Looking Back to Move Forward: Katrina’s Black Women Survivors Speak

This study examines the experiences of black women who were displaced as a result of Hurricane Katrina. A discussion of commonalities between the evacuees and internally displaced persons around the world is included. Interviews with nine African American women who fied New Orleans and resettled in San Antonio, Texas, provide material for our analysis of the meanings of their displacement and struggle to create new meaning in their own and their families’ lives. Their narratives illuminate the challenges faced by Katrina evacuees and the gendered and racialized politics of forced diaspora. We identify four stages of transition common to all those interviewed for this study: reliving the hurricane; remembering New Orleans; saying goodbye and coping with change; and finally, moving forward. The article attends to how these findings may inform individuals and families in similar resettlement processes. The relevance of the research for service providers and others working with disaster relief missions is underscored.