And you will know us by the trail of the dead

Ashé.

For they have walked far from the source and are emitting a lesser frequency.

Saul Williams

For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Luke 18:25

To have
Sweet lazy life
Champagne and caviar
I hope you'll come and find me
Cause you know who we are
Those who deserve the best in life
And know what money's worth
And those whose sole misfortune
Was having mountains o' nothing at birth

Tracy Chapman

Spit for the hated, the reviled, the unrefined, the noones, the nobodies, the last in line.

Zach de la Rocha

"We are out here like pure animals. We don't have help."

Rev. Issac Clark

"It's like they're punishing us."

John Murray

It would seem so John. The fact of blackness your transgression? Poverty maybe?

The politics of race and class. The fact of good & evil. The suggestion that the former pair does in fact impact the latter. This is where Katrina has brought me. I hiccuped hard, lost my breath, heaved rapid fire heartbeats/(aches) when I read this:

Darcel Monroe, 21, a bakery cashier, stammered hysterically as she recounted seeing two young girls being raped in one of the women's bathrooms. "A lot of people saw it but they were afraid to do anything," she said. "He ran out past all of us."

Joseph B. Treaster. "Superdome: Haven Quickly Becomes an Ordeal." NYT.

Blessed and damned be the meek. And if they inherit the earth it's only because everyone else ascended to the right hand of God, the creator.

So I think/(thought?). I e-mail my mother.

Me to Mama Dearest:

Dd you hear about the shooting and looting? This is so sad. What's sadder is that many of the people creating this mayhem in this tragedy are black.

Ma to me:

I can understand the looting for food and supplies, not for guns, TVs and other stuff, that's criminal. I'm not excusing this behavior, but this is what you get when you don't train people and educate them, providing them tools to survive and good work ethics. People need to have hope.

And so...

My mistake is I kept sayin' "that was proof that God didn't exist"
And you told me, "nah, it was proof that the devil do"

Amiri Baraka

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Extensive & insightful Hurricane Katrina Coverage @ America Blog.

Donate via The Salvation Army.