Zeitoun (36 page)
Authors: Dave Eggers
It was a test, Zeitoun thinks. Who among us could deny that we were tested? But now look at us, he says. Every person is stronger now. Every person who was forgotten by God or country is now louder, more defiant, and more determined. They existed before, and they exist again, in the city of New Orleans and the United States of America. And Abdulrahman Zeitoun existed before, and exists again, in the city of New Orleans and the United States of America. He can only have faith that will never again be forgotten, denied, called by a name other than his own. He must trust, and he must have faith. And so he builds,
because what is building, and rebuilding and rebuilding again, but an act of faith? There is no faith like the faith of a builder of homes in coastal Louisiana. And there is no better way to prove to God and neighbor that you were there, that you are there, that you are human, than to build. Who could ever again deny he belonged here? If he needs to restore every home in this city, he will, to prove he is part of this place.
As he drives through the city during the day and dreams of it at night, his mind vaults into glorious reveries—he envisions this city and this country not just as it was, but better, far better. It can be. Yes, a dark time passed over this land, but now there is something like light. Progress is being made. It’s so slow sometimes, so terribly so sometimes, but progress is being made. We have removed the rot, we are strengthening the foundations. There is much work to do, and we all know what needs to be done. We can only do the work, he tells Kathy, and his children, and his crew, his friends, anyone he sees. So let us get up early and stay late, and, brick by brick and block by block, let us get that work done. If he can picture it, it can be. This has been the pattern of his life: ludicrous dreams followed by hours and days and years of work and then a reality surpassing his wildest hopes and expectations.
And so why should this be any different?
All author proceeds from this book go to the Zeitoun Foundation, founded in 2009 by the Zeitoun family, the author, and McSweeney’s. Its purpose is to aid in the rebuilding of New Orleans and to promote respect for human rights in the United States and around the world. The Zeitoun Foundation will serve as a grantor of funds generated from this book; the first group of recipients include the following nonprofit organizations.
Rebuilding Together’s Gulf Coast operations have focused on preserving and rehabilitating one thousand houses of low-income homeowners, which were damaged in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and Rita.
The Green Project obtains and resells building materials salvaged in the New Orleans area. The purpose is to encourage recycling, thereby reducing waste; to enable residents of New Orleans to purchase low-cost materials; and to preserve the architectural history of the area.
After Hurricane Katrina, the LCAC was a leading force in locating the thousands of inmates who had been displaced, highlighting the plight of the prisoners who had been evacuated into terrible conditions, and securing the release of hundreds of inmates who were wrongfully imprisoned. The LCAC now aims to provide legal representation for defendants in Louisiana who are facing capital punishment, and seeks to address racism in the criminal justice system.
This New Orleans–based organization provides legal aid for people who have been wrongfully convicted, and helps them in their transition from incarceration to liberty. They focus on the states where incarceration rates (and rates of wrongful conviction) are highest—Louisiana and Mississippi.
Meena
(“port” in Arabic) is a bilingual literary journal based in the port cities of New Orleans and Alexandria, Egypt. The journal publishes poetry, fiction, essays, travel writing, mixed-genre media, and art.
Meena
hopes to exist as a port between the Western and Arab worlds by exchanging ideas about culture, language, conflict, and peace through writing and dialogue.
CULTURAL ORGANIZATION
An organization committed to the Seventh Ward in New Orleans, The Porch is a place to come together and share culture and community. The Porch seeks to promote and sustain the cultures of the neighborhood, the city, and the region, and to foster exchange between cultural groups.
Catholic Charities works with the entire community of New Orleans to respect the dignity of every human person. They are currently operating eleven community centers in the Greater New Orleans area to help with hurricane recovery. These centers provide case-management services, direct assistance, and other services as needed.
Islamic Relief strives to alleviate suffering, hunger, illiteracy, and diseases worldwide, without regard to color, race, or creed. In the event of man-made or natural disasters, it aims to provide rapid relief. Working with the United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP) and the Department for International Development, Islamic Relief establishes development projects in needy areas to help tackle poverty at a local level.
The Muslim American Society (MAS) is a charitable, religious, social, cultural, and educational not-for-profit organization. Its mission is to build an integrated empowerment process for the American Muslim community through civic education, local leadership training, community outreach, and coalition building. MAS also strives to forge positive relationships with other institutions outside of its community, in order to facilitate the protection of civil rights and liberties for American Muslims and all Americans.
The New Orleans Institute is dedicated to engaged citizenry and is determined to cultivate local solutions. This is a networking alliance with a shared interest and commitment to fostering the resilience of New Orleans through innovation.
www.theneworleansinstitute.org
In 2004, the Neighborhood Story Project was founded by Rachel Breunlin and Abram Himelstein as a book-making project based in New Orleans, for New Orleanians. The NSP conducts workshops and facilitates the publishing of books by first-time authors in New Orleans, in an effort to tell the story of the city and its citizens.
www.neighborhoodstoryproject.org
The MSA is dedicated to developing an understanding of Islam and the Islamic culture among the Tulane University community. We seek to create a sense of awareness of Islam among the Tulane community by increasing their basic knowledge of Islam. We aim to give the Tulane community a firsthand experience with Islam and the Islamic culture.
