We Shall Not Be Moved

by WOOTEN, TOM

• ISBN13: 9780807044773
• ISBN10: 0807044776
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2014-11-25
• Publisher: Beacon Press

Summary

As floodwaters drained in the weeks following Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans residents came to a difficult realization: their city was about to undertake the largest disaster recovery in American history, but it faced a leadership vacuum. Members of every tier of government, from the municipal to the federal level, had fallen down on the job. We Shall Not Be Movedtells the story of the community leaders who stepped into this void and led to the city's resurrection. Wooten follows community leaders in five New Orleans neighborhoods, vividly presenting their narratives as they organize their neighbors to ward off demolition threats, write recovery plans, open schools, and convince skeptical residents to return home. On their watch, New Orleans neighborhoods become small governments. This unprecedented community mobilization is a silver lining of Hurricane Katrina's legacy. By shedding light on the rebirth now underway in New Orleans, this book shows how residents, remarkably, turned a profound national failure into a story of hope.

Author Biography

Tom Wooten is coauthor of No One Had a Tongue to Speak. Since graduating from Harvard in 2008 and moving to New Orleans, he has worked as a researcher for the Harvard Kennedy School, as a neighborhood volunteer coordinator, and as a fifth- and sixth-grade writing teacher.