My brother moved down to New Orleans last June. Ever since everyone’s response has been, oh is it still bad down there? Oh, I read in the paper that people are leaving the city after returning cuz the crime is so bad? He’s there for a few months? A year? wow, that’s incredible. Is he prepared if another hurricane comes?
How do I answer questions like that? Oh yea, it’s -still-bad-down- there-depends-what- neighborhood- you’re-in, he-called-me-one-night-from-a-restaurant-telling-me-2-people had-been-shot-right-outside, the-neighborhood-he’s-working-in, and-was-living-in-for several-months-had-been-the-poorest-per-capita-before-the-storm, and it’s a bit better now, but…well, honestly, not really.
But then I read his blog and I talk to him on gchat and on the phone and I hear about the young people he’s meeting who are also down there for more than a few months, the young urban rebuilding professionals as they call themselves. And I hear about all the new ideas for revitalizing the city from greenspace to charter schools, to neighborhoods working together instead of against one another, to partnerships with colleges and universities, foundations, and corporation.
And then I read about the government’s slow – wait did I say slow? I meant non existent trickle of cash into the city, the FEMA trailers folks are still living in, the amount of volunteers goin down all the time and still nothing comes out of it and I wonder. That was before every being down there. And then we went, all 31 of us. And we had an amazing time, I had such an amazing group of people to work with and I value each and every one of them but looked at what we drove by and I didn’t get it. I didn’t get how our government could be that inadequate. You read about it everyday, (or maybe you don’t cuz it’s no longer a hot topic) but until you see 18 months of wasted time, of good people struggling to rebuild lives that shouldn’tve been destroyed in the first place, you wonder.
And then I hear from him about conflicts within and across volunteer groups, over supplies, people, money, ideas, community organizing tactics. And I hear his ideas beginning to take shape on how cities function, how neighborhoods can be rejuvenated, how residents can take action, and I am thankful. Thankful for his work and the work of everyone in the city doing what they can, and what they should. But it’s not enough. And that’s all I can leave you with. A sense of urgency to call for government action, but also to take action. Everyone talks about our generation not having a sense of urgency, not having a cause. Well here’s one.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Kermit Ruffins Got Married
Kermit Ruffins got married today! Go to www.nola.com to see pictures of the French Quarter Festival, where it took place. It's so cute and exciting. I'm looking forward to our campus wide presentation tomorrow. The monologues especially excite me, I think they are a great way to show off the city. I hope you all have a great weekend, and I hope to see you at Dwight Hall Chapel tomorrow night at 9pm.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Reflections
Reflections
Gaining a comprehensive understanding of the American society is obviously a task one can hardly hope to achieve in the stunning ivory towers of Yale. I am glad that I had a wonderful opportunity to escape to the much troubled
I have read a couple of books on civil society and have done a series of volunteer service back in
With those thoughts, I have to admit the trip have changed my view of religions tremendously. At first I just couldn't imagine that most of the voluntary groups down there were religious-based! With the work and visits goes on, however, I could feel more and more the huge positive effect that faith had exerted on both volunteers and local communities. I went to the Friday service; I had very frank (far beyond my expectations) religious conversations with a number of fantastic people, within and without the interfaith group. The enthusiasm, the confidence, the determined will for reconstruction and service were incredibly impressive. I will hold my remark on whether those enthusiasm I saw were blind or not, but undeniably they were positive force that had contributed to the reconstruction of New Orleans in a great deal. Furthermore, I began to realize that churches/masques/etc are actually playing more of a community center role within a specific neighborhood, rather than a strict "doctrine teaching" institution. They do involve in secular things, intentionally, and strive really hard to unite the whole community. The Catholic Church in one of the Vietnamese community we visited even provided all the accommodation, food and equipments for returning villagers to rebuild their homes. Thinking about the bitty, torn and troubled situation in most modern urban Chinese communities, I couldn't help ask myself what my country could learn from some of the communities I saw in
I will save my words on all the fantastic people I met in the group since they have demonstrated their amazing charm on the blog already. And I will save my words on the fabulous trees and flowers and weather and food and atmosphere of
Rob
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Link to pics from Times-Picayune
Check it out:
http://www.musicrising.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=000789
http://www.musicrising.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=000789
Saturday, March 24, 2007
I love reading all your posts. They've enhanced a trip I thought couldn't get any better or more meaningful. Thanks!
So since I got back, I've been telling people about New Orleans and the beauty and warmth that is there now. Some people followed up with some sort of connection they have to the city. When I told a nurse, she said two doctors in the department are from New Orleans and go back every year. When I told my doctor, she said her brother was down there heading Habitat for Humanity projects. (Side note: She related that her brother is frustrated sometimes with volunteers because they don't have any experience in building houses, so sadly, he has to go around taking hammers from people. Who really needs to come are construction companies and workers who will volunteer their work.) Hearing that there ARE people out there who care for the city strengthened my hope that the city will return strong.
Yesterday, I tried to stop doing not-so-important things so I could sit down and study. Well, before I did that, I checked my email. I got Ariela's message about sending a letter to your representative to show your support for the bill that'll bring quality teachers to New Orleans. I clicked on the link and went to the Youth Policy Action Center. They made it really easy for you to write a letter, especially by having practically an entire letter already written with important facts. I could've just copied and pasted and moved on to studying which I really needed to do, but instead I couldn't resist giving back as much as I could to the city that has touched my heart and sharing the experience we had, so I spent quite a bit of time to write a personalized letter. Apparently, according to the website, personalized letters are 10 times more effective, which was another incentive. So, our trip has definitely moved me to take action for New Orleans. There's no way I would have cared so much if I did not see the city firsthand.