The New Orleans Lens is a nonprofit news-reporting site, dedicated to journalism in New Orleans. The Lens’ strength lies in a highly qualified editorial and research staff, as well as a collaborative network of affiliated organizations including the Center for Public Integrity, Project on Government Oversight, and the national Investigative News Network.
The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts is a regional, pre-professional arts training center that offers secondary school-age children intensive instruction in dance, media arts, music (classical, jazz, vocal), theatre arts (drama, musical theatre, theatre design), visual arts, and creative writing, while demanding simultaneous excellence.
THE ZEITOUN FAMILY WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE:
Ahmad Zeton; Mrs. Trufant; Yuko and Ahmaad Alakoum for putting up with us in our darkest hours; Mary Amarouni; Crystal and Keene Kelly; Celeste and Tom Bitchatch; the Callender family; Tom and Luke; Nabil Abukhader; Mohammed Salaam; Rob Florence; and all of those who helped us.
THE AUTHOR WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE WORK OF THE FOLLOWING JOURNALISTS AND RESEARCHERS:
Gwen Filosa, Rob Nelson, Bruce Nolan, Emmet Mayer III, Mark Schleifstein, John McCusker,
New Orleans Times-Picayune;
Dr. Daniel L. Haulman, the Air Force Historical Research Agency; Tech. Sgt. Mark Diamond, the Air Force Medical Services Monthly Newswire; Jenny Carchman, Michelle Ferrari, Stephen Ives, Lindsey Megrue, Amanda Pollak, Mark Samels,
The American Experience;
Donna Miles, Rudi Williams, the American Forces Press Service; Marina Sideris, Amnesty Working Group; Betty Reid,
Arizona Republic;
Joseph R. Chenelly,
Army Times;
Craig Alia,
Army Magazine;
Lolita C. Baldor, Wendy Benjaminson, Rick Bowmer, Allen G. Breed, Melinda Deslatte, Linda Kleindienst, Marilynn Marchione, Brett Martel, Janet McConnaughey, Kevin McGill, Adam Nossiter, John Solomon, the Associated Press; Kelly Bradley, Lt. Col. Tim Donovan, Larry Sommers,
At Ease Magazine;
Mickey Noah,
Baptist Press;
Olenka Frenkiel, BBC; Amy Goodman,
Democracy Now!;
Brandon L.
Garrett, Tania Tetlow,
Duke Law Journal;
Charlie Savage,
Boston Globe;
Patrik Jonsson, the
Christian Science Monitor;
Jamie Wilson, the
Guardian;
Jason Carroll, Anderson Cooper, Jacqui Jeras, Chris Lawrence, Ed Lavandera, Rob Marciano, Ed Zarrella, Jeanne Meserve, Betty Nguyen, CNN; Tamara Audi,
Detroit Free Press;
Neil deMause, Steve Rendall,
Extra!;
Todd Stubing,
Fort Myers News-Press;
Dave Reynolds,
Inclusion Daily Express;
Adnan Bounni, Iran Chamber Society; Guy Siebold,
Journal of Political and Military Sociology;
Stacy Parker Aab, The Katrina Experience Oral History Project; Alan Zarembo,
Los Angeles Times;
Capt. David Nevers,
Marines Magazine;
Jeremy Scahill, the
Nation;
Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy, National Guard Bureau; Daniel P. Brown, Richard D. Knabb, Jamie R. Rhome, National Hurricane Center; John Burnett, Jeff Brady, National Public Radio; Ken Munson,
Nautical Notes;
Diane E. Dees,
Mother Jones;
Curtis A. Utz, Naval Historical Center; Ruth Berggren,
New England Journal of Medicine;
Lou Dolinar,
New York Post;
David Carr, Melissa Clark, N.R. Kleinfield, Merrill Perlman, Shadi Rahimi, Joseph B. Treaster, Richard W. Stevenson, Alex Berenson, Sewell Chan, Paul von Zielbauer,
New York Times;
Sarita Sarvate, Pacific News Service; Kevin Callan,
paddling.net
; Yvonne Haddad, Fariborz Haghshenass,
PolicyWatch;
Peter Henderson, Michael Christie, Jane Sutton, Reuters; Richard Burgess,
Sea Power Magazine;
Jordan Flaherty,
Southern Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the South;
Morris Merrill,
Southern Quarterly;
Fred Kaplan,
Slate;
Angie Welling,
Salt Lake City Deseret News;
Ken Kaye, Robert Nolin,
South Florida Sun-Sentinel;
Jeff Schogol,
Stars and Stripes;
Harry Mount, the
Telegraph;
Amber McIlwain,
Times of London;
Matthew Van Dusen,
Times of Northwest Indiana;
Joel Stein,
Time Magazine;
Anna Mulrine, Dan Gilgoff,
US News and World Report;
Douglas Brinkley,
Vanity Fair;
Renae Merle, Guy Gugliotta, Peter Whoriskey, Eugene Robinson, the
Washington Post;
Michael Pope, Christiana Halsey,
Customs and Border Protection Today;
the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice; Charles Janda, Chucksphotospot.com; Jordan Flaherty,
ColorLines;
Eugen Tarnow, PhD,
Cogprints.org
