What Lies Beneath: Katrina, Race, and the State of the Nation

by The South End Press Collective (Editor), Suheir Hammad (Contributor), Dylan Rodríguez (Contributor)

With an eye toward community organizing and radical scholarship, What Lies Beneath, is both a people's history and a collective vision for the future of New Orleans.

In August 2005, thousands of New Orleans residents—overwhelmingly poor, largely people of color, the majority black—were left to face one of the worst “natural” disasters in US history on their own. They were left to die in prisons, in nursing homes, and on the street. Survivors were criminalized as “looters” for struggling to obtain food, water, diapers, medicine, and other essentials of life that no one else could or would provide. As Katrina’s waters receded and the body count soared, an ugly truth (re)surfaced: The lives of those who are poor, who are vulnerable, and who are not white are not valued by the US government.
 
While commentators across the political spectrum, celebrities, and other observers expressed outrage that the US government would let this happen to Americans—even “those Americans”—millions outside of New Orleans live without adequate health insurance; clean air and water; decent education, housing, nutrition, health care, and work; and freedom from police brutality and state repression. And thousands are deported, displaced, and dying in prisons and illegal wars from coast to coast, gulf to gulf.

Short and accessible, this anthology, featuring such voices as Common Ground, SONG, INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, Suheir Hammad, Jordan Flaherty, Joy James and Ross Gelbspan, takes readers beyond the Superdome. It explores the complexity of this turning point in US history as representative of the nation’s direction and priorities.

“Here, finally, is clear-eyed and fascinating analysis of what Hurricane Katrina has to teach us about politics, power, human connection, and working for justice. What Lies Beneath is crucial reading—an organizer’s handbook for the 21st century.”
—Hon. Barbara Smith, co-founder, Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, Member, City Council, Albany, New York

“What Lies Beneath is a book that will keep alive the memory of one of the most dramatic and terrible events of the new millennium—the catastrophe of the Katrina hurricane and its aftermath.… At the center of story are the unavoidable issues of race, class, and the shameful callousness of officialdom. The book will keep us thinking for a long time about what happened, why it happened, and provoke us to examine honestly the nature of the society in which we live.”
—Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States

“What Lies Beneath reveals how ‘natural’ disasters like Katrina are increasingly man-made and caused by corporate greed, how those who have no role in creating climate chaos bear its worst burden, and how those involved in the crime of climate catastrophes use the disasters they have created to dispossess the poor, women, and people of color in the name of a ‘cleanup.’”
—Vandana Shiva, author of Earth Democracy

“What Lies Beneath is a work of fury spawned not by the inchoate forces of nature, but by activists, poets, organizers, and scholars. This brilliant little book is a written response to the forces of state, corporate, and media power which converged to isolate, demonize, destroy, and finally forget those many black and poor people who found themselves bitterly alone in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.”
—Mumia Abu-Jamal, author of We Want Freedom

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Race, Politics, Environment, Economics, American

200 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2007

Reviews

[Thomas Fackler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays and poetry detailing what it means to live in the United States as a person who is both a citizen and a refugee.

[Daniella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Academic socio-political essays were ok; the power was in first-hand experiences

[Tomislav · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of essays dates from immediately after, to perhaps one year after Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flood in August 2005. Published in 2007, intended as harsh social criticism, it is today transitioning towards a historical document. In 2007 I was a (short-term) volunteer in the Lower Ninth Ward myself, so I read it as history relating to personal events. Contents include:

A Raging Flood of Tears (poetry), by Ewuare Osayande
Slum Clearance, by Lewis H. Lapham
Nature Fights Back, by Ross Gelspan
How We Survived the Flood, by Charmaine Neville
To Render Ourselves Visible, by Alisa Bierria, Mayaba Liebenthal, and incite!
Wade in the Water, by Tiffany Brown
Southerners on New Ground, by Mandy Carter
This is Criminal, by Malik Rahim
The Birth of the Clinic, by Roger Benham
Common Ground Relief, by Sue Hilderbrand, Scott Crow, and Lisa Fithian
Corporate Reconstruction and Grassroots Resistance, by Jordan Flaherty
The Obscurity of Black Suffering, by Jared Sexton
The Meaning of "Disaster" under the Dominance of White Life, by Dylan Rodriguez
Afterword: Political Literacy and Voice, by Joy James
On Refuge and Language (poetry), by Suheir Hammad

The perspectives vary, from matter-of-fact to revolutionary rhetoric. Trying to accommodate every one of these mutually incompatible perspectives would be impossible. Personally, I stand in disagreement with some of the judgements passed by some of these writers. But taken as a whole, the challenge was good for me, and forced me to grapple with and determine where my own values lie. This is not comfortable reading.

I started reading this before my 2013 return to New Orleans, but then put it down after slogging through the jingoistic "To Render Ourselves Visible". After my visit, I returned to the book, and was fascinated by the stories of Common Ground and the activist response that took place in the absence of an official response. Near the end of the book, the piece on "The Meaning of Disaster" makes a good point about the manufacture of so-called natural disasters, but then diverges way off topic into Philippine politics.

On a personal note, last week I paid a visit to the sites of homes I gutted, and found that all three had been demolished in the years following. I spoke with a neighbor there who had rebuilt. The Lower Ninth Ward remains in a state of limbo.

[Tinea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an anthology written by activists in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. It has some good essays (particularly the one by Incite! Women of Color Against Violence) and some mediocre ones.

This book gave a more inclusive and more radical interpretation of the hurricane and the government and media's responses then a lot of other texts I've read (for example, Michael Dyson's Come Hell or High Water). It includes articles that deconstruct racism against immigrants, and includes analysis of the hurricane on women and gender variant people. The articles evaluating/critiquing relief efforts and especially Common Ground Relief were interesting to read, especially since I was there for a month.

[jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

great title, no?

as these collections often are, this, too, is uneven. in particular, the language of the activists emerges stark and powerful and dwarfs the convoluted language of the academics, who say important things in words as thick as the mud in which new orleans drowned (the comparison is inescapable). some great essays on white activism in african american communities and the emphasis, first, and denial, after, of black on black rape. definitely worth a read if you are interested in the dynamics of race and rage that ensnared the katrina disaster.

[Corvus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a collection of essays from varying perspectives that all help form a concrete message about race, sex, gender, class, ability, sexual orientation, and other intersecting issues and how they all played out for people of color in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. I felt privileged to read these stories and to learn so much from them. I highly recommend this book. Even years after the hurricane, it rings true as if it happened yesterday.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally quite politically relevant. Good critiques. However, I also found it a little removed from the organizers/mobilizers/activists in New Orleans. I did not understand the Dylan Rodriquez article. (Note, for full disclosure reasons: I contributed to some of the Common Ground section)

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

really hits home the calculated and horrifying nature of black social death in the states and the importance of grassroots organizing/ solidarity. also, being able to name white supremacy feels so fucking important after reading this book.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

another book it took me far too long to read...but years later, it's still applicable, important, and interesting.

[brass · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's always nice to read friends' work, although this book can particularly difficult for me at times.

i keep buying copies and giving them away because folks just need to read this, ok.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the most articulate and accurate analysis of post-Katrina New Orleans. Some irrelavent and overly opinionated articles as well.

[P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Offers a different perspective on what happened after Katrina. Thought provoking.