The REAL Spirit of New Orleans Monday, Apr 2 2012

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn…” –Jack Kerouac

Bead work from Mardi Gras Indian outfit, House of Dance and Feathers, Lower Ninth Ward, March 2012

Looking back to the weeks before my first trip to New Orleans, I remember being nervous and wondering what to expect from a city known for its indescribable culture. After spending one day in the city, I was hooked. Our first day experiencing New Orleans as a class helped me to understand the spirit and culture of the city that Bill had been trying to describe to us for the first half of the semester.

Our first full day in New Orleans, we started off by heading to the Lower Ninth Ward to visit Ronald Lewis at The House of Dance and Feathers, the museum located behind his house. The bright colors from the Mardi Gras Indian costumes filling the room made it difficult to look away. Each costume was created with beautiful beadwork and details. It is one thing to see them in photographs or videos but it is a completely different story to see them in person.

Lower Ninth Ward, March 2006

Once everybody had settled into the museum, Ronald shared some of his experiences with Hurricane Katrina. While I had heard a lot about Katrina before visiting New Orleans, I didn’t truly understand how it affected the city and her people until hearing Ronald talk about his experiences. He helped me to understand the depth at which the people of the city were affected. One thing he said really stuck with me. When asked about the response to Katrina and the progress that has been made over the past few years he said, “It not the hot story, but it’s an ongoing story”. This was a really great thing to hear right before we started our work with Habitat for Humanity. Living in a world filled with daily disasters and news stories, it is hard to remember that the problems that occur from these events persist long after the hype goes down and volunteering is not longer the popular thing to do. This concept resonated with me and was something I carried with me as I volunteered and hope to remember now that I am back home and far away from the damage of Katrina and the people of New Orleans. So often people jump on the bandwagon to support issues but forget about them shortly afterwards. It makes sense, but it is a shame.

New homes, Lower Ninth Ward, March 2012. Gabby Chesney.

After having spent a little time in New Orleans, I know I won’t forget. I am excited to explore ways I can get involved and support the amazing and spirited people affected by Katrina from a distance. Ronald’s words were inspiring and so truthful. His spirit and passion were contagious. I love people like that, those are the ones who stick with you and change your outlook. 

 

I think many of the people I met in New Orleans embody this spirit. A city is nothing without the people who fill it. The people of New Orleans, so filled with the spirit of life and music and resilience, are the heartbeat of the city. Throughout the week we heard stories of people who suffered greatly after Katrina but returned to the city with a strong spirit and sense of hope.

Gabby and Ronald, House of Dance and Feathers, March 2012. Gabby Chesney.

Those are the stories that made the week we spent amazing. Without the people, New Orleans would just be a picturesque city by the water. Once you add these eclectic and passionate people, you have a place that is impossible to forget and sure to change you in one way or another. 

–Gabby Chesney–

Leave a Response »

 

Saint Patrick’s Day in New Orleans Sunday, Mar 18 2012

Crawfish for our last dinner in Slidell, March 2012

A constant of our spring breaks has been St. Patrick’s Day, which runs neck and neck with St. Joseph’s Day in New Orleans among the pantheon of “holy” days to rank behind Mardi Gras. It or some events related to it are always present. This year students traveled to Metairie for their big parade last Sunday. And a few of those in the City witnessed the Molly’s in the Market parade on Decatur, which is basically a moving block party. They enjoyed their last night in the Quarter, regardless, although the new 21+ regulations are making it harder for young people to go into clubs to listen to music. If they keep this up, it will be to the detriment of the music and its following and not to the sustenance of decency and decorum.

Courtyard concert, Historic New Orleans Collection, Royal Street, March 2012

I caught part of the Molly’s parade, but also had the chance to see Dr. Michael White and his quartet performing at eh Historic New Orleans Collection on Royal Street. The beautiful courtyard of this old mansion was filled with members and music lovers alike, and they did not disappoint. And the sound of tunes like “Just a Closer Walk with Thee,” with Gregg Stafford’s vocals reverberating off of the masonry walls, was fabulous.

Students learning about Mardi Gras Indian culture at the Backstreet Cultural Museum, March 2012

The late night in the City made for a slow departure from the Peace Mission Center this morning. And to some extent, I think it was a rebellion against leaving New Orleans more than chronic sleepiness. Bags seemed to roll slower. Packing decisions took longer. I found it easier to leave the process entirely and make my way into the City for our meeting at the Backstreet Cultural Museum in Treme, the source for the best information on Mardi Gras Indian and Second Line culture in New Orleans. Happily, all three groups fought through the New Orleans departure blues to hear museum founder Sylvester Francis

Sylvester Francis explaining the Second Line tradition, March 2012

expound on this unique culture. The Mardi Gras Indian costumes amazed and hopefully most came away with greater understanding of these New Orleans cultural artifacts.

