times that try men’s souls and other ramblings from a Hurricane

These are the times that try men’s souls. There are definitely times in life when you find out what you’re really made of and what is really important to you. The people in the Gulf Coast areas are feeling that. Those of us who have connected to their plight as humans, family members or fellow Louisianians have felt a bit of it, too. Nothing fine tunes one’s perspective like a situation like this. Typical human pettiness just does not seem to matter when you consider the fact that people are struggling to continue to exist. Living isn’t really possible at this point. The power of God is required just to keep a pulse.

It is not a peaceful process though. The entire situation is fraught with questions that are at the very least, uncomfortable. The deepest of which is why are there so many men and women who look like me stuck in the predicament they are in. Not why are they at the superdome, but rather why did they not have the means (or the inclination in some cases) to leave the city? Why did Tulane evacuate its entire campus upon hearing of the hurricane order while Xavier had students on campus? New Orleans is a city that took in billions of dollars ANNUALLY in tourist revenue? Why does it appear that such a large number of its citizens were, not only deprived of the benefits of that pie, but not even allowed on the side of town where the house was that the pie was served in?
I also fail to understand how the same companies that gave SEVERAL millions to the Tsunami victims on the other side of the world are only giving one and two million for their OWN countrymen. America is a mess.
I know that America is the kind of place where to be black and average is to be a failure, but there is more to this situation than a lack of initiative, I am sure.

Then there are the countless people of Slidell, Baton Rouge, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida who have been affected. Gulfport and Biloxi are pretty much a writeoff at this point. They aren’t even given five minutes on the news. Oh, my bad. There aren’t enough black people acting a fool out of sheer desperation over there. Shame on me, I forgot the news rules. Black folks actin a fool are news that the country needs to see on a continuous basis, whereas people of all colors who have lost everything except for their dignity, that’s not sexy enough. Gotcha.

So the next time I’m in Louisiana, if people are still in shelters, I’ll do what I can to help them. If the friends I haven’t heard from are okay, I’ll call and check up on them and do what I can for them. I don’t know how you can help someone who has lost everything, but I’ll do what I can. I can’t say if I’ll ever set foot in New Orleans proper again. If I do, I’ll have to be prayed up because I know I will remember all of the people who died and suffered there. It won’t ever be the same again.