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MakeGood aroundthe world
Noam Platt,founder of MakeGood, inspects adesign
Assistivedevices createdatafraction of thecost
BY MARIE FAZIO Staff writer
Afew weeks ago, Noam Platt and Philip Dunham set upshopatCamp DreamStreet,anovernight camp in Mississippi for children with disabilities. When onecamperwho uses a wheelchair said he had trouble drawingwithaclipboard when hewasn’t near atable, Platt andDunham worked with him to tailor adesign that would fit his needs. Overnight they 3D-printed acontoured lap desk fitted to his legs, customized with his name andaGodzilla head sticking out For acamper whose feeding tube kept slipping off the back of her wheelchair,they made asmall clip to hold it in place.For another, who is vision impaired, they crafted aclip toattach aflashlight to her walking cane. In the grandscheme of technologicaladvancement,the items weren’t heavy lifts: Thepieces took less
than aday to design andprint and costafew dollarsatmost.But for the campers, theymadeall the difference Platt, with hisNew Orleans-based nonprofit, MakeGood, creates customizedassistive technology to help peoplewithdisabilities solveproblems they encounterindaily life.
Thenonprofitgarnered national attention last year with their toddler mobility trainers —tiny wheelchairs madeofwood andplastic that help small children move around —but their range of products is constantly growing, aidedbyopen-source design, 3D printing andthe input and creativityofthose in thedisability community.Some past designs include aplastic piecetohold awheelchair buckle whenit’snot in useand ahandle for atoothbrush or other utensils to aidwithgrip.
“A bigreason people reach out to us is theycan’t find what theyneed available on the commercial market andwe’re able to make things very inexpensively that arereally suited to their specific need,” Platt said. “We’ve found through our work that most people come to us knowing pretty muchexactly what they need,they justneedhelpseeing it to reality.”
Open-sourcedesign
An architect by trade, Platt foundedMakeGood in 2021 afterheexperimented with creating aportable toiletseat fora friend’sson with cerebral palsy who needed something
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Growing up amidst so many relatives, Icouldn’timagine living in aplace where Ihad none. And yet, that’show I’ve spent most of my adulthood. Not acousin, aunt, uncle, brother,sister,parent or grandparent in sight.
People who live away from family often fill that void with nonrelatives. Turns out, most of my non-blood-relative-extendedfamily in Louisiana are history professors.
Historians are generally interesting people. Ilove the grasp they have on perspective. When I called historian friends to discuss why they’re so cool, they were more hesitant to speak on the subject than expected.
Ihad to coax them abit.
“You know how old people are generally more chill about the world because they’ve seen alot and don’tget bent out of shape?” Isaid to Rob Hermann, one of my history professor friends. “I wonder if that’spart of the reason Ilike history professors so much. They just seem to have abroader perspective on the world and current events.” Hermann took his time in putting together his thoughts about the topic.
That thoughtfulness is another characteristic Iappreciate in historians.
“I can’tspeak for all of us, but we (historians) are able to at least try to keep things in some degree of perspective. We have asense that people have always been generally weird throughout history,” he said.
He went on to explain that when he hears people say things like, “This new generation is …” and then they and continue with the complaint du jour,hefinds himself thinking, “If you go back to ancient Rome, apolitician said something like, ‘You can’tget youth today involved in politics because they’re too busy writing books.’
Next, Isaid that most historians Iknow have agreat sense of humororare, at least, able to laugh at themselves.
Hermann said that trait comes with teaching.
“When I’m writing or teaching, I’m always looking for the hook to get the reader or students interested. Personally,Ialways go the funny route —orthe absurd,” he said. “That always makes readers and students perk up. Youcan find so muchevidence of people being just as kooky then as we are now.”
Overall, Hermann said his goal is to get students to think.