; Amy Belasco, Steve Bowman, Lawrence Kapp, Department of Defense; Maj. Mark Brady, Capt. Lisa Kopczynski, Sgt. Les Newport, First U.S. Army in the News; Gary Mason, the
Globe and Mail;
Hugh Hewitt,
The Hugh Hewitt Show;
The Indy Channel; Indiana University, Bloomington; The Innocence Project; staff,
Killeen Daily Herald;
Jason Brown,
Lafayette Daily Advertiser;
Jamie Doward,
London Observer;
Rosa Brooks,
Los Angeles Times;
Chris Kelly,
MichelleMalkin.com
;
Michael Robbins,
Military History;
staff,
Naples Daily News;
staff,
NGAUS Notes;
Lt. Col. Deedra Thombleson, National
Guard; Erick Studenicka, National Guard Bureau; Navy Office of Information; Carl Quintanilla, Tony Zumbado, NBC News; New Orleans Copwatch; Jayne Huckerby, New York University Center for Human Rights and Global Justice; Gregory Smith MD, Woodhall Stopford MD,
North Carolina Medical Journal;
peopleshurricane.org
;
Keith Woods, Poynter Institute; Eric Barr, Taylor Rankin, John Baird,
ThinkQuest;
David Crossland,
Times of London;
United States Coast Guard; Marina Sideris, University of California Berkeley Law School; Jerry Seper, the
Washington Times;
Wrongful-Convictions.blogspot.com
; Kelly Leosis, Katherine Yurica,
yuricareport.com
;
Neworleans.indymedia.org
.
THE FOLLOWING BOOKS AND REPORTS WERE CRUCIAL TO THE WRITING OF
ZEITOUN:
The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast
by Douglas Brinkley (William Morrow, 2006);
Severe and Hazardous Weather
by Bob Rauber, John Walsh, Donna Charlevoix (Kendall Hunt Publishing, 2005);
On Risk and Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina
, edited by Ronald J. Daniels, Donald F. Kettl and Howard Kunreuther (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006);
Hurricane Katrina: America’s Unnatural Disaster
, by Jeremy I. Levitt and Matthew C. Whitaker (University of Nebraska Press, 2009);
Come Hell or High Water
by Michael Eric Dyson (Basic Civitas, 2006);
Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and the Failure of Homeland Security
by Robert Block and Christopher Cooper (Henry Holt Books, 2006);
Down in New Orleans: Reflections from a Drowned City
by Billy Sothern and Nikki Page (University of California Press, 2007);
The Essential Koran
, translated and presented by Thomas Cleary (HarperCollins, 1993);
A Modern History of Syria
by A.L. Tibawi (St. Martin’s Press, 1969);
Fifty Years of Modern Syria and Lebanon
, by George Haddad (Dar-al-Hayat, 1950);
Modern Syria, from Ottoman Rule to Pivotal Role in the Middle East
, edited by Moshe Ma’oz, Joseph Ginat, and Onn Winckler, (Sussex Academic Press, 1999);
Supporting the Future Total Force
, by John G. Drew, Kristin F. Lynch, James Masters, Sally Sleeper, and William Williams (RAND, 2007);
By the Numbers: Findings of the Detainee Abuse and Accountability Project
by Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2006);
Irreversible Consequences: Racial Profiling and Lethal Force in the War on Terror
, by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (NYU School of Law, 2006);
Public Safety, Public Spending: Forecasting America’s Prison Population 2007–2011
, by the JFA Institute, the Public Safety Performance Project, and the Pew Charitable Trusts (Pew Charitable Trusts, 2007);
Abandoned and Abused: Orleans
Parish Prisoners in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina
, by the National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, the American Civil Liberties Union Racial Justice Program, Human Rights Watch, the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., and Safe Street/Strong Communities (American Civil Liberties Union and the National Prison Project, 2006);
Enabling Torture: International Law Applicable to State Participation in the Unlawful Activities of Other States
, by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (NYU School of Law, 2006);
Beyond Guantanamo: Transfers to Torture One Year After Rasul v. Bush
, by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (NYU School of Law, 2005);
Louisiana National Guard Timeline of Significant Events, Hurricane Katrina
, by the Louisiana National Guard (Louisiana National Guard, 2005);
Torture by Proxy: International Law applicable to “Extraordinary Renditions”
by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (ABCNY and the NYU School of Law, 2004);
Use of Force: ATF Policy, Training and Review Process Are Comparable to DEA’s and FBI’s
, by USGAO (United States General Accounting Office, 1996).