Floodlines: Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six Paperback – Illustrated, August 17, 2010

Jordan Flaherty's "Floodlines" is a compelling history of New Orleans: prior to Katrina the nation's sole majority African American city with all the beauty and culture generated from creative resistance to America's vicious history of white supremacy. Each page is a revelation of information you will not hear in the national corporate media coverage of New Orleans before, during after Katrina. For example, Flaherty describes former Governor Blanco's televised plea to the people of Louisiana to "pray" the storm down to a Category 2. And though the storm did loss energy in the Gulf before coming ashore with Category 2 winds (NOT Category 5 as widely reported) the levees failed despite being certified by the US Army Corp of Engineers to hold back a Category 3 storm surge. Other revelations include the gross incompetence of a coroner with no pathology training, police assaults on community organizers, etc. My favorite aspect of the book was the description of Mardi Gras, often portrayed as a drunken privileged white fraternity party. The Native American and African American roots of Mardi Gras and it's cultural significance as a form of resistance to racism is not widely acknowledged. I highly recommend this book, for as Flaherty so eloquently states: "continued silence diminishes us all."

Floodlines is a bracing, insightful and, ultimately, frustrating read as Jordon Flaherty's paper documentary pulls the curtain back on the systemic issues that turned Hurricane Katrina into much more than a natural disaster. He explores the history of New Orleans and the surrounding region, weaving a variety of compelling individual stories and noteworthy events, before and after Katrina, that illustrate the long-standing socio-political inequities that were fully exposed in the weeks, months, and sadly, years after the flood waters receded.Where  Zeitoun  zoomed in on New Orleans with a very personal, Katrina-filtered lens, Floodlines pulls the camera back to show the bigger picture, and it's not always a pretty one. The two books complement each other well and should be read together as they offer the slightest glimmers of hope that something good might eventually come from a disaster whose enormity and repercussions are still difficult to fully grasp.Recommended!

Jordan Flaherty's Floodlines: Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six was an eye opening and pleasurable read examining the intersections of race, class, gender, immigration status, etc. and the roles they have played and continue to play in community, culture, organizing and resistance in the New Orleans gulf coast area.An inspiring "must read" for activists, scholars, organizers, NOLA residents, those impacted by Katrina or other natural disasters, those impacted by systemic and institutional oppression, and those who are curious about the vibrant community of New Orleans.

I was forced to read this book for a class I am taking, and the thing that really ticked me off was that the book was messed up because of the publisher. Several chapters were missing, and a few chapters were printed twice, and some of the chapters were out of order.I expected it to be a left-leaning book as I am reading it for a college course taught by a radical democrat, but come on! My biggest problem was the slanderous accusations made by Flaherty against members of the NOPD. I would not be surprised if he had a lawsuit brought against him.Overall, if you are not forced to read this book for a college course, I wouldn't buy it. Even if you have to read it for a college course, check the library first. This book is just not worth spending any money on.

A definite point of view, but I respect it. Well chosen stories

Good insight into this tragedy, so much the result of intentional racism.

Much needed work and research. Devastating in its implications

Best