Neighborhood Voices
Education Versus Incarceration
Recovery at Work in Communication
Green Orleans: “Stumped” For the Perfect Gift? Give the Gift of Releaf
Stay Local: The Craft Mafia: A Well-Organized Syndicate
New Orleans Kid Camera Project
In the Spotlght: St. Roch’s Road to Recovery
Poem: Dead Soldier Walking
Rethink New Orleans: Rethink New Orleans: An interview with Rayne Martin, Deputy Chief of Operations, Recovery School District
No TagsHappy holidays from the Trumpet.
At the risk of sounding cliché or overly sentimental, the holidays are worth recognizing as an emotional time for all of us. In the loosest sense, they represent an exciting and abstract idea of how good and kind we can really be to one another. Even the starker reality, that the winter allows us to both reflect on the past and conceive of the future, is important to consider in times with as many challenges and rewards as these. When successes pale before the reality of the work of not only recovery but everyday life, the holidays are a necessary leave for breathing. Regardless of what you celebrate, celebrate something.
The longer-term prospects for all of us are vast, and only time will make them anymore certain. We at NPN are certainly excited to continue to be both a comforting presence for all who need us, and a major contributor to the healthy restoration of the city.
And we plan to start 2008 the one right way: Parties. Next month is the Trumpet’s first birthday, and everyone who has ever written or read us is responsible for that. So thank you. As soon as we know how we’re celebrating, you’re invited.
In the meantime, find your own celebrations and do all you can to end this ambivalent 2007 with people. We’ll be happy to print your holiday stories.
Take care
Ted Hornick and Alethia Picciola
Trumpet Directors
For me, the winter holidays are times for reflection: Not only for looking back with family and friends, but for looking forward. I was never especially partial to New Year’s resolutions (is anybody, anymore?), but I always enjoyed thinking about next year and wondering at its possibilities and ideas. To see the beauty of nature is to acknowledge the need to rid oneself of all that is old and un-useful, in efforts to grow to greater levels.
It is with that attitude in mind that I think of the Trumpet’s future. I think of the past year, with our speedy growth and (mostly) smooth transitions and I wonder how we can hope to grow further. I also think of how exciting the immediate future is – the winter holiday blitz will lead us into what I know will be a fantastic year, with the Trumpet celebrating its first birthday, NPN celebrating its second, and all of New Orleans celebrating with us!!
Timolynn Sams
Executive Director of NPN
Illustration by Laura Pavicevic-Johnston
Little Gypsy, Big Mess
by Laura Pavicevic-Johnston, NPN Service Learner
On Thursday, November eighth, the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC), voted unanimously to exchange your money, health, and environmental well-being in exchange for the corporate welfare of Entergy Louisiana and the Shaw Group. In Monte, LA, a town no more than 1,000 people, Entergy Co. has been approved to convert the “Little Gypsy” power plant from natural gas to coal and pet coke, one of the dirtiest burning fuel sources available, at the likely expense of ratepayers throughout the state.
Entergy first proposed the conversion back in July 2007, when it came first before the LPSC, an elected body of five officials who regulate utilities. Two days after the application was filed, the LPSC began receiving complaints (legally called interventions) from groups such as chemical and oil companies, WalMart, and a coalition of environmental groups including the Louisiana Alliance for Affordable Energy, the Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, and Gulf Restoration Network.
The objections: both consumer and business rate payers will be forced to pay in advance 1.5 billion dollars for a coal plant whose prospects are precarious. The technology is outdated and will release pollutants such as carbon in unsafe quantities. The subsequent approval of this conversion by the LPSC is irresponsible and imprudent. The expenses will be felt not only in your wallet, but also on your conscience.
“The number one thing that really disappointed us was the fact that the commissioners had made up their minds ahead of time,” said Leslie March, Chair of the Delta Chapter of the Sierra Club. March’s group, with others, intervened and presented a strong case for dismissal.