“If I’m laughing about something, I’m trying to figure out, ‘Why is that funny?’ That engages my brain cells in adifferent way,” he said. “Trying to get 18- and 19-year-olds engaged in history can be achallenge. I’m usually
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STAFF PHOTOSBYMATTHEW PERSCHALL
to keep aspoon facing up while at UNO in NewOrleans on Tuesday
Philip Dunham,a designer with MakeGood, left, and Noam Platt, founder of MakeGood
QueerNorthshorechampions supportinLa.
LGBTQ+ nonprofit createssafespace in ruralarea
BY SOPHIA BAILLY Staff writer
Mel Manuel and Jeremy JF Thompson struggled to meet otherLGBTQ+ folks when they moved to Covington three years ago
Having previously lived in NewOrleans, Manuel and Thompson, who both use they/them pronouns felt outofplace in aless urban and more conservative region. Manuel, 40, and Thompson, 43, decided to create their own LGBTQ+ safe space.Two and ahalf years ago, the best friends co-founded Queer Northshore, anonprofit based in St. Tammany Parish,to promote LGBTQ+ visibility, community and acceptance in Louisiana’snorthshore region What inspired yourvision for Queer Northshore?
Manuel: We work from home. In that situation, it’s verydifficulttomeetnew people. When we moved here, Iwas like,”We[have] got to do something, or
we’ll just live here for 10 years and never meet anyone.”
Thompson: The origin of thisgroup was largely to create asocial opportunityinaplace where there wasn’tone.The group formed, and afterafew meetups insix months it just startedgetting bigger and bigger.(Manuel) actually helped put together astrategic plan with our board that’skind of given us amore specificdirectionand an identity.Itwas very organic. There was a time (when) Ifeltlike we knewall of ourmembers, andnow there’s2,700-plus people thatgoto events It’salwayskindofsurprising.” How does this nonprofitfostera sense of community?
Manuel: We have aFacebook group,and that’s where the 2,700people are. We have regular standing monthly events,like onethat’scalled “Two Beer Queers,” andthat’s abar meetup. Oneisour peer support group. One is abook club.But then we also have otherevents thatchange throughout the month. And then(we) have things that are sea-
MAKEGOOD
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supportive with straps that could be easily taken out of the house. That project is stillongoing, Plattsaid, but over the past two years MakeGood has sent more than 500 assistive devices ofall kindstopeople across the country, free of charge. Plattalso helps companies and homeownersdesign space to make it more accessible. The work is largely made possible through opensource design available on websites including Israeli nonprofitTikkun Olam Makers, meaning people aroundthe world share
their designs and dimensions forothers to replicate theirproducts. Lastyear, CBSNews highlighted MakeGood’s toddlermobility chairs and theirpartnership withTulaneUniversity’sservice learning program.Tulane studentshelped modify the design and created chairs thatcostabout $200for materials, mostlywood and 3D-printed plastic,far less than the $1,000to$10,000 price tag on other commercially produced chairs even with insurance. MakeGood sent their designs to Muhammed Hussain Shah, adesigner in Pakistan, who customized them to be better suited foroff-road conditionsof their roads for children in
sonal like aHalloween partyorChristmas party.We’ve done over 100 events.
Thompson: Online we just simply host alot of conversations in that space. Andthose conversationshavedefinitely taken on themes over time —as far as people in search of specificneeds.Theycould need LGBTQ-friendlydoctors or lawyers for legal situations. There are peoplelookingfor ways to get theirkids connected with otherkidsthatare accepting. We have alot of parents of trans children in that space. Idon’tthink I’ve ever seen aFacebook group with this muchengagement—it’slike through the roof and it’s just daily there. What led you down thepath to LGBTQ+ activism?
Manuel: The book-banning movement (in St. Tammany) really heated up aboutjusta fewmonths after Queer Northshore started. Most of thosebooks weretargeting LGBTQ authors and characters. That was acatalyst for my activism. Also, Ihave been ateacher.Itaught in public school for about15
years, andI wasteaching (Genderand SexualityAlliance) at the time. Ifelt like that was areally important space for our queer kids
Howdoyou navigate negative anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric?
