Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Remembrance...

Two years ago today was like any other day until it wasn’t. I'm sure I went to work, laughed with some people and bitched about something...and then came Katrina.

I am unable to recall Katrina without selfishly thinking about my home, my family, my friends, my neighborhood and my beloved dawgs. And I am unable to think about what happened in The Gulf without being disgusted by what did not.

After two years this nation is still reluctant to go to war with poverty or advocate on behalf of the working poor or invest in our ancient infrastructure. My home city of St. Louis is a river town with levees and water marks on some city buildings, so there but for the grace of God go all of us or any of us.

Not a damn thing has changed but the date.

I don’t need a special segment-based retrospective or a special edition of the evening news. I simply close my eyes and see all that water, so much water, and the terror, so much terror.

One massive visual indictment of public policy gone wrong and government gone insane, forever married to the rebuilding which stands as a testament to the will of the people who remain and return to make their home rise again.

Go on with your bad selves down there in The Gulf.

Go on and show 'em where it's at...

14 comments:

SagaciousHillbilly said...

Dear Black Lady,
How is it that an angry black lady from St. Louis and a sagacious hillbilly from rural West Virginia post similarly on two of their last three topics in the past 24 hours (granted, the sophistocation of your posts out pace mine by miles)? I swear, I aint copying!
That aside, the country should be outraged and grieving over the state of things in N'Orleans. Remeber how quickly they cleaned up downtown Manhattan?
Unfortunately, the proles just trudge along oblivious.
Warmest regards,
SagaciousHillbilly

Anonymous said...

In honor of the anniversary of Katrina, and noting that The Man will not bail you out, I recommend that everyone get Flood insurance. Get it even if you don't live in a flood plain or near a large body of water. It's cheap and you'll sleep better.

Great post, Fu

C-Money

Anonymous said...

The nerve of Scooter Bush to show up and offer encouraging bullshit ...ooops, I mean words. He said "Laura and I don't live here" No shit. If he did someone would have whomped him by now!

Unknown said...

You know what else is pure unadulterated bullshit?

The Mississippi gulf region has rec'd more govt funds to rebuild than NOLA, and their damage wasn't even close to the level of NOLA.

Could it be that Mississippi votes Rethuglican and NOLA doesn't?

I report you decide..but my hunch is that voting record has alot to do with it.

Fuckwits.

Good post ABB..you made me cry..and it takes alot to do that to this hardened soul.

Maya's Granny said...

I can't remember where I read it, such is the curse of the older brain, but just in the last few days I read an article on the Internet about this positing that New Orleans has been left as it is to prevent black citizens from returning, thereby turning the state into a GOP stronghold. I've become so suspicious of everything this government does that I wouldn't doubt it.

christine mtm said...

2 years... in some ways it seems like just yesterday... probably because it is never ending for too many people.

about two months after katrina hit i wound up "homeless" too. my son had lead poisoning and we had to move out of our home for 6 months for it to be abated. every time i started to really feel sorry for myself i remembered the people of the gulf. i still had a home, all my belongings, everyone was still alive (even if my son was sick), and i knew eventually we would go home. the same couldn't be said for the people of the gulf who had lost so much.

proudprogressive said...

Remember Katrina was a man made disaster -
Yep, 2 yrs out and ...look what we have vs. what we should be seeing IF the government were not implementing a clear agenda, under our noses. An agenda that is social and political. (I did a post yesterday too)
The Chimp has some nerve, alright. The Red Cross has nerve (crooks). And yeah I think it was K.O. that said Miss. being all reptilian, I mean Repthugican , got more money in Aide than Lousisana ...why doesn't that surprise me one bit !? (fends off a digression into the history of Southern Dems)

2 YEARS OUT, We ought to be seeing round the clock leevee repair work, all the schools/hospitals ,public housing, and utilites opened,running and the wetlands being restored. .. But what do we see ?
My gawd , the streets at least could be cleared - by this point in time. Hmmmmm...
This is about way more than Mis management , way way more. Its the "polical economy" in action. Bush's Contract ON America. And on Democrats as well, though the way the Dims act lately - that is a charade (fends off another digression) - Kenye West was onto something - yep.

