Making It Right

Art Form: Television
Genre/Type: Talk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uigclQryYa0

Art Form: Architecture
Genre/Type: Residential



Yesterday was the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. So I guess there's a little serendipity with this blog since I've found myself blogging about the calamity that was Hurricane Katrina for the first time; which makes this blog incredibly timely. From my observations of the media, it seems as though we have become incredibly remiss about the tragic events of Hurricane Katrina now, which is a mentality that has pervaded the U.S. since a month after the actual occurrence. I myself am guilty as well. I haven't really thought much about Katrina or its lasting affects on the city of New Orleans. But honestly, that isn't something someone would want to constantly moil over because the nature of the situation is entirely too depressing. But I found myself revisiting the topic while trying to catch up on an episode of Charlie Rose. Charlie was interviewing famed actor Brad Pitt about his new movie, but more importantly, they discussed at great length his new project, Make It Right.

Charlie commenced the discussion by asking Brad what seemed to be the million dollar question post-Katrina. Why didn't the people in the lower ninth-ward receive the sufficient amount of help, care, resources and attention that they should have gotten? There was some solidarity between the both of them as they began discussing the idea of the government conspiring to 'eliminate an underclass in America'. Now I consider myself a, 'A moderate revolutionary', so I would love to dabble into ideas that accuses the government of colluding to put a moratorium on the nadir of America's socio-economic hierarchy. I'm sure the Black panthers would've leaped at the opportunity to profess to the masses that the breaching of the levees was just a paradigm devised by the government to rid our society of blacks and the destitute. But I won't do that. I really don't think that's the case. However, I do believe that the maintenance of the levees was considerably neglected because of the demographics in the area of New Orleans that fell victim to severe flooding. Our government should definitely be ashamed of its cavalier attitude towards the flooding of that area.

I'm taking a geology class this semester. And on the first day of class the professor attempted, in all his passion, to explain why science was so incredibly pertinent. He used the example of Hurricane Katrina and what ensued was a sensitive attentiveness of the class to his example , which probably would not have happened had the professor began to ramble about the profound nuances and the intrinsic value of the application of science to the world. Anywho, what really got my attention was when the prof. exclaimed that about 95% of our political moguls and arbiters know less about the general areas of science than the average college freshman. That's a mind-bottling and scary statistic if its veritable. Maybe we need more scientists in positions of power in the government. But I digress. Two quotes that stuck out to me that the professor showed via PowerPoint were these:

"A major hurricane could swamp New Orleans under 20 feet of water, killing thousands..... only massive re-engineering of the levees can save the city".
- Mark Fischetti, October 2001-Scientific American

"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees".
-George W. Bush, August 2005

.....I'm sure the people of New Orleans would readily forgive Mr. Bush if given the opportunity.....Right. I think at this point, no matter how conciliatory W. would act, the people of New Orleans will forever preserve a level of animosity for him that everyone outside of New Orleans would never be able to understand or develop. So, moving away from placing the blame, the events have left people in New Orleans despondent and decadent still 'til this day. But there is hope, and it begins with Make It Right.

Make It Right is a.........well, here's a truncated version that I devised and extracted from the 'vision' section of the project's official website. "In December 2006, Brad Pitt convened a group of experts in New Orleans to brainstorm about building green affordable housing on a large scale to help victims of Hurricane Katrina....the group determined that a large-scale redevelopment project focused on green affordable housing and incorporating innovative design was indeed possible..... To demonstrate replicability, Pitt determined to locate the project in the Lower 9th Ward, one of the most devastated areas of New Orleans, proving that safe homes could and should be rebuilt. Pitt hopes that this project would be a catalyst for recovery and redevelopment throughout the Lower 9th Ward and across the city of New Orleans. Having listened to one former resident's plea to help "make this right," Pitt was inspired to name the project "Make It Right" (MIR).

I commend Pitt's efforts. I think what he's doing is incredible. Aside from the plan itself, the idea and commitment alone is something that needs to be lauded. With the innumerable amount of affluent people that live in this country, especially those who are inherently socio-economically hegemonic, it was left to an actor to take the initiative to spawn a project that would help restore the ability to live and the quality of life in the lower-ninth ward of New Orleans. And it all started with Pitt's sincere love for the city's wealth of culture. The project itself is extremely artistic and environmentally conscious. The houses are going to be built to be eco-conscious and for sustainability (in lieu of Hurricane Katrina). But what really makes the Make It Right project great is that the development and upkeep of these homes for the developers and the inhabitants are going to be relatively frugal. The plan is, as Brad explains to Charlie, is that there will be people who first adopt the homes (paying for them) and then giving the home back to the people who had a home on the particular land space on which their home used to be. So a Katrina victim will come back home, see a brand new house on their land and it will be theirs for the taking. And the houses are built so that the bills and expenses will remain low. Beautiful idea.

Being a conessuire and potential purveyor of art, I'd have to extol the architecture of the homes the most. The models that Brad shows on the show look incredible. If I had to take a guess, I'd say all of these homes are going to be products of post-modern construction; which leaves me a little envious of the Katrina victims. Here are some samples.
















You can see the rest of the designs here.
http://www.makeitrightnola.org/mir_SUB.php?section=mir&page=designs&mySub=main
They're all extremely beautiful. Once again, I commend Brad, his fellow sponsors and all the donors who have supported this project. Brad said in the interview that he and his team have incurred some struggles trying to find adequate support from those who have the resources to really expedite the project, but he's maintained a panglossian attitude. Though the project is fairly nascent, I'm excited about its future. I hope it flourishes. I think that the architecture of these homes will only add to the incredible surplus of culture, custom and tradition that distinguishes New Orleans. Hopefully, 'Make It Right', will catapult New Orleans past its previous cultural stature, and into a cultural utopia for its inhabitants and visitors alike.

Parting Thoughts:
The beginning of school is going really well for me and I can see the newest version of Kuamel manifesting itself already.
Barack Obama's choice for a running mate remains an anomaly to me and I'm actually undecided about who I'll vote for.
I'm officially down with Wale and The Best Kept Secret. See: Nike Boots by Wale
I have a new moniker: Smarty Jones.
The best thing I heard from a professor on the first day of classes was this:

"Being literate is not an English class thing".

Oh yeah,
In lieu of the blog entry, I thought I'd leave you with a lasting image and a song that I think will typify the resurgence of New Orleans from the worst calamity that this country has ever seen. I got the image from a New York Times article I was reading about a documentary called "Trouble The Water", another film that will be portraying the effects of Hurricane Katrina. And the song is actually from the album, "A Tale of God's Will", which was made by Terence Blanchard (who is in the picture) as a requiem for Hurricane Katrina victims. I love jazz.