Katrina Is Not History

As part of "remembering Katrina" here on this blog, I'd like to draw readers' attention to an ongoing online project I have just discovered via The Huffington Post, called The Katrina Experience: an Oral History Project. Here is how its creator, Stacy Parker Aab, writer and creative writing teacher, describes this effort:

...for the past year I have interviewed Americans about their Katrina experiences. Each interview is different. Each interview is unique. We talk about the hurricane and the aftermath. We talk about what it’s been like to survive, and for some, to thrive. We talk about crimes. We talk about epiphanies, and lessons learned. We talk about their lives before. We talk about their dreams ahead.

Katrina is not history.

For those on the Gulf Coast, or for those whose love or livelihood is connected to the Gulf Coast, Katrina is not over. Far from it. Therefore, I will keep chronicling the lives of those who survived. I will also talk to people whose role, or calling, is to work with survivors.

From early September of last year to August of this year, Aab has been listening to those for whom Katrina is a permanent part of their personal history. A limited number of the actual interviews is available on the site, but more are being posted as this amazing work-in-progress continues. Aab's own introduction to her project, the story of her experience as first a Red Cross phone bank volunteer, then a volunteer at the Astrodome in Houston, is itself a moving experience. It was at the Astrodome that she conceived the interview project. From her introduction...

I came to this project with an enquiring mind. But I also came to this project as a novice. I didn’t know much about Louisiana and Mississippi--just what I’d picked up from books and pleasure trips. I came to this, needing others to explain, and to teach. As far as the locals went, I had few presuppositions. Those I did have, I tried to ignore. I tried to approach people as “thesis-less” as possible.

If I did have a thesis, it would be this: we ignore each other at our own peril.

If I have a second thesis, it would be this: we must listen to one another. (If we don’t, someday we’re going to get a big surprise. And it won’t be pretty.)

By reading stories told in peoples “own words,” I feel we can begin to understand each other, especially those that we perceive to be very different from ourselves. And with understanding, comes a better shot at justice, and peace.

Aab's project is a labor of love and passion. It's a way to "remember Katrina" for a long time to come. Maybe I should send the URL to the White House?

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