New Orleans Magazine February 2021

NEW ORLEANS MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2021

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

HEART HEALTH

CARNIVAL AT HOME

FINANCIAL HEALTH

myneworleans.com $6.95

FEBRUARY 2021

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FEBRUARY 2021

MYNEWORLEANS.COM

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Contents The Next Generation 6 New Leaders for Change

BY BETH D'ADDONO

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Butterfly Wings Carnival Memories

BY ERROL LABORDE

/ VOLUME 55 / NUMBER 5

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FEATURES 22

FEBRUARY 2021

60

40 Matters of the Heart

How Minorities Fare

BY TOPHER DANIEL

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Financial Health Tips to Get Your Money in Shape

BY REBECCA FRIEDMAN

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STANDARDS 8

FROM THE EDITOR

A New Tradition

10 JULIA STREET

Sashay By 11

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NEWS + NOTES

13 BAR TAB

Best Bars,

Drinks & More 14

STYLE

60s Glam

Top Things to Do, Read & Try

16 CHRIS ROSE

Memory Mambo

THE DISH

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News from NOLA Kitchens

PERSONA

Brittani Lewis

20 MODINE

Floating on By

ON THE COVER

Lauren Darnell, Executive Director, Made in New Orleans Foundation (MINO), p. 22 Photographed by Craig Mulcahy

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21 VINTAGE 1893

62 NOSH

Heavenly Match

54 TRAVEL

History Lessons

64 CHEERS

Porch Punch

56 GROWING PAINS

Carnival Spirit

66 DINING GUIDE

Listings from

Around the City

58 HOME ADVICE

Beverly Katz

88 STREETCAR

Ashes to Ashes

60 TABLE TALK

Hidden Gem

DIAL 12, D1

Though there will be no parading this year, the spirit and traditions of Carnival are shared in a variety of Mardi Gras programs celebrating the uniqueness of these highly anticipated festivities.

WYES marches on with a rare glimpse of past parades in the premiere of “New Orleans Parades from the Past” on Mon., Feb. 1 at 9pm. In honor of Black History Month, WYES/PBS brings viewers the two-part series “The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song” on Mon., Feb. 22 and Tues., Feb. 23 at 8pm. Learn more about the contributions and achievements of Black Americans on WYES Passport. Details at wyes.org/passport.

FROM THE EDITOR Have something you want to share with us? Email ashley@ myneworleans.com.

F

ebruary is normally a busy month for New Orleans. It’s filled with Carnival events, parades, and sometimes, Mardi Gras day itself. It’s also a time to mark Black History Month, to celebrate leaders who have strived for change and social justice. This year, both of those will be marked and changed by the pandemic upheavals and social justice movements that occured in both the city and the nation in 2020.

Black New Orleanians have had a long legacy of being innovators, changemakers and social activists that have impacted life both in the city and beyond. From Chef Leah Chase’s world-renowned dining room to the classrooms of educators such as Morris F.X. Jeff, Sr. and C. Norman Francis, and the civil rights actions of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) activists, including Oretha Castle Haley, Jerome Smith and Rudy Lombard, local leaders of color have been fighting for their communities for decades.

A new generation of leaders have come to the forefront in recent years. Within this issue, we spotlight six New Orleanians that are continuing in the footsteps of those that have fought for change before them, while also forging a new path forward.

We also take a “modified,” 2021 look at New Orleans’ best-known, most well-loved tradition, Carnival. While we won’t be celebrating in the streets or marching in parades, New Orleanians are making do, and in the best, most fantastic ways possible. From a parade of house floats to krewe scavenger hunts, to enjoying porch cocktails with take-out fried chicken and king cakes, the party will go on…just a little differently. We have all the ways in which you can safely celebrate at home. We embrace the memories of Carnival past, while creating new, perhaps temporary, traditions to celebrate the season. Sometimes you don’t know how much you’ll miss something until it’s gone, and while that may be true in most places, we truly do “know what it means to miss New Orleans,” Mardi Gras and all.

We are hopeful that this month will be a time to look back, appreciate and celebrate those people, activists (both young and old), artists and traditions that have made this the city we all love so that next year we can applaud, praise and party with a new perspective and a new passion.

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THERESA CASSAGNE PHOTO

MYNEWORLEANS.COM

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JULIA STREET

W I TH P O Y DR AS THE P A RROT

Sashay By DEAR JULIA AND POYDRAS,

When my wife and I were dating, we have been together 27 years, we would go to the revolving restaurant atop the Trade Plaza by the bridge and river on Canal Street. We had a routine every visit; we would order two drinks each and make the rotation of the lounge, about an hour as I remember. The drink we had was called “New Orleans Lady.” I believe it was made with peach schnapps. We have encountered several drinks in ‘Nawlins since, titled “New Orleans Lady,” but they have not been the same. Do you think you could come up with the recipe for that drink, and instructions on how to concoct it? My bride and I would be so grateful. We love reading your accounts of things past. Thank you. – Charlie Green (Pascagoula, MS) Wow, Charlie, we have many ways to go with this one. First of all, the bar you refer to was best known as The Top of the Mart. It was a revolving lounge that sat atop the building that at different times was known as the International Trade Mart (ITM building) and the World Trade Center.

Unfortunately, neither the building nor the lounge survived hurricane Katrina very well.

The good news, however, is that the structure is being converted into a Four Seasons hotel, which should bring it back to being one of the classiest places in town.

Neither Poydras nor I were able to find a reference to a drink there called “New Orleans Lady.” So, in the absence of facts I am always quick with the theories. One is that you said the drink might have included peach schnapps. That sounds like a drink bartenders could have easily thought up. You almost can’t miss with peach schnapps as an ingredient, especially if you want something sweet and flavorful.

Another theory is that the drink could have corresponded with the song “Louisiana Ladies” which was released by a group called Louisiana LeRoux in 1978.

So, since we are fond of people from Pascagoula, here is what I have done for you: To me one of the classic middle-of-the-road, but always popular, cocktails is the "Cosmo." I have found a recipe for that drink, via the Food Network magazine, made with peach schnapps. Here goes: 1 1/2 ounces vodka 3/4 ounce peach schnapps 3/4 ounce cranberry juice cocktail Lime wedge, for garnish (optional) Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice. Add the vodka, peach schnapps and cranberr y juice cocktail. Shake well, then strain into a cocktail glass.

Garnish with lime, if desired. We’ll call it, “The New Orleans Cosmo Lady.”

And remember Louisiana Le Roux’s immortal lyrics about New Orleans ladies: "All the way, From Bourbon Street to Esplanade, They sashay by, They sashay by."

We won’t quibble that Bourbon Street and Esplanade actually intersect. Any sashaying is worth drinking to.

SEND US YOUR QUESTIONS

Poydras is looking for something to do, Be sure to include your name and town. For the subject line use: Julia and Poydras Question julia@myneworleans.com

EDITORIAL

Executive Editor Errol Laborde Editor Ashley McLellan Creative Director Tiffani Reding Amedeo Digital Media Editor Kelly Massicot Contributing Writers Toya Boudy, Cheré Coen, Lee Cutrone, Fritz Esker, Jay Forman, John Kemp, Misty Mioltio, Liz Scott Monaghan, Andy Myer, Elizabeth Pearce, Eve Crawford Peyton, Chris Rose ADVERTISING

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Office Manager Mallary Wolfe Chief Executive Officer Todd Matherne

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Executive Editor Aislinn Hinyup Associate Editor Robin Cooper Art Director Tiffani R. Amedeo NEW ORLEANS MAGAZINE

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For subscription information call (504) 828-1380 New Orleans Magazine (ISSN 0897 8174) is published monthly by Renaissance Publishing, LLC., 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005; (504) 828-1380. Subscription rates: one year $19.95; Mexico, South America and Canada $48; Europe, Asia and Australia $75. An associate subscription to New Orleans Magazine is available by a contribution of $40 or more to WYES-TV/ Channel 12, $10.00 of which is used to offset the cost of publication. Also available electronically, on CD-ROM and on-line. Periodicals postage paid at Metairie, LA, and additional entry offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to New Orleans Magazine, 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005. Copyright 2021 New Orleans Magazine. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of the publisher. The trademark New Orleans and New Orleans Magazine are registered. New Orleans Magazine is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photos and artwork even if accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. The opinions expressed in New Orleans Magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the magazine managers or owners.

