Beyond Resilience Katrina 20

Beyond Resilience: Hurricane Katrina at 20 is a bold and unflinching examination of how the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina became a case study in disaster capitalism and cultural exploitation. Written by New Orleans native Ashana Bigard, the book challenges the dominant narrative of resilience, revealing how post-Katrina "recovery" efforts led to the systematic extraction of wealth from Black communities.

Bigard recounts how displaced residents—whose children made up the vast majority of public school enrollment—gathered to reimagine education, only to be ignored in favor of a charter school model that stripped schools of arts, culture, and community connection. The firing of 7,500 mostly Black educators, demolition of public housing, and closure of critical healthcare facilities are presented not as failures, but as deliberate strategies of economic displacement.

Through economic analysis and personal storytelling, Bigard reframes Black communities not as under-resourced, but as exploited powerhouses—generating billions through culture, tourism, and consumption while being denied ownership and reinvestment. With hip-hop alone generating over $15 billion annually, Bigard argues for economic justice rooted in reciprocity and community control.

Beyond Resilience is a call to move from survival to sovereignty. It demands that America reckon with how it treats the communities that generate its wealth—and challenges readers to envision justice not as charity, but as rightful return.