By Tarice L.S. Gray

It was five years ago this month Katrina left a historic mess in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. The  destruction of the hurricane,  been called one of the worst natural disasters in American history, was documented by filmmaker Spike Lee in his 2005 Emmy-award winning film “When the Levees Broke: A requiem in four parts.”

Five months ago the worst man-made disaster in U.S history, again victimized a Gulf Coast that is still in recovery from Katrina, coating the region’s already numerous problems with millions of gallons of BP oil.

Both catastrophes, will affect the Gulf Coast and New Orleans for years to come, and, according to Lee, both stories need our continued attention. Lee returned to New Orleans this winter, just before the latest disaster to film his new documentary “If God is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise.”” a follow up to his Emmy-award winning film “When the Levees Broke: A requiem in four parts”.

At a recent private screening in Los Angeles of the documentary, which premieres August 23rd on HBO, Lee discussed the dynamic of recovery, redemption and disappointment he found there as the people of New Orleans try to recover their bearings after one crisis and keep their equilibrium in the face of another

When he began the new film, he found the citizens of New Orleans less broken then when he’d left five years earlier and buoyed by their beloved Saints’ victory in Super Bowl XLIV. Lee said, “we thought it was going to be the ending that we filmed the first day of shooting. But BP had another thing in mind.”

BP became front page news in the very midst of Lee’s filming of “If God is Willing.” The saga that began with in the media focusing on the deaths of 11 oil rig workers killed in the blast in April was soon followed once the magnitude of the disaster became apparent by furious criticism from government officials and citizens of the Bayou.

In the film, Lee spends an entire hour on BP – which netted $5.6 billion in first quarter profits this year – and, as he puts it, the consequences of greed.

“Oil is a bigger industry than slavery was in this country,” Lee said. “A whole lot of people making money.” “If God Is Willing” highlights the control BP has on the region and why it’s a difficult balance for citizens who must rely on the billion-dollar oil empire for work yet are disgusted by its mishandling of this ordeal.

“The Prime Minister of Britain was calling up,” Lee says, “ talking about there’s been this perception that BP was being or Britain was being pillaged, and they were, because if BP goes under, that’s going to have a huge effect on the economy of the United Kingdom. So it’s all about big money. Big, big, big, big, big money.”

The financial impact Hurricane Katrina has had on New Orleans has also been huge, and Lee’s documentary artfully explores the continued battle between big business and the preservation of civilian life. He pays particular attention to the plight of black residents who were forced to flee their homes in local housing projects during the hurricane and returned to find them fenced off and boarded up. That housing was later torn down by the city government — another example, the film declares, of politics being a less than protective shield for those who most need help. In the film Mitch Landrieu, New Orleans’ new Mayor, repeated his campaign ”One team. One Fight. One Voice. One City” as shorthand for the spirit its residents need to draw inspiration from.

Lee makes clear that  the city is still fighting for it’s life, and that New Orleanians feel not all politicians elsewhere are sympathetic to that sense of urgency that vibrates throughout the Big Easy, That includes President Obama  ”The people of Louisiana wish they would’ve seen a little more emotion from him, because I know he cares. But the way his persona is, laid back and cool, to the people of Louisiana it looks like you don’t care, and their whole livelihood is being threatened.”

Lee also spends some time chronicling the contributions celebrities from journalist Anderson Cooper and film composer Terence Blanchard to actors Sean Penn and Brad Pitt have made to the citywide rebuilding effort, the latter through his Make it Right Foundation. Lee said, “He’s a  movie star, he has a lot of money a lot of connections. But he’s building these homes for black people, whose homes got destroyed in the lower ninth ward, and the homes that he’s building are green. I’m telling you it’s funny when I go down there they show me their utility bills, they’re happy!”

Lee is quick to point out that Pitt is just one man on a mission and more can and should be done. He adds, “the bigger question is why can’t the United States government do that, why is Brad Pitt doing it. I love that he’s doing it, but why can’t the government – local, state and federal – do what he’s doing instead of knocking down projects.”

It’s clear in the documentary that the rebuilding process in New Orleans is far from over.. Filmmaker Spike Lee wants this film to be an educational tool to both build knowledge and teach people to care about their fellow citizens beyond city, state and even national borders.

“We become alarmed when stuff happens here, but stuff is happening all over the world. It affects us wherever it’s happening. Hopefully films like this will make people connect the dots.”

Tarice L.S. Gray is a freelance writer and blogger with GrayCurrent.com