By Jessica Reed
Tonight the American channel HBO will air the first part of film director Spike Lee's documentary on Katrina's aftermath titled 'When the levees broke'. Lee's aim is to primarly set the record straight and correct misconceptions surrounding the disaster:
"(...) most people think that it was Katrina that brought about the devastation to New Orleans. But it was a breaching of the levees that put 80 percent of the city under water. It was not the hurricane. And last week the United States Army Corps of Generals went on record and finally 'fessed up, and said that we fucked up." (also see the related openDemocracy's article 'Katrina's triple failure').
Spike Lee has the reputation of being an extremely political, opinionated and outspoken film-maker, stirring up controversy whenever possible and trying to 'do the right thing' by treating extremely difficult topics often silently burried in own his country's cemetery of shameful events. His wrath and indignation are especially palpable in this HBO interview:
"Never before in the history of the United States has the federal government turned its back on its own citizens in the manner that they did, with the slow response to people who needed help. (...) I would just say, what Kanye West expressed, that George Bush doesn't care about black people. "
Elsewhere: Most will remember New Orleans' mayor Ray Nagins breaking down in tears during a radio interview last summer (mp3 link) + Be sure to read Jim Gabour's series of articles covering life in New Orleans post-Katrina for openDemocracy.
Picture: via bartandjill's flickR page.
