1 Dead in Attic
“Without your sweet kiss
My soul is lost, my friend
Tell me how do I begin again?
My city’s in ruins..”
You might have noticed our banner looks different. That’s because today is August 28, 2009, and tomorrow marks the four year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The graffiti is meant to match the markings the various police and military units spray painted on the houses to show that they had been searched. Usually it took the form of a large X. At the top of the X was the date the house was searched. On one side was the name of the unit that searched that particular house. And at the bottom was the number of dead. Ours says 1,577 because that is the official death toll in New Orleans, although many more people are still counted among the missing.
I urge you to please read the lengthy memorial post I wrote last year. Why didn’t I do a similar one this year? Well, I have to be honest. Writing that one took a lot out of me. Just thinking about this takes a lot out of me. So please read it, or if you already read it last year, read it again. It has more of my Katrina experience (and an excerpt from my personal blog that I wrote the day I left) than you will see here.
Why weren’t some Americans able to see themselves in the photographs that came out of New Orleans in the nightmarish week after Katrina? Because the people in them were poor? Elderly? Overweight? Black? I don’t know. I saw myself in those pictures. Four years ago today, we sat in traffic through three states, through the beginnings of the rain, to get out of the city. We slept on the ground at a rest stop in Alabama. We finally got to our destination, and I slept all day. I woke up in late afternoon to see on the news that the city was wind-damaged but mostly okay. It wasn’t until the next day that the water started to come in, that there were reports of broken levees and people swimming through the streets and the Superdome and the Convention Center filling up with people. I was glued to the internet grabbing up every scrap of information– which streets were underwater, what was happening, what was gone and what was still there– And the water kept coming.
I was angry for a long time. It was hard to know who to be angry at, with so many people to blame at so many levels of government. The people of this city were betrayed. In the richest country in the world, what reason would you have to not feel safe? But I– and hundreds of thousands of others– will never feel safe again. I know, for me, it wasn’t until I walked behind that curtain last November to cast my vote that I felt absolved of some of the anger. That’s just me, though. I’m sure it’s different for others.
Sometimes people ask me why I’m so militant about the Hornets staying in New Orleans, why it sometimes seems like I’ve made it my personal mission to police the NBA news and blogs for errors or misinformation about the Hornets location (not in Charlotte– I’m looking at you, SI.com), possible relocation (not happening in the foreseeable future), and attendance (it’s fine– the Hornets ranked 8th in the NBA in percentage of capacity). I do take it personally. And I also take personally the national sports media’s obsession with proving LeBron James cannot possibly be happy in Cleveland, or Chris Paul cannot possibly be happy in New Orleans. That these players are being “wasted” in small markets. I feel this way for three reasons: 1) In the world of NBA League Pass and the internet, great players being in small markets no longer means viewers have no way of seeing them. 2) Please enlighten me on what endorsements and sponsorships LeBron James has missed out on by not being in New York or LA. Oh right, none. 3) I resent the implication that large market teams “deserve” these great players more than smaller market teams.
And I see that implication every day. Every time a quote comes out that has even a small possibility of being twisted to make it look like Chris Paul is leaving New Orleans, man, these people pounce on it. And twist it. And repost it. And write misleading headlines. It’s like they hate that he’s here.
I ask you to look at these pictures. I’ll warn you ahead of time that some of them contain graphic imagery. Look at these pictures, some of which happened within blocks of New Orleans Arena, where the Hornets play today, four years later. And tell me we don’t deserve to be cut some slack. Tell me we don’t deserve a basketball team. Tell me we don’t deserve Chris Paul.
I’ll wait.
Thoughtful
I have read everything that you posted about Katrina on your personal blog– I was hungry for information because as a Memphian I’d always felt that Memphis and New Orleans had much in common… And after Katrina I felt that if something similar had happened in Memphis the country’s reaction would have been much the same. Also, I’ve always been stricken by your love for your adopted city. I actually took a trip to New Orleans to spend my vacation money once because you told me to (and the Memphis Tigers were in the NCAA tournament there, but also because you told me to).
Anyway. Thank you for reminding us. It’s important.
Great stuff ticktock6. Thanks so much for all you do.
Agreed, great post. I wasn’t here for Katrina, but I’ve come to love this city in the short time I’ve been here. It’s changed me a lot, for the better I believe. I remember watching on TV four years ago from Ireland. Man, it seems longer than that.
I am afraid I came off as an angry person in this. I’m not, really. I just think it’s very… entitled… of people in other cities who have never been through something like this to offer criticism. For my part, I remember the names of every journalist/player/blogger who mocked us two seasons ago. And we all know how I feel about supporting small market teams. For me the two things go together.
If I learned one thing from Katrina it’s that we are entitled to nothing. Nature does not have to do what you want. Being an American will not protect you from some things. Living in a large urban area does not entitle you to certain things. “Right” and “wrong” don’t even apply in a huge enough disaster.
Nice post. Great to read your personal experiences especially since the Media has downplayed NO coverage quite a bit. I wish nothing but the best for New Orleans and it’s citizens. I’ve been very fortunate to not have anything that tragic that affect me directly. Although these tragedies have happened during important times in my life.
9/11 I was a freshman in high school
Katrina I was a freshman in college
As for the Hornets, I’d love to have CP3 retire a Hornet. Trading/Signing franchise players is for fantasy league/video games. Always been a guy that respects players that stay with the team they get drafted.
I think any residual anger that you have, you are entitled to. It was a completely cocked up situation (perhaps, to a degree remains so). Its important, no, VITAL to remember–to never forget. I’ve never been to New Orleans, but hope one day to visit and maybe even live there. And, like Sadie, this is due to what you have to say about your city. Through your eyes it has become apparent to me–and many others–how amazing and resilient of a city New Orleans is. Thank you for sharing.
I just read this post, your post from last year, and your post from 4 years ago. I reacted the same way I did when I watched “When the Levees Broke” – shock (how much was left out of the news), anger (how many people were left to suffer/die), and utter mortification (how quickly non-New Orleans people “got over it”). Not only should YOU be angry, we ALL should. I think you or mW wrote about it in the other post, but the “get over it” attitude?? Callous and cavalier beyond words.
I keep saying how I want to visit New Orleans, but now I will make every effort to get down there, particularly when the season starts so I can fill one of your “many empty seats.” Riiiight.
Also, some of my friends went to New Orleans right after the levees broke to volunteer with the Red Cross. They expected to be sleeping in sleeping bags or tents, much like the residents they were going to help. Wrong. They were put up in hotels or motels (can’t remember) and found themselves with lots of off-time. This isn’t to knock the volunteer effort down there, just the way it was coordinated. No hotel rooms for suddenly homeless residents who then had to sleep on whatever ground they could find, but available rooms for out-of-town volunteers? Uh, southern hospitality?
[...] This post from Sarah (@ticktock6) at HornetsHype.com made me teary. If it doesn’t make you verklempt, you have a cinder block for a heart. [...]
The really sad thing is that before the Civil War New Orleans was one of the biggest cities in the country and even today is one of the oldest cities in the country. Personally, I think America at large resents that New Orleans is older than it and less Anglo than it. Culturally, it remains one of the most vibrant and important cities in the world. But alas, those things don’t equate to finance, stock options, or dollar signs. So now we’re a “small market.” Sad. Sad.