NEWS+NOTES

BY FR ITZ E SKE R

TRY THIS

1 JAMNOLA

CHERYL GERBER PHOTO

JAMNOLA (Joy, Art, & Music - New Orleans) is an experiential pop-up at 2832 Royal St. that gives audiences of all ages a deep dive into New Orleans culture. Visitors can enjoy fun, interactive art exhibits in its 12 rooms. In one case, you can hop in a bathtub with a crawfish. Photos are encouraged!

MARDI GRAS KREWE OF HOUSE FLOATS

Sadly, in-person parading will not happen in New Orleans this Mardi Gras season. While nothing can recapture the joy and camaraderie of watching parades with friends and family, the Krewe of House Floats looks to at least keep the creativity and artistry of Mardi Gras alive by decorating houses as floats. Nearly 40 neighborhood sub-krewes have formed throughout the Greater New Orleans region, including Orleans, Jefferson, St. Tammany, St. Bernard, and Terrebone Parishes.

In a partnership with the Krewe of Red Beans, the Krewe of House Floats started a “Hire a Mardi Gras Artist” project that will put carnival artists to work creating the house floats. Donations to the crew will be directed to organizations that support those most affected by the cancellation of parades.

Keep an eye on the krewe’s website, KreweOfHouseFloats.org, for a map of participating houses. It is expected to be online by February 1st. You can also search social media with the hashtag #kreweofhousefloats.

Krewe organizers encourage New Orleanians to visit as many house floats as possible, but to be pandemic-safe while doing so (wear a mask, keep a respectful distance from others admiring the house floats).

2 BYWATER BREW PUB

In December, the Bywater Brew Pub opened on 3000 Royal Street. The restaurant serves Viet-Cajun food from chef and New Orleans native Anh Luu. The eclectic menu features fried chicken, banh mi burgers, tofu burgers, and Vietnamese Crawfish Étouffée Nachos. There are also five brewing tanks and a full bar.

LISTEN TO THIS TANK AND THE BANGAS’ “FRIEND GOALS”

Local musical group Tank and the Bangas released a new album in November titled “Friend Goals.” Featuring six songs, the band brings their lively combination of funk, soul, hip hop, and rock back with memorable songs like “Self Care” and “Mr. Insta.”

“PAYTON AND BREES: THE MEN WHO BUILT THE GREATEST OFFENSE IN NFL HISTORY”

At press time, the Saints have clinched their fourth straight division title, but their playoff fate is uncertain. However, all Who Dats know Drew Brees’ Hall of Fame career will come to a close soon. “Payton and Brees: The Men Who Built the Greatest Offense in NFL History” is a look at the 14-year partnership between coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees.

When their relationship started, Payton was a young unknown and Brees was a castoff QB many thought had suffered a career-ending shoulder injury. But, as any New Orleanian knows, the two would eventually lead the Saints to their first Super Bowl championship in the magical 2009-10 season.

Reporter Jeff Duncan, formerly of The Times Picayune and currently of The Athletic, authored the book using 14 years of firsthand reporting on the two Saints legends plus dozens of interviews with players, coaches, and executives.

TAMMANY TRACE

During the pandemic, you may have worn out your favorite places in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes for outdoor activities. If you feel like taking a trip across the Causeway, you can enjoy the Tammany Trace, a hike and bike trail stretching from downtown Covington through Abita Springs, Mandeville, and Lacombe before ending in Slidell.

The land comes from an abandoned Illinois Central Railroad corridor. You can see nods to the Trace’s roots in places like the Covington Trailhead, which resembles an old-fashioned railroad station and includes a covered waiting platform, a clock tower, a bandstand, visitor center and a small movie theater. For those with families, the Koop Drive Trailhead and Kids Konnection Playground are worth a visit.

THE DISH

BY MISTY MIL IO TO

GRAND DAME

King Cake Season While we may not be able to celebrate Mardi Gras in the traditional sense, at least we can still eat king cake. Some to try include those by Executive Pastry Chef Maggie Scales of the Link Restaurant Group. She is offering several flavors and sizes of king cakes at both Cochon Butcher and La Boulangerie. In addition to the traditional king cakes—available as a 6-inch individual ($9) and a 9-inch large ($30)—Scales is serving the famous Elvis (filled with peanut butter and banana, and topped with house-cured bacon, marshmallow and traditional Mardi Gras sprinkles) at Cochon Butcher. Meanwhile, La Boulangerie is offering a traditional French Galette des Rois (two rounds of puff pastry filled with almond cream and topped with a small porcelain feve), available in 8-inch rounds ($25) and 10-inch rounds ($40). 930 Tchoupitoulas St., 588-2123, cochonrestaurant.com; 4600 Magazine St., 269-3777, Laboulangerienola.com.

The New Orleans chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier— a society of professional women involved in the food, fine beverage and hospitality industries— has named founding board member and writer Beth D’Addono as its new president. After three years as founding president, Stephanie Carter stepped off the board to focus on other endeavors. In its short three-year history, the local Dames chapter has hosted a Legacy winner each year; established scholarships and grants; offered culinary programming, including a monthly virtual book club and happy hours; and formed a mentorship program.

Lesdamesnola. org.

DELICIOUS DELICATESSEN

Kellen Poindexter, a graduate of the Texas Culinary Academy in Austin, Texas, has opened Poindexter’s Delicatessen at the St. Roch Market. Poindexter has 17 years of experience in the culinary world, and his fresh deli concept focuses on sustainably sourced ingredients and goods.

He balances fine flavor with easy mealtime options, offering flavorful salads, soups and a rotating menu of breakfast, lunch and dinner sandwiches. Add-on options include roasted, broiled and rotisserie-style meats and vegetables.

Popular menu items include the savory prime rib French dip and the gooey grilled cheese. 2381 St. Claude Ave., Menu.politanrow. com/neworleans.

TACOS TAKE TWO DIY CARNIVAL

GOURMET MARKET & EATERY

Another king cake option we love is Gracious Bakery’s new King Cake Kit, which contains everything you need to bake your own king cake at home. The kits sell for $12 and are available at Gracious Bakery, Fleurty Girl, Home Malone, Rouses, Zuppardos, King Cake Hub and Aunt Sally’s Pralines. 2854 St. Charles Ave., 301-9949, 4930 Prytania St., 300-8135, 1000 S. Jefferson Davis Pkwy., Ste. 100, 321-6233, Graciousbakery.com.

Chefs and longtime friends Alison Vega-Knoll and Chris Wilson have opened Larder, a gourmet market and eatery on Veterans Boulevard in Metairie. Larder offers limited indoor and outdoor seating, with meals-to-go and a full range of breakfast and lunch items. The market features an extensive cheese and charcuterie case; Cajun Caviar; ready-to-serve soups, salads, vegetables and sides; and meat and seafood entrees.

Other chef-sourced products are available, such as oils and vinegars, spices, coffee and wine and beer. 3005 Veterans Blvd., 766-6157, Lardergourmetmarket.com.

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Barracuda, the popular neighborhood taco stand and margarita garden on Tchoupitoulas Street, is opening a second location this spring in historic Algiers Point. In addition to bringing fresh takes on classic Mexican staples to the Westbank, Barracuda offers walk-up service and a covered, 50-seat margarita garden. Current menu staples, like the deluxe carne asada taco, is complemented by handmade, Sonoran-style corn tortillas and daily margaritas on tap. 446 Pelican Ave., Algiers, Eatbarracuda.com.

