“George Bush Doesn’t Care About Black People”: Reflections on Kanye West’s Cr iticism 10 Years After

Democracy Now!

Published on Aug 28, 2015

Democracynow.org – On Sept. 2, 2005, during a nationally televised telethon benefit for victims of Hurricane Katrina, hip-hop legend Kanye West went off script to directly criticize the media and the White House’s handling of the storm. “I hate the way they portray us in the media,” he said. “If you see a black family, it says they’re looting. If you see a white family, it says they’re searching for food.” West went on to say, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Bush later wrote in his memoir that this moment was an all-time low of his presidency.

Global Climate Change
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An Unequal Recovery in New Orleans: Racial Disparities Grow in City 10 Years After Katrina

Democracy Now!

Published on Aug 28, 2015

Democracynow.org – We spend the hour today marking the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 storm that devastated the Gulf Coast and New Orleans, killing more than 1,800 people, forcing more than a million people to evacuate. Ten years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans has become a different city. The population is now about 385,000—about 80 percent of its pre-Katrina population. The number of African Americans has plunged by nearly 100,000 since the storm. According to the Urban League, the income gap between black and white residents has increased 37 percent since 2005. Thousands of homes, many in African-American neighborhoods, remain abandoned. On Thursday, President Obama spoke in New Orleans, remembering what happened 10 years ago. “We came to realize that what started out as a natural disaster became a man-made disaster — a failure of government to look out for its own citizens,” Obama said. We speak to actor Wendell Pierce, Monique Harden of the New Orleans-based Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, and Gary Rivlin, author of “Katrina: After the Flood.”

Global Climate Change
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Shock Doctrine: A Look at the Mass Privatization of NOLA Schools in Storm’ s Wake & Its Effects Today

Democracy Now!

Published on Aug 28, 2015

Democracynow.org – Just two weeks after Hurricane Katrina, the city fired 7,500 public school teachers, launching a new push to privatize the school system and build a network of charter schools. Many accused lawmakers of trying to break the powerful United Teachers of New Orleans union. Today former President George W. Bush will return to the city to speak at the Warren Easton Charter High School. We speak to the New Orleans actor and activist Wendell Pierce, whose mother was a teacher and union member for 40 years, as well Gary Rivlin, author of “Katrina: After the Flood.” He recently wrote a piece for The New York Times titled “Why New Orleans’s Black Residents Are Still Underwater After Katrina.”

Global Climate Change
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New Orleans Actor & Activist Wendell Pierce on the “Greatest Crime” in Wake of Hurricane Katrina

Democracy Now!

Published on Aug 28, 2015

Democracynow.org – New Orleans actor and activist Wendell Pierce looks at how insurance companies discouraged poor and black families from returning to New Orleans after Katrina by refusing to honor homeowner policies. Pierce, whose great-grandfather came to New Orleans as a slave in the 1850s, talks about how Allstate gave his parents just $400 after they paid premiums for 50 years. Pierce writes about his family in his new book, “The Wind in the Reeds: A Storm, a Play, and the City That Would Not Be Broken.”

Global Climate Change
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Vietnam War 40 years after: Children of Agent Orange

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“Casino Capitalism”: Economist Michael Hudson on What’s Behind the Stock Market’s Rollercoa ster Ride

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Where is All the Worlds Gold?(full documentary)

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What Sanders Lacks In Media Coverage He Makes Up For In Crowd Size

Bernie Sanders is leading the polls in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary race, but Hillary Clinton is still up in the national polls. NPR’s Scott Simon speaks with Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I’m Scott Simon. Donald Trump gets a lot of attention. But the picture on the Democratic side grows interesting, too. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is now ahead of Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire by seven points, according to the new Public Policy Polling survey released Tuesday. Hillary Clinton continues to lead the polls nationally and in Iowa – the site of the first caucus. But Senator Sanders is a strong second – hovering above 20 percent. And Vice President Joe Biden – who hasn’t said if he’ll run – is close behind.

Amy Goodman joins us now. She’s host and executive producer of “Democracy Now!” which airs on more than a thousand public radio and television stations and on the web. Last year, she received the I.F. Stone Lifetime Achievement Award from the Nieman Foundation, and she joins us from New York. Thanks so much for being with us.

…(read more).

Global Climate Change
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