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New Orleans ACORN Organizer Wins Award

By Terri Rimmer

Stephen Bradberry, the head organizer of ACORN’s New Orleans chapter will be recognized with an honor on Nov. 16th named after the late Robert F. Kennedy.

On Oct. 4th the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial announced that it would give its 2005 Human Rights Award to Bradberry for his hurricane relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina.

As head of the New Orleans ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) chapter Bradberry has been instrumental in educating, advocating, and lobbying for citizens in the areas of predatory lending and lead poisoning in children among others.

Since the disaster Bradberry and his members have been organizing volunteers in their Baton Rouge office. During relief efforts Bradberry went above and beyond to protect the rights of hurricane victims.

The Robert F. Kennedy award was established in 1984 to honor those who fight for justice.

On what would have been RFK’s 80th birthday Bradberry will receive the honor in Washington.

ACORN works together all over the country to fight social injustice and economic problems.

In a press release issued by Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, they stated that: “At a time when our nation is faced with hard questions about the role of government and the realities of poverty, Stephen Bradberry has become a voice for the low income communities of New Orleans.”

Finding a place for the low-income person was a central theme for RFK, according to the Memorial.

The award marks the beginning of a partnership between Bradberry and the RFK Center to help things improve for low-income families.

In a Dec. 10, 1966 statement RFK said, “If men are to be free for that “pursuit of happiness” which was the earliest promise of the American nation – we will need more than poverty programs, housing programs, and employment programs, although we need all of these.”

According to the Memorial, RFK believed that each individual holds the power to invoke change and that “each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.”

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