In 2005, the streets of New Orleans were scattered with bodies sprinkled like confetti from the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Rain fell like bullets from the sky as the Heavens released their sorrowful tears onto the people of New Orleans, who feel especially passionate about this natural disaster; one prominent member of the New Orleans community during this time, known as Lil Wayne, later went on to write about the hardships of the time period in a song called “Georgia Bush”. From the introduction of the song “Georgia Bush,” the audience is automatically informed of Lil Wayne’s obvious hatred and fury with the subject matter at hand: former President George Bush, whom he blames for the horrible aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; Lil Wayne felt …show more content…
He states, “[The media] tell you what they want, show you what they want you to see / But they don’t let you know what’s really going on / Make it look like a lotta stealing going on.” It’s no secret that today’s media is known to create narratives that back their own ideologies, even going as far to completely spin an event and pay it as the opposite of what actually occurred. Such was the case during Katrina, as many news sources depicted scenes of murder and looting in the lower class alongside images of the reconstructive process and unity among the more fortunate. Lil Wayne later goes on to write “I ain’t no thief, I’m just trying to eat.” He witnessed first hand the struggles of the community he grew up in and is able to recognize the administrations relatively nonexistent action in the cities time of need. Thousands of people were in need of food and water, and without proper relief efforts, were forced to turn to looting abandoned stores to survive. However, the media portrayed quite the opposite, making these humans struggling for survival seem as if they are nothing but savages. This went on to create a misleading storyline concerning the disaster stricken city of New Orleans more specifically the Lower 9th Ward, was devastated almost to the point of no return, but it was in no way the war zone the media made it out to
In Verhsawn Ashanti Young’s article titled, “Nah, We Straight: An argument Against Code Switching,” he makes his objectives clear as he argues against people Right to their own language. The author questions the advantage of standard American English as opposed to other types of English. He refers to those aspect as code switching, which he believes can lead to racist thinking. Code switching, according to Young, calls out for one way of speaking to be omitted in favor of others, based on one's rhetorical situations. The author points out that students are required to translate from Afro-American English or Spanglish to standard English and not the other way around, which is concerning. Youngs method to get around this segregation is the usage
In New Orleans, many of those in lower class relied on public transportation and did not have the means to evacuate. Desperate for shelter thousands stayed inside the Superdome. Still, many did not evacuate and died inside their homes and many more were stranded without access to resources or help. The wealthiest were the ones most likely able to evacuate and receive the help and resources they
I was twelve when I first heard the name “Kanye West”. He was featured in a song I rather liked at the time called “Forever” and whilst discussing the song with my friend one afternoon I remarked:
He sent his words into the void for months, targeting both individuals experiencing similar situations within the scope of the Times-Picayune and those who were elsewhere desiring an account of events. Although not a native New Orleanian, he had made the metropolis his home. He evacuated for the storm but returned as soon as he could to provide newspaper coverage of the area. At this time of vulnerability, the newspaper existed to familiarize the uninformed with the new normal. Hurricane Katrina induced a diaspora of New Orleans natives across the country, and these people sought updates regarding their beloved city. Strangers utilized the same channel of communication to acquaint themselves with foreign circumstances. Those who had stayed behind delved into the newspaper seeking a foundation of hope to cling onto, and an understanding voice. This extensive audience encountered the same words and emotional
The film “When the Levees Broke” of spike lee is a four part series covering the events that took place before and after the devastation of Katrina on New Orleans and its residents. In August 2005, New Orleans was struck by Hurricane Katrina. People were unprepared for the disaster. As the city was flooding, levees safeguard failed the city, which caused the city to go underwater. In the film, part 1 shows hurricane Katrina and it’s impact. The flooding, rescue efforts and people trying to survive the disaster. Part 2 shows the aftermath with people that were evacuated waiting for help to come to the city. It was a very slow response to help and everyone was just waiting. Part 3 shows how people started to recover. Many hoped to return to their
In the late summer of 2005, a terrible tragedy occurred that changed the lives of many in the south-east region of the United States. A Category 3, named storm, named Hurricane Katrina, hit the Gulf Coast on the 29th of August and led to the death of 1,836 and millions of dollars’ worth of damage (Waple 2005). The majority of the damage occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana. Waple writes in her article that winds “gusted over 100 mph in New Orleans, just west of the eye” (Waple 2005). Not only was the majority of the damage due to the direct catastrophes of the storm but also city’s levees could no longer hold thus breaking and releasing great masses of water. Approximately, 80% of the city was submerged at sea level. Despite the vast amount of damage and danger all throughout the city, officials claimed that there was work being done to restore the city of New Orleans as a whole but many parts, and even the people, of the city were overlooked while areas of the city with higher economic value, and more tourist traffic, were prioritized along with those individuals.
... song entitled “Formation”. The filming took place in Los Angeles, but features references to Hurricane Katrina, with Beyoncé on top of a police car in a flooded street and later cuts to a man holding a newspaper with Martin Luther King Jr.’s face on it with the title “The Truth”. Later a young hooded boy dances in front of a line of police officers with their hands up before the video cuts to a graffitied wall with the words “stop shooting us “ tagged on it, at the end of the video the police car sunk with her on top. Not only did this song, bring awareness to the 10th anniversary of hurricane Katrina it also brought awareness to police brutality, racism, and the “black lives matter movement”. I stand with Lil Wayne, Beyoncé, the people of New Orleans and the countless others who are pushing for a change in the way minorities and the lower class citizen are treated.
