Criticism & Obstacles Should not Deter Mr. Bush: Shine, Shine to show the suffering

...The results are unacceptable so far....." said Mr. Bush. He toured the affected states yesterday. Yet, criticism begins to mount.

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In front of the aftermath of Katrina, criticism is sure to come from various sources. Last night, it came live from NBC’s Concert for Hurricane Relief.

Various famous sons and daughters of New Orleans and other affected areas participated, performed, and entertained the public while asking them to contribute to the Red Cross. Matt Lauer of NBC’s Today Show, was the emcee or host. The show was a simulcast from New York on NBC, CNBC, MSNBC and Pax.

Louisiana Native Tim McGraw sang two songs and signed a Gibson Les Paul guitar to be auctioned.

Mississippi native Faith Hill sang “There Will Come A Time.” The lyrics were very comforting to those who were watching “The darkness shall be gone; the weak will be strong. Hold on to your faith.”

Some of the other speakers include Richard Gere, Eric LaSalle, Glenn Close, Lindsay Lohan, John Goodman and Leonard DiCaprio.

Aaron Neville, a New Orleans native, sang Randy Newman’s soulful “Louisiana 1927.” The chorus goes like this, “They are trying to wash us away. They are trying to wash us away.”

But the surprise of the night came from Kanye West who had an outburst of criticism. He went unscripted. He wanted to connect with the suffering and spoke his mind about the portrayal of Black, African American survivors of the hurricane and floods. The Grammy-winning rapper’s comments were broadcast live to the East Coast. The viewers could have heard everything. He talked to them.

Kanye West expressed his feelings and observations as reported by a CNN reporter about the poor, the African-Americans and the older folks. "I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a black family, it says they're looting. See a white family, it says they're looking for food." The actor is trying to build some consciousness in the rest of America. He continued his rant, “George Bush doesn't care about black people. America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off as slow as possible." After that, he invited the audience to donate to the cause of the relief.

It appears that Kanye West said what others, the frustrated refugees of the Superdome and the Convention and those who know the history of this country, specially, that of the South could not dare say.

But nobody unleashed the fury of Hurricane Katrina against any specific group of people. Everybody is equal before the devastation and resulted suffering of natural disasters. Natural disasters can’t hide the truth. The whole world came in contact with the poor and disenfranchised among us. The way we, people and government respond to those in crisis will tell others a lot about our values. Social compassion is the name of the game. Leadership will help figure out what needs to be done in the days ahead. Now is the time to start anew. Now is the time to value each and every citizen of this great, rich and last super power. The day has come when the military resources and best soldiers and generals of this country are put to use in a war against hunger, poverty, lack of healthcare and discrimination. The day has finally come when everybody will count, when all citizens, black or white and of any hue or skin pigmentation will not be known by what they have but by what they are, human beings, our brothers and sisters. The day has come when the mightiest military forces are reduced to social work, caring about the poor, the disabled and the sick among us.

The social work component of the US military has long been defined by events such as the Asian tsunami and countless sorties into Latin America etc. People come first. Anything else is secondary.

Kanye West claimed that the government is deliberately dragging its feet by not doing much to jump to the rescue and support of these displaced masses. Reflecting on the looting and the state of chaos that took place in New Orleans, he said that “they have given them permission to come down and shoot us.”

We believe that the USA, this country of ours will not leave one of her own behind on the battlefield of despair, hunger, scarcity amidst abundance, sickness when we have the best medications around. We will believe that an appropriate investment in people will go a long way and benefit human kind.

May the day come fast when love will replace lawlessness, when everybody will rise in unison to sing and rejoice. “For the Lord has made a new day.”

We believe that the South will rise again. This time, it will and must rise with everybody. Historical inequities will be corrected. New Orleans will become a new playing field for the sons of the rich, poor and new immigrants. The new levees will protect all the residents of the Crescent city.

In the end, President Bush’s compassion and leadership will carry the colossal works of reconstruction to fruition. He will whip his administration into shape. FEMA will shape up. If any, the blame will be equally shared by the state of Louisiana, local governments and the rest of the federal systems. Mr. Bush has already said that the early results and response to the victims are unacceptable. This is his place to shine. Shine, Mr. President, to show the despair of the unfortunate among us. Si se puede! You can do it. Who else can we turn to? We'll be with you along the way!