2008 Woodie Awards
Jazz funeral march commemorates Katrina victims
Nicole Nejati
Issue date: 9/4/06 Section: Features
Media Credit: Jamison NashEven though it was raining, World Can't Wait marched outside the Chicago FEMA headquarters with black shirts saying, "Wanted for Mass Murder."
Last Tuesday marked the one-year anniversary when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. People across the nation remembered the Katrina victims and there were memorials held around the country.
For Katrina victims it has been a long year. President Bush stated that a year's worth of reconstructing in the wake of Hurricane Katrina had formed a "sense of renewal." Although there has certainly been renewal, it has come gradually and incompetently. Numerous areas in New Orleans still linger obstructed with wreckage.
On Tuesday, World Can't Wait held a New Orleans-style jazz funeral march at the Chicago FEMA headquarters. The funeral was in commemoration of the Katrina victims who died.
"It's important not only to honor them by ceremonies but to ensure that such events don't reoccur, which is the best way to remember the victims," said Alex Raskin, a third year neuroscience major.
World Can't Wait is an organization that seeks to take accountability to stop the catastrophic course led by the Bush administration.
Many volunteers and members of World Can't Wait stood out in the rain on Tuesday. Black umbrellas filled the streets surrounding the FEMA headquarters.
While World Can't Wait marched around the FEMA headquarters, there were numerous commemorations held across the country. In New Orleans residents also held their own jazz funeral march, an old tradition. They also gathered outside City Hall while bells were rang to honor the victims.
In Mississippi, commemoration services were also held with special film presentations of the disaster and its aftermath.
"Our whole goal by holding a New Orleans-style jazz funeral is to remember Katrina victims and to condemn the Bush regime," said Abbie Arubus, a student organizer of World Can't Wait said.
The organization criticizes the Bush administration stating that when Katrina struck the Gulf Coast last year, Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice shopped for shoes in New York and President George Bush stayed on vacation while thousands died.
"I believe that President Bush criminally neglected the people of the Gulf Coast in response to Katrina. He didn't even end his vacation until three days later," said Tracey McClellan stated, a volunteer of World Can't Wait.
There have been 1,600 deaths in Louisiana and 49 bodies still remain unidentified in New Orleans, and 231 deaths in Mississippi.
President Bush met with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on Tuesday to promise better hurricane responses in the future.
"I have returned to make it clear to people that I understand we're marking the first anniversary of the storm, but this anniversary is not an end. And so I come back to say that we will stand with the people of southern Louisiana and southern Mississippi until the job is done."
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For Katrina victims it has been a long year. President Bush stated that a year's worth of reconstructing in the wake of Hurricane Katrina had formed a "sense of renewal." Although there has certainly been renewal, it has come gradually and incompetently. Numerous areas in New Orleans still linger obstructed with wreckage.
On Tuesday, World Can't Wait held a New Orleans-style jazz funeral march at the Chicago FEMA headquarters. The funeral was in commemoration of the Katrina victims who died.
"It's important not only to honor them by ceremonies but to ensure that such events don't reoccur, which is the best way to remember the victims," said Alex Raskin, a third year neuroscience major.
World Can't Wait is an organization that seeks to take accountability to stop the catastrophic course led by the Bush administration.
Many volunteers and members of World Can't Wait stood out in the rain on Tuesday. Black umbrellas filled the streets surrounding the FEMA headquarters.
While World Can't Wait marched around the FEMA headquarters, there were numerous commemorations held across the country. In New Orleans residents also held their own jazz funeral march, an old tradition. They also gathered outside City Hall while bells were rang to honor the victims.
In Mississippi, commemoration services were also held with special film presentations of the disaster and its aftermath.
"Our whole goal by holding a New Orleans-style jazz funeral is to remember Katrina victims and to condemn the Bush regime," said Abbie Arubus, a student organizer of World Can't Wait said.
The organization criticizes the Bush administration stating that when Katrina struck the Gulf Coast last year, Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice shopped for shoes in New York and President George Bush stayed on vacation while thousands died.
"I believe that President Bush criminally neglected the people of the Gulf Coast in response to Katrina. He didn't even end his vacation until three days later," said Tracey McClellan stated, a volunteer of World Can't Wait.
There have been 1,600 deaths in Louisiana and 49 bodies still remain unidentified in New Orleans, and 231 deaths in Mississippi.
President Bush met with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on Tuesday to promise better hurricane responses in the future.
"I have returned to make it clear to people that I understand we're marking the first anniversary of the storm, but this anniversary is not an end. And so I come back to say that we will stand with the people of southern Louisiana and southern Mississippi until the job is done."
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