The HBO series Treme, set in post-Katrina New Orleans, is the most realistic portrait of that troublesome time that I've seen in the almost five years since it occurred. As a New Orleans resident and former evacuee, I've seen my own experiences played out on the screen. The story is my story, our story, the story of my city and everyone I know.
The script doesn't say so, but Treme is also the story of the ACLU. Within the first few weeks after the levees broke on that fateful date of August 29, 2005, the ACLU of Louisiana, displaced from New Orleans, set up a temporary office in Baton Rouge. I didn't work here then, but I know that on a temporary visit back to New Orleans, the staff climbed nine flights of stairs in a condemned building to rescue office equipment and files, so that even from a distance they could fight for those caught in the chaos of suspended civil liberties. Such was life in a ruined city, and such is the work of the ACLU.
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