Sadly, I had to part with students at 10 a.m. Most of them were heading across Rampart Street into the Quarter for what I feel is the finest New Orleans experience — the French Quarter on a weekend morning. There they would find a humming French Market, street performers, and New Orleans’ signature food fare; such will hopefully lessen the sting of a long journeyhome back to the second half of the semester.

Willie Mae's Scotch House, Treme, March 2012

I left the museum to head out to the airport to pick up my wife. And as frequently as I go to New Orleans, it was the first time we have been together in the City since 1993>And we had quite the New Orleans experience: fried chicken at Willie Mae’s Scotch House in Treme; part of the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Parade; dinner with a smartass waitress; the Downtown St. Patrick’s Parade; music on Frenchmen; watching 100 year-old Lionel Ferbos perform with his band at the Palm Court; and walking through the Quarter on a warm Saturday night that happens to be March 17th. It makes me tired (and smile) just to think of it.

St. Patrick's Day, Jackson and St. Charles, March 2012

I am heading offline tomorrow and will not be adding to my blog for a week or more. I’m sure I’ll Have plenty of observations, commentary, and pictures when I get back and the events of the past week have sufficiently sunk in. At that time, I will also begin a new thread in which I invite students to contribute blog entries related to New Orleans, the trip, and to the class. So, stay tuned, there is good stuff yet to come.

St. Patrick's Fay, Frenchmen Street, March 2012

Pat on her feast day, Palm Court, March 2012

100 year-old trumpet player and bandleader, Lionel Ferbos, Palm Court, March 2012

Leave a Response »

 

Random Facts About New Orleans Sunday, Mar 4 2012

These facts have been supplied to help my students get a snapshot of New Orleans prior to their spring break, service-learning trip. Some facts may be subject to bias (mine). Those generally appear towards the end of the list. No harm or misinformation is intended by these pronouncements.

St. Louis Cathedral, March 2010.

Distance from Durham NH to New Orleans LA: 1,586 miles

Road hours from Durham NH to New Orleans LA: one day; two hours

Average high temperature on March 10^th in Durham NH: 37 degrees

Average high temperature on March 10^th in New Orleans LA: 71 degrees

Population of New Orleans LA (2010): 343,829

Population of Durham NH (2010): 14,638

New Orleans founded: 1718 by French explorers and speculators

Durham founded: 1732 by English settlers

Portion of New Orleans below sea level: 49%

Top New Orleans employer: Ochsner Health System, 10,000

Second line parade, March 2010

New Orleans racial composition: African-American 60.2%; white, 33%; Hispanic, 5.3%; Asian 2.9

% of New Orleans population who are Roman Catholic: 35.9%

Rank of New Orleans in murder rate (US): 1^st

Rank of New Orleans in bicycle and foot traffic (US): 8^th

Best cross-dressing bounce artist: Big Freedia

Best radio station: WWOZ (90.7 FM)

Best seafood po’boy: Domilise’s

Best music club: Spotted Cat on Frenchmen Street

Best place for traditional music: Preservation Hall

Me and Kermit Ruffins, Rock and Bowl, March 2011.

Oldest regularly performing jazz artist: Lionel Ferbos (100 years old) at the Palm Court

Coolest senior citizen in America: “Uncle” Lionel Batiste (81 years old) bass drummer for the Treme Brass Band and Frenchmen Street denizen

Best New Orleans brass band: Rebirth Brass Band (OK Stu, I’ve come around)

Mr. New Orleans: Kermit Ruffins

Best city in America: Do we really have to ask?

One Response »

 

Ten Days Tuesday, Feb 28 2012

UNH Students arriving Sunday morning in St. Bernard Parish, LA, March 2007.

OK, I should be too old to get so excited by such things, but it is ten days before we all head down to New Orleans! After six years of spring break trips, it just doesn’t get old. And this year will be different enough to spice things up a bit.

I feel as though I’ve done this before, but  it is important to help prepare you for the adventure you soon will be undertaking. This will be an adventure. Even if you were driving to Springfield, IL, a 1500 hundred mile van trip with your classmates will likely be like nothing you’ve ever experienced. And as weird as it sounds: every year, I’m amazed at how energized students are following 25-30 hours in a large, white van.

For the trip. Plenty of snacks. Not enough beverages to force too many pit stops. Comfortable clothes, maybe a pillow, a fleece blanket or bag. And even though I’ve never experienced it; I know it will be fun. There will be stories.

