Hard Times in Big Easy

Abstract

We experienced Katrina, but did we understand what we experienced? Do we really know the causes of the damage that was done and who was responsible? Have we undertaken real efforts to compensate those whose lives were damaged and to redevelop the areas most affected? Isn’t it ironic that the two areas most affected, most damaged, most destroyed as the result of human activity and not simply the result of levee failure have received the least attention and have had only a minuscule amount of redevelopment compared to other areas of New Orleans? Is it any wonder I do not celebrate the redevelopment of New Orleans? What do I, a child of Lower Nine, have to celebrate?