For a couple of years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans’ narrative belonged to the people who endured the storm and those who helped rebuild after it. But as time went on and the city recovered, things changed. New demographics emerged and people started talking about “the new New Orleans.”
These changes left many people, including psychiatrist DeneseShervington and urban anthropologist Lisa Richardson, wondering about the city’s new identity and their place in it.
Not only has Denese relieved mental trauma in New Orleans, but she's also traveled internationally to assist after traumatic disasters. In 2011, she visited Japan after the Tohoku tsunami, the costliest natural disaster in the world.
The Institute of Women & Ethnic Studies will host Community Uprising: Katrina, Resilience, Resistance & Culture After 10 Years on August 20-21, 2015 at the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music; registration is open. This interview was recorded at StoryCorps’ mobile studio in New Orleans.
This story has been revised to reflect the following correction: The original text of this story referred the participants as "social workers." Ms. Shervington is a psychiatrist, and Ms. Richardson is an urban anthropologist.
