Listeners are transported back to September 2, 2007, as the Katrina Tribunal convened in New Orleans. The panel features three profoundly influential voices:
David Banner
“We Were the Rescue Team”: David Banner Speaks on Hurricane Katrina, Hip Hop’s Response, and Reclaiming the Narrative
In this gripping interview with Hard Knock Radio, Mississippi rapper, producer, and activist David Banner doesn’t hold back. He lays bare the failures of government during Hurricane Katrina—and more importantly, the way everyday folks and Hip Hop artists stepped up when the state didn’t.
Banner details how he mobilized during the disaster, spending his own money and organizing direct rescue efforts when FEMA and other agencies failed Black communities. “We didn’t wait for no Red Cross,” he said. “We were the Red Cross.” He recalled personally bringing boats and supplies to flooded areas, even pulling people out of water.
But he wasn’t alone. Banner gave props to Jazze Pha, Young Jeezy, Young Buck, and David Banner’s own street team for stepping up. He also mentioned T.I., Ludacris, and others who sent money, showed up, and quietly did the work. “A lot of folks helped behind the scenes,” he noted—many of them without cameras or press.
Banner’s critique didn’t stop at government neglect. He called out the media’s failure to show these grassroots efforts, and their focus on chaos and looting instead of resilience and solidarity. That’s why he saluted platforms like Hard Knock Radio and Davey D—for telling the whole story. “You didn’t just see me as a ‘pissy-ass rapper,’” he told Davey. “You saw that I had a bigger mission, and you backed me when it counted.”
He acknowledged that his public persona sometimes masks a deeper intent. “I do the music I do to reach the hood. I don’t care what no boardroom thinks about me,” Banner said. His goal isn’t to impress execs—it’s to spark change where it matters most.
Mama D
New Orleans native Mama D recounts what it meant to stay behind when Katrina hit and lead the “Soul Patrol,” a grassroots community defense group that cared for neighbors in the 7th Ward. Her testimony weaves together resilience, loss, and the power of communal bonds, painting a human portrait of what “staying and surviving” looked like in a devastated city.
Rapper Ses
Rapper Ses brings lyrical intensity to the discussion, contextualizing Katrina’s devastation as part of a broader creative and cultural uprooting. He speaks to the loss of community infrastructure—studios, arts spaces, cultural anchors—and how that deepened the trauma that Black artists and everyday people in New Orleans experienced.