From Kalamu, by Kalamu (partially).
Dear Friends and Allies,
South End Press has just released a powerful new anthology of post-Katrina writing called “WHAT LIES BENEATH: Katrina, Race, and the State of The Nation.”
The book features a new piece I wrote about race, reconstruction, and community organizing in New Orleans post-Katrina, as well as several excellent contributions by an impressive and inspiring array of writers, poets, teachers and organizers.
I will be participating in two book release events in the next few weeks—one in New York City, and one in New Orleans. For those of you in one of those cities, I hope you’ll come out. See below for more details on the events, and on the book.
In solidarity,
Jordan
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New York City Book Release Event
Thursday, May 24, 7:00PM
Discussion on Katrina, Race and Resistance, featuring Jordan Flaherty and Eric Tang. (see below for bios) Presentation will also include new video from New Orleans.
Bluestockings Bookstore
172 Allen Street between Stanton and Rivington :: 212.777.6028
http://www.bluestockings.com/New Orleans Book Release Event
Friday, June 8, 6:00PM
Panel and discussion, featuring contributing authors Kalamu Ya Salaam, Mayaba Liebenthal, and Jordan Flaherty.
Community Book Center
2523 Bayou Rd (near Broad and Esplanade) (504) 948-7323“We who live below the water line have no choice. Our first priority is to survive. Our second priority is to struggle. Our ultimate responsibility is to win. Survive. Struggle. Win. This book is a record of these efforts.”
—Kalamu Ya Salaam, from the Introduction
More about the book:
With an eye toward community organizing and radical scholarship, this accessible anthology is both a people’s history and a collective vision for the future of New Orleans.
Contributors include: Kalamu Ya Salaam, Charmaine Neville, INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, Jordan Flaherty, Suheir Hammad, Common Ground, and Lewis Lapham.
“What Lies Beneath” rests on the premise that Hurricane Katrina mirrors with terrible poignancy the state of a nation—a damning and bitterly accurate portrait of everyday life in America. Despite a chorus of claims to the contrary, Hurricane Katrina was not an equal opportunity disaster. Its asymmetrical impact on people’s lives vis-a-vis their relative place within the matrix of oppression cannot be denied. If your life was hard before the hurricane, it was exponentially harder during and after the storm—and remains so up to this day. For those who suffer daily the existing, pervasive, and insidious social inequities that are the US reality, Katrina was not an anomaly. It was simply business as usual.
“‘What Lies Beneath’ will keep us thinking for a long time about what happened, why it happened, and provoke us to examine honestly the nature of the society in which we live.”
— Howard Zinn, author, “A People’s History of the United States”“‘What Lies Beneath’ tells the real story of those abandoned to face Hurricane Katrina, and reveals the people’s uprising that provided shelter, aid, and comfort where there would be none.”
—Jeff Chang, author, “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop”About the authors/presenters:
Mayaba Liebenthal is a Black feminist, anarchist, human rights advocate and community organizer committed to creating projects/institutions that support self-determined and sustainable community development.
Kalamu Ya Salaam is a poet, writer, editor, teacher, filmmaker, arts administrator and co-director of Students at the Center, an independent writing program that works within New Orleans public high schools.
Eric Tang was Associate Director at CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, serving as a community organizer in the refugee neighborhoods of the Bronx, New York. The author of numerous essays and articles on Southeast Asian refugee politics, community activism, and social movement theory, Tang teaches at the Worker Education Center of CUNY. Eric’s writing in ColorLines Magazine shared a journalism award from New America Media for best Katrina-related coverage in the Ethnic press.
Jordan Flaherty is a writer and community organizer based in New Orleans. He is an editor of Left Turn magazine and has written about politics and culture for The Village Voice, New York Press, Labor Notes, Radical Society, and in several books. Jordan’s articles from the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina have appeared in periodicals around the world, including Die Zeit in Germany, Clarin in Argentina, Juventude Rebelde in Cuba, Red Pepper in England, and many more. His writing in ColorLines magazine shared a journalism award from New America Media for best Katrina-related coverage in the Ethnic press.
For more information or to purchase a copy of “What Lies Beneath,” click here.
A portion of the proceeds from What Lies Beneath will be donated to The People’s Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition.
Drums in the Global Village 
Very important information. That’s for keeping us informed.
Side note: Glad you *so* enjoyed Brother Baraka’s work!
A.