The main argument on behalf of rate payers concerns Entergy’s request to “recover construction-related financing costs” prior to the building of the plant. The application that passed on Thursday was step one; Entergy has the go-ahead to purchase parts needed to build the plant (totaling an estimated $225 million) before final approval to build in a year. For the second time in Louisiana’s history, this cost will be added to utility bills before the plant begins operation, because, according to the application to convert, it is unfair to expect stockholders to shoulder this cost. Consumers will be paying current utility bills from the natural gas plant in addition to a “fuel adjustment charge” for the plant.
Overall cost estimates for the plant have been in flux. When Entergy initially presented the proposal, the costs ran around $1 billion, but three months later they jumped to $1.5 billion. The shift occurred when Entergy chose the Shaw Group Inc. as the construction firm for the plant. During the hearing on Thursday, however, the LPSC stated there was still analysis to be done and a final cost wouldn’t be available until July.
John Atkeison, Director of Climate and Clean Energy Programs for the Alliance for Affordable Energy, attended the hearing and said, “No one is even claiming a benefit until 2025, and that’s if it even happens.” “The most optimistic figure was 2025. The Louisiana Energy User’s group was saying 2041.”
Rick Fabiani, a student attorney who worked on the case, said, “They’re facing a tradeoff between the volatility of natural gas prices and the cost of carbon from coal. In our view, and in many scenarios, the cost of carbon is higher.”
The Environment
In addition to financial concerns, environmental organizations have voiced worries. Carbon is the dirtiest of all fossil fuels, and the key gas which could tip the balance of global climate and send us on path toward violent weather patterns and rising sea levels.
Currently coal plants amount to thirty-five percent of all carbon emissions. Efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, such as changing fuel standards or planting trees are simply overwhelmed by the existence of coal fired plants. For example, if California’s legislation to reduce carbon dioxide emission from cars by twenty-five percent passed on all cars in 2009, the emissions from one medium sized coal plant running for only eight months would negate this entire effort. There is still no way to effectively sequester, or catch, the carbon that’s emitted. There is no such thing as clean coal.
“The decision is moving in exactly the wrong direction at the worst possible time,” said John Atkeison.
Nationally, pressure has been mounting on both business and government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, specifically carbon. We face a new administration in the White House in the next year, and with that most analysts are predicting a carbon tax which will fundamentally increase costs from dirty energy sources, like coal plants.
Campaigns worldwide are calling for reductions of carbon dioxide levels and cleaner energy sources. “The rest of the county is making different decisions, even conservative states like Florida and Kansas,” said Leslie March. “But here in Louisiana, it’s business as usual.”
Into the Future
The approval of Entergy’s plant avoids the issue of volatile coal prices in the future. “There are many scenarios, most of which sink the ratepayers in this proposal,” said Corinne Van Dalen, instructor at the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, which intervened on behalf of the Environmental Alliance.
There are over six bills currently in Congress which significantly limit carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions. One new bill on the floor would cut carbon by 80% by 2050, and some are even stricter than that. “It will be billions of dollars for polluters,” said Mary Nagle, student attorney with the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic. “Basically, rate payers will pay for the plant, even if Entergy doesn’t use it due to lack of political or economic viability.”
The threat is that if coal prices rise precipitously in the future due to carbon taxing, or if the political climate in Washington steps up and puts a moratorium on new coal plants, the conversion at Little Gypsy will come to a halt. Entergy’s decision to tax you ahead of time would appear to shift this financial risk from their stockholders.
“Look at their website,” said Atkeison. “Entergy claims to fight climate change, but in fact they’re doing the exact opposite.” Medium sized plants, like Little Gypsy, can emit up to eight million tons of carbon a year.
Aside from producing carbon, burning pet coke will produce huge amounts of sulfur, mercury and other toxic chemicals. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality has given the go ahead, but the EPA is still debating whether or not to give Entergy the permits it needs to build. The Sierra Club and others have intervened to try and halt this conversion.
With lawyers at the Law Clinic still undecided as to whether or not to appeal the decision, it appears that the EPA may be our last hope in stopping this conversion before it’s too late. If the EPA withholds permits, Entergy may have to halt the conversion.
