“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
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

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
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

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
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

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
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

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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