Trouble the Water - You gotta watch it.

This morning began much like any other Saturday for me. I got up, ate a Clif bar for breakfast, took some vitamins, made some of my "workout juice" (a concoction of some more vitamins, etc.) and settled down on my living room floor to play on the laptop and watch a little TV. The TV is just for background noise; helps wake me up and put me in the right frame of mind for my little yoga routine.

Since I wasn't in the mood to watch CNN and piss myself off this morning, I decided to browse HBO ON Demand for a cool documentary. I love most HBO documentaries; they're generally well produced, entertaining and educational. Those adjectives don't come near to describing "Trouble the Water" and the impact it had on this white chick. This documentary was emotional "shock and awe".

When Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005 the devastation was incredible - I already understood that. F.E.M.A.'s mistakes have been enumerated in the media over the years and our government's response was shockingly insufficient and inept in so many ways. I already knew these things. I had seen the images of the helpless, hungry, homeless and scared citizens of New Orleans on TV before. But those images and the information that followed them were comfortably remote. I sympathized with their plight, prayed for them and even donated a little to help, but my emotional engagement was minimal. "Trouble the Water" brought the catastrophe much closer to home.

I empathized. I won't insult the citizens of New Orleans by saying I felt what they felt exactly, but I did experience shock, fear, despair, disbelief, frustration and outrage. I watched Kimberly River Roberts and her husband's footage of the storm and the aftermath...it's still hard for me to believe that all that took place here, in my home, the United States.

Why were U.S. citizens turned away from a Navy base at gunpoint, when all they sought was refuge?! Why did it take so long for help to arrive?! And those 911 calls made me cry. Imagine being so close and yet so far away from another human being that needs your help to SURVIVE.

But I have new heroes now. That Larry dude - I thought he was a police officer or fireman...some kind of civil watchman. But no, he was just a guy; just a man doing what he felt was right and necessary at the time. Or as he puts it in the documentary, "I guess God finally found a use for a guy like me!"

And Kimberly River Roberts, her husband and their crew...I'd be proud to call them friends of mine. At 24, Kimberly radiated calm, confidence, strength and perseverance rarely seen in people PERIOD, let alone at her relatively young age, and most especially under such conditions. Kimberly, you are definitely AMAZING and lyrical.

We have too many layers of abstraction in our society; too many "safe" zones. I live a relatively peaceful, comfortable life - something that I take for granted on a daily basis. Sometimes you gotta shake people to get their attention. That's what this documentary did to me.

For more information on this documentary, click here.