Thompson: It’ssomething that we’ve talked about quite abit —how (anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric) galvanizes acommunity to be oppressed or to be threatened. It definitely brings people outthatotherwise would be complacent, but at the same time, it’s frustrating to see alot of people that we’ve met or know continue to be complacent.Itmakes you wonderhow far legislation hastogountil some people are just like, “Enough is enough.”
We had to do alot of sponsorship recruiting forPride Northshore this past month.Thatwas our first big effort ever to really raise funds, especially from sponsors. Someof those conversations went beautifully,and others weremore difficult.
One in particular was a restaurant business,but the guy was very sympathetic. He clearly seemed
to care, and he knew what we were talking about,but he was honest. He said, “I’ma chef, and Iown my restaurant. My wife we’re trying to buy ahouse, and if Iloseany amount of business, it could literally ruin my business. I’m ashamed to say that,but I don’tknow what elsetotell you.”
Iappreciated he was honest. Queer Northshore celebrated itsfirstPride parade this year.Although Manuel and Thompson are still crunching the numbers, theyanticipatethe event costabout $12,000 and saw the support of 34 businesses,involving 28 sponsors,70 volunteers,10drag queens, four production team leaders, five board members andtwo directors.More than 600 people participatedinthe parade,which is threetimes theturnout the co-founders originally anticipated. Queer Northshore’swebsitecan be found here: https://www.queernorthshore.org/events
Email Sophia Bailly at sophia.bailly@ theadvocate.com.
his community
“When it’s really good, something like thewheelchair,it’sreally powerful and you can share it all over the world and people can recreateitwith the materials theyhaveathand,” Platt said.
Problemsolving
People sometimes see MakeGood’ssocial media posts and ask for aspecific product that they’ve already made. Others reach out with an idea for anew inventiontheywant to collaborate on, Platt said. MakeGood also collaborateswith charitiesor nonprofits, including hospitals. Theyrecently donated several 3D printerstoNew Orleanshospitals so clini-
cians can make the tools themselves.
Dunham, who has been aquadriplegic since 1999, said 3D printing has made it possible to create such specific products. Duhnaminitially worked with Platt to design aphone mount for himself and has since come on board as a designer.
“Wecan rapidly prototype things that sometimes can be super niche and may only be suitable for one personatatimebut we may be able to reuse the designor tailoritoradjustittomake it suitable forsomeone else,” Dunhamsaid.
Versionsofsome items, like the chairs, are available on the mainstream market. But MakeGood
looking for the funny,the absurd, the bizarre to get them something to latch onto.”
Monica Wright, aMedievalist and French professor,broadened my take on history professors to include humanities professors.
Wright referenced the opening line of L.P Hartley’snovel, “The GoBetween”: “The past is a different country.”
“It’sbeing open to something else. Youget to get out of yourself and focus so hard on atopic that is so precise,” she said. “You read everything that’sbeen written about it. It’sdefinitely work, but you don’tdothe kind of work humanities professors do without it kind of being ahobby Youlove it too.”
She said being so open to something else —another place, another time —leads to asking large and small questions that they’re then able to explore to the nth degree. She said the other thing is that their work is also all about writing.
It requires reviewing a lot of material and coming up with ideas.
“For us, the writing is everything. Everything feeds the writing. We’re storytellers,” she said. “Just like you’re looking in your columns to find these tiny tidbits that could go by unnoticed, but the tidbit opens up a whole world for you to consider and write about —that’sthe experience we are having too.”
Next, Icalled Mary Farmer-Kaiser,another historian in Lafayette. She had just finished a strenuous workout but still took the time to answer my silly-sounding question of “Why are historians cool?”
Last year,CBS News highlighted MakeGood’s toddler mobility chairs and its partnership with Tulane University’s service learning program. Tulane students helped modify the design and created chairs that cost about $200 for materials,mostly wood and 3D printed plastic, far lessthan the $1,000 to $10,000 price tag on other commercially produced chairs, even with insurance.
