- Jul 7, 2008
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- Is to make myself the best human being I can in th
Trouble the Water directed and produced by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal will open August 22nd in Theatres. It is a Zeitgeist Film Release.
Hurricane Katrina changed the city of New Orleans and the 9th Ward forever.
Rap singer and New Orleans residence Kimberly Rivers Roberts and her husband, Scott Roberts, knowing that Katrina was coming took their camcorder and went through their neighborhood talking to and filming their neighbors, most too poor to leave. Kimberly tallked to her neighbors sharing that she too had no money to leave. Her stranded neighbors said all they could do was pray and hope for the best. The local drunk lay knocked out on a stoop. Kimberly shook him and warned him to seek shelter. He stumbled away. Kimberly would never see him again or other neighbors whom she knew throughout the years, people who had become dear to her. They died in their homes.
Kimberly prayed and asked God to protect her family and those she loved. She prepared for the worse. She filmed the waters as they got higher and higher and she and her husband went higher and higher in their home until they were in the attic. She took in a few neighbors and they did the best they could to subsist on the meager food supplies, dividing them among those who huddled together throughout the storm. Water poured in from the roof, drenching them as they watched a literal ocean materialize outside their home. Phone calls to authorities for aid went unheeded, with authorities telling them they would not be out in the storm. People begging to be rescued, screaming they were about to drown as the water invaded their homes, were turned down by authorities who told the people to do the best they could because the authorities themselves would not brave the storm to rescue anyone until after the storm.
The military proved useless and when survivors came to the naval base begging for shelter the soliders turned their guns on the people turning them away even though the base was nearly empty and had plenty of room.
People who sold dope on the street became heroes. Others like Larry, risk their lives going out into the ocean of water carrying people on their backs and dragging them in flotation devices, swimming from house to house to save whomever they could.
The Roberts couldnt bring their two dogs to the attic but miraculously they lived through the storm and reunited with the Roberts after the water receded. The Natl Guard killed one later. Weeks passed with no help from the government. Kimberly and her husband walked the neighborhood smelling the decaying bodies. One man seeing pictures on TV of bodies in an area where his mother was, later heard his mother was left behind. She drowned.
This documentary film covers the despair and the courage of the Katrina survivors and the power of the human spirit when faced with the challenges of survival. It depicts how people came together to help one another not only physically but psychologically as well. TROUBLE THE WATER is a testiment to peoples faith and courage. Its a lesson in self trust and belief and taught Katrina survivors that a strength lie within them they themselves never knew they possessed.
Through their ingenuity the Roberts located a truck and rescued as many people as they could. They left the state but found it too hard to start over, so returned. Their eyes opened and the eyes of other African Americans returning to their New Orlean neighborhoods opened. Wiser, after having seen how others lived outside New Orleans. Forever changed. Seeing for the first time that whites saw New Orlean blacks as riff raff and hardly more than slaves.
Whites fixed up the French Quarter and downtown areas where tourist congregated. The Whites were back in business while African Americans were left to their own devices, left to live among the ruins. The 9th Ward abandoned by whites, left untouched. Only later did desparate blacks find themselves facing eviction, jail, and joblessness, while whites seized their homes and properties with such rapidity it was nothing short of criminal.
New Orleans stands as a monument to white greed and lack of compassion.
Certainly this was demonstrated by the Bush administration and opportunist like Donald Trump who rushed to buy up what he deemed abandoned land.
What African Americans have learned from the Katrina tragedy is that they must unite and build their own neighborhoods back and not wait for FEMA or government handouts. Only a people who unite, rebuild their own neighborhoods can assure their own survival and withstand the demon horde.
Kim and her husband Robert are the central characters in this film, directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, with the help of Danny Glover, Joslyn Barnes and others. Together they made this outstanding and emotional film TROUBLE THE WATER from the perspective of those within the eye of the storm.
Katrina impacted the Roberts lives and many of those African Americans left to die and/or survive on their own. A storm that continues in many ways long after the winds died down. It opened the eyes of the Katrina survivors, most of whom were African American. These people will never look at America the same way or believe in the US govt again. And, those viewing this film should never see America the same way either. One cannot see TROUBLE THE WATER and walk away unaffected. Go see this film.
I had hoped to get Kim and Scott Roberts on my show but they are showcasing their movie the same night. So, instead I will talk to LaQuita Henry and Dr. John Caldwell about the Heritage Housing Initiative and to Author, Casting director, acting coach and director Tracey Moore about her book The Spirited Actor: Principles of a Sucessful Audition on Sarfmradio.com on Wed. August 6th from 8-9PM:
Hurricane Katrina changed the city of New Orleans and the 9th Ward forever.
