After the Storm: Black Intellectuals Explore the Meaning of Hurricane Katrina

by David Dante Troutt

Leading African American scholars use post-hurricane Louisiana as a window into twenty-first-century black America.

"Race has become a subtext for just about every contentious decision [New Orleans] faces."-James Dao, The New York Times, January 22, 2006

In one emblematic photograph, a bloated body floats facedown on the left while, to the right, a woman stands on an overpass, oblivious. Both the body and the distracted survivor are black.

With more than a thousand dead, entire neighborhoods destroyed, and a diaspora of tens of thousands of poor, mostly black, and previously invisible people suddenly in view, Hurricane Katrina presents issues of race, space, class, and politics in high relief.

In a book of visceral and scholarly critique, analysis, and prescription, published on the first anniversary of the storm, a dozen prominent black intellectuals face the difficult questions about poverty, housing, governmental decision-making, crime, community development, and political participation that Katrina raised.

Determined to offer insights about renewal, their contributions help the nation to understand what happened in the Gulf region, what is likely to happen in the recovery and redevelopment effort to come, and what these events tell us about poverty and inequality in contemporary America.

Contributors Adolph Reed, Sheryll Cashin, Clement Price, Cheryl Harris, Devon Carbado, Katheryn Russell-Brown, Adrien Wing, Anthony Farley, John Valery White

288 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2006

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting look at Hurricane Katrina from the important, and under-appreciated perspective of black intellectuals. A compilation of short articles, After the Storm addresses issues and, most importantly, raises questions with regards to Hurricane Katrina as a political, racial, social and ultimately American catastrophe.

While some articles speak to Katrina directly, for example brining litigation against those responsible for crimes that have yet to be names, others use the framework of Katrina to address more broadly issues of how race and class are perceived in America.

This is one of my first reads into what one might call critical race theory and I fully appreciate the perspectives presented. I wish I knew more then I do to better understand some of the questions raised and issues put forth, but, all I can do is continue to read and continue the dialogues that are important to this field of study.

Long live New Orleans. . .

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was most interesting to think about this through a historiographical lens as this was written in 2006 and the discussion of the intersection of poor, Black (or non-white people generally) residents and disaster preparedness has basically not progressed in the slightest. Definitely am interested in reading more about New Orleans with regards to rebuilding post-Katrina, particularly given that I'm sure the Great Recession plays a large part in the story (might check out Katrina: A History, 1915-2015). Not really sure I would recommend this to anyone who is not also interested in both history and climate-related disaster management planning tho lol

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at the aftermath of Katrina and how the changing perspective of the nation through the media of the victims and the struggles they faced. Each section was made up of different articles, but there were common themes throughout the book.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a lot of interesting and controversial information that isn't often brought forth in mainstream media.