A Hurricane Katrina Poetic Commemorative

by Miriam Chitiga

Overview

The anthology shares the poetic voices of many who were touched by the suffering experienced by the people of the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy. The poetry represents a multitude of emotions and reactions, not unlike those evoked by the tragedy, such as anger, disillusionment, empathy, increased enthusiasm for philanthropy, volunteerism, and civic engagement. The poems fall under five sections: ‘Devastation,’ ‘Tragedy,’ ‘Social Distress,’ ‘Accountability,’ and ‘Reconstruction, Resolution, and Relief’. While the tragic events provided the impetus for this poetry, the mission of the Performing Arts for Effective Civic Education (PAECE), a civic engagement program, provided the guiding light for the creative project to take shape. This anthology is the first in a Hurricane Katrina Commemoration series, through which writers creatively express themselves and make lasting artistic contributions to the commemoration of the lives and experiences of both survivors and victims of the catastrophe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761857358
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	12/23/2011
Pages:	158
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Miriam Chitiga is an interdisciplinary global researcher and scholar whose work is centered on investigating issues relating to social justice and empowerment through innovative education. Her international and interdisciplinary work in civic engagement, leadership, and empowerment encompasses a variety of her most treasured activities and has earned her highly competitive institutional grants and prestigious fellowships, some of which have influenced this project. She is a full-time associate professor who has taught a variety of courses in educational leadership, diversity, applied linguistics, and gender studies.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction

Category I: Devastation
Katrina
So Many Words
Devastating Katrina
Swept Away
Falling
Underwater Breathing
Lower Ninth Ward
The Saga of Hurricane Katrina: August 25, 2005
It’s Chaos in a City Thrown at God’s Mercy
Katrina, Why?
Why?
What Troubles the Water
Gone With the Wind
I’m Lost
Do You Care?
Tribute to Katrina (Katrina’s Honor)
Drowning
Katrina Consoled

Category II: The Tragedy
Hurricane Katrina: Life
Why Katrina?
Cry for New Orleans
They Said
Hurricane “Badwoman” Katrina
Refugees?
Life after the Storm
Hurricane Katrina: Where was the Love?
Blue City Blues
Dead Broke
Katrina

What if it was You?
Be Prepared (Katrina is Coming)
For God’s Sake Where was FEMA?
Resilience
S.O.S.
Lament for Crescent City
Do We Really Know?

Category III: Social Distress
My House
My Children are Hungry
Through the Eyes of a Child
After Katrina
Are Your Eyes Open?
Ms Lilly with the All-purpose Pot
Dear Katrina
Lives Have Changed Now
The Wrath of Katrina
As
Water up to My Neck (Poverty)
Forgotten
A Date with Disaster
The Reality
let the revolution begin September 10, 2005
Katrina’s Sadness
No One Knew
Lost
Poverty
The Hurricane
What Would You Do?

Category IV: Accountability
All Men are Created Equal?
Does Anyone Care?
Where Were You When We Needed You?
O Government! Where art Thou?
Blinded Freedom
Why oh Why?
Can Anyone Hear Me?
Delayed Reaction
Who’s to Blame?
Hear My Voice
Tears
City under Siege

Category V: Reconstruction Resolution Relief
Wetness
The Storm is Over
Three Months Later
Better Times Will Come
Call to Action
A Direct Quote (From George W. Bush)
Evaporated Tear Drops: W. gonna rebuild it white September 3, 2005
Rise Again
America’s Thoughts
Lessons from Chaos
Katrina can’t be changed
Is it Over?
Katrina, Why’d You Leave So Much Poverty?
Hope (A PLACE called HOME)
Katrina Restricted
Three Months after the Storm
After the Destruction
Stand up Again
Let’s Stand Together
We Shall Overcome
Cruel Mother Nature
Who Done It?
Acrostic Poem
Katrina, Years Later
Life after Katrina
Prevent another Tragedy
Is There Someone To Uplift Me?
A Song for N’Awlins

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

[This book]….capture[s] the contradictory truths of all tragedies: the pain and the triumphs, the ugliness and the beauties, the grace and the despair, the laughter and the anger all in a single forceful and honest use of language. This is the heart of truth, and this is the currency of the poet. These are poems that offer another way to remember the historic tragedy of Katrina, and, I hope, a promise that we will not be allowed to ever forget its lessons —Kwame Dawes, poet, Emmy Award winner, Distinguished Professor, University of South Carolina

…This dynamic anthology…portray[s] a powerful analogy of Hurricane Katrina's devastating affect on communities that have been historically underserved. Using interdisciplinary discourse the scholars in this volume poetically awaken the social consciousness of peoples all over the world, moving those concerned with social justice to take a more active approach to resolving the social inequalities that exist in the Post Hurricane Katrina era. —Abul Pitre, Ph.D., chair, Leadership Studies, North Carolina A&T University