BAR TAB

BY MISTY MIL IO TO

BURLESQUE BRUNCH

The Commander’s Palace Family of Restaurants recently reopened SoBou at W New Orleans – French Quarter with Byron Haliburton as the new chef de cuisine. Open for dinner service on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (both indoor and outside courtyard dining), the restaurant also is reviving its “Legs and Eggs Burlesque Brunch” with the “Big Hooch” served in giant flasks for the table. If you’re in the mood for something a bit more sophisticated, try the “Paris Between the Wars” (made with Campari, blended Scotch whisky, brut Cava, lemon juice and simple syrup). 310 Chartres St., 552-4095, Sobounola.com.

NEW YEAR, NEW RELEASES

Disco Amigos Mardi Gras parades may not be rolling this year, but Jack Rose, located within the Pontchartrain Hotel, will still be celebrating. The convivial restaurant is serving specialty Mardi Gras cocktails through February 16 that are sure to put you in the spirit of carnival. Signature libations include the stunning “Disco Punch Bowl,” a boozy, large-format concoction, featuring Mt. Gay Eclipse Rum, Bigallet China-China Liqueur, Suze, Falernum syrup, fresh-squeezed lime and pineapple juice, and a full bottle of Prosecco. 2031 St. Charles Ave., 323-1500, Jackroserestaurant.com.

Urban South Brewery, the largest craft brewery in New Orleans, closed out 2020 having released more than 190 unique beers. The brewery has also announced its beer release schedule for 2021, which, in addition to a growing beer portfolio, also includes new seasonal craft beers, a line of hard seltzers and a series of specialty releases. Some of the 2021 highlights include the release of Rocket Pop Gose as the new spring/ summer seasonal offering in April 2021 and the release of Throwback Vibes as the winter seasonal beer.

Meanwhile, Paradise Park Hard Seltzer (available in flavors like Lime Cucumber, Raspberry Limeade and Rocket Pop) is now available year-round. New for 2021, Urban South will release a rotation of specialty beer throughout the year, such as popular Snoball Juice variants, a Jameson barrel-aged coffee stout and a variety of 10-K Goses inspired by the regional sports drink. 1645 Tchoupitoulas St., 267-4852, Urbansouthbrewery.com.

LARGE-FORMAT COCKTAILS

Barracuda, the neighborhood taco stand and margarita garden on Tchoupitoulas Street (soon with a new location on the Westbank), is offering large-format (32-ounce) jugs of cocktails that are perfect to-go and to keep stocked up in your fridge. The cocktail option includes, but is not limited to, the 100 percent agave, fresh-squeezed lime juice margaritas on tap made with Lunazul Blanco Tequila. Also be sure to ask about the seasonal frozen drink option on offer. 3984 Tchoupitoulas St., 266-2961, 446 Pelican Ave., Gretna, Eatbarracuda.com.

PICKLEBACK THROWBACK

The idea for the world’s first spicy pickle-flavored whiskey, dubbed Whicked Pickle, came about at Weston, Missouribased Holladay Distillery as an homage to the legendary prickleback shot.

It seemed just as obvious as it was exciting to put pickle-flavored whiskey in a bottle.

The whiskey, which was first introduced throughout Missouri, Kansas and Wisconsin, has now launched nationally and hit the shelves in Louisiana. The dill pickle-flavored whiskey has a peppery heat on the finish and is best enjoyed as a shot, straight or chilled. However, it also brings new life to classic cocktails as an unexpected substitution for vodka or gin.

Whickedpickle. com.

Style

BY ANDY MY E R

Bright and funky, these bold 3D printed vases

by UAU project, a multidisciplinary design studio based in Warsaw, come complete with a glass insert. Available in a range of striking shapes and colors at Saint Claude Social Club, Saintclaudesocialclub.com.

Resin box purses hit the mainstream in the 1950s, but the wildly popular style carried well into the 60s and beyond. This Caramel Wilardy Double Compartment version made from acrylic resin lucite with gold and brass hardware is available at Trashy Diva, Trashydiva.com.

Throw your own party in this classic 1960s sequin wiggle dress by Gene Shelly. Made of stretch knit wool with hand applied sequins and beads, this highly collectible sheath is sure to dazzle. Head to Century Girl for more fabulous period finds, Centurygirlvintage.com.

'60s Glam

As a child I could stare at my grandmother’s psychedelic paperweight and marble collection for hours. Vivid blown glass was prevalent throughout 60s décor, and Pollack Glass Studio’s out of this world Dichro Vortex marble makes the perfect statement. Available in a range of sizes and designs at Pollack Glass Studio and Gallery, Pollackglassnola.com.

Go mad for mod

Channel Queen’s Gambit heroine Beth Harmon with GoodWood’s new handcrafted chess set. Made locally from repurposed walnut and maple, this sustainable stunner will keep the family entertained for hours while stylishly raising IQ levels, GoodWood, Goodwoodnola.com.

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We could all use more sleep, and what better way to bring on some Zzzs than with a chic homage to 60s style icon Holly Golightly?

Sleephammer’s one-of-a-kind, hand applique and embroidered eye masks are sewn in New Orleans by Maria Sandhammer.

Available in a range of designs at Blue Dream, Bluedream neworleans.com.

MYNEWORLEANS.COM

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CHRIS ROSE

Mardi Gras is canceled this year. So say the authorities.

It’s happened before, many times in fact. Mardi Gras was canceled in 1918 and ‘19, during World War l. (And coincidentally, during the Spanish flu pandemic.)

Then again it was tossed between 1942 and ‘45 for World War ll. Then again in 1951 for the Korean War. Then again, in 1979 when the New Orleans Police union went on strike.

That one happened anyway, in ‘79, though because...people. It was five years before I would move to New Orleans, but it was my older brother Richard’s third year in New Orleans for Carnival. I was in high school and he used to bring back beads for me and I was both mystified and confused by it all.

What was this thing, this place, about?

He also brought back Meters and Neville Brothers records and they changed my world view. Listening to the “Cissy Strut,” “Dancing Jones,” “Washable Ink” and “Vieux Carre Rouge” blew my mind. It was inevitable that I would end up here. And so I did.

That year of the strike,1979, was as peaceful as any celebration could be, despite no police presence. My brother and his friends, they created some gang or posse or krewe or some such thing, anointed his friend Danny as their “King” and they pushed him around the city in a wheelbarrow while he waved a stick in the air.

A true reign. Times were much simpler then.

When I finally did move to New Orleans, in the summer of 1984, the Neville Brothers played every Wednesday night at Sheila’s Australian bar at the World’s Fair. (Or I guess its proper name was the Louisiana World Exposition.)

Whatever.

The day rate for the Fair was $17, which locals found astounding and offensive. But

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Memory Mambo Mardi Gras past and present

at 10 p.m. every night, the gate fee dropped to four bucks. I was usually standing at the gate by 9:50 every Wednesday night. I rushed to Sheila’s, sat on the floor with my legs crossed in a room with about 40 other people and washed my sins away listening to the Brothers.

I was under the mistaken impression that this is what life would always be like in New Orleans. The Neville Brothers playing every week in a near-empty room just for me and a few other people and just for four bucks. Obviously that didn’t turn out to be the case. But it was the summer of my life, newly reborn and baptized into New Orleans, forever changed.

Iko Iko and all that.

But this year, we must sit it out. It’s important and

correct. So that most of us are still alive to celebrate again the next year. Parades and floats, bands and beads, wheelbarrows and sticks. Whatever it takes. But we’ve got to get there together.

“Canceled,” it turns out, was, in 2020, the fourth most popular Google term search in America after “rigged,” “stolen” For more Chris Rose check out his and “Karen.” blog "Me Again"on OK, I kind of Tuesday mornings at myneworleans.com made that up, but I bet I’m close to the mark. I remember a time when rigging was something you did before you went fishing. Now, it seems, it’s a lifestyle choice.

And pity any child named Karen.

