Whose Tube
The Remembrance Krewe
An Ode to New Orleans

"The American people rebuilt the city of New Orleans."-New Orleans firefighter

Now, our beloved southern center of spirit and Creole seasoning marks four years since Katrina ripped what we knew as New Orleans from the geography of our United States.  More than just the loss of homes and businesses, we lost faith and confidence and innocence, all in one massive twirling storm.

Katrina radar

While we can still find Zatarain’s to spice up our lives, while Mardi Gras and  Jazzfest live on,  and many bands and krewes use their money to reunite from Houston, Atlanta, or wherever the winds and kindness landed them, the Crescent city still struggles.  Some rebuilding has been completed, much has yet to begin.  The Hornets and the Saints are home, many of us volunteered and still volunteer to keep the work of re-building and re-planting going.  But the pain still lingers, the magic of what was will never be recovered and without tearing the scab off the wound, we remember the knife of “slow to no response” cut deep, and some of us called like we saw it.  Like no-compete contracts to provide disaster relief. But that’s a different story, and I don’t even believe that dude’s company  is  a U.S. company any more.

Kanye

The weather disaster of Katrina only magnified what we have seen and felt forever, that our citizenship was not equitable, our living and lifestyles influenced by exclusion and omission.  The 9th Ward was home to many, but that area was a troubled and  fragile crack in our American levee long before water washed our denial away.  And some even believe it to be more than coincidence.

Spike

Theories aside, what we know is that our national response was slow, to say the least, and the “Road Home” program was a failure.  And they was wildin” out in the Superdome and we all felt it -  shame and sorrow.  And disaster connected to discrimination, and here we go again.

But, that little conjunction…what we survive on, what we continue to thrive on is our ability to be people, act human, and spiritually invest in ourselves and our brothers and sisters.  We, the American people can rest assured that New Orleans is being rebuilt with the sweat and dollars of the country’s people.  There is undeniable evidence that it was, and still is our commitment to each other and to goodness that is fueling all that re-constructs the neighborhoods, parishes, and households that will re-invigorate the spirit of the city.  We will labor with the only tools we know we have, our activism, our dollars, and our engagement.  Bless all the events in New Orleans celebrating new beginnings this weekend.  Be aware of all the events detailing the mistreatments that must be addressed.  One thing’s still sure - we know how to party down there.  Then, now, and tomorrow.

Mardi Gras 2009

Whose Tube is a multimedia column by VeTalle Fusilier that analyzes web video and social media and how it  is being used to reflect and document global Black culture.