Given the history of polluting power plants in Louisiana, Entergy and the LPSC should consider the damage of another plant spewing carbon, sulfur and other harmful chemicals into our atmosphere. Many chemicals associated with this plant have been linked to lung disease and other respiratory problems. These immediate health impacts will merely be compounded environmental woes if climate change continues as predicted. No one needs a reminder of how vulnerable Louisiana is in a situation with rising seas and frequent storms.
Power Play
“The only people who make money on these deals are contractors,” said Leslie March. The cards were stacked against Entergy on this case and yet the conversion passed unanimously. “The Commissioners are elected, but Entergy is the largest company in the state,” said student attorney Mary Nagle. “They wield a lot of power.”
Before the final decision was made, LPSC Chairman Jay Blossman told the Times-Picayune he fully favored the conversion. Lawyers immediately moved to remove him from the ruling; state law requires that members objectively oversee such proceedings. The motion failed and the politics of Louisiana continued in their shady ways. Instead of looking to the future in forward-thinking, responsible manner, Entergy Co. and the LPSC are resorting to the status quo, but it is a status quo that we can no longer afford.
Let’s count: suspicious up-front charges for plant construction, immediate health risks, environmental degradation and contribution to global warming which poses a detrimental risk to New Orleans, rate hikes in future, and crooked politics. The “business as usual” motto of Louisiana’s elite is failing its people. Any way you look at it, this plant reeks.
Tropical New Orleans
by Andrea Pinto, NPN Service Learner
When I first came to New Orleans from my home in South America, the city felt familiar immediately. The vibrant colors and music were captivating, the warm weather was enchanting and it was almost as if the city’s chaotic nature held its pieces together. There is a Latin air to this city, descended from its Spanish history, and it is present now more than ever.
Katrina washed it all away for a while, until a community effort to rebuild the city revived it. Job opportunities for construction work and other hands-on services overflowed beyond what the population could provide. The site became a magnet for Hispanic immigrants, many of which entered illegally in search for monetary opportunities.
At the time, locals called this influx of workers a passing phase, but people realize now that the stay has become permanent. To understand these immigrants’ problems is to accept that New Orleans is progressing through unforeseen difficulties. Incorporating Hispanic communities is the only way to evolve. The Hispanic population is approximated to include between 100,000 and 150,000 individuals, according to Martin Gutierrez, Service Director for the Hispanic Apostolate. This number has doubled from the pre-Katrina census reports in 2000 that accounted for 60,000 Hispanics living in the greater New Orleans area.
The incoming population has faced many obstacles in adjusting to their new lives. Finding homes, making new friendships away from their families and cultures and understanding the legal systems of this country have been challenging for all of them. Additionally, the state of New Orleans, unprepared to receive such a large number of Spanish and Portuguese speaking individuals, is struggling to deal with the legalities and security issues in the midst of the post-Katrina pandemonium.
The Hispanic Apostolate is a major advocate for the support of the Latino Community. All of the services that it provides fall under the umbrella of the Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of New Orleans. Their services and programs can be accessed through the Catholic Charities website. Martin Gutierrez is in charge of overseeing the programs under both organizations by attaining the necessary resources and funding for them. “We offer job guidance, emergency assistance, immigration consultations, trauma counseling, educational plans, legal resettlement, and asylum services for individuals seeking help,” says Gutierrez. These services are available through a network of community partners that provide personnel and facilities.
The Hispanic Apostolate also mediates interactive groups for participants to discuss different issues relevant to their daily lives. Such is the case for the Worker Rights Initiative where “the goal is to do community outreach regarding wage, labor and immigration issues,” as cited on their mission.
One of the main components of the educational programs available are ESL courses for adults. There are several sites around the city where classes take place, Monday through Thursday nights from 6 to 8 p.m. More than 500 individuals are enrolled in the program. In the beginning of the courses, they are assigned to one of the four levels available through a standardized placement test. There is an initial donation of 25 dollars required. Despite the increasing demand for enrollment in the program, the organization has already reached its maximum capacity.
Tulane University is an example of a community partner that supports the ESL agenda. As a part of the Post-Katrina renewal program in 2006, Tulane incorporated a service-learning component to their undergraduate core curriculum. Being a vital part of New Orleans, Tulane understands the need for students to become involved in the revival of this city in more dynamic ways. This new curriculum has attracted civically engaged prospective students from across America. The Center for Public Service was created as the body in charge of recruiting and educating faculty, controlling and analyzing student participation and connecting courses and the services they provide. Tulane students have a unique opportunity to participate in the English education of Hispanic people.