We have talked New Orleans, all the time, but there are things in Southern Louisiana that a classroom cannot prepare you for. So, be ready to accept the following:

The weather is changeable – Chances are, it will be sunny and warm, but nights can be chilly and days often start out cooler than you expect. Wear layers. I usually bring a couple of long sleeved shirts, a fleece vest, and a windbreaker. I’ve been surprised with cold, windy weather, but most of the time this works just fine.

New Birth Brass Band, Preservation Hall, March 2007.

Absorb the sounds –There will be music. The City thrives on it. With food it is New Orleans’ life blood. Go with it. Swing with it. Bring it back in your heart. We have well-known musicians, Paul Sanchez and Dr, Michael White on our schedule, but there will others. Whether in the clubs or on the street, there will be others. Three places to put in your sights: Frenchmen Street; Preservation Hall; and Rock and Bowl. Enough said.

Just eat it! – As iconic chef and restaurateur Leah Chase says: “if it taste good, eat it!” Go with that. People in New Orleans live to talk, listen to music and EAT!” It’s in their blood. And they know what’s good. And you have to try it. It’s fried, fattening, greasy, sometimes gross, but it is traditional local cuisine. It is real. It is authentic. And it will help your understanding of the people and area in which you are staying.

Be prepared to work hard – While the nights are ours, we’ll be starting out work days early. There will be hard work. Have close toed shoes. Be prepared to sweat and be prepared to be satisfied after a day’s work. And be prepared to reflect upon your journey. We are working with faith-based organizations and they will insist on starting the day with prayer and reflection. And regardless of your beliefs, we are all  working to same ends, so it must be a good thing. Go with it.

Slow down – .We have all been through a stressful first half of the semester, and I know I have been complicit in that. But this is your chance to pull back, absorb it all, and enjoy. You are leaving the frenetic Northeast for place where time is relative, or maybe non-existent. People and events move at a different pace or none at all. Go with the flow and you’ll learn to appreciate the different rhythms of life.

Garden of the Beauregard-Keyes House, French Quarter, March 2008.

Take it all in – Cemeteries, shotgun houses, Creole ironwork, live oaks, alligators! etc. There will be things you’ve never seen, or at least noticed before. Place them in you memories, take pictures, and write about them in your journals. Along with that, take in the friendships you find and build during the trip and you’ll have memories that will live for your lifetime.

And most important of all — enjoy!

Leave a Response »

 

Leaving Ordinary Time Tuesday, Feb 21 2012

Today is Mardi Gras. The end of Carnival. The end of Ordinary Time. Ordinary Time?

The Roman Catholic Church recognizes two stretches of Ordinary Time during their liturgical calendar. The first runs from the end of the Christmas Season, Epiphany (January 6th) up to Ash Wednesday, the start of the Lenten Season. The second is longer and less eventful, running from the end of Pentecost (the end of Eastertide) up to the Saturday before the beginning of Advent, the four-week period leading up to Christmas and the beginning of the liturgical year. In the grand scheme of things, the first is definitely more interesting than the second.

The first span of Ordinary Time, especially in places that celebrate Carnival or Mardi Gras, is anything but Ordinary. The time is filled with masked balls, King Cake parties, and eventually the festivities, feasting and parades leading up to Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday/Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day. Take your pick depending upon your local tradition.

In New Orleans, Ordinary Time ends exactly at midnight on Mardi Gras. It is so important that the police clear Bourbon Street, arresting those who persist in carrying their partying over into the early hours of Ash Wednesday. Nothing is left to chance or inebriated, self control. It. Is. Over.

Italian-American Marching Club Parade, Bourbon St., March 2007.

The curtain closes.  In a season which recognized Christ’s 40 days in the desert, those seeking the fasting, prayer and penance of the Lenten season go to church to receive Palm Sunday’s recycled palm fronds in the form of ashes. A new season. A new holy season has begun.

But there are loopholes. While in past centuries believers gave up meat, eggs and dairy, during Lent, today’s Catholics must only give up meat on the Fridays. But these restriction, too, may be waived if St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th), St. Joseph’s Day (March 19th), or the Annunciation (March 25th) chance to fall on a Friday. Then, dioceses may choose to wave the Fast. And that is important in New Orleans, where St. Patrick’s Day and St. Joseph’s Day are important for Irish and Italian/African-American residents, respectively. In a span of a few days, St. Patrick’s parades, St. Joseph’s parades and altars, and Mardi Gras Indian processions will come and come. And while the religious connections may be tenuous, they are extremely important in their respective communities.

Uptown Indian Parade, March 20, 2011.

