Today (August 29), the Hip Hop Caucus, People’s Climate Music and Nuthin But Fire Records will be holding the 10th annual Katrina March and Secondline for the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. They are advertising the free event as the “Biggest Second Line Ever.”
The event is set to have radio personality Wild Wayne of Q93 and poet Sunni Patterson as hosts.
The Katrina March and Secondline is scheduled to start in the morning in the Lower 9th Ward, where the levees broke in the storm, and end at Hunter’s Field, where a rally will be held with speakers and performers. Mia X, Dee-1, Kermit Ruffins, Young Sino and CEO of Nuthin But Fire Records, Sess 4-5 are among those set to perform.
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Mia X and Sess 4-5 have been part of the Annual Katrina March and Biggest Secondline Ever since its inception and liken it to a reunion for families that were separated when Hurricane Katrina devastated the area.
“Every year we just try to shine the light on the people, the real citizens, and not the tourist attractions because whenever you focus on New Orleans that’s what you see,” Mia X says in an exclusive interview with HipHopDX. “Aside from that it’s a whole city full of people that are still hurting and they’ve lost everything. They were given a Red Cross voucher and $10,000.”
When speaking with Sess 4-5, he says the event is being held in hopes of shedding light on the economic struggles, gentrification and neighborhoods that still have not recovered from Hurricane Katrina’s impact.
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“I would like to see more economics going to the lower working class to make a living wage,” Sess 4-5 says. “Folks don’t have an opportunity to care for their families so that they can have stability to move and not just survive check-to-check until another crisis happens so they can afford to get their family out of harms way.”
Former President George W. Bush, who has received much criticism for the way he handled Hurricane Katrina, made a trip to New Orleans yesterday (August 28).
Bush visited Warren Easton Charter School, the school of Dee-1’s younger sister.
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“I don’t know why he came down here,” Dee-1 says.
“I don’t see anything that George Bush could say that would be received with smiles and hugs from New Orleanians. Because everybody felt played by him when Katrina hit. I don’t know what that was about,” he continues.
Sess 4-5 and Mama Mia also say that Bush’s presence was not appreciated in New Orleans and are also hoping for a sincere apology from the former President for how he handled Hurricane Katrina.
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Dee-1 also says that Hip Hop artists from New Orleans should take more accountability in helping the city including Lil Wayne.
“You do have artists that are speaking about Katrina and the impact that it’s had, but not many of the bigger artists,” Dee-1 says in a separate exclusive interview with HipHopDX. “You don’t really hear Lil Wayne talk about that stuff. That’s who most people look to when they think of a New Orleans artist who speaks for the city. If they don’t hear him talking about it then they’re assuming that it’s not that big of a deal to the people down here. But the truth is that I think to whom much is given much is required.”
