Feature Stories from Democracy Now! to mark the 2 Year Anniversary of Katrina
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The Path to Destruction: Two Years After Katrina, Cleanup and Recovery Far From Complete
Today marks the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The storm ravaged the Gulf coast of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and left over 1,600 people dead. More than 300,000 homes were destroyed and over 770,000 people displaced. It was the most powerful and expensive natural disaster to hit the country and one of the deadliest hurricanes recorded in US history. We speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, John McQuaid. [includes rush transcript]
New Orleans Hit By Another "Hurricane of Racism, Greed and Corruption" - Community Activist Malik Rahim
On the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Democracy Now! broadcasts live from the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans. We take a look at the state of New Orleans two years after the storm with two local activists: Malik Rahim, cofounder of the Common Ground Collective and Alice Craft-Kerney of the Lower Ninth Ward Health Clinic. [includes rush transcript]
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"The Red Cross Has Basically Stolen Money from Victims in New Orleans" - People's Hurricane Relief Fund Blasts Katrina Aid Program
A five-day International Tribunal on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita opened last night in New Orleans. The tribunal is bringing together hurricane survivors, international delegations, expert witnesses, a team of human rights and civil rights prosecutors, and a panel of US-based and international judges. [includes rush transcript]
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The Privatization of Education: How New Orleans Went from a Public School System to a Charter-School City
While many in New Orleans have waited two years for recovery, the restructuring of its schools seemed to happen overnight. Not long after Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans two years ago, the Louisiana legislature cleared the way for the state to assume control of 107 out of 128 schools in the Orleans district. The state began immediately converting its newly-acquired schools to charter schools. We speak with Nat LaCour of the American Federation of Teachers. [includes rush transcript]
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Jailed in New Orleans Two Weeks Before Katrina, Fmr. Corrections Officer Held for Four Months Without Charge
Roderick Dean, a former corrections officer, recounts his harrowing ordeal two years ago when he was arrested and jailed without charge on August 11, 2005–two weeks before Hurricane Katrina. When the storm hit, Dean was in New Orleans Parish Prison where he narrowly escaped drowning after the jail flooded. He was never charged and released four months later. [includes rush transcript]
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The Danziger Bridge Killings: How New Orleans Police Gunned Down Civilians Fleeing the Flood
On the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we take a look back the Danziger Bridge killings. Seven police officers been indicted for opening fire on two African American families on the Danziger Bridge days after the storm, killing two people and wounding four others. At the time, the official story was that they gunned down snipers. Now the question is why they shot at two families fleeing the flood. [includes rush transcript]
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"The Resilience of the People Is What Carries This City Forward": Poet Sunni Patterson & Hip-Hop Artist Truth Universal Reflect on New Orleans Two Years After Katrina
We end today’s show from with a pair of spoken word acts from New Orleans: poet and performer Sunni Patterson and hip-hop artist Truth Universal. [includes rush transcript]