A Space for Peace

Laura Pavicevic-Johnston, NPN Service Learner

Uncle Lionel’s token wristwatch glistens from the top of his hand as he keeps beat with the Blind Boys of Alabama at St. Augustines. Hours later, white, red, yellow and black flash in blurs of buoyant color as the dancers of the Kombuka African Drum and Dance Company spin to a mad drum beat.
Such was the scene at the Congo Square Rhythm Festival held on Sunday, September 30th. The festival brought together musicians, dance collectives, poets, chiefs, storytellers and people in a whirl of positive energy.

“When you hear music and perform it transforms you. It’s seemingly magical, but science proves it too. Something changes in you,” says Ausettua Amor Amenkum, a performer with the Kombuka Collective who has organized the event in the past. Get to know Ausettua and you will be moved by her grace, her knowledge, and the power behind what she says. Her hair, if let out, would likely root her to Mother Earth. She speaks with some gravel in her voice, “When you perform, that space has been made better.”
In the early days of New Orleans, Congo Square exemplified transition. Previously swamp lands on the fringe of town, it was a place where African slaves were allowed to come one day a week—largely unsupervised—to make music, dance and trade. Ausettua explains “Through all that exchange, Congo Square was significant to New Orleans as a space for peace.” This year, the festival kicked off at St. Augustine’s Cathedral with a special guest appearance from the Grammy award-winning Blind Boys of Alabama. It was my first time in the cathedral, and as I listened to the Priest, I was also elevated by the sight before me: white people in fancy suits, black people in fancy suits, black people in African prints, white people in African prints, punks covered with neck tattoos, babies and a few people so old they probably couldn’t see any of it. Then again, seeing wasn’t really necessary, because the energy and the sound were everywhere.

Amenkum sees significance in that cultural exchange as well. “Back in the 17-1800’s, when Louisiana was forming, you know it was so harsh. It was rough on the Europeans, rough on the Africans, and rough on the Native Americans. If it hadn’t been for all those people coming together they wouldn’t have survived,” she says. “There was institutionalized racism, yeah, but daily life dictated that you got along.”
During the sermon, as the Priest lamented the woes of New Orleans, I wondered if and how this vibrant energy could be used as a tool. “Music and art help you to tolerate those problems without being hopeless,” says Ausettua Amenkum. “It is the culture that shows you there’s still a way.” As she speaks, she radiates that same powerful energy that can be seen in her dance. “Through that unity, through respect for cultures and preservation, through dancing, and good food, we can pull New Orleans to a better place than it was before.”
Her conviction leaves me doubtless that the soul of our city can comfort the world. And if not, Sunday at the Square elevated me and left me with a deeper understanding of where this unique spirit comes from. Events like this can’t explain the ever growing problems of our city, but they can explain why we all stay, and show us how we can thrive.
Thanks to organizations like the Jazz and Heritage Foundation, the Congo Square Foundation and countless other preservation, dance and music associations throughout our city—not to mention independent artists—New Orleans culture is guarded, preserved, and most importantly, made accessible. Life here isn’t about watching a show- it’s about feeling that show and giving some energy, zest and dance back to that performer. I think we do it here better than anyone.
A fortune teller on Jackson Square once told me that people who drink the water in New Orleans can’t leave because Marie Laveau put something in the river. Perhaps, but I think it’s even deeper than that. There is a soul here that is older than all of us and makes itself known through music and dance; that positive expression has the power to change a space and those in it. That power makes this place better.

Links:
http://www.squanderedheritage.com/
The City’s List http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?tabid=118

NEW ORLEANS, LA (August 21, 2007) - Tomorrow, the City of New Orleans will begin a four-day drive during which New Orleanians whose properties have been cited as imminent health threats will be able to provide the required documentation to inspectors to qualify for removal from the Imminent Health Threat demolition lists. Citizens may participate whether they are currently living in New Orleans or elsewhere.

This four-day drive is part of the Imminent Health Threat Demolition Resident Assistance Program. The program was launched on August 15 and is designed to educate property owners on the process and criteria for removing a property from the Imminent Health Threat demolition list.

Property owners may bring proof and documentation of remediation to two locations in New Orleans Wednesday through Saturday and one location in Houston on Saturday. Documentation also may be sent by certified mail.

Property Removal Criteria

Property owners must provide proof and documentation (photos, in mail or in person, that shows the following:

* The property has been gutted and contents have been removed
* Grass is cut in the front, back, and side yards
* All doors closed and secured

Locations

From Wednesday, August 22 through Saturday, August 25, property owners may submit their documentation at the following locations from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.:

New Orleans, LA

Office of Code Enforcement

1340 Poydras Street, Suite 1100

St. Bernard Recreation Center

1500 Lafreniere Street

Houston, TX

Journey Home Center

3611 Ennis Street, Suite 113/114

Houston, TX 77004

By certified mail to:

Office of Code Enforcement,

1340 Poydras Street, Suite 1100

New Orleans, LA 70112.

How to Destroy an African-American City in Thirty Three Steps - Lessons from Katrina

By Bill Quigley. Bill Quigley is a human rights lawyer and law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. You can reach Bill at Quigley@loyno.edu

Step One. Delay. If there is one word that sums up the way to destroy an African-American city after a disaster, that word is DELAY. If you are in doubt about any of the following steps - just remember to delay and you will probably be doing the right thing.

Step Two. When a disaster is coming, do not arrange a public evacuation. Rely only on individual resources. People with cars and money for hotels will leave. The elderly, the disabled and the poor will not be able to leave. Most of those without cars - 25% of households of New Orleans, overwhelmingly African-Americans - will not be able to leave. Most of the working poor, overwhelmingly African-American, will not be able to leave. Many will then permanently accuse the victims who were left behind of creating their own human disaster because of their own poor planning. It is critical to start by having people blame the victims for their own problems. (more…)

You may have noticed in this morning’s paper that congress is set to convert 30,000 FEMA housing vouchers to section 8 vouchers and 90,000 people currently in trailers to section 8 vouchers. This is what I predicted last year and the consequence will be flooding the New Orleans housing market with 120,000 section 8 vouchers. The Houston Housing authority told me in January 2006 that they had very little section 8 housing in that voucher range–I interpreted this as a direct attempt to force evacuees out of the city. (more…)

A column by Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco

During Women’s History Month, we celebrate the vision, influence and power of Louisiana women and their dramatic impact on the political, economic and social fabric of our state.

We’ve come a long way since 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York. That’s when a brave woman named Elizabeth Cady Stanton stood up and said “All men and women are created equal.”

A woman’s right to vote wouldn’t come in Stanton’s lifetime, but it would come in my mother’s lifetime. In 1920, a man in Tennessee cast the deciding vote to pass the Constitutional Amendment allowing women the vote. He did this because he knew if he didn’t, his mama wouldn’t let him come home to dinner! Some things don’t change. (more…)