But enough of all that. There are serious issues to address here.

Me, I’ve seen enough parades to last a lifetime. Went through three ladders when my kids were young. Finally left them on the St. Charles Avenue neutral ground after a parade several years ago to pass them on to the next generation.

But I feel bad for the kids this year. Me, I’ve surely seen the Bacchasauras 30 times over the years. Rode the painted ponies in Acadiana for eight years. Been arrested a coupla' times and woke up in the morning with strangers a time or two.

It is what it is and, wistfully, was what it was. This is the winter of our discontent.

No doubt, thousands of revelers will still fill the streets of the city, like ‘79. There’s really no actual way to “cancel” Mardi Gras.

It’s a day and a date and New Orleanians have an intractable and inscrutable means by which to revel.

At least most folks will be wearing masks.

Not likely CDC approved masks, but it’s a gesture.

So happy and safe Mardi Gras to you all.

Be careful, be safe and remember: Show your wits at every opportunity.

Because that’s all we’ve got left.

JASON RAISH ILLUSTRATION

MYNEWORLEANS.COM

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PERSONA

BY KE L L Y MASSIC O T

Q: What can you tell us about the

BRITTANI LEWIS

A

s the beginning of last year started, none of us were prepared for the chaos that 2020 would bring. As the world shut down and citizens were asked to shelter in place, there were those who knew it was their time to step up. Healthcare workers became front line fighters. It takes a strong person to want to step up when everyone is being asked to take a step back, but Brittani Lewis knew she couldn’t just sit by when there was work to be done. Lewis is a NOLA Program Associate for CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort), a nonprofit founded by Sean Penn and Ann Lee. CORE has been working closely with Mayor Cantrell’s office, head of the New Orleans Health Department Dr. Jennifer Avegno and others to help fight the pandemic. Lewis has lost several family members to the COVID-19 virus and felt she needed to give back to her community, particularly those members with disabilities or language barriers.

Q: What has this year meant and been to you?

A: In terms of the fight against the coronavirus, last year was a year of resilience, perseverance and reflection. Resilience and perseverance were shown from the healthcare/

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work you’re personally doing to help battle the coronavirus?

A: I work as a CORE registration

body to the spirit realm, the virus has been very taxing mentally on myself and those around me.

coordinator, which entails helping Q: What can you tell us about the patients make testing appointments, work CORE is doing this year with working closely with our site the pandemic? managers and sending newsletters A: Since March, CORE has been to our recurring patients. I help providing free testing to communities administer tests to patients, and as in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago one of the bilingual team members, I and [the] Navajo Nation. As of communicate with Spanish speakers January, CORE has administered to explain how to take the test. I more than 4 million tests across frontline workers who experienced also work closely with teachers who the nation. We have been espemany sleepless nights to not only receive recurring tests each week, cially focused on serving at-risk figure out how the virus affects the and after months of seeing these communities, including low-income body, but also how to slow down the people each week, we’ve built a groups, communities of color, the spread of the virus. Resilience and close relationship. In my everyday elderly and essential workers. In perseverance were also demonstrated life, I make choices based on the addition to testing, CORE has been within communities nationwide to advice from health care providers. providing contact tracing programs do what we can to assist At work, I make sure to and support services to help people FUN FACT the health care workers in wear the PPE provided, quarantine and isolate. In New What festival the fight against coronarespirator, surgical masks, Orleans specifically, the CORE team are you most virus. I’ve spent a lot of and gloves. Outside of has been hyper-focused on mobile looking forward to returning? time reflecting and being work, I make sure to testing to bring resources directly to Essence grateful for what I have, social distance, wash my at-risk communities. CORE works Festival as this year has proven hands, wear my masks hard every day to ensure there is that we can lose anything or anyone everywhere I go in public settings accessible and equitable testing in a matter of seconds. and get tested every two weeks. and resources for all.

Keeping these guidelines in mind, I Q: Why did you want to work educate myself and loved ones about Q: Why do you do what you do? at the front lines of fighting this COVID-19, attempt to debunk the A: I fight the pandemic because it has pandemic? myths I hear and stay relevant on caused so much destruction in many A: Sitting around was not an option what is occurring with the virus. lives. This pandemic has touched for me. I come from a family that people from all walks of life - no

provides a helping hand to anyone Q: How has the pandemic impacted matter their color, age, income or who needs it, whether big or small, you personally? social status. What gives me hope: and that’s what drove me to work A: The virus has impacted my family, with destruction and devastation, with CORE. I also chose to work my friends and their families, all of there is an opportunity for something on the frontlines because I saw the whom I care deeply about. Between new to come, something that can be impact the virus had within schools. family members losing jobs, catching rebuilt. and protect their families.

Before I worked with CORE, I worked COVID from working, caring for with CityYear and worked at ARISE sick family members, or having Academy. When the school shut family members transition from the down, an email was sent about one of the faculty members who passed away due to the virus. This To continue this conversation, and find out what’s broke my heart, and this is when next for Brittani Lewis, visit our website for exclusive I realized how severe this virus is. online content. MyNewOrleans.com

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GREG MILES PHOTO

MODINE GUNCH

Floating on By A historic Carnival year

I t’s a l l abou t the beads, my little nephew Comus informs me.

And you can’t catch beads on Zoom, he says.

I tell him this is a historic Mardi Gras.

He says if historic means no parades, he don’t much like historic.

I know.

After all we been through, now we can’t even stand outside in the weather and wait for the parade to come, and haul our kids up on our shoulders and chase 20 or 30 floats while screaming for beads; then limp home and come back the next night and do it all over again. And then you sort what you caught and put it in the attic.

How can we live without that?

When my own kids were little, they were sick one year at Carnival and couldn’t go out, so I turned on the TV showing the parades and squatted behind the set and threw beads over the top for them to catch.

But the TV is a flat screen mounted up on the wall now.

Still. We try. My mother-in-law Ms. Larda hears that a lot of people are having treasure hunts for beads, so we did that. We brought all the kids in the Gunch family over to Ms. Larda’s one evening last week. She had hidden a whole bunch of beads and

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FEBRUARY 2021

doubloons and Carnival throws around the yard. We gave the kids flashlights and they rushed around all excited, and found beads and trinkets and a few other things - cigarette packs, dead lizards and what we hope was petrified chocolate Easter eggs. We had to wash everybody’s hands while singing “Happy Birthday” a BUNCH of times after that.

This year they also got houses decorated like floats that we can drive around and gawk at. They are gorgeous. Some of the owners even give out nice favors.

But you can’t chase a house and scream for beads, Comus says.

His own mother, my sister-inlaw Gloriosa, has turned their house into a float, and it is some-

thing to see. She took classes in float design and created a giant beaded Covid mask that covers her entire first floor and part of the second-floor balcony. Above that, she got a pair of googly-looking eyeballs peeking over the mask.

Unfortunately, from some angles, the googly eyes can be mistaken for boobs spilling over the top of a corset. Evidently a lot of people are making that mistake. It is causing a few fender benders.

Some people are calling her house “the big boob house.” This does not make her mother-in-law happy, since she lives next door, and her house is being described as the house next to the big boob house.

I went by last Sunday to sit socially distanced with Gloriosa in the front yard, and wave at people driving distracted past us. I ask if she is giving out favors and she says, “Wait for it.”

Then three kids from down the street come into the yard pulling a wagon. They say hello, then they proceed to run in a circle around the house yelling “Throw me something!” Inside, Gloriosa’s kids run from window to window throwing last year’s beads they got down from the attic.

Comus dreamed this up, Gloriosa says. “It’s like trick or treat, but with screaming and running and beads.”

The kids leave with a wagonload of stuff. A few minutes later, Comus and his little sisters go out the front gate with their wagon. They come home 20 minutes later with it full.

This goes on all afternoon.

Neighborhood kids come and go; Gloriosa’s kids go off and come back.

