Hurricane Amerika: Storm Named Katrina

Hurricane Katrina touched down on North American soil seven years ago today. The storm, and the (lack of) response by the United States' government, led to nearly 2,000 reported deaths, not to mention the extrajudicial murders of Black people.

In the immediate aftermath, I wrote the song, "Waiting in the Water," using the Negro Spiritual "Wade in the Water" to describe the modern day Maafa (Swahili for 'tragedy').

Below is an excerpt from a performance of that song and the lyrics from the second verse.

Verse 2, I’m asking what would you do?/
If you were in the same situation, try to be true/
Could you loot? I know that I would/
Be getting food and water distributing it in the hood/
WalMart, in Aisle 3, that’s me assorting goods/
Getting everything I need from sporting goods/
Helping elderly with inflatable rafts/
Grocery bags for my nephews’ leg in the cast/
I’ve seen mothers crying, sisters and brothers dying/
Media lying while we watching choppers flying/
Over the disaster area surveying the damage/
Instead of taking people food, they taking pictures with cameras/
Not supplying people with their basic needs/
And feeding folks, they jive supplying news live feeds/
They got the tigers outta the zoo/
If you were there, do you think they would have saved you?/

I wrote a blog four years after Katrina that includes the complete lyrics and information about Hurricane Katrina Solidarity efforts among artists in the Bay Area.

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