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Last night I finally got the nerve up to watch the final two acts of Spike Lee's phenomenal documentary When The Leeves Broke. I was barely thru the opening credits before I felt the tears. There was a shot of a baby standing a few inches of water in nothing but a diaper. It was a scene you've grown accustomed to seeing in Feed The Children ads depicting children in sub-human living conditions. Except it wasn't in some far away Third World country it was right here in the good old US of A.

My first thought was not how could this happen here, it was babies shouldn't live like this. It is a crime and a shame how much utter disrespect has been paid to the people who lost everything they know.

Everything. Can you imagine losing home? Not just property, but the place you lived. The streets you played on, the stores you went to, the familiar places, people & things that made up the core of what was home to you.

What if the country you were born in just gave you the finger instead of showing even the faintest glimmer of concern? How would you feel? Rootless, homeless,& hopeless.

I remember how bereft I felt after 9/11 after losing only a portion of my city. Imagine losing the whole thing. Spike Lee has reminded us how far down we have fallen. He has remided us that the nightmare hasn't ended yet for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

In all the possible ways a government can fail its people, the current administration has failed them. As a Brother in the film said "these motherfuckers have forgotten who they work for". Remind them. Write your congressperson & senators and tell them you know mid-term elections are coming and they can be replaced.

Shake off the apathy folks & try to put yourself in their place. I've already started my letters. Start yours.

Later........