I first came across this teaching opportunity through one of my Latin American studies courses. The class I taught had Latinos from throughout Southern and Central America sharing their personal stories. Carmen, a single mother that came from Honduras in search of better fortunes, explained, “I’m working everyday cleaning houses for a basic wage. I hardly speak English, and I miss my life in Honduras. But now my children go to a good school and eventually, I’ll have enough money to make them happy.”
There are thousands of stories like this. The experience opened my eyes to a sad reality that students ignore. In their progress, my work was validated. Helping them encouraged me to write this article and ask others who have comfortable lives to embrace this chance to help. The entire Hispanic Apostolate organization depends on volunteers and always needs more.
“We truly make a big positive impact,” claims Gutierrez. The object of this collective effort is to make Hispanics integral, productive members of the community. Then relationships will be symbiotic; people helping each other to make New Orleans even better than what it used to be. For Martin Gutierrez, the work is incredibly rewarding, “even if this simply means that one mother or father in the ESL program is now capable of talking to their child’s teacher, then we have made a difference.”
Gutierrez claims that the future growth of the Hispanic population will not be as explosive as it was a year ago. However the growth that we have now will be consistent as long as there are jobs available. New Orleans residents appreciate the contributions of Hispanics to the city, but there are still many social walls to overcome. If we educate and embrace these people as fellow citizens, then hopefully crime rates will drop, boundaries will be forgotten and New Orleans will be recognized as a trilingual city. As Marcos, one of my students used to say, “What this city needed is some tropical flavor.” Now it’s here, so why not enjoy it?
Education Versus Incarceration
by Jordan Flaherty, Editor of Left Turn Magazine
Tallulah is a small town in Northeastern Louisiana, one of the poorest regions in the United States. It is about 90 miles from the now-legendary town of Jena, and like Jena it is a town with a large youth prison that was closed after allegations of abuse and brutality. Also, like Jena, residents of Tallulah are involved in a modern civil rights struggle. Their town has become a battleground in the national debate on whether to spend money to educate or incarcerate poor, mostly Black, youth.
On a recent Saturday afternoon I visited Hayward Fair, a civil rights movement veteran from Tallulah. Mr. Fair is one of the founders of People United for Education and Action, a grassroots organization dedicated to transforming the local prison (now called Steve Hoyle Rehabilitation Center and primarily holding adults convicted of nonviolent offenses) into a “success center,” for classes and training. If they succeed in their struggle, it will be the first time in this country that a prison has been shut down and replaced by a school in a groundbreaking reversal of a sinister nationwide trend.
When I met with Mr. Fair, he was going door-to-door with activists from the grassroots organizations Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children, Southern Center for Human Rights and Safe Streets Strong Communities. At nearly seventy years old, with muscular arms and a shaved head, he showed no sign of slowing down. “I’ve been doing a little community organizing,” he explained. As he went from house to house, it seemed everyone in the city knew and respected him, and everyone had an opinion about both the prison and the town’s needs. Wielding respect from both his age and his reputation for fighting for justice locally, Fair was bringing visions of a new Tallulah to residents who were watching the town die around them.
Speaking in a gravelly voice, with a deliberate step weighted with experience, Mr. Fair led me to the site of the prison. “When the prison came to town, most people weren’t even aware of what it was going to be,” he said. “It was something that produced jobs and people needed jobs, so there wasn’t no real resistance to it.” But now, the local economy is devastated, and Fair blames the prison, at least in part. “It’s killing the economy of the area, in my opinion,” he claims. “Prisons only bring money to the owners.”
When you enter the city limits, the first thing you see after you pass the “Welcome to Tallulah” sign is the prison, a large complex of 33 buildings surrounded by fence and barbed wire. Standing nearby, Fair gestures down the street. “We’re about a block and a half from the junior high school, we’re about five blocks from the senior high school. Our children have to walk out from the classroom and the next thing they see is all these bars and towers and all these big buildings. It had a psychological effect on the children and the adults as well. It really just devastated this whole city.” For several years, the people of Tallulah, aligned with Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children, have fought this struggle, to not just close the local prison, but to open something different in its place and demonstrate that small rural towns don’t have to turn to prisons for jobs.
