With an eye toward community organizing and radical scholarship, What Lies Beneath, is both a people's history and a collective vision for the future of New Orleans.

In August 2005, thousands of New Orleans residents—overwhelmingly poor, largely people of color, the majority black—were left to face one of the worst “natural” disasters in US history on their own. They were left to die in prisons, in nursing homes, and on the street. Survivors were criminalized as “looters” for struggling to obtain food, water, diapers, medicine, and other essentials of life that no one else could or would provide. As Katrina’s waters receded and the body count soared, an ugly truth surfaced: The lives of those who are poor, who are vulnerable, and who are not white are not valued by the US government.

While commentators across the political spectrum, celebrities, and other observers expressed outrage that the US government would let this happen to Americans—even “those Americans”—millions outside of New Orleans live without adequate health insurance; clean air and water; decent education, housing, nutrition, health care, and work; and freedom from police brutality and state repression. And thousands are deported, displaced, and dying in prisons and illegal wars from coast to coast, gulf to gulf.

Short and accessible, this anthology, featuring such voices as Common Ground, SONG, INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, Suheir Hammad, Jordan Flaherty, Joy James and Ross Gelbspan, takes readers beyond the Superdome. It explores the complexity of this turning point in US history as representative of the nation’s direction and priorities.

“Here, finally, is clear-eyed and fascinating analysis of what Hurricane Katrina has to teach us about politics, power, human connection, and working for justice. What Lies Beneath is crucial reading—an organizer’s handbook for the 21st century.”
—Hon. Barbara Smith, co-founder, Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, Member, City Council, Albany, New York

“What Lies Beneath is a book that will keep alive the memory of one of the most dramatic and terrible events of the new millennium—the catastrophe of the Katrina hurricane and its aftermath.… At the center of story are the unavoidable issues of race, class, and the shameful callousness of officialdom. The book will keep us thinking for a long time about what happened, why it happened, and provoke us to examine honestly the nature of the society in which we live.”
—Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States

“What Lies Beneath reveals how ‘natural’ disasters like Katrina are increasingly man-made and caused by corporate greed, how those who have no role in creating climate chaos bear its worst burden, and how those involved in the crime of climate catastrophes use the disasters they have created to dispossess the poor, women, and people of color in the name of a ‘cleanup.’”
—Vandana Shiva, author of Earth Democracy

“What Lies Beneath is a work of fury spawned not by the inchoate forces of nature, but by activists, poets, organizers, and scholars. This brilliant little book is a written response to the forces of state, corporate, and media power which converged to isolate, demonize, destroy, and finally forget those many black and poor people who found themselves bitterly alone in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.”
—Mumia Abu-Jamal, author of We Want Freedom

Reader Reviews

Tinea

(3/5)

Nov 24, 2024

This is an anthology written by activists in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. It has some good essays (particularly the one by Incite! Women of Color Against Violence) and some mediocre ones. This book gave a more inclusive and more radical interpretation of the hurricane and the government and media's responses then a lot of other texts I've read (for example, Michael Dyson's Come Hell or High Water). It includes articles that deconstruct racism against immigrants, and includes analysis of...

Tomislav

(4/5)

This collection of essays dates from immediately after, to perhaps one year after Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flood in August 2005. Published in 2007, intended as harsh social criticism, it is today transitioning towards a historical document. In 2007 I was a (short-term) volunteer in the Lower Ninth Ward myself, so I read it as history relating to personal events. Contents include:A Raging Flood of Tears (poetry), by Ewuare OsayandeSlum Clearance, by Lewis H. LaphamNature Fights Back,

Thomas Fackler

A collection of essays and poetry detailing what it means to live in the United States as a person who is both a citizen and a refugee.

Amy

(5/5)

another book it took me far too long to read...but years later, it's still applicable, important, and interesting.

Carrie

Some of the most articulate and accurate analysis of post-Katrina New Orleans. Some irrelavent and overly opinionated articles as well.

brass

it's always nice to read friends' work, although this book can particularly difficult for me at times.i keep buying copies and giving them away because folks just need to read this, ok.

Offers a different perspective on what happened after Katrina. Thought provoking.

Scott

Generally quite politically relevant. Good critiques. However, I also found it a little removed from the organizers/mobilizers/activists in New Orleans. I did not understand the Dylan Rodriquez article. (Note, for full disclosure reasons: I contributed to some of the Common Ground section)

Matt

really hits home the calculated and horrifying nature of black social death in the states and the importance of grassroots organizing/ solidarity. also, being able to name white supremacy feels so fucking important after reading this book.

great title, no?as these collections often are, this, too, is uneven. in particular, the language of the activists emerges stark and powerful and dwarfs the convoluted language of the academics, who say important things in words as thick as the mud in which new orleans drowned (the comparison is inescapable). some great essays on white activism in african american communities and the emphasis, first, and denial, after, of black on black rape. definitely worth a read if you are interested in the

Corvus

This book is a collection of essays from varying perspectives that all help form a concrete message about race, sex, gender, class, ability, sexual orientation, and other intersecting issues and how they all played out for people of color in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. I felt privileged to read these stories and to learn so much from them. I highly recommend this book. Even years after the hurricane, it rings true as if it happened yesterday.

kate

i'm just going to go ahead and declare this one "read." i've been coming back to it on & off again for a few weeks now, at least, & i'm pretty sure i've read all of it. i'm in this new orleans social justice reading group, & i was really hoping we could use it as a possible text. i'm a total sucker for anything south end press publishes. several of the pieces in the book have been published elsewhere, & it had the overall feel of something cobbled hastily together, an afterthought. even as a for...

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What Lies Beneath: Katrina, Race, and the State of the Nation

What Lies Beneath: Katrina, Race, and the State of the Nation

What Lies Beneath: Katrina, Race, and the State of the Nation

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