Finally, Comus says, “Come with us this time, Aunt Modine - help pull this wagon.” So I do. We run around this very nice house - it’s not decorated like a float, but that’s okay; the kids who live there throw very good stuff. I got two pairs of glass beads, which I am going to keep. Plus a spear, a Muses shoe, and some stuffed animals.

I might come back for Carnival Day, see what else they got.

Maybe historic ain’t so bad.

As long as it don’t repeat itself.

LORI OSIECKI ILLUSTRATION

VINTAGE

BY JO HN R . KE MP

1893

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rom 1872 to 1900, the Rex organization – as did the Mystic “This was the height of the Golden Age of Carnival,” says Hales, “and Krewe of Comus for a short time years earlier – carried Rex and other organizations filled the streets with ever more elaborate and on the ancient French tradition of featuring a live Boeuf sophisticated parades. Somehow a live ox (let alone Old Jeff) in a wagon, Gras, or fatted ox, in its annual Mardi Gras procession. even if it represented a significant traditional link to the beginnings of It marked the last day meat could be eaten before Ash Carnival, just didn’t fit in anymore.”

Wednesday and Lent.

In 1959 Rex returned the Boeuf Gras to its parade line up, not as a live As seen in this colorful lithograph published in the New Orleans “Daily animal but with a papier-mâché bull, which Hales describes as looking Picayune” on Mardi Gras Day, 1893, Rex revelers, dressed as butchers, more like “El Toro than a stately symbol of an ancient tradition.” But even paraded a live ox atop a float as if leading it to slaughter and that has changed over the years.

Rex’s Boeuf Gras the main course at that night’s feast ending carnival. The gesture “Today’s Boeuf Gras,” says Hales, who reigned as Rex in 2017, Float, Mardi Gras 1893. was often more symbolic than an actual roast-beef-on-hoof “is massive, garlanded and surrounded by white-coated chefs. This Courtesy of Dr. dinner. Rex often paraded Old Jeff, a bull borrowed from a local traditional symbol seems secure and would surely be recognized by Stephen Hales anyone familiar with the symbolism and imagery of early Carnival. stockyard. On other occasions, says Rex archivist and historian The connection through centuries of Carnival celebrations represented by Stephen Hales, newspapers advertised “choice cuts from the boeuf gras” this one symbol, the ancient figure of the Boeuf Gras, adds to the beauty could be purchased at local butcher shops. Mardi Gras 1900 was the last of the tradition carried on in New Orleans each year.” time Rex included a live ox.

MYNEWORLEANS.COM

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THE NEXT GENERATION Six changemakers leading in a new way

BY BETH D’ADDONO PHOTOGRAPHY BY CRAIG MULCAHY

If not now, when?

While 2020 had so many life altering implications, it will forever be defined as the year that Black Lives Matter became a rallying cry and “I can’t breathe” a collective dirge.

Black change makers are passionate about a host of social ills that affect their community.

The common thread that unites each of them is the urgent business of making a difference, to push back against ignorance and systemic racism with revolutionary results always the end game.

These six change makers of color are making dramatic strides in their respective fields, transforming lives in ways little and large.

Because change doesn’t happen in a vacuum, support one or all of them and see what persistent leadership, resources and dreaming big can accomplish.

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efore COVID-19 created a global health crisis, Erica Washington collected data on all kinds of infectious diseases, from heavy hitters like MRSA and Ebola to more common strains of measles and mumps.

“Now it’s all COVID, all the time,” said the Baton Rouge native who moved to New Orleans to earn her master’s in public health from Tulane. “All of our team is focused on the pandemic. We’ve onboarded a lot of staff to handle the workload.”

Washington always wanted to work in public health. “It’s an altruistic field of service as a vocation. Being involved in public health makes you feel purposeful.” She toils in the infectious disease epidemiology section for the state, working with a team to coordinate data surveillance as it relates to COVID-19, working with healthcare facilities to keep frontline workers safe.

Although there’s nothing sexy about mining data in the name of public health, it’s painstaking work that provides the state with the kind of metrics needed to shape policy and save lives.

Washington has always loved science, making her an anomaly in her family. “I’m an only child who comes from a family of artists. “I can’t even draw – my love for science made me an outlier for sure.”

She is most proud of the job the state is doing to support healthcare workers. “We do a

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lot around infection prevention. Our power is data – using it to show which are the most impacted communities, which all too often are communities of color. Yes it’s a dire time, but we can use these metrics to improve our residents’ quality of life.” Monitoring healthcare-associated infections across the provider spectrum makes up most of her job. “We work with facilities to execute prevention and surveillance to track how infection is spreading.”

Washington points to her time working closely with Dr. Raoult Ratard, the dynamic Louisiana State epidemiologist who passed away in April, as the most influential relationship of her career.

“He was an amazing mentor and I’m so thankful for his leadership. The hallmark of any leader is to create more leaders. Dr. Ratard’s approach to communicating, whether with the public or internally with the department, was to always be sure the message was digestible and relatable. He used every moment as a teaching moment, which kept me learning all the time. He took a commonsense approach to public health which I try to emulate.”

Washington has been recognized many times over for her leadership, dedication and public service.

She earned the Reverend Connie Thomas Award for her years of service and dedication to Luke’s House, a clinic that provides free medical and mental health services to more than 800 medically underserved and uninsured people per year. She was also recognized as a White House Champion of Change for Prevention and Public Health. Additionally, she was a 2016-2017 Informatics-Training in Place Program Fellow through Project S.H.I.N.E. (a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, and the National Association of City and County Health Officials) that seeks to increase the informatics capacity of health departments nationwide.

Washington feels hopeful about the vaccination programs rolling out, while acknowledging the virus’ ongoing toll. “Communication is a huge part of public health. I feel that in all of this, I’ve been able to key into very human moments, where people really just want someone to listen to them. It’s interesting to actually be present with folks, help them to understand what’s going on. Empathy goes a long way. This is larger than us. Empathy is what is going to help us supporting our front line workers, impacted residents and communities.”

It’s a lot, dealing with the reality of a raging pandemic, day in and day out. Maintaining personal balance in her life outside of work is more critical than ever. “In order for us to be effective, we have to recharge. That’s always a challenge.” She finds solace in cooking – crawfish fettucine is a specialty - and assigned herself a pandemic reading project to help clear her head. “I’ve never read the Harry Potter series and I’m on book four. I’ve avoided spoilers for 20 years. Now I’m finally figuring out who Voldemort is and why he’s after Harry.”

A PANDEMIC IS THE PERFECT STORM

ERICA J. WASHINGTON EPIDEMIOLOGIST, LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

WILLIAM SNOWDEN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, VERA INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE

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hen Ahmaud Arbary was chased by armed white residents and killed for “running while Black” in a South Georgia neighborhood, William Snowden’s heart broke.

“What happened to Ahmaud wasn’t more horrific or tragic than what happened to George Floyd, but it hit close to home. I had the privilege of not being shot and killed while running when I was 14.”

What happened to Snowden – being stopped by police while running far behind his high school cross country team through a white Milwaukee suburb – was not the last time he was profiled as a black man. The son of a black father and a white mother, Snowden learned a few critical lessons from that experience.

“I learned that people were going to look at me and assume certain things because of the color of my skin. And seeing my parents, especially my mother, challenge that police authority taught me that when a person without power is wronged, someone needs to stand up for them to be sure that wrong is corrected.”

This early life lesson was pivotal to Snowden’s decision to go to law school. He saw his choices as either to lean forward and embrace equity and fairness or fall back to a broken legal system instilled with white supremacy.

Because this country’s criminal justice system has a disparate impact on Black and brown people, Snowden moved to New Orleans in 2013 to become a public defender.

“Louisiana is the prison capital of the world,” he said. “This state is locking up too many Black people. I felt it was a privilege to stand up for people who couldn’t afford to pay for a lawyer.”

Snowden arrived at the public defender’s office with a fire in his belly.

