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This essay, written in the months immediately after the human-made disaster of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in 2005, contextualizes the destruction of human life, community, and environment in history, economy, power, and peoples' struggles. The horrific destruction reflects the intentional abandonment and criminalization of the poor, working class, communities of color—African American, Indigenous, immigrant—especially women, children, elders, and environmental crisis over centuries. It teaches us two critical lessons. One, that the economic and political system of global capitalism, including the U.S. government at all levels, is broken and cannot be fixed. Two, that only a powerful bottom-up movement led by those most adversely affected can reconstruct New Orleans and the Gulf Coast around a transformative vision rooted in twenty-first century economic, political, and social realities that addresses their needs and hopes. The U.S. Social Forum, as part of a global movement building process, held in Atlanta June 27 to July 1, 2007 was an important moment in building movement and lifting up the voices, visions, and struggles of the people in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]