Michael Tisserand, the author of Sugarcane Academy: How a New Orleans Teacher and His Storm-Struck Students Created a School to Remember (Harvest), is currently working on a biography of New Orleans-born comic strip artist George Herriman.
After the storm hit, the Internet was one of the few reliable sources
of information for New Orleans. A year later, it remains a critical
tool for citizens’ participation in their city’s reconstruction.
The Bush Administration failed to protect New Orleans and has yet
to rescue its displaced citizens. We need an independent investigation
to force accountability.
Advocacy groups like ACORN want New Orleanians to play a
role in the rebuilding of the community they had to leave. The biggest
issue so far: getting refugees of the storm back home.
Not since the days of the Dust Bowl has America seen such
a massive migration of refugees. Who becomes one of this tribe
is a matter of race and class.