While investigating the state of Katrina recovery along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, JOURNAL producer William Brangham met a local community activist named Derrick Evans. For several years, Evans has been trying to protect his hometown community -- the historic black settlement of Turkey Creek, Mississippi. Filmmaker Leah Mahan has been following Derrick Evans and the story of the fight to save Turkey Creek for several years.

The video clip above is an excerpt from Mahan's documentary, which is still in production. The clip begins in 2001 and is an introduction to the story of how this citizens' movement began when Turkey Creek's historic cemetery was bulldozed to build an apartment complex. Now, in the aftermath of Katrina, Turkey Creek has joined dozens of other communities along the Gulf Coast to push for an equitable recovery. To find out more about Leah Mahan's film, please visit www.turkeycreekproject.org.

We invite you to respond by commenting below.

Tag(s): Katrina
Posted by Bill Moyers Journal at 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

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Since the shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians on September 16 by Blackwater contractors, which is currently under investigation by the FBI and the State Department, newspapers, talk shows and blogs have been buzzing with debate over the implications of a growing private sector "army" fighting alongside US Military officials in Iraq. Many believe these hired soldiers have not been properly held accountable for their mistakes.

Founder and CEO of Blackwater, Erik Prince, recently made the rounds defending his company as a patriotic extension of the US Armed Forces, simply fulfilling the security demands of a military stretched thin.

After watching Bill Moyers' interview with investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill , who has been covering Blackwater for more than three years, do questions still linger about this complicated issue?

Who's funding these private security contractors? Who's giving them their day-to-day orders? Who supplies their equipment and transport vehicles? Under which rule of law are they held accountable? Here's your chance to ask the expert.

Submit your questions to Scahill by commenting below. We will post his responses to select questions early next week.

Photo: Robin Holland

Tag(s): Afghanistan , Iraq , Katrina , war
Posted by Bill Moyers Journal at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (346) | TrackBacks (0)

In 2005, 10 weeks after Hurricane Katrina, photographer Chris Jordan documented the devastation in a series entitled, "In Katrina's Wake: Portraits of Loss From an Unnatural Disaster," published by Princeton Architectural Press, NY.

Below, Jordan discusses some of these portraits. We invite you to respond by commenting below.

Continue reading "Chris Jordan: In Katrina's Wake" »

Tag(s): Katrina
Posted by Bill Moyers Journal at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (22) | TrackBacks (0)