'Trouble the Water' star, rapper Kimberly Rivers Roberts, readies her CD

Now that the extraordinary Hurricane Katrina documentary "Trouble the Water" has started airing on  HBO, this portrait of the devastating effects it had on one neighborhood in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans is reaching a whole new audience.

And that’s encouraging news to Kimberly Rivers Roberts, the aspiring rapper whose remarkable home-video footage used extensively in the film allows for a ground-zero look at a national disaster.

That’s national, not natural, because even though a hurricane is considered, insurance-wise, “an act of God,” the worst damage came as a result of the failure of man-made levees and the ensuing inaction or wrong action on the part of the governmental agencies charged with assisting victims in their time of need.

Almost four years later, Roberts, who uses the name Black Kold Madina on the debut album she’s about to release on her own Born Hustler Records label, continues to see Katrina as a motivating force.

She had decided to videotape the storm as it approached because, like many of those living in poverty  in the 9th Ward, she had no means of escape. She and her husband, Scott, had recently sold their only car. So as the winds and rain whipped, she let the tape roll.

“When your poor, you’re always looking for ways to make money,” she told me when I visited her in New Orleans in January. We met at a neighborhood coffee shop, near streets named Piety and Desire, on the high side of the Mississippi River, where she and Scott moved upon returning to New Orleans several months after Katrina struck.

“I had this video camera and thought I might be able to sell something to one of the news stations,” she said. They got a couple of hours of tape as the waters rose after the levee broke, flooding several square miles of neighborhoods with as much as 8 feet of water. At one point in “Trouble the Water,” you see the view Roberts, her family and some of their neighbors had when looking out an attic vent down into the street, where only the top of a stop sign is visible above the muddy deluge.

Documentarians Carl Deal and Tia Lessin, associates of Michael Moore, were at the Superdome in the aftermath looking to interview survivors when Roberts made contact and showed them her video. They wound up using about 20 minutes of it, spread throughout the film, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and scored an Academy Award nomination for best documentary.

Before Katrina, Roberts and her husband had done whatever they could to make a living, including her work in French Quarter restaurants as a would-be chef as well as dealing drugs.

“I always loved to write music and rap, but I couldn’t find a way to get my music off the ground, “ she said. “I didn’t have the financial means to really get off the ground the way I wanted to, and I didn’t have the right people around me to show me that I had raw talent.”

One of the most powerful moments in “Trouble the Water” centers on Roberts, when she’s staying with a cousin in Memphis after leaving New Orleans.

“During the hurricane, I wasn’t thinking to save my music, but I was thinking to roll the camera. I lost all my music in the storm basically. I had all my music in the computer and my computer got wet up.

"I had sent my cousin a copy of my CD,” she said, although she’d forgotten that she’d done so. “I was still working on it -- you know how you give out little samples of stuff? They were underground discs. I didn’t have the money or resources to put it out on a large scale or have it in stores or anything.”

The cameras were rolling when she found the CD at her cousin’s house. In the scene, she puts it on a boom box, then starts rapping live to the song “Amazing,” an assertive expression of self-confidence and resilience that gains resonance following all she and her family had to withstand.

There was no soundtrack album with the film, so she’s issuing it on her own, working to capitalize on the exposure the film has brought to her and her music. "Amazing" and three others can be streamed on her website. Most of her material carries messages of empowerment, without soft-pedaling the injustice experienced by so many during the storm and after those troubled waters subsided.

“Music, like, freed me and gave me understanding,” Roberts said. “A lot of times. I felt lost. and I’d go to a certain song, and it’d give me wisdom. Man, I love music. I got a lot of guidance from music.”

-- Randy Lewis

Photo: Kimberly and Scott Roberts in "Trouble the Water." Credit: Zeitgeist Films

Comments

[Kevin Owensby]

That was a powerful film, and big ups to Kimberly and Scott. This film shows how our my black brothers and sisters in America can make a way out of no way. In the words of the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the time of the garbage truck workers rallies in Memphis "When one black person is down we are all down", in this day and age we tend to stray away from that mind set but seeing this film opened my eyes and helped me see a lot of things. The struggles my brothers and sisters are going through in the south didn't stop them that gave me inspiration and hope in this time of resession. And may god bless that brother Brien pray for me brother and I'll pray for you. Once again, Kimberly love your flow keep dong what your doing my sister. One love K.O.

