women with a vision is a new orleans-based, community based organization that addresses inequality that marginalize women and their families and communities in the city. the organization expanded after hurricane katrina to continue to meet the community s needs. the executive director of women with a vision is deion haywood and joins us now. nice to see you, dionne. hi, how are you? i m just fine. i was following you and your responses to the president s speech on thursday and i know that you felt, in part, that the president and not just the president but that others in thinking about this recovery haven t maybe talked about the experiences of girls and women in particular and the inequities they continue to face in the city. yeah, i thought for the most part the president s speech was
it wrought led to this september 10 cover of the economist. the shaming of america. no other black american woman s face appears on the cover of the economist magazine in the decade before or after this image and yet this unnamed african-american woman apparently distraught, wearing the name of her home emblaze ne on her shirt shames the nation. it was shameful because it undermined our assertions that we are uniquely prosperous, just and fair, steeped in relative equality and uncompromised liberty, the televised deaths and suffering of thousands in america s most distinctive city did not fit the story we like to tell about who we are. perhaps that lingering shame is why so many elected officials have used the tenth anniversary of katrina to trumpet a good old-fashioned comeback. a website launched by city officials celebrates, quote, new orleans progress and creating a vision for its future. it s the kind of uncomplicated vision of this resilient city. meanwhile, katrina