“I had the desire to use my trial skills to give poor people the best representation that they could ever get,” he recalled. What he quickly realized, however, was that the state’s draconian laws actually prohibited him from doing just that.

Because of the three strikes law, a throwback to the war on drugs in the 1990s, a felony drug possession, whether it was of marijuana or heroin, could get the defendant a life sentence in Angola. “The design of the system drove plea deals instead of offering the opportunity to take a case to trial,” he explained. “Victories became reducing a felony to a misdemeanor, for getting credit for time served. Knowing what was at stake, I leaned on my clients to take the plea deal. I got to the point that I was so frustrated at the kind of attorney I’d become, I just got burnt out.”

That frustration, with the incarceration cycle, the sense of being a cog in a wheel, of not being able to affect policy, sent Snowden to the Vera Institute for Justice. An outgrowth of the Manhattan Bail Project dating to the 1960s, Vera Institute of Justice works in partnership with local, state and national government officials to create change from within. Active in 40 states, the Institute tackles the most pressing injustices, from the causes and consequences of mass incarceration, racial disparities, and the loss of public trust in law enforcement, to the unmet needs of the vulnerable, the marginalized, and those harmed by crime and violence.

FIGHTING MASS INCARCERATION WITH SOCIAL JUSTICE

In his role as director, Snowden casts a wide net. He leads workshops around the country to discuss how implicit bias, racial anxiety and stereotypes influence actors and outcomes in the criminal justice system. At the start of the pandemic, with jails a petri dish for infection, Snowden led conversations with judges, identifying non-violent offenders over the age of 55, many with bail set below $5,000 for possible release. About 250 prisoners were set free. He also launched The Juror Project, a passion project aiming to increase the diversity of jury panels while changing and challenging people’s perspective of jury duty.

With Jason Williams newly elected as the city’s district attorney, Snowden is engaged on several levels. “First we worked to educate people as to what they can expect from a DA, how that office can wield its power for good.” Post-election, Vera is providing technical assistance to create a data infrastructure to allow for transparency and accountability, all designed to set the new DA up for success, giving him the tools he needs to keep his campaign promises.

While the Black Lives Matter movement shed a blinding light on incidents of police brutality and racially motivated violence, Snowden still remains hopeful. “Hope is a survival tactic. If we don’t have a vision, a north star, then we aren’t doing the work we need to do,” he said. “We need to have difficult conversations, create spaces for truth telling about this country’s history. Losing faith in the ability to change what our reality is isn’t an option.”

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lack women are four times as likely to die in childbirth in the state of Louisiana than white women. In Texas that number is nine times as likely, in New York eight times.

As a Black mother, Nikki Hunter-Greenaway, aka Nurse Nikki, takes that very personally.

Hunter-Greenaway, a Dallas native who has lived in New Orleans with her husband and three children for 13 years, is a trained doula and nurse practitioner who is also internationally board certified as a lactation consultant.

Her mission, to not just help women survive childbirth but to thrive before, during and after pregnancy, speaks directly to her own experience.

The year 2012 was a banner one for HunterGreenaway. She graduated in May with her masters from LSU as a nurse practitioner. In June she moved into a new home in Pigeon Town and in July she had her first child. With her husband busy with work and family out of state, she felt alone with her baby. All of that added up to a crippling case of post-partum depression. “I could barely get out of bed,” she recalled. “I felt like somebody should be checking on me.”

Hunter-Greenaway had studied abroad in the U.K. during her undergraduate time at Northwestern University, and had seen how that country’s healthcare system supported women with pre- and postpartum home visits.

Hunter-Greenway confided in her brother, a professor and pastor at Emory University. “He challenged me to be the change I wanted to see,” she recalled. “Therapy is almost taboo in the Black community,” she said. “Depression isn’t something we talk about. The common belief is that you pray and everything works out. That isn’t always the case.”

It took nine months for her to feel like herself again. She started her business as Nurse Nikki, intent on educating women about

NIKKI HUNTERGREENAWAY FOUNDER, BLOOM MATERNAL HEALTH

post-partum depression and the host of other reasons pregnant women especially communities of color, are at risk. With Louisiana currently 49th in the U.S. when it comes to breastfeeding, she focused on lactation education with her clients. Her practice grew by word of mouth, but it took four years for her to get her first Black client. “We have mommies and aunties surrounding us, the feeling is, ‘I don’t need help, I know what to do.’ But the numbers tell a different story.”

Black women face implicit bias in healthcare. They are expected to have hypertension, so the condition often goes unchecked. Pain isn’t managed as it should be.

Information isn’t always provided. “My biggest frustration is politics - we shouldn’t be politicking somebody’s health.”

As a member of the Maternal Child Health Coalition, she was asked to speak to City Council about the current health crisis facing pregnant women of color. “We’d come before council in October and there was hardly anybody there – nobody was listening. I never knew council members would come in and out of meetings during a presentation, get up and get coffee.” When the meeting was rescheduled for the following January, it seemed as though council was hearing the Maternal Child Health Coalition’s message for the first time.

“There were two council people at the table.

I’m not one to take the spotlight, but I just stood up and said, ‘We aren’t doing this.’ This problem affects every district in the city. I told them I’d wait until everybody was there.” As council members came back into the room to listen, Hunter-Greenaway had an out-of-body experience.

“I went off script and spoke from my heart,” she recalled. “I said I was tired, tired of sack lunch meetings when mamas are dying. Y’all allocate money for so many things, if you don’t help mamas and babies you’ve helped nobody.”

As she expands her practice with its focus on women’s health visits at home, Hunter-Greenway finds creative ways to partner with non-profits like Covenant House and Kingsley House to get paid for services. While some insurance covers care, Medicaid still does not.

“I’m looking forward to providing more services as we continue to get grants,” she said. Grants from Tulane and Pelicans player Jrue Holiday and his wife Lauren helped underserved families get care as well as a supply of wipes, diapers and feminine hygiene products.

She’s added electronic medical records into the mix, another layer of documentation that can and should be integrated into all practitioner’s care. “We can all work together so there’s no gaps in information,” she said. “That’s how women and babies die. There is a huge gap between hospital and community. Really, it’s more like a cliff.”

PROVIDING PERINATAL CARE WHEN FAMILIES NEED IT MOST

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hen James Beard award-winning chef John Besh was accused of multiple cases of sexual harassment in October 2017, the scandal reverberated not just in New Orleans, but throughout the culinary world.

He was one of the first high profile chefs to be so accused, fueling the #metoo movement that quickly crossed borders and industries, as women found their collective voice and used it to topple kingpins and serial sexual predators.

Lauren Darnell had heard of Besh, but she wasn’t working in hospitality when her friend Shannon White made her a proposal. White took over as CEO when Besh exited the Besh Restaurant Group, now known as BRG Hospitality. She asked if Darnell would consider taking over the Besh Foundation as executive director.

Established in 2011, the foundation provided scholarships, grants and loans to New Orleans businesses, chefs and culinary students of color. Since the scandal, the four culinary students being funded through the foundation were basically left to their own devices.

Darnell had experience with non-profits – she’d been working as director of partnerships and programming for Son of a Saint charity, an organization that mentors boys left fatherless due to death or incarceration. “It really seemed wrong that these students going to culinary school in New York were not be getting the support

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they deserved,” she said.

Darnell took the job. “I guess I was naïve,” she recalled. “But I saw the alumni and the students and all the people they would help in the future just being overlooked. It felt like a lot of good people working in that restaurant group, women and people of color – their stories were just sucked up by a tsunami. Somebody needed to take this on.”

When she learned that one of the students getting ready to graduate on the dean’s list from ICC, the International Culinary Center (formerly the French Culinary Institute), wasn’t going to graduation because she couldn’t afford it, Darnell knew she’d made the right decision.

“I called her – of course you’re going, we’re covering the plane ticket and I’m going too – that was worth the months of what I’d put up with.” Darnell had to deal with plenty of blowback. She heard it all – she was complicit, she was hired as a token Black person, how dare she be involved in anything associated with John Besh. “I knew these students were worth it.”