PROVIDED PHOTO
customizesthe designs for clients.For example, they could add weight to autensil handle to aid someone with tremors. Other items solve problemstoo specific for aproduct to be in existence.
“It’snot acomplicated thing, it’ssomething that wasreally simple but there’snothing you could necessarily find to fix that problem,” Dunham said, explaining the clip used to attach thefeeding bag to thecamper’swheelchair.“It’sthat sort of problem that people with disabilities often encounter —you have something that doesn’tquite work as you’reexpecting it and you need to figure outsome workaround.”
“Because they’re thinkers. They’re trained to think deeply,tobecritical —insomeways, like reporters. Youdig. You’re looking for the story,” she said. “When you’re studying history,you’re figuring out what people knew and when and how they experienced the same thing in different ways. It makes me think about our present day.Welook around us and see apolarized America because the people in our country see things in different ways.”
She said what she loves about our historian friends is that not only are they deep thinkers, they are also listeners.
“We’re looking to the sources and to people we don’tagree with,” she said. “The people Ilove being around are thinkers and listeners. They’re not listening to respond or to comeback at you with their perspective. They’re listening to think deeply.”
The next thing she said gave me awhole new thing to think about.
She said historians are trained to be empathetic because they’re thinking deeply about avariety of people’sperspectives and experiences and they’re connecting the dots to put the stories together
I’ve never thought about the possibility of teaching empathy and questioned her about it further
“Historians are trained. There are methods to doing history,” she said.
“You can’tjust go in and read abatch of letters; it’salso about the scholarship. Ithink my inclination is that we’re trained to be empathetic.”
From where Isit, Ibelieve that strengthening our individual empathy muscles could go along way toward making our country abetter place to live. Maybe we need to train up anew generation of historians.
I’m open to alot more friends in the making.
EmailJan Risher at jan. risher@theadvocate. com.
PROVIDED PHOTO
From left, Erica Radosta, Leyla Hekmatdoost,Mel Manuel, Jeremy JF Thompson and Marc Settembrinocelebrate together at aPrideevent.
STAFF PHOTOSBYMATTHEW PERSCHALL
Philip Dunham, adesinger withMakeGood, shows offa device to help him holdhis phone.
BY TOREY BOVIE Staff writer
In the Marigny,one bookstore
owner is bridging the gaps and giving back to his community
DJ Johnson, 43, opened Baldwin &Co. in 2021. The bookstoreand coffee shop, at 1030 ElysianFields Ave., has become amecca for local Black innovators and creative people.
It’salso attracted attention nationally.InaNew York Times travel feature, Baldwin & Co.was recently flagged as amust-visit New Orleans destination, and it was named aCondé Nast Traveler pick. The bookstore has amodern design. As guests walk through the front door,they see the coffee shop bustling with baristas. Further down the aisle, books rest along wooden shelves that match the floor.The combinationofbrick and eggshell-white walls makes for ahigh-end but rustic tone that Johnson calls “nerd chic.” Johnson graduated from Clark Atlanta University and was anIT manager for the federal government for 20 years. The New Orleans native returned home during the COVID pandemic to take care of his mother Johnson purchased the building that is now Baldwin &Co. with the intention of simply renting it out, he said. He didn’tknow anything about running abookstore
“I never in my life thought about owning abookstore,” Johnsonsaid “But afterIbought it, Ijust told myself, ‘I’m going to turn it into a bookstore.’” Afew years later,Baldwin &Co. isthriving. With coffee, avariety of books by peopleofcolor and a podcast studio, the store offers a hub for people to meet, think and inspire. Leading national authors
speak regularly atthe shopto present their books and discuss ideas.
Johnson said his goal is to give back toand build up theBlack community ofNew Orleans. Among other projects, Baldwin & Co. partners with Credit Human, a credit unionnext door,tohold personalfinanceclasses, and has set up aprogram tohelp families save for their children’scollege education.
This interview was lightly edited for space and clarity.
