Floodlines : Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six
ISBN: 9781608461127
Platform/Publisher: PQ ebrary / Perseus Distribution
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Limited; Download: 7 Days at a time
Subjects: Hurricane Katrina 2005.;

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, it was a tragedy. What followed was a government-sanctioned travesty. Flaherty, a white New Orleans resident and journalist, interviews a number of locals about the recovery effort, outlining a systemic pattern that includes restrictions of service, human rights violations, and destruction of property targeting the city's African-American majority. The behavior of the notorious New Orleans police department towards this community is appalling, but even more distressing is Flaherty's reporting on the failure of the federal government to respond to the needs of its citizens, and their use of paramilitary mercenaries to enforce a pattern of brutal occupation. To learn how profoundly the system failed (and continues to fail) will be extremely difficult for some readers, and Flaherty pulls no punches in his quest to uncover failures, highlighting how the systems in place for rebuilding (foundation support, non-profit groups, military intervention) remain woefully inadequate. Readers will be compelled, depressed, disturbed, and angered by what they find in this well-written report. Crucial reading. (Sept.) Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.

Flaherty is a writer and community organizer based in New Orleans. His journalism played an important role in bringing the infamous case of the Jena Six to worldwide attention. His post-Katrina writing in ColorLines Magazine shared a journalism award from New America Media for best Katrina-related coverage, and he has produced many segments for Al-Jazeera, TeleSur and Democracy Now.

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