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Hotel Katrina
Cheo L.Waters-Artist
I first give thanks to our Creator who gave me the vision to bring together the multiple pieces that make this artistic statement whole.Every part of this artistic rendition of New Orleans contemporary history is taken from newspapers or other magazines that covered this story. I have had to invent nothing. The facts simply speak for themselves. There is a story to be told, a lesson to be learned, a future that can be just. There is a story. And, with God’s grace and blessing, I am just the artist, the storyteller.The ship, the flag, the Superdome that appears to mimic a state capitol, the bell shape all happened quite by accident as my mind and hands reproduced what I saw. These symbols are reminders of the protection of human life and rights that should flow from the sources of power but did not, in New Orleans. The fire at the top foretells the dispersion of the people to the winds of chance. The flag draped figure, a haunting reminder of an unfinished agenda.As I watched the events in New Orleans unfold from a distance, I saw the water flowing in over the streets and homes and into the lives of the people. I could ‘hear’ the Mayor and Governor giving a ‘signal’ to the citizens to evacuate, if they could. I saw those who stayed behind and was able to feel their witness of the devastation caused by the ocean, a witness that unfolded day after day after day. I felt the entrapment. I could see the terror, sadness, desperation and dignity on the faces of those left behind. It was all too obvious that those left behind were at the mercy of God. Senior citizens trapped in nursing homes and left behind to die left strong visual imprints; their death took hold of my mind. Children on rooftops, people making holes through their rooftops to escape, bodies floating in water, water, water… I stared with disbelief at the unfolding scenes.These people, many of them my people, but all of them our people, United States citizens and residents had nowhere to go and no one to call upon except the United States of America. The people were gathered together into the Superdome or the convention center with little or no help. Children were separated from their mothers, fathers, grandparents or caregivers as all were herded, ‘like animals’ from place to place. The scenes showed evidence of a government that did not know how to respond to or how to work with the poor who in those nine days had no way to make a way out of no way. Sadly, I wondered if I was witness to the possible death of a people and their strong culture and way of life. Upon reflection, as I watched, I felt a strong historical parallel. African Americans were enslaved for 400 years in the United States after being herded into ships for a journey across the ocean into the unknown. Historic parallels.When I enter the ‘lobby’ of Hotel Katrina I sometimes think that as in a ‘dream’ I am witnessing the days just after the Civil War as I see the dress, the poverty, the devastation, the aimless wandering, the herding. But I awaken only to realize this is 2005. Just as children were mindlessly separated from parents during slavery, the same occurred in 2005. Just as people were left to die long ago, they were left to die or fend for themselves today. What I witnessed was much larger than the simple failure of bureaucracy. I saw ‘history’ that exists in day-to-day life and therefore contemporary for African Americans and for the poor. At the end of the day I saw that the New Orleans of Louis Armstrong, the food, music, culture were ALL GONE! I cannot forget and I think that we in America should never forget what we saw. We must look back on this, reflect. To WITNESS an historic occasion over the course of nine days is a gift. We see a story that is larger than simply damage caused by failed levees. We must show this picture to our grandchildren, tell them we were there and explain what the scenes mean for them, and all of us.I invite you: Enter Hotel Katrina. Look. Learn. Then, dream about what could be..., if only….
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