“Obituary for the Government, Eulogy for the Dead”

dedicated to the soul survivors of Hurricane Katrina

by Alixa and Naima

October 2005




1.

Her name was Katrina
born of the waters
that swallowed middle passengers who
flew overboard to save their grandkids
from what came after slavery

Her name was Katrina
born of the salt
of trails of tears
flooding stolen territory
generations of rivers
disappeared into the ocean

Her name was Katrina
born of the wind
that pushed rafts
from the yawning belly of Port-au-Prince
to the fortress of Miami,
gasping breath that lifted wings
across the deserts of Mexico
to unforgiving borders

Her name was Katrina
born of the heat
that cooked the world
the rays an ultra-violet sun
the violent hush of a nation
stripped silent and naked



2.

Her name
was Katrina, she was born
by the waters of Babylon
stirring in our sleep
with the force of breath of every ancestor
whose blood already stained this place

born to Anger and Retribution
in the heat of passion, she was
abandoned in a basket on the shore
adopted by Uncle Sam
who charted her girlhood
to wage another gulf war

3.

Ground Zero, New Orleans, Mississippi, Alabama
where are you now?
under the weight of water and negligence?
because Justice is blind
and could not see
her children drowning in the darkness
refused to stretch out her hands and grab them
said they were too black
couldn’t find them
too poor
with her silence

“Evacuate” they said
24 hours prior to Armageddon
on buses that never came
“Buy your way out” if you can
and where you gonna go?
when your whole life has been
this place


4.

So Nabii stood there

and as the water splashed at her toes
Katrina’s mother’s water broke
flooded the sidewalks
with a puddle of the ocean

and as the water rose to her knees
she remained lifetimes on her feet
taught her siblings how to pray
chin lifted and standing

and as the water crept up to her thighs
aircrafts descended from the skies
to take pictures of the sun setting
on the vacant hands of stranded families

and as the water rose to her womb
her daughters floated by in garbage cans
her sons swam against the current of extinction

and as the water came to her chest
they separated the women from the men
shipped them to Auswitch and Mississippi
the superdome the dungeon in Cape Coast

and as the water rose to her chin
the television showed pictures of looters and bandits
so a nation would fall back asleep
nodding their head in disbelief
there was no one left worth saving

and as the water came to her mouth
her screams were flooded
with all the blood that soaked the South
and all the pain her grandfathers couldn’t swallow

and as the water came to her nose
the stench of sewage and corpses
that already existed, rose to the surface
all the helicopters and soldiers
were in someone else’s backyard
trampling someone else’s sand castles

and as the water rose to her eyes
it dissolved the coating on the lies
there was no security
and this wasn’t our homeland

and as the water rose above her head
five thousand joined the dead
their echoes lifted from the surface of the ocean


5.

and after the waters calmed
500 years of an ugly truth
they promised was dead
came back with significant proof
that Racism is still the sediment
of a nation whose rivers ran dry

those who got out in time
realized displaced means lost
when you don’t have a map to guide you home
and if home is gone when you return
how you going to replace your whole life?
catch your sorrow in broken jars?
heal the scars Negligence left?

cause it took 4 days
for the white house to get back behind its desk
and address the nation with stuttered promises
a good tan, and millions of dollars less
to build the aftermath of a prophecy
4 years in the coming

but letting shit break
is what America does best
a toddler who gets away
with killing the neighbors’ pets
people, conquer land and laugh
when his sisters and brothers fall flat on their face
after it was he who cross tied their shoe lace


6.

and after the waters calmed
500 years of an ugly truth
they promised was dead
came back with significant proof
that Racism still has a seat at the table
and is organically fed
by CBS, ABC, and CNN

blue screens through American windows
shadows of nodding heads all saying yes
we believe

them black kids are the bandits
they stole diapers and shoes
whites, we understand
they’re entitled to survive
the paper said they stumbled
over that bag of bread


7.

strange fruit rotting in the superdome
“Poor things” Barbara Bush said
“this is the best some of them have ever known”
no one allowed to leave
crying children in the backdrop
no food, no medicine
only cops with automatic weapons
to instill the fear already heavy in the air

“Poor things” she said
as if a cot in which two to a bed dreamt every night
was all a life of hard work had ever made

why should Americans help?
if this was a five star hotel
why should America care?
if there were rapist and thieves up in there

keep your heart up your sleeve
these people are dangerous
the mayor said there aint much you can do
but pray for us

the media made sure to let us know
so we could wash our hands
and say what they got coming to them is fair
and lady luck played a trick
when really it was Bush and his right hand
who got double cards up their sleeves


8.

what the media won’t tell you
is that the big boys on top
placed a bomb on the levee
to ensure the French Quarter
wouldn’t take all the heavy fury
history had gathered in the depth of its belly

7 days later it was business as usual
while bodies rotted ten blocks away
and people still on their roofs
with no food and no beds

“it was a strategic move” they all said
imagine if the main business went under
no festival for the gluttony of this country
the nineth ward paid for the 6th deadly sin
so Mardi Gra could happen

this regime has no morals
and what they have they got twisted
people for profit and we still keep on guessing
disregarding the truth while waiting for heaven

and waiting in line for the Red Cross
to come do the saving
FEMA is building prison camps
where no one can leave
and no one will be able to see them

they told churches
No you can’t pick them up on Sundays
at least 5 months they must stay on these premises

they told communities
“No you can’t come in and cook for them”
2 rations a day is all that they’re getting

they told people
“No, don’t do anything, wait for the signal”
meanwhile filling us with movies and terrorist attack warnings
so we forget our intention’s initial response to the tragedy

It’s not a conspiracy theory
George Bush hates black people
unless they are rich, act white
or are direct descendents of Condoleezza Rice
get your facts straight

Federal Emergency wants your donations
so they can build cell towers in remote areas
and get T Mobile phones for all their employers
when walkie-talkies would of done the job better

Now the main goal is to give the oil companies money
the real estate sharks blood for their honey
and turn New Orleans into a real MECCA
and what about Mississippi and Alabama?

Get your facts straight
the US rejected medicine and doctors from Cuba
two jumbo airplanes
50 tons of food and
250 tons of water
1 million dollars from Venezuela
because the Bush administration doesn’t agree
with a socialist democracy,
or the British invasion
their donations spoiled in airports
and food fit for soldiers in Iraq
was rather burned
than given to the starving of the Delta
get your facts straight


9.

It’s time we talked about the weather

whether or not you got caught in the flood
we all drowning in the depth of our families’ forsaken blood
the shit’s come to the surface
and if we don’t plumb it back to the assholes that run this country
what’s the purpose?

If we don’t exhale, what’s our breath worth?

It’s time we walk this road together
as brethren from every curve of the earth
roam this land in search of homeland

It’s time we talked about the build plan
one million drifting feathers
could fall together, form a wingspan
wide enough to lift us
to a kingdom better
than our fingers could’ve dreamt of

It’s time we talked about the weather
cause genocide is the agenda

It’s time we talked about the weather

make small talk with strangers
introduce our unborn to our angels
all our names are spelt the same
when we become numbers on the death toll

let’s talk about the weather
and the rising sun that the West stole
how we gonna get it back
that’s the test though

the pirate’s steal our everything
rob our next of kin
disappear our best men
and only then they let the rest go

your heartbeat like gold
and you’re carrying a chest-full
the water’s rising, we’re running out of
how much time will your breath hold?

it’s gonna get a whole lot hotter
and sure nuff it’s gonna get cold
let’s talk about the weather
decide right now what is your threshold


10.

decide right now
what you’re willing to die for
cause you will survive
if you have something to live for

we’ve been through the eye of the storm and back again
and we still survived
there aint a doubt in my mind
we will survive

we survived the fires of Selma and Nagasaki
and we will survive Palestine

we survived the waters of tsunamis
as far back as man can remember
and we will survive Katrina
and the tide that washed away 80 thousand lives
last week in Pakistan

we survived Vietnam and Wounded Knee
Rwanda and Mississippi
and we will survive
until our first born turns fifty

we survived middleschool and puberty
losing our mothers to our fathers’ hands

we survived famine and genocide
came back from the dead and spread like wildfire

we survived slavery and gas chambers
biochemical warfare and lynching

the seeds from our strange fruit
been sprinkled across this terrain by our angels
and everywhere we land
we gonna take root
and every inch of rock, mud, and sand
we gonna breakthrough

you’re here right now
I’m seeing you with my own two eyes
think of all the demons that tried to take you
and you still survived

and we will survive
we will survive

we will survive the reincarnation of our souls
in our little cousin’s eyes

I’ve lived a thousand lives
that's how I know

we will survive