by Nezeziyah Sakuhai

In 2005, in New Orleans, Louisiana, survivors in the hard-hit Ninth Ward during Hurricane Katrina faced some harsh realities of displacement. In a flash, the surge of floodwaters from breached levees and waterways had devastated their tight-knit communities. It slammed and, in some cases, washed away not only their homes but also those of extended family members. This is one reason people couldn’t just pick up and go live with relatives. Another was strict housing codes that limited one family per address or unit; otherwise you didn’t receive aid or, worse, faced eviction.  

Prior to Katrina, over fifty percent of Ninth Ward residents had been homeowners. Many had never dealt with mortgages or insurance; they had simply inherited their ancestral homes passed down generation after generation to them and their siblings. Now dubbed “refugees” by several local news media outlets, they had no homes to return to. While under the pressure of grief, trauma, and desperation, they had to quickly find solutions. This was not an easy task: studies show that, in times of disaster, Black Americans are least likely to receive financial support from the government. Ninety-nine percent of the Ninth Ward (roughly 14,000 residents) was black. They encountered systemic discrimination: discriminatory loan practices, delays in receiving funds, insufficient payouts from insurance and grants, and confusion about grant stipulations. Consequently, NGOs became the backbone of daily recovery for Black residents.

Spike Lee’s documentary series, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006), If God is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise (2010), and Katrina: Come Hell or High Water (2025) demystifies the social impact of Hurricane Katrina. I am grateful for these works because my young adult mind could barely comprehend the stories told in the media. The series presents a narrative of federal negligence, resilience, and damage spanning twenty years. This is how I learned about the Make It Right project, founded by actor Brad Pitt. It serves as a cautionary tale about making naive decisions.