"A man on Tennessee St.: The story of an entire city"

[AZBlue]

The newspaper here in Arizona, The Arizona Republic (better described as the Arizona Republican)is decidely right-wing in its tone. Which is why I'm doubly pleased by the following from Laurie Roberts in today's issue. It's a little long, but please read all of it. Once you start reading the story, you don't want to stop.



A man on Tennessee St.: The story of an entire city
Sept. 1, 2007 12:00 AM

I wasn't going to tell the story of Robert Green. I wasn't going to describe how he lost his mother and his granddaughter and his home of 38 years in just a few hours. Or how he has vowed to begin again.

It is, after all, not our story.

(snip)

We live in the deserts of the Southwest. He lives in the desolation of New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward. We will hit the lakes or the malls this weekend and curse our bad luck with this 110-degree heat. He will raise the American flag in what used to be his front yard and count his blessings, that his remaining two granddaughters are safe and well in Houston and will one day, God willing, come home.

For 38 years, Green lived at 1826 Tennessee St. He grew up there. He raised his children there. He was there still when Hurricane Katrina hit, caring for his mother, Joyce, a 73-year-old Air Force veteran hobbled by heart problems and Parkinson's disease; his mentally disabled cousin Hyman, 60; and his 2-, 3- and 4-year-old granddaughters.

"We tried to get out of harm's way," he says, describing how they left the city but returned when it became clear his mother couldn't tolerate long hours in the car. When they couldn't get into the Superdome, they had no choice. They would ride out the storm on Tennessee Street - two blocks from the Industrial Canal, the first one that would break.

The water was already ankle deep when Robert awakened around 4 a.m. It rose quickly, as he and his brother Jonathan scrambled to get everyone into the attic and onto the roof. The surging water knocked the wooden house off its foundation, carrying it up the street as its seven terrified occupants clung together.

"When we got to 1617 (Tennessee St.), the house broke up under our feet," he says. "Jonathan and Hyman and my mother were in the water, clinging to rain gutters to keep from going underneath the water, and I took my granddaughter Shanai and put her on the roof at 1617 Tennessee. When I turned around to reach for my granddaughter Shaniya, Shanai fell in the water and was swept away. The only thing I could do was cry out to Jesus but I had to continue on taking the other children who were on the roof of our house because it was breaking up under their feet. I couldn't do anything to save Shanai. She was gone."

The family spent all morning on the roof, forming a human chain so that no one would be blown away. By the time the hurricane had passed, Green's mother was gone. "She told my brother she would take care of NaiNai (3-year-old Shanai). She closed her eyes and said she was going to take care of my granddaughter."

It took months to recover the bodies of Green's mother and granddaughter. It will take years to recover his life. He has plans to rebuild but no money. The insurance company hasn't paid. The Road Home program, which is supposed to help people rebuild, offered $700. Every system and every level of government has failed this man and this city.

(snip)

Green was the first to return to Tennessee Street. Since December, he's lived in a FEMA trailer with his cousin Hyman, telling his story to anyone who will listen in hopes that one day his neighborhood will come back.

(snip)

Green believes that people do care, that they will care if they can understand the magnitude of the devastation. "I have faith and hope," he says, "overpowered with determination."

No doubt he does, but it's hard to feel it here, where the sky is always blue and life, let's face it, is pretty good. It's 1,527 miles from downtown Phoenix to 1826 Tennessee St. I looked it up, to satisfy myself that it's not our story. It's not.

Is it?

Full story at: http://www.azcentral.com/news/columns/articles/0901roberts0901.html

[Booster]

1. All I can say is I am ashamed of my country. We have let all of

the Mr. Green's down, and one day we may find ourselves in Mr. Green's shoes, and we, too, will be saying "when are they coming". I know a lot of us here at DU certainly tried to help with donations and time spent volunteering only to read about things like the Red Cross fraud, the Noah's Ark fraud, etc. This country needs desperately to awake from the "me, me, me" attitude that has become prevalent, and start thinking "we, we, we" are all in this together and we need some true leadership in our government - not just quick slogans to make it look like they are doing something. We were once a mighty nation, but no longer. This makes this old body very sad, and I think both sides in Wash DC are to blame, as we are to blame.

[AZBlue]

2. We have let them down. And we continue to do so.

As we've seen, things are barely any better in New Orleans and in some cases they are far worse. Crime is up, tourism is down and many many victims are still in Mr. Green's situation.

The question that's bothered me most this week is how to educate America that this is still going on. I know that there's an overwhelming despair-weariness in our country - we have a lot to face and we'd prefer to pretend it doesn't exist. But, we must - or, as you so wisely pointed out, what's going to happen when the next Katrina-like situation happens to us??

[Booster]

3. I'm at a loss to answer your question on how to educate America.

I have never felt so helpless and hopeless at the same time. Americans just don't seem to care about anything that matters. They are so wrapped up in Paris and Lindsay and sex of any kind, and although I think the media is the cause of most of this stupid information, the media really does try and give people what they think they want to see and hear. I worked in TV for 34 years and believe me the most important thing to them is ratings. There is just so much corruption in this country that I'm not sure we can ever turn it around - I just don't see it happening. I don't know what the answer is but we sure as Hell better start thinking about how to correct the things that are wrong in this country before we try and bully other countries into doing things our way. We are no longer a shining example of the good life - except for the rich of course, and that's what the media is showing us and the rest of the world. Fluff.

[Lochloosa]

4. Damn I hate this piece of shit running our country...

enough said.

And for all my northern friends "enough said" is a VERY disrespectful term in the south