I have to be really honest right now and say that my ultimate love for Spike Lee has been revived. Last night was the first half of his documentary on Hurricane Katrina. And in my desire to convey what I saw last night, this is the moment where my frustration as a writer comes in because once again, I don’t have the adequate language to truly tell you what I felt in watching this film. One thing I really love about Spike Lee is that he didn’t beat around the bush and he didn’t tap dance around the issues, he brought everything out front and center for all to see and made us all really look at the tragedy that was the aftermath of Katrina. Even from basic things that you don’t even think about, to the blatant and tragic disregard of those who are supposed to be looking out for us.
As someone who has deep ties to New Orleans, not just from my days at Xavier, but from my familial ties, I found myself stuck to the television for days after the hurricane, sickened and frightened by what I saw. I felt helpless as I dialed and redialed my brother and fathers phone numbers, hoping and praying that one of them would answer. I watched the people in the superdome, with no running water, over flooded and unusable bathrooms, no medical supplies or help, no basic needs, dead bodies surrounding them as loved ones died from heat and lack of food and water, all sitting in these conditions, and waiting for some type of relief. I watched these images everyday and never once did it dawn on me, that with all of these cameras and reporters documenting what was going on, that there was no help being provided. The people that were being pulled from the rooftops and were being rescued from their homes were being dropped off at the Superdome and left there with the same false sense of hope that someone was coming to rescue them. Spike Lee took it a step further and literally showed what each of Bush’s cabinet members were doing during the DAYS after the hurricane hit. Fishing, shopping, tightening up their tennis game, and claiming that they were unaware of what was going on. Now Bush *drops head and shakes it* Bush’s life…I just can’t call it. Bush sat in his office, sat on his plane, chilled and had various meetings, pretending as though the situation was not as bad as it was. He took trips to Mississippi, giving hugs to white women and kissing babies, defending his decision for continuing to send money to Iraq while people in New Orleans were dying. The National Guard, that can get to anywhere in the world in a day in a half did not show up for days after the hurricane.
The crazy thing is that in 1965 another really bad hurricane hit New Orleans and at that time, talk of the levees not being able to handle the impact of the storm was brought up. So apparently, this is not an old problem. Spike Lee showed a film reel, where President Lyndon Johnson, traveled to New Orleans in 1965 after Hurricane Betsy and was in the trenches with the people who had just lost their homes and possessions. One of the commentators said, that that act of just being there showed the people of New Orleans, that yes, America cared about them and that help was there. Then Spike cut to a picture of Bush sitting in the window of Air Force one looking out of a window at the devastation, never even coming down and viewing the tragedy first hand, except to kiss babies in hug white women in Mississippi. …right.
One of the most powerful moments in the documentary for me was after the citizens were starting to get rescued after barely surviving for days in the conditions in the superdome, and then they were shuttled to busses and the airports where they were forced to stand for up to 15, 16 hours straight, waiting to get out of there. One of the things that I did not know was that people were being lied to about where they were being taken. Families were literally separated and spread out, without knowing where each other were going. Just. Like. Slavery. Oh man, that was so crazy to think about. One man was saying that it took him months to find where his family had been taken to because there was no way of communicating because no one knew where anyone was. Think about it. How crazy is that in today’s progressive, land of the free, people were still treated like animals, forced to live in unfathomable levels of filth and human remains, being completely stripped away from their families without knowing how to even get in touch with them. Imagine being dropped off in Utah, and being thrown the peace sign and not know how to get in touch with your loved ones. And what I love the most is that the people who were supposed to care the most, were in New York buying Manolo’s.
Another thing I didn’t know was the fact that the mayor of New Orleans was so gangster! I love how he responded to the tragedy and it literally took him cussing out whomever was listening to the radio that day for help to finally come. He was in the trenches with his people, in the water, not bathing for 4 and 5 days because there was no running water. His only concern was for the welfare of his people. And the governor, let her petty beef with the Mayor delay the help because she wanted to prove a point. Come on! Mark Morial, the former mayor said it best when he said, when there is a situation as big as what was going on with Katrina, you should have enough sense to know that all political beef needs to be thrown out of the window and lives need to be saved. People were literally dying in front of our eyes and she wanted to take time to think about it to prove a point. This documentary is so crazy because honestly, the little things you don’t really think about, like what is it like to be sitting next to your mother, in the heat of a Louisiana summer, waiting for someone to come and rescue you, and realize that she is dead. And then have to sit next to her body for another three days while you are still waiting for help to come and rescue you. Or to hear the water gushing up your door and going back to save your wife who is in a wheelchair and ultimately having to release her and the wheelchair because the water is coming so quickly, and having to watch your wife sink into the water, and there is nothing you can do about it. All while our elected officials, are fishing, shopping and working on their tennis game.
I don’t know if I am ready for part two…but watching this film has put a lot of things into perspective for me…I’m just saying.