Darnell took the job on her terms. She installed a new board, including alumni. She changed the name to MINO – Made in New Orleans Foundation and focused solely on scholarships, mentoring and business coaching for Black, indigenous and people of color in the restaurant and hospitality business. The board paid her salary for a year, until May 2018.

After that, MINO was independent, no longer associated with BRG Hospitality.

“At the industry level, we amplify the voices of professionals of color and provide support to hospitality companies that are seeking to eliminate bias in their organizations,” she explained.

Inclusive mentorship and educational opportunities are directed to lead spaces that have historically been exclusive.

Concern for social justice isn’t new to Darnell. Born in Lafayette, she moved with her family and two siblings to New Orleans East when her father, an attorney, took a job with a local law firm. “My dad’s always been the embodiment of service,” she said. “He taught us not to put ourselves first, to want to make a difference for others.”

From her father, who went to college and law school at Yale University, she learned there isn’t just one story, people have multiple experiences, and both being neutral and listening is critical. From her mother, the notion that you can be anything you want to be with hard work and persistence gained heft. “My parents came from modest means, but they always strived for great things. They instilled a love of new experiences in me, a passion for always growing and learning.”

Darnell was always aware of race and color. Her dad’s family was dark skinned, her mom was a light skinned Creole who grew up speaking French. “I knew I was Black but that I had a layered history.” When she went to the mostly white Academy of the Sacred Heart on St. Charles Avenue and would visit friends

MAKING SURE CHEFS OF COLOR GET THEIR DUE

LAUREN DARNELL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MADE IN NEW ORLEANS FOUNDATION (MINO)

Uptown, she remembers seeing pictures of plantations on the wall. “I’d just think, ‘now that’s not cool.’”

“There’s just no escaping race. I wanted to be seen as a human, a girl interested in lots of things.” She remembers people assuming she was Puerto Rican when she was working in New York. “I’d say no, I’m Black. They’d say, you can’t be, you must be mixed. That taught me not to make assumptions which are always laced with our own bias.”

Although she didn’t get into Yale – “my dad was gutted” – she went to Pepperdine University in Malibu for a year, then finished her degree in anthropology and women’s studies at UNO, where she felt incredibly supported. “I’d been surrounded by 18-yearold privileged blondes in California, in New Orleans there were students of all ages, shades and voices.”

Over the years, she’s taught tennis to underserved youth in Harlem, worked for a PR agency representing the Center for Constitutional Rights, as a global event planner for an Israeli tech firm and a wellness and yoga instructor implementing yoga in a public school setting. “I’ve learned that I have to do something I believe in,” she said. MINO fills that bill.

“I’m most proud redefining how you serve and provide support for others.

Help is too often given in the way we think it should be given, as opposed to asking, what is it you need? This past year has proven again that we need to have a conversation about race that’s real.

We can’t be scared to talk about the past and present and what we want to create for the future.”

While she loves her city and its hospitality industry, she believes we can do better. The anonymous Black cook in the kitchen is a prime example, said Darnell.

“The invisibility of the Black cook, that should no longer exist. There’s a Black cook in the back of the kitchen who is the reason for that barbecue shrimp recipe.

We have to do better acknowledging the individual and celebrating their achievements. We are all better by lifting each other up as we go.”

VICTOR JONES SR. ATTORNEY ADVISOR FOR THE STATE OF LOUISIANA

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ictor Jones may be the only guy with a master’s in education from Harvard whose first job after graduation was to teach kindergarten. “I know from experience how important early education is,” said Jones, 36. Born in Pascagoula, Mississippi and raised by a hard-working single mom, Jones grew up poor but always with a thirst for education. He saw his mom finish her degree and become the first person in her family to graduate college. That was 1989 and he was five.

He believes that his early time in Head Start, a national program aimed at education and caring for low income kids and kids with disabilities, was a launching pad to his life’s success. “When I was seven, I knew what being on the honor roll meant, and it’s what I wanted,” he recalled. “Everything I’ve done in my career and life relates to my personal experience. I wanted those kids to see a man in a teaching setting. I was only 22. I think my students and I raised each other.”

Jones went to Xavier for undergrad, followed

by Harvard and then law school at Loyola.

His academic prowess and low-income status became a passport to his education when he qualified for the Gates Millennium Scholars

A PROFOUND COMMITMENT TO EDUCATION

(GMS) Program, funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Established in 1999, the program provided outstanding students of color a paid education, with the option for graduate school funding.

“The program took 20,000 high achieving students of color living below the poverty line and asked the question, what happens if money is not an option? What happens is that stereotypes get dismantled. I didn’t have to focus on anything but school. I had friends who didn’t meet the income qualifications and some of them couldn’t afford to go to college – they had to work instead.”

To say that Jones was mindful about his educational evolution is an understatement. Although he loved teaching early ed., he wanted to impact education on a systemic level. He went to law school with the intent of becoming a public interest lawyer specializing in educational law and policy. “I hadn’t seen anyone do it – and when I got out in 2012, I found that there were no jobs at the intersection of civil rights and education.”

Recruited by the local law firm Adams and Reese, Jones practiced corporate law but also had the chance to develop an education law practice with special expertise in special education law. “I see things from all angles, as a teacher, student and lawyer.” After working closely with New Orleans charter schools for six years, Jones took the next step and joined the Southern Poverty Law Center as a civil rights lawyer for children.

“I’d grown up idolizing Thurgood Marshall and Ella Baker, heroes in civil rights education. I wanted to be a part of that movement.” During his time with the Law Center, a few of his initiatives included filing a suit against the Louisiana State Health Department on behalf of 47,000 children in need of mental health services and co-authoring a bill that required school districts to collect data on students they disciplined.

“Once we had that data we could act if a school was disproportionately disciplining a segment of the student population.”

Jones had been at the Law Center for two years when two things occurred that set him up for his next initiative. The pandemic happened, having an immediate effect on education; and he was offered the chance to impact policy as a senior attorney advisor to the state, exactly what he wanted to do. Based with the Board of Regents, a state agency that coordinates public higher education, Jones is at the forefront of working with the governor and department of education to help families, students and schools navigate an unprecedented health crisis.

His efforts have ranged from monitoring how schools are providing special education services to ensuring that some 5,000 students shut out of the ACT testing deadline by Louisiana’s hurricanes can still take the test and qualify for financial aid.

“Higher education was the one piece missing from my portfolio,” said Jones, who lives with his wife Nicole and daughters Nola, 6 and Zora, 2 in Algiers. “We really need more policies in place that tie all education together, a cradle to career pipeline.” Questions like how to develop harmonious policies at the state level to foster a more robust work force and keep all students involved with STEM projects occupy a lot of his focus.

Jones is proud of the work he’s doing and thrilled to be working closely with Kim Hunter Reed, Louisiana’s Commissioner of Higher Education, who is leading an initiative that calls for 60 percent of working age adults in Louisiana to hold a degree or similar credential by 2030. “The work she’s doing is phenomenal and very exciting.”

“Louisiana has been the lodestar of education policy for COVID,” he said. “We have experience keeping education running when everything around us has collapsed.” As a lawyer, researcher, policy maker and educator with insight into all stages of schooling, Jones is staying the course, doubling down and working to realize a singular over-arching goal: to impact education in Louisiana on a large scale. “I’ve lived it, I know what education can do. Every student deserves that chance.”

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here are two pivotal realizations that set Latona Giwa on the course she’s following in New Orleans. The Minneapolis native recalls doing an internship while going to Grinnell College that involved working with homeless youth. Many of the young women she encountered were either pregnant or parenting. “I clearly saw that pregnant women are more financially vulnerable, more apt to become homeless. I wanted to learn more about how to support them.

My research let me to the concept of a doula – and I knew that’s what I wanted to do.” She was 19.