Long live New Orleans!
Much love,
Ann
So since I got back, I've been telling people about New Orleans and the beauty and warmth that is there now. Some people followed up with some sort of connection they have to the city. When I told a nurse, she said two doctors in the department are from New Orleans and go back every year. When I told my doctor, she said her brother was down there heading Habitat for Humanity projects. (Side note: She related that her brother is frustrated sometimes with volunteers because they don't have any experience in building houses, so sadly, he has to go around taking hammers from people. Who really needs to come are construction companies and workers who will volunteer their work.) Hearing that there ARE people out there who care for the city strengthened my hope that the city will return strong.
Yesterday, I tried to stop doing not-so-important things so I could sit down and study. Well, before I did that, I checked my email. I got Ariela's message about sending a letter to your representative to show your support for the bill that'll bring quality teachers to New Orleans. I clicked on the link and went to the Youth Policy Action Center. They made it really easy for you to write a letter, especially by having practically an entire letter already written with important facts. I could've just copied and pasted and moved on to studying which I really needed to do, but instead I couldn't resist giving back as much as I could to the city that has touched my heart and sharing the experience we had, so I spent quite a bit of time to write a personalized letter. Apparently, according to the website, personalized letters are 10 times more effective, which was another incentive. So, our trip has definitely moved me to take action for New Orleans. There's no way I would have cared so much if I did not see the city firsthand.
Long live New Orleans!
Much love,
Ann
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Neighborhood Network Planning Meeting
Hey everyone, Kezia here.
Last night they had another Neighborhood Network Planning meeting like the one we attended last week. I went with my parents. The subject of the meeting was connecting specific neighborhood groups with volunteer groups in order to get work done more efficiently. It started out innocently enough, but then a woman named Mama D sort of took over the discourse. She is an old African American woman who considers herself a community organizer for the Mid-City area near where the meeting was held. If you saw When the Levees Broke, she was the woman they brought before congress to testify that the government destroyed the levees using dynamite during the hurricane to spare white people's houses. She went off on a 15 minute tirade insisting that the people who come down to volunteer shouldn't tell her what she needs to do, but instead ask her what she needs first, and accusing volunteer groups like PNOLA of stealing money from the government and taking houses that people could live in to live in themselves. She was criticizing those from out of town in general, wary of the fact that they were only here for a short while but were holding positions of power over the native New Orleanians. Gil, who runs these meetings and spoke to our group on Tuesday night, was on the front lines of Mama D's accusations, since he fit the bill of what she was talking about: an out of towner who had come down to help, but who didn't necessarily see his life keeping him here.
Her comments were frustrating for many, as well as incoherent at times, but upon reflecting I realized that it was important for her voice to be heard. Mama D is not alone in her opinions. The tension between people who are from here and need help and those who come down to do the work from out of town is an issue all volunteers, no matter where they are, need to address. Fortunately, after she was finished her bashing, the rest of the meeting was able to move on, and many neighborhood groups expressed the need for streamlined data collection to occur within their neighborhoods in order to assess the needs of all their blocks in an organized fashion. I thought that was an interesting task that volunteers who maybe don't enjoy the physical labor as much might like to take on.
Overall, these meetings, like the one last week, make me hopeful for the city of New Orleans. People like Mama D don't aid the situation, but fortunately, they are not powerful enough to stop the community from moving forward.
Check back at this link for notes on the meeting.
Last night they had another Neighborhood Network Planning meeting like the one we attended last week. I went with my parents. The subject of the meeting was connecting specific neighborhood groups with volunteer groups in order to get work done more efficiently. It started out innocently enough, but then a woman named Mama D sort of took over the discourse. She is an old African American woman who considers herself a community organizer for the Mid-City area near where the meeting was held. If you saw When the Levees Broke, she was the woman they brought before congress to testify that the government destroyed the levees using dynamite during the hurricane to spare white people's houses. She went off on a 15 minute tirade insisting that the people who come down to volunteer shouldn't tell her what she needs to do, but instead ask her what she needs first, and accusing volunteer groups like PNOLA of stealing money from the government and taking houses that people could live in to live in themselves. She was criticizing those from out of town in general, wary of the fact that they were only here for a short while but were holding positions of power over the native New Orleanians. Gil, who runs these meetings and spoke to our group on Tuesday night, was on the front lines of Mama D's accusations, since he fit the bill of what she was talking about: an out of towner who had come down to help, but who didn't necessarily see his life keeping him here.
Her comments were frustrating for many, as well as incoherent at times, but upon reflecting I realized that it was important for her voice to be heard. Mama D is not alone in her opinions. The tension between people who are from here and need help and those who come down to do the work from out of town is an issue all volunteers, no matter where they are, need to address. Fortunately, after she was finished her bashing, the rest of the meeting was able to move on, and many neighborhood groups expressed the need for streamlined data collection to occur within their neighborhoods in order to assess the needs of all their blocks in an organized fashion. I thought that was an interesting task that volunteers who maybe don't enjoy the physical labor as much might like to take on.
Overall, these meetings, like the one last week, make me hopeful for the city of New Orleans. People like Mama D don't aid the situation, but fortunately, they are not powerful enough to stop the community from moving forward.
Check back at this link for notes on the meeting.
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