Imagine getting up everyday, getting your kids ready for school, rushing to work, coming home to cook dinner, helping your kids with their homework, and putting them to bed in a home you felt was sacred. Imagine your weekends, watching your kids play outside in the street that felt like a giant playground to them, talking to your neighbors while listening to music, and smelling the gumbo your neighbor across the street have on the stove bragging about how they made the best gumbo in the land. Life as you knew it was great. It wasn’t perfect, but it was yours. You get up early that next morning, watching the forecast before getting ready to wake your kids up for school, not knowing that “Hurricane Katrina” was about to whip away the very life you worked so hard to create. Fast forward seven days later, you are walking you and your daughters down the very streets that felt like home now echoed with silence, sirens, and people feeling just as hopeless as you. You are hungry, tired, devastated, your mind is racing, and the only thing you keep hearing is “Mommy I want to go home.”
Seven long days of heartbreak and devastation was all it took for the infamous Hurricane Katrina to transform the culture, community, and spirit of New Orleans forever. Yasmeén Blake, a New Orleans native and Southern University alum, is a journalist, filmmaking, and storyteller. She created a documentary entitled, Together In The Eye: 20 Years Later that pays tribute to New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina. The documentary shared experiences from various survivors including Yasmeén and her family. Yasmeén Blake graduated from Southern University in 2020 with a Bachelors in Mass Communication. She described the feeling as “a full circle moment,” as she was once in the same seats as all the students.
On Thursday September 4th, Southern University students watch the film in the Stewart Hall auditorium. The screening started at 11 a.m and ended around 12 p.m, leaving 30 minutes for students to ask questions, share their opinions, and personal experience with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. One of the students, James Robinson, stated, “Your film was beautiful, it was amazing, and it shared a lot more information than something the industry could put together.” He also shared the pain of being from New Orleans, yet having his identity questioned by people who believed he wasn’t truly a New Orleans native because he never had to walk through “flood waters.” This conversation opened the floor for many more questions, turning the Q&A into a meaningful dialogue as Yasmeen Blake was able to connect with the staff and students in the room.
Yasmeén’s documentary was not just informative, but inspiring to the students in the room who were once just like her. Dr. Maniko Barthelemy, a film maker and instructor of Southern University stated, “She represents what the department strives to do. We want to prepare our students not just to be career ready but community responsible.” Students being able to witness the masterpiece firsthand gave them a vision of what is possible when passion meets purpose, signifying to them that their own stories hold the power to inspire change. One student even uttered, “This film has really opened my eyes to a much bigger picture.”
Within four acts, Yaseem showcased the culture and community of New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina hit, the effects it had on the city and its residents, the strength of New Orleans culture, and how they managed to rebuild their city even when things didn’t feel the same. New Orleans culture is nowhere near what it used to be, but that doesn’t stop New Orleans residents from leaving their mark everywhere they go. Together In The Eye: 20 Years Later is not just a documentary, it’s a reminder of identity, resilience, and the unbreakable spirit of New Orleans. Through Yasmeén Blake’s vision, students not only learned more about the catastrophe, but discovered the power of storytelling to preserve culture. 20 years later, Hurricane Katrina is still impacting the lives of many.