Tallulah, which is seventy percent Black, used to be a town that Black folks would travel from all around the region to visit. To demonstrate his point, Fair took me to the downtown, a street of shuttered storefronts, with virtually no people. “On a day like this, on a Saturday evening, you could hardly walk down the streets of Tallulah, you’d be bumping into people. You had all businesses on this end of town,” he gestured across the street. “All the way down, nothing but businesses; grocery stores, cafes, clothing stores, barrooms, you name it. The town was wide open, stayed open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
Now Fair says, “We are working trying to bring our image back up, but we are now labeled as a prison town.” As in much of the country, prisons are a big business in rural Louisiana, and this part of the state has several. “You go east you got a youth prison. West down here you got this facility, you go south you got two prisons right outside the city limits.” Tallulah is now far removed from its former glory. Young people move away as soon as they’re able. “We lose maybe seventy percent of our young people,” he says. “Why should they stay? There are no opportunities here for them.”
The prison in Tallulah has a long and notorious reputation. Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone visited in 1998, and incarcerated kids broke onto a roof to shout out complaints about their treatment. The New York Times wrote a front page report calling Tallulah the worst youth prison in the US, and the US Justice Department sued the state of Louisiana over systematic abuse at the prison, where even the warden said, “It seemed everybody had a perforated eardrum or a broken nose.”
New Orleans-based journalist Katy Reckdahl chronicled the beginnings of the struggle to transform this prison in an important series of articles several years ago. But now the effort is nearing its final days. Activists have lined up local and statewide support for this important transition, from the community level to meetings with the Governor, to support of national allies such as the Center for Third World Organizing and the Southern Center for Human Rights. With a new Governor on the way, the next few weeks will be crucial for the fate of Tallulah. If the people of Tallulah win, it will be an important victory for people everywhere concerned about issues of race, education, and criminal justice.
Mr. Fair is proud of the civil rights history of Tallulah, which is located not far from where the Deacons for Defense, a pioneering Black armed self-defense group active during the civil rights movement, was formed. “We had some people here that went off to World War Two, then they come back here and were second class citizens,” he explained. “They had to ride in the back of the bus. They said, ‘We’re not going to put up with this.’ So we started a movement ourselves, to eliminate that.”
Fair experienced intense white resistance to basic rights for Black folks. “At one point the Klan met about three miles outside of town and had a rally and they was going to come into town that evening. They thought they were going to run all the Blacks out of town,” Fair says. But resistance in the town was strong. “When they came into town the streets was crowded. People were walking stiff-legged, with their shotguns down under their pants. We told the police ‘We’re going to take care of ourselves; we don’t need you to take care of us.’ They thought they were going to scare somebody, but nobody here was afraid of them.”
I asked Fair how Tallulah fits into a wider struggle, and he replied, “All the eyes of the world is focused on the Jena Six. But every small community in the south, and in the north, has its Jena Six. Maybe you can’t visualize it or maybe you don’t want to visualize it, but this is not just small rural towns. Look at New Orleans, during the storm. When the people was trying to cross the bridge to get out of the flood, there were people on the other side, armed, that would not let them cross. In the rest of the nation people are being treated the same way. Chicago, New York, it don’t matter where you are.”
Before leaving, I asked Fair what kept him in the struggle. “I ain’t struggling, I’m free,” he answered, explaining that this struggle is not about him. “I’m gonna do what I know is right, and I don’t care who you are. I see the young people in the community that need help. That’s what keeps me going. If you see something and you feel it ain’t right, don’t say they ought to change it, get in there, roll your sleeves up and say ‘Let’s change it.’ That’s the only way. You gotta keep a cool head and do the thing that’s right. When you know right and fight for it, you’re gonna win.”
Jordan Flaherty is an editor of Left Turn Magazine. He was the first journalist from outside of northern Louisiana to write about the case of the Jena Six. Learn more at http://www.leftturn.org.
