If God is Willing

I do realize that a good chunk of my last 10 posts or so have been rather somber.  I promise this is the last one for a while! But I can’t let this day pass without a post regarding one of the many places I call “home”. As everyone should know,  in 5 years the state sof Louisiana and Mississippi endured one of the greatest natural disasters and the greatest environmental disaster in U.S history.

Most of my extended family is located in  Louisiana and Mississippi and they have suffered so much.  I have family members who died as a direct result of Katrina, and also those who died indirectly due to the stresses of Hurricane Katrina.  I also have family members who fish in the Gulf and have lost a source of income due to the recent oil spill.

I’ve been watching Spike Lee’s documentary If God is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise which has truly been an eye opener.  Although the documentary is somewhat biased, there is a lot of truth.  I know that a lot of things that happened following both disasters was, and still is, horrible and unjust but seeing and hearing from those directly impacted brings it under a whole new light.  It is surprising to realize that even five years after Hurricane Katrina, the devastation is still there. Over the past 5 years Louisiana and Mississippi have had to deal with the issues like post traumatic stress, poor health care, underfunding, corrupt police, and an inadequate educational system.  It’s astounding to see the amount of irresponsibility and neglect, but even more astounding to witness the amount of resiliency both places have exhibited during such trying times.