So, while the NOPD might clear the Quarter at midnight following Mardi Gras, the parades, the parties, and the beads continue, albeit at a slower pace.

Leave a Response »

 

34th Annual Islenos Fiesta Sunday, Feb 5 2012

Annual Islenos Fiesta, St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, March 20, 2010.

Leave a Response »

 

The House of Dance and Feathers Friday, Aug 12 2011

When I first read Dan Baum’s wonderful book, Nine Lives, I was engrossed in the stories of all nine New Orleans residents; however, the life stories of two or three of them really stuck in my mind. Chief among those was Ronald W. Lewis, lifelong resident of the Lower Ninth Ward, retired New Orleans streetcar worker, and curator/historian for the troubled neighborhood he still calls home.

Lewis’ voice helped take me back to a time, before Hurricane Besty, when white and black families resided in the Lower Ninth. Where chickens roamed the unpaved streets, homeowners tended to patches of tomatoes and collard greens, and where neighbors watched out for and scolded each others children. Across the Industrial Canal, the Lower Ninth had a culture and tradition all its own. And for much of his life, Lewis worked to preserve a small part of that.

Ronald Lewis holds forth in his museum.

Before Katrina, much to the dismay of his wife, Minnie, Lewis began collecting artifacts from local Mardi Gras Indian tribes, Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs, Bone Gangs, and Parade Krewes. This collection became a backyard museum behind Lewis’ house on Tupelo Street. It opened in 2003, only to be flooded by the levee break two years later. Yet, like the proud and stubborn neighborhood in which it lies, the House of Dance and Feathers is open again.

When I was in New Orleans for a few days in June, My student Kendra and I had a chance to meet with Ronald (he can no longer be Mr. Lewis to me) in his museum. We ventured over the the Lower Ninth on a Sunday afternoon, not knowing that the museum was closed. Nevertheless, Ronald cheerfully joined us in his backyard to talk and show off his collection.

It was hot and sticky, and the portable fans did their best to move the air and the ever present ostrich feathers on the Indian suits. For nearly an hour, Ronald held forth about his neighborhood, its history, its problems, and its promise. All are inextricably linked to its people. But central to the discussion where the remnants of the local culture that he has carefully curated for years. And for Kendra, who is researching the Mardi Gras Indians in post-Katrina New Orleans, it was a window into her future endeavors: colorful and exciting, but also shaded in mystery and secrecy. And for that reason, Ronald served as an important guide to these performance traditions.

Some of Ronald's bead work.

So, if you are headed to New Orleans, take the time to get away from the French Quarter and well-to-do Uptown neighborhoods to absorb a little- known and less-understood part of  New Orleans culture. Behind a house on Tupelo lie incomparable, hand-made treasures, and an all-too willing guide to interpret them.

If you are unable to make it to New Orleans, you can purchase The House of Dance & Feathers (New Orleans: UNO Press, 2009), a product of the University of New Orleans  Neighborhood Project. It is richly illustrated and contains many neighborhood stories and articles from Ronald and others. But it’s still more fun to get them firsthand.

Leave a Response »

 

The City of “Nine Lives” Saturday, Mar 26 2011

I am reading Dan Baum’s incredible piece of non-fiction, Nine Lives, for the third time. It makes me laugh and cry and muse in all of the right places. It is the next book I have assigned my New Orleans class and while I always intend to re-read the books I assign, it doesn’t always happen. But this book, with great stories and realistic, yet poetic language, reminds me why I love the city of New Orleans. And when I am still in mourning for having left once again, that is a very good thing.

Downtown St. Patrick's Day Parade, May 2011.

The shame is, most tourists associate New Orleans with beads, breasts and booze, but that is a fiction meant to attract convention-goers and Alabama frat boys to the corporate, soulless squalor that is Bourbon Street. It has little to do with the city and the residents who make it unique. And I love it unconditionally, not because it is perfect or special. It is not Disney World or the new, improved version of Times Square. It is a real place with all of the problems that most urban centers have — and then some. The people are maddening and lovable all at the same time. The place just doesn’t work — and I can mean that in a number of different ways — but folks just keep on living in the moment, without the strictures of time or goals or planning. As Baum suggests: “In the context of the techno-driven, profit crazy, hyperefficient United States, New Orleans is a city-sized act of civil disobedience.”

And, in looking at what we’ve been through since the economic collapse in 2008, perhaps they could teach us a thing or two.

Saturday morning at Cafe du Monde, March 2011.

