The Third Battle of New Orleans April 2006 Flickr Photostream

No, no. The above pictures of Bud's Broiler on Tulane Avenue/Banks Street weren't taken in October or November 2005. They were taken on 8 April 2006--222 days after MANMADE flooding ruined the City of New Orleans in August 2005. The disgusting, dark line derived from the false promise of adequate flood protection still stains the buildings, the fences, and the utility poles in the majority of our city's neighborhoods. Yes, there have been some signs of progress over the past eight months. But has this progress been enough? Nope. Hell no. Not even close. I am ashamed to be an American seeing what the majority of our city continues to look like today. But at the same time, I am prouder than hell to be from (and continue to live in) the City of New Orleans. I personally only plan on flying one flag and one flag only over my home--its red, white, and blue and features three fleur-di-lis. No stars.

I know operative Bay Buchanan does not speak for all American citizens when she made her "Katrina bores us" statement the other day, but still I sense and have seen firsthand that many fellow Americans do indeed have this indifferent attitude towards New Orleans' plight--you know, because we are just so stupid for living in a place ten feet below sea level and where hardly anyone participates in the national flood insurance program and where the evacuation center of last resort is twelve feet below sea level and where our citizens shoot at rescue helicopters. Too bad all four of these "facts" are incorrect.

To my fellow non-Louisiana American citizens might I have suggest something: New Orleans' plight is your hometown's plight. Do not think that some other disaster will not strike some other American city? It will. Do you want your city to resemble what most of New Orleans currently looks like--or worse? How about our citizens that perished on 29 August 2005 and the following days as it took the "calvary" nearly a week to arrive. You don't think such things can happen in your town? New Orleans, unfortunately, is the barometer. Our devastated city serves as a wakeup call. The failed response of the federal government can just as easily happen to your hometown. Go ahead--have indifference towards New Orleans, but at the expense of the place you call home.

I have posted my April 2006 photos on my flickr photostream. Included in the set are pictures taken at the 2006 Lusher Crawfish Boil, the first friday of the first weekend of Jazzfest 2006 (Bob Dylan/Dr. John), and miscellaneous CBD, Mid-City, Uptown, Carrollton, and Lakeview images.

The Third Battle of New Orleans April 2006 Flickr Photostream

TAGS: Katrina, New Orleans, NOLA