Posted at The Root.

A year after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, the nation seemed mired in a state of willful forgetfulness. Promises for aid and recovery had been broken or forgotten. Elections seemed structured to undermine black political power. Black victims were demonized, and through it all, a deafening silence seemed to descend on issues related to New Orleans. A war dragged on, and other more manageable domestic political conflicts pushed Katrina out of the national political discourse.

Posted at The Root.

In a recent article on Sen. Ted Kennedy’s powerful endorsement of Barack Obama, New York Times columnist David Brooks suggests that Baby Boomers who developed their political identities in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and who have hardened over decades of political conflict, are intrinsically devoid of hope.