Recovery at Work in Communication
by Lisa Rawlings, Ph.D. Candidate at Howard University
Displacement, severed familial ties and loss of culture and community have taken a toll on many New Orleanians. The emotional effects of Hurricane Katrina may cause people to react in a number of different ways, such as feeling tired, upset, stressed, nervous or angry.
In addition to these common experiences, Lisa Rawlings, a Ph.D. candidate in Howard University’s School of Social Work, said that positive lessons could be learned from studying how people respond to disaster and displacement.
“Even in the most difficult times, some people report a sense of growth such as a deeper sense of life meaning, stronger spiritual connection or increased importance of relationships,” Rawlings said. “Because Hurricane Katrina was unprecedented in so many ways, particularly regarding the scope and severity of impact as well as the extent of displacement, not much is known about how people respond under these dramatic circumstances.”
To that end, Rawlings will interview hundreds of New Orleanians, both displaced and returned, as part of her dissertation research during December. “I thought that it was so important to conduct this research in New Orleans because the devastation of Hurricane Katrina was much more than the rain, wind and failed levees, but also the physical, emotional and cultural uprooting of so many who had such strong ties to a truly unique place” said Rawlings, who plans to interview over 200 New Orleanians.
She asks that people interested in participating in the study be at least eighteen years old and be residents of the Greater New Orleans area (Orleans, Jefferson and/or St. Bernard’s Parishes) before August 29, 2005. Prospective interview subjects should also have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina for at least a week.
Survey and interview sessions will be conducted Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. from December 11th – 21st, 2007 at Non-Profit Central (1824 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard). Evening and weekend interviews will be conducted at the Neighborhood Partnership Network (3500 Canal Street). Drop-ins are welcome. Appointments can also be scheduled by calling (504)-250-2351 or e-mailing displacmentstudy@gmail.com. Gift certificates, refreshments, and resource information will be available to all participants.
“Stumped” For the Perfect Gift? Give the Gift of Releaf
Anne Atkinson, Parkway Partners
This year, consider honoring the impossible-to-buy-for with trees. You’ll be giving a gift that will outlive you and your loved ones, and you’ll help the recovery of New Orleans. Over 50,000 trees on neutral grounds and countless others in private landscapes were lost to Katrina.
The tree-gifting campaign is part of Parkway Partners’ ReLeaf New Orleans initiative, the goal of which is to replace New Orleans trees. Parkway Partners is the non-profit volunteer arm of the New Orleans Department of Parks and Parkways, working with schools, businesses, neighborhood and civic associations and local and national foundations to accomplish the goal of a greener, healthier New Orleans.
As major thoroughfares are replanted by Parkway Partners, residents and schools will be offered free and low-cost trees to restore side streets and schoolyards. To date, several thousand trees have been replaced and Parkway Partners is only in its second planting season since the storm.
You are invited to participate in ReLeaf New Orleans by sponsoring a neutral ground tree in honor of friends or loved ones. Donations of 300, 400 or 500 dollars will purchase crape myrtles, magnolias or live oaks, and a one-year maintenance plan with a licensed arborist for the tree. Your honorees (up to ten per tree) will be acknowledged with holiday cards.
You may elect instead to purchase a tree for planting between the street and sidewalk to honor up to four people for one hundred dollars. Street-to-sidewalk trees are smaller than neutral ground trees and are maintained by homeowners.
Trees are not only beautiful - they are the one element of a city’s infrastructure that increases in value over time, and they are critical to community health. They filter solid and gaseous particulate pollutants out of the air and they reduce energy costs by shading buildings in the summer and cutting winds in the winter. Their thirsty roots soak up storm water and help prevent street flooding. They also filter noise pollution from highways and other sources. Trees improve property values and tree-planting campaigns unify neighborhoods and increase civic pride.
A gift of ReLeaf is a gift of life. Please join Parkway Partners in reforesting New Orleans. To purchase trees in honor of others, or to learn more about the ReLeaf New Orleans initiative and how you can help to re-green the Big Easy, call Parkway Partners’ Executive Director Jean Fahr at (504)-620-2224.