The census tells us that New Orleans is no longer a major city. It has lost 29% of its population since 2000. But it is still a force to be reckoned with. It is no longer the economic colossus that it was in the 19th Century. Even though it is still a major port, it is not a major player in banking and international trade. Today, it plies a laissez faire attitude that might forstall the self-immolation of the most staid and driven Puritan. It is the antithesis of America, and conveys a spirit that could rescue us from the self-doubt and meanness into which we have descended. It seems to be our collective natures that “when the going gets tough, the tough attack someone else.” Forget “blame free” organizations, New Orleans is a blame free city. And they accept the consequences, both good and bad. Or as Baum once again suggests: “Stop thinking of New Orleans as the worst-organized city in the United States….Start thinking of it as the best-organized city in the Caribbean.” [I can actually think of a couple of Caribbean cities that might be better organized, but this is neither the time nor the place.]

Bead design, Mardi Gras Indian outfit, Backstreet Cultural Museum, March 2011.

Where else could a popular open air venue, Cafe du Monde, survive for decades by serving only two items — beignets and cafe au lait? Look at the lines on a weekend morning and tell me it’s not working.

Where else would a city decide to reverse history and replace bus lines with an expanded system of streetcars? Your stimulus dollars at work!

Where else would citizens of all classes and colors budget large-scale money for balls, Mardi Gras “throws.” social aid and pleasure club accessories, or Mardi Gras Indian outfits?

Where else would some of the most accomplished musicians in America play for tips and a cut of the bar receipts?

Full-service, pickup cab bar, Super Sunday, March 2011.

And where else could I sit, in a greasy spoon in the quiet corner of the French Quarter, at 6:00am in the morning, with a television blaring MTV and the gay guy behind the counter dancing along with Lady Gaga? There is no place else on Earth where you get that kind of entertainment with your eggs and grits.

And I love it.

One Response »

 

Unselfconsciousness Sunday, Feb 21 2010

A few years back, after I returned from my first post-Katrina visit to New Orleans, I picked up a slim book called Letters from New Orleans, by New York Times Magazine columnist Rob Walker. The book is a collection of e-mails that Walker wrote to friends after he relocated to New Orleans for several years prior to the great deluge.

I found it such a remarkable and succinct document for explaining such a bizarre and misunderstood place to the rest of America. Enough so, that when teaching about New Orleans, I have students read it right away; first week, first paper. It provides the uninitiated with the pegs of understanding upon which they can hang whatever content or concepts I throw at them afterwards.

Walker’s greatest gift to me was his description of New Orleans folk as “so completely unselfconscious.” Unselfconscious, an uncommon word, because it is so un-American. Without pretense; without worry about appearances, without concern over what others might think. But it is so apt in describing the people of New Orleans. And my students latch onto that description, as well; it becomes a cornerstone of many of their first papers. And more importantly, when they make the trip to New Orleans, it helps them to understand a people who are wired so differently from New Englanders, and from most other Americans, for that matter.

I like unselfconscious places: San Francisco, Seattle, and Austin come to mind, but only New Orleans is unselfconsciously unselfconscious. They don’t need bumper stickers, or t-shirts, or slogans. They just need to be themselves. They drink too much, they talk too loud, and they don’t think twice about moving below the waist when the music starts. Whether it’s the waitress who talks openly about her unfortunate incarceration, the cop who interrupts an accident investigation to recite the history of the sidewalk, or the musicians who unflinchingly start playing at 11:20pm – right on time for a 10:00 show, they are just being themselves.

However, I’m seeing some cause for worry. I am seeing far too many references to New Orleans’ unselfconsciousness. And if this recognition continues to grow, won’t the city be forced to become self-conscious? Terry Teachout, in his brilliant new biography of Louis Armstrong calls the New Orleans native a “very unselfconscious man.” The author of a new book on New Orleans’ eclectic architecture calls it “unselfconscious.” And it goes on and on: New Orleans displays an “unselfconscious local culture;” a hip new café uptown has an “unselfconscious vibe;” yet on the other end of the restaurant scale, the tried and true menu at Galatoire’s displays an “unselfconscious grace.”

The New Orleans Saints have won the Super Bowl. A new mayor has been elected with an unprecedented level of racial unity and bipartisanship. According to political consultant and local resident James Carville, New Orleans has a new can-do attitude; it’s on the way back; it will be better.

All of this is great, but only if the people of New Orleans do it their own way. They can’t worry about what others think; they need to do it for themselves. The residents of Austin have to sport bumper stickers that read: “Keep Austin Weird.” The people of New Orleans need to keep that mantra in their hearts and in their actions. They need to come back, but only if they remain themselves and the city remains a distinctive presence on the American firmament.

And above all else, maybe there should be a moratorium on the use of the word “unselfconscious.”

One Response »