We have found or located about half of them right now. That's a lot because, at first, last week, we hadn't heard from anyone. We are finding them, so that's a blessing. A lot of them are relocated in different areas. Some went to Baton Rouge. Some went to Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Jersey, um, a couple have come here (California) and I know a majority of them want to come here I know that we're expecting a couple of relatives this weekend . . . so we're anxious to see them.


B.V.:I'm sure you are like the rest of us. It's just unbelievable.


S.E.:Yes, it's heartbreaking. It really is. I mean all of my family, everyone lost their home. You are talking about over a hundred people, so where are they going to go? And I'm not just saying just my family, it's just everyone there. They lost their homes. They have nothing. Some of them are trying to get here but they can't because some of them can't get on the plane because they don't have ID. It's all of the little things that we take for granted. They need a license to get a car so we have family members going to pick them up. On the other side, my dad's family in Dallas has opened their home for some of my cousins on my mom's side . . . finding schools for kids and, you know, money. I really don't understand why it took so long for something to happen. That's what's heartbreaking.


BV: What is your take on the governmental reaction?


S.E.: I'm very disappointed in how the government responded. It would be different if we didn't know that it was coming. We're watching this storm headed for New Orleans for a week, so why couldn't they have set up rescue units or whatever we had to do around the surrounding area outside of New Orleans to be prepared for this Category 5 hurricane? We knew it was going to be bad. We knew it was going to hit land. Why couldn't we just for the sake of having a B plan set things up for the people? It's a shame what's happened. We really need to pray for all these people and really try to help them rebuild their lives.

Thank for posting this. Sheila hit the nail on the head when she mentioned Plan B. Unfortunately, it''s up to us to come up with our own as the government is not gonna do it for us.

my love and thoughts go out to Mom E and her family..