Why So Blu?

Two years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Crescent City, crime and corruption are on the rise, and outsiders with their own agendas are starting to pour money into the city. In the third season of the critically-acclaimed HBO series Treme, the ordinary people of New Orleans must band together to demand that their music, art and well-being be protected against opposing institutions. For the people of New Orleans, even the promises of redevelopment come with strings attached, and every dollar that shows up – whether from government disaster relief, or from venture capital, or even from those seeking to remake New Orleans in the wake of Katrina – carries with it new dynamics and new risks. National interest has waned, moving on to the next headline, but those who know and love the Crescent City have no choice. They must find their way back to what matters in the life of their city. However, little of what they can bring to bear yields a quick result, and nothing about New Orleans – its government, its police department and courtroom, its school system – works as it should. Nothing is easy.