Bobby Rideau of New Orleans hangs his head after cars, including a state police vehicle, ignored his requests for water.
Photo: Andre F. Chung, Baltimore Sun
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Two Years After Katrina: Still Weathering the Storm (hour-long special)
August 29, 2007
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An half-hour version of this program is available here.
It’s been two years since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast. Two years since the levees broke and changed the face of an entire city, state and region. And despite hopeful signs of renewal, New Orleans and many parts of the Gulf Coast are still in disrepair. So how much has really changed? How much has stayed the same?
On this special one-hour edition, we’ll meet day laborers, grassroots organizers, hear musicians, and we’ll visit the lower 9th ward – one of the areas most devastated by the floodwaters.
Featuring:
“Music Montage” – New Orleans voices gathered by producer George Ingmire and sound editor, Matt Fidler, composed music and put together piece.
“Remembering New Orleans News Flash” – various news voices reporting on Hurricane Katrina.
“Lower Ninth Ward” – Diamonds Eugene, Lower Ninth ward resident, takes us to his home six months after the flood.
“Common Ground Collective” – Floyd Brooks, Ninth Ward homeowner; Malik Rahim, co-founder Common Ground; Gabriel Cohen, Common Ground volunteer.
“Sit down with Malik Rahim” – producer George Ingmire talks with Common Ground’s co-founder about New Orleans today.
“Youth Radio’s Angelica Robinson” – Angelica Robinson, narrator and lower ninth resident; Robert, Christopher, Raymond Robertson, brothers; Robert Sr. and Angelique, dad and mom.
“Re-imagining the Shotgun” – Timothy Holmes, new homeowner; Emilie Taylor, design-build project leader; Charles Lucia, Tulane University architecture student; Lauren Anderson, neighborhood housing services.
“Immigrant and Migrant Laborers” – Israel Lopez, Senor Jose Castillo, Manuel, Lorenzo Alvarado Duran, immigrant labor workers; Marco Amador, National Day Laborer Organizing Network member and New Orleans Worker Center for Racial Justice field worker.
“Mexican Consulate” – Arturo Balderas and Mirella Rangea, consulate workers; Professor Elizabeth Fussell, Tulane University sociologist.
“New Orleans Musicians” – Joe Cabral, Iguanas co-founder; Keith Frasier, Rebirth Brass Band drummer; Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu; Terence Blanchard, Trumpeter and New Orleans native.
Senior Producer/Host: Tena Rubio, Open Society Institute Fellow
Associate Producer: Puck Lo
Contributing Freelancers: George Ingmire, Matt Fidler, Justin Beck, Youth Radio’s Angelica Robinson, Eve Troeh, Reese Erlich, Sarah Olson
Sound Editor: Matt Fidler
Interns: Samson Reiny and Joaquin Palomino
Special thanks to all of those who made this show possible… especially to Steve Masar, Phillip Babich and Mike Lamar.
This series was made possible in part by the PRX (Public Radio Exchange) Reversioning Project, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Open Society Institute.
For more information:
Common Ground
1415 Franklin Ave.
New Orleans, LA 70114
www.commongroundrelief.org
Common Ground Health Clinic
(Latino Health Outreach Project)
1400 Teche Street
PO Box 741801
New Orleans, LA 70174-1801
504-361-9800; healthalgiers@yahoo.com
www.cghc.org
The People's Hurricane Relief Fund (PHRF)
1418 N. Claiborne, Suite 2
New Orleans, LA 70116
504-301-0125; 1-888-310-PHRF; info@peopleshurricane.org
www.peopleshurricane.org
New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice
803 Baronne Street
New Orleans, LA 70113
504-881-6610
Workplace Justice Project
Loyola University New Orleans, College of Law
7214 St. Charles Ave., Box 901
New Orleans, LA 70118
504-861-5550; molina@loyno.edu
Hope House
916 Saint Andrew St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-522-5881
Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans
4700 Freret Street
New Orleans, LA 70115
504-899-5900
info@nhsnola.org
www.nhsnola.org/index2.htm
Rebuilding the Seventh Ward
A Collaborative Design/Build Project in New Orleans's Seventh Ward
http://7thwardbag.pbwiki.com/
New Orleans Musicians Hurricane Relief Fund
828 Royal St., #833
New Orleans, LA 70116
800-957-4026 or 504-596-6496; info@nomhrf.org
www.nomhrf.org/3/
New Orleans Music Clinic-Keepin' the Music Alive
2820 Napoleon Avenue, Suite 890
New Orleans, LA 70115
504-412-1366
www.neworleansmusiciansclinic.org
www.savenolamusic.com/index.php
The Iguanas
www.iguanas.com/index2.html
Youth Radio
1701 Broadway Avenue
Oakland, CA 94612
510-251-1101
youthradio@youthradio.org
www.youthradio.org
Other helpful links:
The Neighborhood Story Project
P.O. Box 19742
New Orleans, LA, 70179
713-857-4693
Rise Above Katrina
1735 Shady Lane Drive
Jackson, MS 39204
601-3722898
riseabovekatrina@yahoo.com
Lower 9th Ward Homeowner’s Association
1120 Lamanche Street
New Orleans, LA 70117
lindadavis@yahoo.com
Bethel Lutheran Church
(Disaster Ministry and Hurricane Katrina Ministry)
2521 Pass Road
Biloxi, MS 39531
228-388-1226; bethellutheran@gmail.com
William Carey University School of Psychology
Gulfport Campus
1856 Beach Drive
Gulfport, MS 39507
228-897-7100
Mississippi Gulf Coast Children's Health Project
(The Children's Health Fund )
215 West 125th Street, Suite 301
New York, NY 10027
212-535-9400
www.childrenshealthfund.org
www.childrenshealthfund.org/programs/gulfcoast.php
Project Relief in Gulfport Mississippi
www.churchaliveag.org/missions.html
Reviews of this program on PRX (Public Radio Exchange):
Posted: 8-23-2007
Reviewer: David Swatling , Radio Netherlands
Every radio station in the US should make use of this Katrina special - tailered to your needs with one-hour & half-hour versions, or individual segments. I listened to the full hour which flew by even though I'd heard some of the material in a program last year. But it's all been refreshed and updated.
It begins with a rich montage of voices and music, followed by a recap of original news coverage which ends with a voice filled with so much emotion I found tears filling my eyes - and this at only 8 minutes into the program. A powerful introduction!
The stories which follow are all excellently produced testaments to individual grit and determination in the face adversity and frustration: the passionate organizer of Common Ground, abused immigrant construction workers, a 15 year old girl who weathered the storm with her family.
What's extraordinary is how often the word "hope" is still spoken - despite the appalling failings of the Bush administration. It's unfathomable that one of America's great treasures has been left to fend for itself while billions are spent waging war in Iraq. I'm not a particularly religeous person but I say, God bless New Orleans and God bless the National Radio Project for this inspiring reminder of the city's indomitable spirit and will to rise again.
Rating: 5/5
Adjectives: Provocative, Real, Sound Rich
~~~
Posted: 8-21-2007
Reviewer: Mik Davis , WUSM
"2 Years After Katrina" is a stunning piece of audio journalism. It uses the voices of those affected by the storm and its aftermath to illustrate the damage and the struggle to recover that goes on today. By avoiding a central broadcaster and focusing on those unheard voices, it is blistering and real. Since it is so realistic, my recommendation is only for those stations in locations that were not in Katrina's wake.
Rating: 4/5
Adjectives: Contemplative, Emotional, Sound Rich