Lamar has been successfully achieving his dream by rapping about the stress and difficult situations he has encountered but strongly claims that we will all be alright in his song, “Alright.” He released a song called “i” that reflects how violence has increased in the cities and how he wishes everyone should love each other as humans. His last song on “To Pimp A Butterfly” called “Mortal Man” he states “only because you don’t wear the same color as mine, that doesn’t mean I can’t respect you as a human being.” He clearly states how he understands the reputations of other gang members may seem important but should all still respect others as people. Lamar has been a role model to several students from the city of Compton that was able to create a scholarship called “Be Alright” that is based off the same song called “Alright.” Kendrick Lamar has been respectively producing music for his fans without a doubt of impressive beats and
According to Hurricane Katrina At Issue Disasters, economic damages from Hurricane Katrina have been estimated at more than $200 billion… More than a million people were displaced by the storm… An estimated 120,000 homes were abandoned and will probably be destroyed in Louisiana alone (At * Issue). For this perspective, “Hurricane Katrina change the Gulf Coast landscape and face of its culture when it hit in 2005” (Rushton). A disaster like Katrina is something the victims are always going to remember, for the ones the lost everything including their love ones. Katrina became a nightmare for all the people that were surround in the contaminated waters in the city of New Orleans. People were waiting to be rescue for days,
Prior to 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, Atlanta rapper Jadakiss expressed his discontent in his 2004, chart topping single “Why?” This song, filled with skepticism, questioned President George Bush, the Republican administration, the 2000 national election and the events of September 11, 2001. For these reasons, “Why?” received
Media Coverage on Hurricane Katrina News of the devastating hurricane Katrina and its economic, political, social, and humanitarian consequences dominated global headlines in an unprecedented manner when this natural catastrophe struck the region of New Orleans in mid August 2005 (Katrinacoverage.com). As a tradition, large-scale disasters like Katrina, inevitably, bring out a combination of the best and the worst news media instincts. As such, during the height of Hurricane Katrina’s rage, many journalists for once seized their gag reflex and refused to swallow shallow and misleading excuses and explanations from public officials. Nevertheless, the media’s eagerness to report thinly substantiated rumors may have played a key role in bringing about cultural wreckage that may take the American society years to clean up. To begin with, anybody privy to the events in New Orleans that ensued after Hurricane Katrina struck knows that horrible things that had nothing to do with natural causes happened: there were murders, gunfire directed at a rescue helicopter, assaults and, courtesy of New Orleans’ city police department, a myriad other crimes that most probably went unreported (Katrinacoverage.com).
The population of New Orleans was steadily decreasing, between the years of 2000 and 2005, 30,000 (6%) of the population left New Orleans in search for better lives (4). The declining population shows us that before Hurricane Katrina residence were already considering leaving the city, some push factors leading them away from the city include poverty and unemployment (5). Accord to the U.S 2005 Census Bureau around 23% of the residence lived in poverty, this can be a result of the nearly 12% unemployment rate (5). With an unemployment rate double the national standard and nearly one forth the population living in poverty, the city of New Orleans had many push factors against it resolution in a decline population prier to Hurricane Katrina. At the time of the storm nearly 400,000 residents were displaced from their homes too near by safe areas or other states. The population reming in the city as decreased to a few thousand (6). A month after the disaster when the levee breaches were repaired and the flood water was pumped out of the city, residence were allowed to return to what was left of their homes. The first reliable estimate of the New Orleans population after Hurricane Katrina was an ‘American Community survey’. The survey projected that by the start of 2006 around one third or 158,000 of the population returned. By the middle of f2006 the city
In summary, the events of Hurricane Katrina had left a lasting and devastating impact on not only the general public, but also those within public safety including local, state and federal agencies. The storm had affected nearly hundreds of square miles resulting in thousands of casualties, and people misplaced with no homes to go to as well. In addition, there were many contributing factors that had resulted in major life, including the geography of New Orleans, how the levees around New Orleans were built, as well as the lack of coordination between local, state and federal officials.
The natural disaster caused these people to evacuate their homes and relocate for a short period of time before they were able to return to New Orleans to recuperate and repair the damage done. Yet, the havoc created by Katrina was not the only event this community would endure. The mayor of New Orleans at the time, Ray Nagin, decided that a new landfill would be opened due to the enormous amounts of wreckage piling up amongst the city. The thought of the trash strewn about being taken away seemed to be a great idea to most residents as well as the Vietnamese community until an attorney by the name of Joel Waltzer brought the impending disaster to the leaders of the
Hurricane Katrina put a hindrance on New Orleans because the city was left with blighted properties that span from the 9th ward to the 7th ward. Blighted properties were a direct result from flooding, wind damage, and citizens that moved or were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. When the levees broke an abundance of water entered the city and caused homes and business to become flooded. When the city was under water for days it created damage, homes were crumbled to pieces and even uprooted from the ground. Flooding even caused homes to deteriorate and become inhabitable and unsuitable. Blighted properties became breeding grounds for crime, infestation of rodents and other animals, dumping of dead bodies, fires (arson), mold, squatters (homeless), and other serious health issues. These are serious challenges that the city of New Orleans must tackle.