What inspired you to open Baldwin & Co.?
Iwanted to create an intellectual hub for Blacks inthe city. It was important forustohave aspace where wefeltlikewecould go andcreate.Gowhere we can feel like the best versionofourselves.
Somewhere we have accesstoinformationand access to our greatest thinkerswithin our history and legacy.A lot of times, you know, we don’t know how powerful we canbeuntil we read our history. Iwantedtocreate aspace where that history livedonthe shelves and was atestament to ourgreatness. It wasimportant to create aspacelike that, because when
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NERD CHIC CH
“It was important forus to have aspace wherewefelt like we could go and create. Go wherewe can feel like the best version of ourselves.”
DJ JOHNSON, bookstore owner
someofmyfavorite books ever
What are some aspects of James Baldwin’svisionthat youincorporate into the store? One aspect wasthe community service. James Baldwin gave his lifetohelping raise and educate the Black community.Like so manyofour leaders: W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King, Audre Lorde, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison.
we’reinside of spaces like that, like for instance, like when you’re inside of an academic setting, you tend to think differently,you tend to think moreofagrowth mindset Iwanted to create aplace that was kind of like nerdchic, if that makes sense
When did you getthe idea to startholding financial literacy classes? How did you implement it?
Do you know how much money, on average, Black people leave behind when theydie? Not even $1,000; it’s $0. We’re not taught how to invest. We’re not taught how to make our money work for us. The goal is to make money while you sleep. Iwant to teach us how to make our money work. We’re not understanding thatinflation is weakening our buying power.Because the only thing we’re doing is saving, we’re not investing. Whydid you decide to put apodcast studio in the store?
Irecognize that the way individuals like to receive information comes in very different formats. Everyone isn’ta reader.I love reading. Iencourage people to read, that’smydesired source to receive information. But some people are auditory learners. And the
exchange of information is more important than howyou receive the information.Aslongasyou’re getting the information,thenI’m happy.Sowhile Baldwin &Co. specializes in thewritten word, I wanted peopletobeable to come and have aspace where they can verbalize theirwords and usethe power of thetongue to speak profound thoughts. Plus, there weren’t any podcast studios in thecity. There arerecording studios where individualsgotorecord, but theychargeyou an enormous amount for equipment that you’re not going to use. So here at Baldwin &Co.,it’savery minimal fee that we charge foryou to be able to comeinand record in abeautiful space. Tell me about oneofyourfavorite authors or abook that you connect with.
I’m sure everyone would expect me to say James Baldwin. Some of my favorite titles from him are “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone,” “The Fire Next Time” and“Giovanni’sRoom.” OutsideofBaldwin, Ialso love Guy Johnson’s“Standing at the Scratch Line.” He also has asequel to that one called “Echoes of aDistant Summer.” Those twoare
They gave so much to help enrich the Black community.Sofor me, Irecognized that Ineeded to do morethan just celebrate the excellence of these literary artists and their contributions. I wanted to get into the community work that James Baldwin so often spoke about. Like helping individuals in the community becomemore literate and solving economic disparities. That’swhy Ihave the partnership with the credit union next door and we offer free financial literacy classes every single month. We have the children’sstorytime, because one of the things Baldwin always talked about is how important our children are to us. Especially foreradicating some of the issues that plague our communities. It wasalso important to bring in someofthe most thought-provoking minds this country has ever seen (to speak at the store).
One of the things that James Baldwin is historic forisfor his debates and not being shy on public speaking. So the author talks are really important. And that’s how we try to embody the spirit of James Baldwin —ofcourse, also making sure to share his message of Black empowerment and intellectual thought. Email Torey Bovieattorey bovie@theadvocate.com.
STAFF PHOTO BY MATTHEW PERSCHALL
Baldwin &Co. coffee and bookstore owner DJ Johnson
Jordan Tremblay, Katie Mitchell,Makesha Judson, Rochelle Touchard,BrennaMiguez, Joseph Hollins, DavidMustain
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