Rubble & RefugeBy : Daniel Lopez

Third World Tragedy

I chose this specific event because no one fully understands how devastating this truly was.

Countless people fell victim to Katrina’s wrath and their cries can still be heard.

Hurricane Katrina by: Donna McCord

I read this poem and it broke my heart to feel the emotion of a poet whose family once called this place their home.

It touches on every asset of this travesty in only a few short stanzas.

I've taken the time to break down the poem with my own titles to the stanzas along with some photos

*pictures may be graphic*

Warning

The week before Labor Day in August it was,In 2005 the whole town was a-buzz.There was a killer coming, a huge hurricaneHeaded for New Orleans, Katrina was her name.

Tragedy Approaches

The storm had been brewing for days in the gulf.She increased her size and blew in with a huff.The warnings were broadcast that this was THE ONE.Please leave and find shelter, the warnings were done.

Fore Warned

Why the whole town did not flee is unclear to us all.A mandatory evacuation was what the officials called.Still some people stayed, and ignored the warningsAnd a lot of families now are in mourning.

The Inevitable

Katrina was the size of the great state of Texas.She packed winds in excess of 150 they tell us.But still she hit to the east of New OrleansAnd spared that town in spite of the warnings.

Home Safe…Or Is It?

At daybreak officials surveyed the damageMississippi and Alabama caught the brunt of her rage.But later in New Orleans a new catastrophe hitFloodwaters breached the levee and went over it

The Real Storm

So as hurricanes go, Katrina was tough,But with all she gave it wasn’t enough.In New Orleans the winds did not blow it down,The weak levee was what destroyed the town.

Finger Pointing

Now some people say that help came too late.They said they were ignored because of their race.That just was not so, it was all about timing.So get on with the clean up and stop all the whining.

Quit pointing and blaming and bemoaning your fateMaybe next time you’ll leave before it’s too late.Listen well to the warnings, pack up and get started.For a fool and his money will soon be parted.

Reflection

I can really understand where Donna is coming from. She doesn’t only talk about how devastating this disaster was, but she also points out the fact that they were forewarned to evacuated and refused to do so. She refuses to take sides and says we need to stick together to rebuild OUR home.

Georgia Bush by: Lil Wayne

This song uses a sample of Ray Charles song about his home of Georgia, but Wayne finishes the sample by inserting the last name of former president George Bush.

Wayne is outraged by the lack of effort to save those hurt in this travesty and you can hear it in his emotion and emphasis behind the words he uses. (i.e. “F**k president Georgia Bush..”)

I have taken the time to paste the lyrics and explain each phrase, metaphor and lyric to the best of my abilities.

I, however, refuse to play the song because it does included racial, not racist, racial lyrics and I do not want to spark any arguments between classmates. This song is very political and does take shots at our government, may it be subliminally or blatantly.

I also believe that pictures are not needed to understand the emotion and the pain behind this controversial song.

Georgia…….Bush

• This song is dedicated to the one wit the suitThick white skin and his eyes bright blueSo called beef wit you know whoFuck it he just let him kill all of our troops

• Look at the bullsh*t we been throughHad the n*gg*s sitting on top they roofsHurricane Katrina, we should've called it Hurricane (Georgia) Bush

• Then they telling y'all lies on the newsThe white people smiling like everything coolBut I know people that died in that poolI know people that died in them schools

• Now what is a survivor to do?Got no trailer, you gotta moveNow it's on to Texas and to (Georgia)

• He is referring to George Bush, and his families “beef” with the Hussein family, and also states how our troops are dying because of family disputes with other families

• He goes on to open our eyes to what has happened in the presence of our “president” and how slow his reaction to people stranded is.

• Newscasters make it seem a lot lighter than reality is. The whites seem to be un-phased by the now “refugees” of N.O. he continues to say close friends and family of his have passed during this time.

• People owned house, not trailers so all their belongings were completely gone. They now were on evacuation route to one of the biggest Bush supporter states, ironically.

Georgia……..Bush cont.

• They tell you what they want, show you what they want you to seeBut they don't let you know what's really going onMake it look like a lot of stealing going onBoy them cops’ killers in my homeN*gg* shot dead in the middle of the streetI ain't no thief, I'm just trying to eatMan f**k the police and (f**k) president (Georgia) Bush

• So what happened to the levees, why wasn't they steadyWhy wasn't they able to control this?I know some fok' that live by the leveethat keep on telling me they heard the explosionsSame sh*t happened back in Hurricane Betsy1965, I ain't too young to know thisThat was President Johnson but nowbut it's president (Georgia) Bush

• These lyrics are pretty self explanatory, and detail his anger and rage that this has happened to his (Lil Wayne’s) hometown. Also he says “them cops’ killers in my home”. What he means is that the cops are killing innocent people in his home (New Orleans). Ultimately, you don’t want to send help quick enough, but when we try to “steal” from OUR supermarkets to keep ourselves and our families from starving, the national guard will gun us down. Very Fair.

• The hurricane is not what destroyed the city of New Orleans. The levees failed and overflowed. He then references to 1965 when the government PURPOSELY detonated the levees by the same ward (9th ward) that was first flooded in N.O. to save the more expensive properties. He implies that maybe this was the case this time around and that he is aware, even of young age, that the government has done this before, and cannot fool him

Georgia…….Bush cont..

• I was born in the boot at the bottom of the mapNew Orleans baby, now the white house hating, trying to wash away like we not on the mapWait, have you heard the latest, they saying you gotta have paper if you trying to come backN*gg*s thinking it's a wrap, see we can't hustle in they trap, we ain't from (Georgia)

• Now it's them dead bodies, them lost houses, the mayor say don't worry 'bout itAnd the children have been scarred, no one's here to care 'bout 'emAnd fat shout, to all the rappers that helped outYea we like to thank all of y’all but f*ck president (Georgia) Bush

• Again this is self explanatory. The folks of New Orleans think its over because how are they supposed to make a dollar doing what they used to in someone else's hometown. They aren’t from Texas or Georgia.

• The government doesn’t care about the black community in New Orleans and the kids are scared. Wayne continues and thanks everyone else that help out during the aftermath including his community, the rap artist, but still screams f*ck George Bush.

Georgia…….Bush cont…

• We see them Confederate flags, you know what it isA white cracker motherfucker that probably voted for him

• And no he ain't gonna drop no dollars, but he do drop bombsR.I.P. Tay cause he died in the storm, f*ck president (Georgia) Bush

• See us in ya city man, give us a poundCause if a n*gg* still moving then he holding it downI had two Jags, but I lost both them b*-t*h-esI'm from N.O. the N.O. Yea!

• White people with those flags are the ones that voted for Bush and are the same ones that dont care about the black community either…Bush and the whites that voted for Bush are one in the same.

• Also a common refrain during the Bush Presidency was “They’re spending all this money on those wars but they can’t *insert complaint here+”. He had a friend/family member that died.

• He ask the rest of the world when you see a New Orleans victim just so respect to them, and also mentions some irrelevant items of his that he’s lost and screams out his birth place

Reflection

I've listened to this song countless times and I get chills every time I hear it. Just the emotion he put behind this song and his use of his metaphors and knowledge of the world shows that this really impacted him. He is basically trying to tell people that things are not ok and to open their eyes because the hurricane isn’t what destroyed the city of New Orleans, it was ultimately the combination of Katrina’s wrath and George Bush’s lack of interest to help what are now labeled as “refugees”