Stay Local: The Craft Mafia, A Well-Organized Syndicate
by Danielle Murphy-Cannell and Dana Eness, staylocal.org
Local artists have faced many challenges after Katrina, but collective power and a technology-driven business have allowed some to reach new audiences. The New Orleans Craft Mafia (www.neworleanscraftmafia.com) is an artists’ collective fashioned after the model of Austin’s Craft Mafia, with an internet-based shop. It is one of many around the country, yet it has its own distinct legacy. The group formed in the summer of 2005, just before Hurricane Katrina, and has remained solid ever since. Membership in the NOCM currently includes seven businesses comprised of local artisans contributing nonpareil crafts with New Orleans flair.
Many of the artists knew each other pre-merge from vending at various markets around the city. Others joined after the storm. Membership is open to any professional artist in New Orleans who is willing to become an active associate of the NOCM. The current condition of New Orleans has played a large role in facilitating the collective, as now more than ever it is necessary to pool resources and aggregate business capacity with like-minded individuals. And, for the artists of NOCM, it has always been more about making art than making profit.
“There was a group-held belief that we’d all do better as a one or two person-run business if we pooled our resources together,” says Margaret Coble of art by mags!, “but a co-op of eight to ten micro-businesses doing similar but uniquely different things might have more of a chance. And so far, that theory has really worked.”
The online collective is at times the only thread to unite the group. The NOCM web shop was critical in keeping the collective together in the months after Katrina and provided an Internet retail presence for the artists to continue selling their art.
Much of the NOCM’s success can be attributed to their overt expressions of solidarity for their city and striking “do-it-yourself” designs that make local art accessible to the public. Products such as iconic water meters and crescent moon designs, houseware and accessories made from recycled materials, and vintage relics central to New Orleans culture have “struck a chord with the buying public” according to Coble.
“Shopping wasn’t exactly high on folks’ lists of things to do. Many of us, post-Katrina, came up with new designs and new products that were New Orleans-centric,” says Coble, “People were hungry for items to proclaim their pride and belief in the city and its possibility for rebuilding, revival.”
The Mafia does not operate with a storefront; however, they will have a holiday market at the Big Top Gallery at 1630 Clio Street, on Thursday, December 20th from 6-10 p.m. “Most of our members will be participating in multiple holiday markets around the city for the entire month of December,” says Coble. “Several of us will be at Festivus (www.festivusmarket.org) as well as the Recycle-for-the-Arts ‘Oddities Bazaar (December 8th) sponsored by the Green Project. Several of us will also be in many of the monthly neighborhood art markets like Bywater, Freret and Arts Council.” To get open-air market schedules for these and other markets citywide, go to http://www.staylocal.org/events/
Craft Mafia Line-up:
greenKangaroo.com: Rachelle Matherne makes handmade resin jewelry, magnets, altered clothing and more. She is the founder of the New Orleans Craft Mafia.
dismantled designs: Mallory Whitfield makes one-of-a-kind, handmade, reconstructed clothing and accessories, mostly from used or vintage clothing, fabrics, and trims. See more at: http://www.dismantleddesigns.com
Miss Malaprop: Also run by Mallory Whitfield, MissMalaprop.com is a blog whose tagline is “indie finds for your uncommon life,” which focuses on independent artists and businesses, both in New Orleans and beyond.
art by mags!: Margaret Coble makes spray-paint-stenciled art clocks out of recycled vinyl records with original designs, as well as silkscreen and stenciled t-shirts and other clothing. She also creates signs from recycled wood and other building scraps, picked up off the streets of post-Katrina New Orleans.
Unique Products: Heather MacFarlane and Mark Kirk make eclectic house wares, lighting, jewelry, t-shirts and accessories using recycled materials, including their famous fused Mardi Gras bead lights and blue tarp messenger bags.
Jeremy the Alien Designs: Jeannie Detweiler makes fine art paintings, stuffed toys, handmade faux-fur purses, funky throw pillows, and more.
Claverie Crafts: Kelly Claverie makes a wide variety of handmade crafts, from clothing to note cards to housewares and accessories and more.
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