[candace magoski]

I saw the documentary 2 days ago while in D.C. on layover. I was moved by their story, but motivated by Kim's Rapping! She is a great talent and I intend to purchase her recording if it is available.

[Jackie, Baton Rouge]

Kimberly and Scott,
I have watched the film 3 times today (4/30/09), it was the realist depiction of the aftermath of Katrina I have seen to date. How you had the foresight to record before and during the storm was "Amazing". In my humble opinion your film was better than Spike Lee's Katrina film. Yours came from the heart and it is obvious you care about your people and they care about you. I absolutely love your rapping (and I'm 57 yrs. old). Damn, girl you are outstanding, I will defiantly buy your CD. Have you performed in Baton Rouge? If not, consider it, because I will be there.
Even though it might take me a couple of times to understand what you are spitting, I love listening.
The film was hard to watch at times but many of the feeling I experienced working with survivors at a shelter here in Baton Rouge came back to surface. A wrong was committed in 2005 and it has not been corrected. Black people of Louisiana must be made whole. Glad to see you all are still fighting to right the many wrongs.

[Gloria/New Castle, DE]

God bless you Kimberly...I was deeply moved by your loving spirit and your determination. I am not a rap fan but will definitely purchase your c.d. to show
my support. I wish you and your husband the very best. You will go very far.

[Mary, Iowa]

Kim,
You and your family are beautiful and inspiring. God has shined on you. I know you don't need me to tell you , but you are amazing. Thank you for helping me through a tough time I'm going through. Seeing your courage in the midst of so much makes me feel that I can make it too. God bless you and you family forever.
Mary

[Mack]

A powerful film. One of the most inspiring, proud, heartwrenching things I have ever seen in my life. It doesn't matter where you come from to show compassion, to have dignity and to show a love for your neighbor. And to exibit such class in the wake of America turning it's back on The people of the Gulf is truly "Amazing". I've been telling everyone who will listen to please see this film!! Your family, Brian and the neighbor with the punching bag are great American Heroes. Also to Black America(which I am a proud part of), turn off the Tyler Perry bufoonery for a minute and watch this important documentary. It should change your life and the way everyone should face adversity.

[Baltimore]

Utterly fantastic piece of filmaking!!! Scott family and friends, you are the true role models. They say the measure of a man is not when things are going great, but when you are in your darkest hour, and it couldn't get any darker than what you and the people of the Gulf have faced. In this age of information, negative stories of murder and mayhem, and just plain craziness in the world, your testimony has taught me more about the power of goodness, faith and redemption, more than any church could ever, ever, do!!! God bless you Black Kold Medina, God Bless your husband, God Bless Brian and God Bless your neighbor who was an enemy but stepped up big time in your community's moment of truth. God is real!!!

[Roslyn wills]

This was a very inspirational movie. It made me cry a little because I've been through this, and if your not from Louisiana you won't understand what we went through.

[wayne marshall]

no matter what the media says, or tries to portray many african americans as less than or ignorant(refugess). you are all heart, a inspriration, a testimony to what black pride, love for one another, endurance, that spirit that can't be dupilcated or broken is all about. We often come from humble circumstances but as Ms. Kimberly showed, we are survivors. I love you my sister. You make me proud. Please drop the CD so I can purchase it. If you ever want to put your story in print I would be honored to do that, although you are so powerful I am sure you have already got that covered. Stay strong your spirit is aww-inspiring, I know I will see you at the top soon. Much love.

[Kimba]

Kim and Scott...as fate in the hands of God would have it, I received your film by netflix and watched it this morning--August 29, 2009. I didn't realize I was watching on the anniversary...

Powerful story, powerful people within and behind the story. I admire you both and the filmmakers who joined you. Amazing how God used a hurricane like Katrina to show you so much about yourself, the people of New Orleans, and the devastating ravages of poverty in the world. Thank you for telling us your story/their story.

Kim, I expect to see you continue to make a real difference with your gift for words, music, communication. Our name "Kim" means "one who courageously leads the people." Your mama is no doubt so proud of you and all you have become and all you do--no question she is watching over you.

God bless--

[linda]

Kimberly and Scott, you are both Angels of God. I wish you all the blessings you deserve. In a society so full of hatred, hypocrisy, poverty and racism--great people like you emerge to be of service to others... I am sending you lots of love and I wish I could hug you both. We have a real struggle right here in our own country and limited resources but even through it all "GOD GOT US!"
Take care of yourselves and that beautiful child of yours.

GOD BLESS...