Saturday, March 8, 2014

NOLA:Slow and Tedious


February 27, 2014

            My work continues on the document organization for the NOLA project. I have already confused myself 4 different times and did extra work because I forgot to mark down two organizations that I had already reviewed. What I believed might just be busy work and would be a breeze to get through has turned into a challenging task. While I’m about half way through the organizations listed (yes only half!) it has become clear that this project will take me longer than I anticipated because within every organization listed there are sub-sections and then more sub-sections. Do not get me wrong I am enjoying this work because as I go through the documentation I pause to listen to some of the interviews and attempt to understand what these people have been suffering through for years.

            I am working on an oral history of some of the survivors of Katrina and this is still history even though it happened less than a decade ago. Therefore, I have to try and see what happened through the eyes of others in order to let others know what happened 8 years ago as well as what is still happening today. As with any history you have to pull yourself out of your comfort zone and some of the judgmental beliefs you may have harbored. This is my journey into my attempt to be a historian and trying to understand the situation as it has been presented. This is not the news media sensationalizing a tragic event or pointing fingers and playing the blame game. These are real people who are enlightening me with every document and recording I see and hear.   

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