lets talk about reconstruction and democracy now:
Rebuilding the Gulf and Goodwill: "Moreover, the federal government's reconstruction and resettlement czar must not be afraid to be in the company of frustrated and angry black people. Let me repeat: must not be afraid to be in the company of frustrated and angry black people. That requirement alone eliminates most of Bush's political appointees."

and from the front:

You have to have been here to share not only the shame of watching your fellow citizens lined up for hours beside an interstate waiting for buses, walking with kids and bundles like the refugees you see in Africa and other places along highways and bridges, but also the pride in the energy with which people of all sorts pitched in to do what they could to help each other.
http://hnn.us/articles/15375.html
A Week Later: A Report from the Front Lines of Katrina
By Paul E. Hoffman

Mr. Hoffman is Paul W. and Nancy W. Murrill Distinguished Professor Department of History, Louisiana State University.