Rap singer and New Orleans residence Kimberly Rivers Roberts and her husband, Scott Roberts, knowing that Katrina was coming took their camcorder and went through their neighborhood talking to and filming their neighbors, most too poor to leave. Kimberly tallked to her neighbors sharing that she too had no money to leave. Her stranded neighbors said all they could do was pray and hope for the best. The local drunk lay knocked out on a stoop. Kimberly shook him and warned him to seek shelter. He stumbled away. Kimberly would never see him again or other neighbors whom she knew throughout the years, people who had become dear to her. They died in their homes.
Kimberly prayed and asked God to protect her family and those she loved. She prepared for the worse. She filmed the waters as they got higher and higher and she and her husband went higher and higher in their home until they were in the attic. She took in a few neighbors and they did the best they could to subsist on the meager food supplies, dividing them among those who huddled together throughout the storm. Water poured in from the roof, drenching them as they watched a literal ocean materialize outside their home. Phone calls to authorities for aid went unheeded, with authorities telling them they would not be out in the storm. People begging to be rescued, screaming they were about to drown as the water invaded their homes, were turned down by authorities who told the people to do the best they could because the authorities themselves would not brave the storm to rescue anyone until after the storm.
The military proved useless and when survivors came to the naval base begging for shelter the soliders turned their guns on the people turning them away even though the base was nearly empty and had plenty of room.
People who sold dope on the street became heroes. Others like Larry, risk their lives going out into the ocean of water carrying people on their backs and dragging them in flotation devices, swimming from house to house to save whomever they could.
The Roberts couldnt bring their two dogs to the attic but miraculously they lived through the storm and reunited with the Roberts after the water receded. The Natl Guard killed one later. Weeks passed with no help from the government. Kimberly and her husband walked the neighborhood smelling the decaying bodies. One man seeing pictures on TV of bodies in an area where his mother was, later heard his mother was left behind. She drowned.
This documentary film covers the despair and the courage of the Katrina survivors and the power of the human spirit when faced with the challenges of survival. It depicts how people came together to help one another not only physically but psychologically as well. TROUBLE THE WATER is a testiment to peoples faith and courage. Its a lesson in self trust and belief and taught Katrina survivors that a strength lie within them they themselves never knew they possessed.
Through their ingenuity the Roberts located a truck and rescued as many people as they could. They left the state but found it too hard to start over, so returned. Their eyes opened and the eyes of other African Americans returning to their New Orlean neighborhoods opened. Wiser, after having seen how others lived outside New Orleans. Forever changed. Seeing for the first time that whites saw New Orlean blacks as riff raff and hardly more than slaves.
Whites fixed up the French Quarter and downtown areas where tourist congregated. The Whites were back in business while African Americans were left to their own devices, left to live among the ruins. The 9th Ward abandoned by whites, left untouched. Only later did desparate blacks find themselves facing eviction, jail, and joblessness, while whites seized their homes and properties with such rapidity it was nothing short of criminal.
New Orleans stands as a monument to white greed and lack of compassion.
Certainly this was demonstrated by the Bush administration and opportunist like Donald Trump who rushed to buy up what he deemed abandoned land.
What African Americans have learned from the Katrina tragedy is that they must unite and build their own neighborhoods back and not wait for FEMA or government handouts. Only a people who unite, rebuild their own neighborhoods can assure their own survival and withstand the demon horde.
Kim and her husband Robert are the central characters in this film, directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, with the help of Danny Glover, Joslyn Barnes and others. Together they made this outstanding and emotional film TROUBLE THE WATER from the perspective of those within the eye of the storm.
Katrina impacted the Roberts lives and many of those African Americans left to die and/or survive on their own. A storm that continues in many ways long after the winds died down. It opened the eyes of the Katrina survivors, most of whom were African American. These people will never look at America the same way or believe in the US govt again. And, those viewing this film should never see America the same way either. One cannot see TROUBLE THE WATER and walk away unaffected. Go see this film.
I had hoped to get Kim and Scott Roberts on my show but they are showcasing their movie the same night. So, instead I will talk to LaQuita Henry and Dr. John Caldwell about the Heritage Housing Initiative and to Author, Casting director, acting coach and director Tracey Moore about her book The Spirited Actor: Principles of a Sucessful Audition on Sarfmradio.com on Wed. August 6th from 8-9PM:
