#muralmondays: Baptized WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE
"If this had been a much more affluent place, a place that was not as populated by African Americans, I am firmly convinced that it would have been a different kind of response."
-Ray Nagin, New Orleans Mayor (August 2010)
#MUSE In the late summer of 2005, all eyes were on New Orleans.
The international attention wasn’t drawn by record breaking attendance at one of NOLA’s 100+ annual festivals. It wasn’t one of NOLA’s championship caliber high school, collegiate or professional athletic programs or sporting events. It wouldn’t be fixated on the world class music talent and dozens of Grammy Award winners who called NOLA home. The world was astonished by a deadly Category 5 Hurricane named Katrina.
Fifthteen years ago today, August 31st, 2005 the hurricane had dissipated. During the same day, President Bush made an early return from his Crawford, TX vacation and ordered Air Force One to hover at low altitudes over New Orleans, surveying the damage. He forgot to exit the aircraft in NOLA, a move that only helped his growing unpopularity.
The devastation caused by the storm impacted much of the Gulf Coast, leaving large areas of small cities Gulfport, MS and Pascagoula, MS unrecognizable. The varying estimates in damages range from $76-125 billion, making Katrina the most costly natural disaster in US history. The hurricane is also a hallmark in examining many failures preceding and following this event. Unfortunately, the group bearing most of the burden were already the most vulnerable and marginalized in the city.
African Americans accounted for 67.25% of NOLA’s population in the 2000 Census and the city’s mayoral office was held by African Americans for 28 consecutive years preceding Katrina. At the time, the city’s Chief of Police, Eddie P. Compass III, was also African American. With a large Black population and mostly Black leadership, many speculate whether race influenced the federal government’s lackluster relief effort, the media’s coverage and state violence toward African Americans.
Founded in 1720 and built in 1850, St. Louis Cathedral was dedicated to King Louis IX of France.
Building NOLA: PArt I
Like most of America, Louisiana was home to many indigenous tribes including the Caddo, Chitimacha, Choctaw, Houma, Natchez, Tunica, Alabama, and Coushatta. The indigeous peoples lived in the current New Orleans area for 1300 years and referred to it as the ‘land of many tongues'. They were attracted to it’s unique position between what’s now called the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain. The accessibility to water resources made the marshland attractive to both natives and newcomers.
The first arrival of European colonizers occurred in 1682, when Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed the land as a French territory. During this time, the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana which cites itself as the most powerful tribe between Texas and Florida, became the greatest source of resistance in the area. Between 1706 and 1718, the tribe engaged in warfare as a response to Slave Raids and French aggression.
The year 1718 proved pivotal for Europeans conquering the Louisiana Territory. After losing most of the tribe due to casualties or enslavement, a Chitimacha Chief met with Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville in New Orleans to agree on a peace treaty. In the spring of that year, Bienville would establish La Nouvelle-Orléans as a city, and the Chitimacha people were relocated.
Building NOLA: PArt II
By the mid-18th century, New Orleans was no longer just a marshland settlement. It was becoming a strategic port that would shape the cultural, political, and racial identity of America.
From France to Spain and Back Again
In 1763, following the French and Indian War, France ceded Louisiana to Spain. For nearly four decades, Spanish governance left its mark on architecture, law, and city planning. Many of the wrought-iron balconies and pastel courtyards that define the French Quarter today are in fact Spanish colonial legacies. After the Great Fire of 1788 destroyed more than 850 buildings, the Spanish rebuilt the Quarter with stricter codes — brick walls, fire-resistant tile roofs, and wide courtyards that still stand.
The Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1800 briefly returned Louisiana to France under Napoleon Bonaparte. Just three years later, the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 transferred the territory to the United States for $15 million, doubling the size of the young nation and forever changing New Orleans’s destiny.
Enslavement and Creole Identity
Beneath the grandeur, the economy of Louisiana was built on enslaved African labor. Africans from Senegal, Benin, Congo, and beyond were forced to work sugarcane, cotton, and indigo fields under brutal conditions. Their survival and resistance infused the city with rhythms, rituals, and languages that gave rise to Creole identity — a blending of African, French, Spanish, and Indigenous cultures.
Congo Square, located just outside the French Quarter, became a site of gathering for enslaved Africans. On Sundays, they drummed, danced, and traded goods — preserving traditions that would evolve into jazz, gospel, and blues. This resilience of culture in the face of oppression made New Orleans a capital of both suffering and creativity.
A City of Water, A City at Risk
While New Orleans’s cultural fabric grew rich, its physical foundation remained fragile. Built on drained swamplands between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, the city relied on levees, canals, and pumps to keep water at bay. As early as the 19th century, engineers warned that one powerful hurricane could send the city underwater. Yet expansion continued, and wealthier residents built on higher ground while poorer Black communities were pushed into lower, flood-prone areas.
The city’s geography — surrounded by wetlands, reliant on levees, and sitting below sea level — became both its blessing and curse. The same waterways that fueled its commerce and culture made it perpetually vulnerable to disaster.
Setting the Stage for Crisis
By the 20th century, New Orleans had become a city of paradoxes: celebrated globally for its music, cuisine, and spirit of resistance, yet marked by systemic inequality and precarious infrastructure. Experts issued repeated warnings that a strong hurricane could devastate the city — predictions that echoed for decades.
When Katrina arrived in August 2005, the disaster was not simply a product of wind and rain, but of centuries of history: colonization, slavery, segregation, city planning, and government neglect. To understand Katrina is to understand the layers of New Orleans itself.
“A slow moving Category 3 or any Category 4 or 5 hurricane passing within 20 to 30 miles of New Orleans would be devastating.”
- Joseph Suhayda, Louisiana Water Resources Research Institute Director (July 2000).
In September 2004, Hurricane Ivan, another category 5 hurricane ravaged the Gulf Coast but spared New Orleans. It was a close call. Close enough to have Mayor Nagin issue an evacuation, which presented a unique set of risks. Some of the one million fleeing residents would be safer in their homes than their car stuck in a traffic jam.
Poorer residents didn’t have the luxury of evacuating, so hours before the storm approached city officials decided to open the Mercedes Benz Superdome. Only 1,100 people took refuge there, much less than the 14,000 during 1998’s Hurricane Georges. The scare would cause 125 deaths and $23.3 billion in damages. Much less than anticipated, but the storm’s path would not landfall near NOLA.
In an interview with PBS correspondent Peter Standring, the Director of Emergency Management for Jefferson Parish, Walter Maestri demonstrated that the French Quarter would be under 22 feet of water had Ivan come through the city. NOLA’s vulnerability to strong hurricanes was and still is common knowledge among experts. Why didn’t the federal or state government act sooner in developing stronger levees? The levees were never expected to fail and the New Orlean’s drainage system can pump out 22 million gallons of water per day.
Maestri made public statements estimating a death toll of 50,000 and displacement of 1 million people should a Category 4 or 5 hurricane make landfall near New Orleans.
“I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a Black family, it says they’re looting. If you see a white family, it says they’re looking for food.”
- Kanye West, 2020 Presidential Candidate.
During a September 2nd telethon raising awareness and relief funds for Katrina Victims, Kanye West embedded a statement in the minds of an entire generation. “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people”, which the 43rd President would regard as “all-time low” of his 8 year term.
Gallup Polling reported a 40% approval rating during the week of August 22 - 25, 2005, which was the lowest since Bush assumed office in January 2001. The Bush Administration was leading an unpopular War in Iraq, yielding over 35,000 Iraqi civilian and over 1,000 US military casualties by the end of August 2005, with the invasion yet to prove the administration's claims of Saddam Hussien’s possession/accessing weapons of destruction. August 31st, while en route to the White House, President Bush hovered over New Orleans and had not landed Air Force One to be with the citizens of New Orleans. Photos of his observation would become a fixture in the press and public outrage ensued.
Violence During Katrina
The cynical attitude towards the government and it’s response to Katrina victims only intensified days later when the Danziger Bridge shootings occured. The shooting involved at least 5 NOPD officers in plain clothes arriving at the bridge in a Budget rental truck gunning down 6 unarmed and displaced African Americans without warning. With unconfirmed stories of rapes and murders taking place at the Superdome, the Danziger shooting became one of the few horror stories confirmed to be true. Among the other unconfirmed stories, police were rumored to have ordered to shoot looters. The origin of these orders were investigated and revealed years after the events.
‘I will not rest until
there is justice.’
- Quinyetta McMillon
Echoes of police violence still reverberate across the Gulf Coast, exemplified by the tragic killing of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge.
Aftermath
The tourism industry suffered a great loss immediately after Katrina, but made a strong comeback in the 15 years since. By 2017, there were 1200 restaurants in the metro area. In 2014, New Orleans welcomed 9.5 million visitors contributing $6.8 billion dollars in direct spending. Four years later, the number of visitors nearly doubled to 18.51 million contributing $9.1 in direct spending.
Justice was served in the Danziger shootings that resulted in the murders of James Brissette (17) and Ronald Madison (40). Five NOPD officers were convicted and sentenced for their actions. Robert Faulcon, Jr. was sentenced to 65 years while Kenneth Bowen and Robert Gisevius, Jr. were both sentenced to 40 years.
The city lost 100,000 permanent residents after the Hurricane. Some of the most famous residents include Uptown natives Birdman and Lil Wayne of the Cash Money empire, a homegrown powerhouse on pace to sell one billion records. Prepping the release of The Carter II, their organization would split time between nearby Houston and Miami.
In Houston, Rap-a-Lot Records heir Jas Prince would play music by an upcoming Canadian artist to Lil Wayne. The ‘Best Rapper Alive’ wasn’t impressed at first listen, but through their great working relationship, Jas would send unreleased beats to Drake. After noticing his versatility during another car ride with Jas, Wayne asked for a phone introduction to Drake and later flew him to Space City. As an established artist, Drake’s family ties grew so deep in Houston, Charlamagne tha God’s whereabouts came into question during a visit.
During their time in Miami, Cash Money Records would develop working relationships with Rick Ross and NOLA native DJ Khaled. During an interview with Ebro and Laura Styles, Birdman later cited his relationship with Rick Ross as one the reasons that he moved to Miami. Cash Money would sign DJ Khaled and release some of his finest anthems including his first Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 record “I’m On One” off his label debut We the Best Forever. Each of these related to Cash Money Records occurred based on connections that formed surreptitiously in Houston and Miami.
The narrative of New Orleans and Katrina would be owned by those who lived it. Media began to capture and elevate voices that weren’t heard especially during post Katrina. In 2006, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, A Spike Lee Joint, New Orleanians would share their accounts of Katrina first hand. HBO launched a series titled “Treme”, which received acclaim from locals while positioned to help in boost the economy. The production spent $400,000 on hotels alone for season one.
Post Katrina, The Army Corps of Engineers would spend $14.6 billion in a project to reconstruct the levees of New Orleans.
New Orleans was a gold mine for the Confederacy, an overtly racist regime. Although not directly attributed to the Hurricane, Louisiana developed more progressive attitudes. Today, the Chitimacha Nation is Federally recognized and has a population of approx. 1200 people. In 2018, New Orleans began recognizing the second Monday of October as Indigenous People’s Day and Governor John Bel Edwards would follow suit for the State of Louisiana in 2019.
In 2010, George Bush would receive a televised apology from Kanye West during an interview with Matt Lauer. Bush later expressed regret for staying onboard Air Force One.
Despite their many contributions, NOLA’s Black leadership didn’t fare as well as other community leaders involved in Katrina. After 26 years Eddie P. Compass, would resign from his post with NOPD on September 27th, 2005. Mayor Nagin, became the subject of a corruption investigation which landed him a 10 year sentence in federal prison. He maintains his innocence.
#MURAL: Baptized When The Levees Broke was created by Brandon 'B. Mike' Odums to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina along with a “STILL STRONG” mural. The lot is located in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood and is currently used as a car lot..
#MOVES: Baptized by Katrina | Baptized When the Leeves Broke is one of many murals you can enjoy in the St. Roch and Marigny neighborhoods during wait for @morrowsnola . Their best seller app BBQ Shrimp is 🔥🔥🔥.
