Synopses & Reviews
Inspiring story of the struggle to rebuild the heart of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, urban planners, pundits and corporate power-brokers wrote off the iconic Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans as uninhabitable for its African-American community, who were denied the right of return to the homes they had lived in for generations. Two years on the Lower Ninth, the touchstone for every debate about the city's future, has become a unique example of success in a city still struggling to reconstruct itself. In this agenda-setting new book, Wade Rathke tells the story of this popular struggle against seemingly intermountable odds, from the perspective of those at the heart of the fight to save New Orleans for its people. A critical turning point in the reconstruction of this devastated American city, The Battle for Lower Ninth is an inspiring account of how communities can take on corporate and political intrests and win.
Synopsis
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, urban planners and power-brokers wrote off the iconic Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans as uninhabitable. Rathke tells the inspiring story of how communities took on corporate and political interests and won back the right to rebuild their town.
About the Author
Wade Rathke is a resident of New Orleans, where he has been a community organizer for over 40 years. He founded, and is the Chief Organizer of, ACORN, the largest organization of lower-income and working families in the US. He has written for Social Policy, Boston Review of Books, The Nation and Clamor.