Action Campaign: <i>When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts</i>

This initiative draws, foremost, on the medium of film/documentary to raise people's awareness and to spur them to take action to make a difference in the lives of survivors of a natural disaster. The film itself, which was scheduled to air on the HBO television network on August 21, 22, and 29 2006 (around the 1-year anniversary of the emergency), offers an intimate look at the personal stories of those who survived the crisis through nearly 100 interviews with local New Orleans residents of diverse backgrounds; 3 months after Katrina struck, Director Spike Lee, his cameraman, and a small crew made the first of 8 trips to New Orleans to conduct interviews and shoot footage for the film in an effort to "represent the voices from the community, the different levels of government, activists and the celebrity element to provide a balanced take on the issues facing New Orleans." Lee's approach has been described as "down-to-earth reportage of how the disaster was treated on a local and federal level." While including shocking images and stories designed to spur advocacy, Lee also draws on elements of New Orleans' cultural legacy to illustrate its history of using music (especially jazz) as a way to communicate, bring people together, and survive against the odds.

KIN is using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to share information and advocacy tools related to the film via its own website, as well as to stimulate group film-viewing sessions to bring community members together and to encourage them to speak out and take action. Viewers of When the Levees Broke are encouraged to:

• Visit the KIN website to find related information, local organisations, and action ideas; the goal is to foster participation such as putting pressure on state and federal officials via telephone or email to encourage them to respect Katrina victims' rights.
• Organise friends, family, and colleagues to watch the documentary together - followed by a discussion of ways to take practical actions to make a difference (sample discussion questions were to be posted online prior to the television broadcast).
• Help change the coverage of the anniversary by calling local news media and radio talk shows, and writing letters to the editor. KIN directed viewers to an online kit provided by Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), with contact information for media outlets and sample letters: click here to view it.

KIN also provided a series of talking points, fact sheets, action points, multimedia offerings, tools and resources, and newsletters designed to spur "media outlets, political commentators, and everyday Americans [to] refocus briefly on the disaster...[I]t's important to reopen the discussion of unequal opportunity in America and to build support for real change...". Though not specific to When the Levees Broke, this frequently updated web page was designed to serve as a complement to the film.

Emergency, Rights.

KIN is an information and action clearinghouse using ICTs to share expert viewpoints and action from the communities that have been devastated by Katrina. KIN states, "We have all witnessed the government's mismanagement, corruption and plain old neglect that has tens of thousands of Katrina survivors still displaced, suffering and abandoned. Thousands of people, many of them children and families, remain homeless throughout the Gulf South. For war, the federal government acts swiftly and efficiently to make money flow freely, but when disaster strikes leaving poor and black people displaced and homeless, the government is disorganized and literally absent."