City cuts power to Black St. Louis after tornado disaster, escalates forced removal

Has your power been cut off in St. Louis after the tornado? The Burning Spear wants to hear from you. Please fill out this form: https://theburningspear.com/st-louis-tornado-damage-report-form/

On June 2, the St. Louis city government cut off electricity to thousands of tornado victims in the Northside Black community.

Shortly after a tornado tore through the Black community of North St. Louis on May 16, red tags reading “Danger. Entry prohibited. Violators subject to prosecution”, were placed by volunteer inspectors who did not enter the homes but made cursory assessments from the sidewalk.

Mayor Cara Spencer had announced shortly after the May 16 tornado that the city would be directing Ameren to shut off the power to every red-tagged building, a minimum of 1500 homes.

The city has not cut off power in the mostly white southside nor condemned damaged properties there, raising concerns that the city government is using the tornado disaster as an opportunity to gentrify and displace Black residents from their homes and neighborhoods.

Some of the homes in the Northside Black community have already been repaired and roofs replaced following the storm. Others had suffered partial non-structural damage and are safe to enter. Many residents had returned to their homes, restocked their refrigerators and were proceeding to clean-up and rebuild.

“I live on Red Bud Avenue”, said Ekenge Mayele. “They had come through and put a red tag on my house even as the contractors were on-site actively repairing the roof. Last night my power was cut off and I lost all my food again. Turn the power back on!”

Residents fear the loss of their homes if they are not allowed to return and repair the damage.

Forced relocation underway

According to Westbrook, lifelong resident and President of the St. Louis branch of the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement, “a massive land grab is happening in St. Louis right now, using the tornado aftermath to finish the job of the Team 4 ‘let it rot’ plan.”

This strategy of “benign neglect” was devised in the 1970s to forcibly remove the Black population and make way for gentrified housing for the drone-operating mercenaries employed at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (Pentagon of the West).”

The Team 4 plan determined to withhold infrastructure and other investment in the Black community on the Northside and dedicate resources to downtown and the white Southside of St. Louis.

As a result, St. Louis’ historic Black community—home to the first Black teaching hospital and first Black high school west of the Mississippi—has been steadily destroyed.

St. Louis University today occupies the former property of an entire Black neighborhood and there's a mall standing on the grave of another.

Within the last several years, over 30,000 Black people have been pushed out of the City of St. Louis.

“Benign neglect” left Northside vulnerable

On the Northside of St. Louis, thousands of properties are owned by the Land Reutilization Authority (LRA), a government entity that holds properties obtained through tax foreclosures and works under the St. Louis Development Corporation to “facilitate real estate development and perform land assemblage for future development.”

Observers say that the deteriorated condition of these old buildings left the Northside vulnerable to flying bricks, metal and wooden debris in the tornado’s 150 mph winds. Rotten wooden electric poles snapped like matchsticks, spewing live wires into the street.

Militarization of North St. Louis

Northside residents say the only response they’ve seen from the City is a military response, with the imposition of a curfew and introduction of National Guard troops.On May 15, the day before the tornado hit, Mayor Spencer announced her appointment of Colonel Ben Jonsson as the City’s new Chief Operating Officer. Jonsson is a high-level military operative previously in command of U.S. air bases, combat operations and “provided crisis leadership during the current Gaza-Israel conflict”.

Political observers note that May 15 is the day of commemoration for the “Nakba”, also known as the Palestinian Catastrophe, which comprised the destruction of Palestinian society and homeland in 1948, and the permanent displacement of a majority of the Palestinian people.

Many see parallels between the continued forced removal of the Palestinian people from Gaza, which has included cutting power to the occupied territory, and the attempts to forcibly remove Black people from their homes in North St. Louis.

They ask why a high-level U.S. military operative would be brought in to manage operations for a civilian city if not to strengthen a police state and control an oppressed population.

“Colonel Ben Jonsson cut power to Gaza; now he’s doing it to Black St. Louis!” says Christopher Gladney, President of the Northside Independent Neighborhood Association. “We remember Katrina and we’re not moving!”

“Show us the money”

Damages to St. Louis from the May 16 tornado are estimated at over $1.5 billion, the brunt of the devastation borne by the Black community. St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer has asked residents to be patient.

Local organizers counter that the City is flush with funds that are long overdue to the Black community. They cite:

$498M in federal ARPA COVID relief funds awarded to the City where less than 10% went to Black groups.

In 2021, a settlement with the NFL awarded $290 million to the city and another $169 million to St. Louis County. This urgently needed money sits in an investment account while politicians debate how to spend it. It has already accrued over $30 million in interest. Nine days before the tornado hit, Mayor Spencer had met with Missouri Governor Kehoe to discuss her scheme for spending this money on downtown business development.

$42M City surplus from last year

“Our community needs these resources now!” says Ona Zené Yeshitela, President of the nonprofit African People’s Education and Defense Fund, whose Black Power Blueprint project has invested over $1 million building community programs on the Northside and is now raising funds and organizing volunteers for tornado disaster recovery.

The International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement is asking the public to reach out directly to the St. Louis City government and Ameren electric company to “restore power now and release the City’s funds to build the Northside!”

Office of Mayor Cara Spencer: 314-622-3201, mayor [at] stlouis-mo.gov

Ameren Corporation: 314-621-3222

Building Commissioner Ed Ware: 314-622-3391, public-safety [at] stlouis-mo.gov

Building Division: 314-622-3313, dps-building-division [at] stlouis-mo.gov

Supervisor of Building Inspector Tim Jeffries: 314-622-3493, jeffriest [at] stlouis-mo.gov

Public Service Commission: 573-751-3234, pscinfo [at] psc.mo.gov