Did you hear the Chimp wants 50 billion MORE borrowed bucks, for the illegal occpation for Iraq ? That would bring the spending up to 3 , yes 3 Billion a WEEK.

Meanwhile The Gulf Coast , and the 9th Ward of NOLA is langishing as if it were not part of the United States.
This is not about wanting the man to bail anyone out - this about what kind of country we are, how do we care for cities/persons when disaster strikes. If the country were a body - would we want the head , to just let a foot or leg rot from neglect ? None of us are immune. Insurance companies are allowed too many escape clauses. If you flood, they will say it was wind...you know the score.

BarefootCajun said...

Amen, sister, amen.

Anonymous said...

Can you blog on the Jena 6?

Here's a link with some info on contact information to pressure people to cover the issue more:

http://community.livejournal.com/blackfolk/5248007.html

September 20 is the trail for Mychael Bell

The Lazy Iguana said...

As someone who currently lives in an area prone to hurricanes, the Katrina thing leaves a lot of questions.

1. Florida has a plan. And it seems to work. Granted, most of FL is not below sea level and there are no levees holding back the sea. Only the everglades and one large lake. Speaking for South Florida, we have an excellent emergency management plan. The phone books tell you what zone you live in. Mandatory evacuation orders are given based on the location of the storm and your flood zone. These orders are given with enough time for people to get out. So what happened there? What was the City's plan? Did it have one? And if not, why not? Coastal cities should all have a plan for hurricanes.

2. Mississippi did suffer heavy damage. The flooding was not as dramatic as it was in New Orleans, but the damage was there. I saw it. So to say Mississippi did not need money or that it got more money is not really true. You can go to Mississippi today and still see damage. It took South Florida close to 10 years to recover from Andrew, and there was no flooding. Only wind damage. It is likely it will take New Orleans at least that long, if not longer, to recover. Hurricanes are very destructive to economies and property.

3. Does Louisiana and New Orleans have a plan now? I hope so!

4. Even when there is a plan, people are ALWAYS reluctant to leave. Here in Miami, the "mandatory" orders are not really mandatory. The cops will not drag you out of your home. You ARE told "from here on out you are on your own, do not call 911 we will not come to get you once the causeway is under water". And people always ignore orders and choose to stay. So how many people were told to leave but did not? I can not really blame them - it had been a very long time since a big storm was in that region. People forget. People think "it will not be so bad". Sometimes they are right, sometimes they are wrong. Nobody thought the levees would break. But one thing is 100% - if another Katrina was bearing down on New Orleans the city will be empty when it hits. At least I hope so. They need to leave signs around the city showing where the water level was as a future warning to people living there. Get out while the getting is good! Come back later. If your property is destroyed, at least you are still alive. That is the important thing.

Anonymous said...

ABB,

Not that you need anything else to piss you off MORE about this, but Rude Pundit's less eloquent take on this drives home your point:
http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2007/08/katrina-plus-two-years-bush-goes-to.html

Shark-Fu said...

Anon...

A bitch is preparing a post on the Jena Six that should go up this weekend.

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

The rich want the rest of us to drop dead. They don't care.
I have been to St.Louis only a couple of times and saw it from the air on a lovely day, and I thought, "This is a great place." Why the problems?
Well, it's because we have starved the public sector to death.

risingsun said...

Let's not fool ourselves. Hurricane Katrina lifted the veil and allowed the rest of america to see the virulent racism that preceded the hurricane. Folks the reality is the struggle still continues. Did you know that the national guard came into the superdome and removed the white people only. The lack of black empowerment in new orleans is a continuation of the post reconstruction era when blacks were terrorized out of positions of authority. The lengths they will go to keep us down is chilling. When they come for me I will not freely go to any of there encampments. we must work together and unite. If no other folks are willing to work with us we will have to network and fight for ourselves. Turn anger into action. Peace and courage to all.

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