Giwa moved to New Orleans after graduation as a Grinnell Corps fellow, a role that involved community service and promoting leadership and social integrity.

Working with the Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative in Central City, she focused on quality of life issues for women. “I’d chat with women of all ages about their lives, their bodies, their motherhood and their birth experiences,” she recalled. “It didn’t matter if someone was 20 or 80, they remembered their birth like it was yesterday, and those memories were often traumatic.”

Black women are twice as likely to experience pregnancies that result in early delivery, low birth weight, or even infant death, according to National Vital Statistics. After graduating from nursing school, Giwa founded the Birthmark Doula Collective in 2011 to provide

LATONA GIWA FOUNDER, BIRTHMARK DOULA COLLECTIVE, REGISTERED NURSE AND CERTIFIED LACTATION CONSULTANT

emotional, physical, and educational support to mothers-to-be, most of them Black and poor. “Black infants are twice as likely to die in the first year of life as white infants,” she said. “That’s a preventable tragedy.”

“We know that Black women are not seen as whole people when they seek healthcare in America,” she said. “That’s exacerbated at the moment of birth, when a woman is most vulnerable.” Anecdotally, time and again, she hears women say they were not listened to, they weren’t able to get pain medication, or they were turned away from the ER. In a “New York Times” article she authored in 2018, Giwa put it this way, “For Black women in America, an inescapable atmosphere of societal and systemic racism can create a kind of toxic physiological stress, resulting in conditions — including hypertension and pre-eclampsia — that lead directly to higher rates of infant and maternal death. And that societal racism is further expressed in a pervasive, longstanding racial bias in health care — including the dismissal of legitimate concerns and symptoms — that can help explain poor birth outcomes even in the case of black women with the most advantages.” Segregated health care, with women on Medicaid often seen on separate days of the week and at different locations from women with private insurance, is one reason for disparate care.

“We know it’s not just biology killing Black women, it’s social conditions. So in the last maybe five years, there’s been a resounding cry across the country from organizations like mine, amplified by the media, to change policy on both the state and federal level.”

Giwa sits on the Louisiana Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review board, which in the past four years has expanded its board beyond physicians to include pre- and paranatal practitioners including doulas.

There has been some progress, but not enough.

“There is a move toward implicit bias training in hospitals in this city and state. Doulas, who serve as advocates for pregnant women, are increasingly being recognized as part of a cohesive care team.

But, too often women are cared for by a rotating cast of nurses and doctors who they’ve never even seen before,” she said.

Fueled by Jim Crow laws that prevented equal access to healthcare, there is a long history of Black women giving birth with community support and midwifery. “When women are cared for in community there are better outcomes,” said Giwa, who is also training doulas from within Black communities.

“The benefit of having an advocate who knows about your birth history, how you express fear and

BECAUSE BLACK BIRTHS MATTER

pain and what your triggers are – it’s game changing.” Doulas are shown to reduce C-section rates really dramatically, by between 30 and 50 percent depending on the study, reduce the rate of unnecessary medical interventions, reduce the use of anesthesia and epidural medication, and thereby improve birth outcomes, Giwa said.

This spring will mark 10 years since she founded Birthmark Doula Collective. Two years ago, she co-founded New Orleans Breastfeeding Center, the first free-standing breastfeeding clinic in the state of Louisiana.

The two organizations offer pregnancy support at every level, with clients charged on a sliding scale – more than half pay nothing at all, with those that can pay full fees helping to fund those that cannot.

When she’s not chasing grants, Giwa is engaged with policy initiatives to try and advocate for Medicaid and private insurance to reimburse for doula care. In the past five years, insurance has stepped up to pay for lactation services. Clients are never turned away, with doula services offered to women in prison, victims of domestic violence and homeless teens at Covenant House.

Looking ahead, Giwa’s focus is on insurance company advocacy. “I envision a future where everyone has access to both birth and lactation support whether their insurance is public or private,” she said.

The pandemic has fueled the doula and midwife movement in New Orleans.

“Hospitals are where sick people go,” she said. “Pregnant women who are not at risk are not sick.” Giwa, who lives in Gentilly with her two daughters, one birthed at Touro and her youngest born at home, believes that all women deserve access to the birth they desire, whether that be a hospital, birth center or at home. “We support women wherever and however they decide to give birth.”

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BUTTERFLY WINGS STORIES FROM THE FLIGHTS OF CARNIVAL

BY ERROL LABORDE

F

or those who write regularly about Carnival, the quote to the right is both a source of beauty and frustration.

The beauty comes from author Perry Young’s butterfly of winter metaphor and his skillful use of language (“tattered, scattered, fragments of rainbow wings”) all encapsuled into 41 words that capture the essence of Carnival. The frustration comes from that statement being hard (perhaps damn near impossible) to top. It is unfair to the future that the definitive paragraph of the season was already written 90 years ago.

Nevertheless, Young leaves much to inspire us and to find nourishment in analyzing the season from a hearty feast of butterfly wings.

We take Young’s words seriously that the fragments are in turn the record of the day. So, we have set out to gather some of those remains in pursuit of Carnival’s finer moments. We know that there are too many memories for any collection, but in this, a year when we are denied much of the visual manifestation of Carnival, we thought we would offer a few.

This is done in the hopes that come next winter the atmosphere and the spirit will again be free for Carnival to flutter at its most glorious.

CARNIVAL STORIES SATCHMO VS. A QUEEN

CARNIVAL IS A BUTTERFLY OF WINTER, WHOSE LAST MAD FLIGHT OF MARDI GRAS FOREVER ENDS HIS GLORY. ANOTHER SEASON IS THE GLORY OF ANOTHER BUTTERFLY, AND THE TATTERED, SCATTERED, FRAGMENTS OF RAINBOW WINGS ARE IN TURN THE RECORD OF HIS DAY. - PERRY

YOUNG, THE MYSTICK KREWE: CHRONICLES OF COMUS AND HIS KIN.

Don’t you hate when this happens? Your daughter is going to be a Queen on the same day that your idol is coming to town. That happened on Mardi Gras 1949 when Dolly Ann Souchon reigned as the Rex Queen.

Her dad, Edmond “Doc” Souchon, was justifiably proud, but as an accomplished jazz musician, as well as a doctor, he was anxious to see the Zulu King, none other than Louis Armstrong. To serve both monarchs, Souchon passed up the traditional limousine ride to the reviewing stands with the Queen and family, and headed instead to the New Basin Canal, now the path of the I-10 Expressway. In those days, Zulu arrived by boat via the Canal. Souchon hurried to see Satchmo step off the boat to the appropriate applause and then scurried back to be with his family and the Rex entourage.

Doc Souchon’s morning was symbolic of a pivotal moment in the evolution of two of New Orleans’ greatest cultural contributions, the American Carnival and jazz. For many years the two traveled separate paths, having nothing to do with each other. Ultimately, they could not be kept apart.

Although the music was snubbed by Carnival in its early years, jazz gradually conquered not only the world, but its hometown Carnival too. In 1966, Rex introduced His Majesty’s Bandwagon, which featured a jazz band riding atop. By ‘68 there were three jazz groups rolling with Rex. Even at the high society Carnival balls, where jazz was once regarded as a bastardized art form, the dance selections began including the music.

One person would carry the cause through the decades - Doc Souchon. One of the best known versions of Carnival’s anthem “If Ever I Cease to Love” was recorded with the raspy voiced Souchon doing the vocals - set to jazz time.

A 1968 book published in honor of the city’s 250th anniversary proclaimed correctly, “Only the city which produced jazz could have evolved New Orleans’ Mardi Gras of today.”

Jazz and Carnival: Doc Souchon never ceased to love either.

KEEPING BACCHUS WARM When the newfound Krewe of Bacchus announced its inaugural parade to debut February 16, 1969, it heralded several innovations, one being a king who was not a typical local notable, but rather a Hollywood celebrity. Danny Kaye, multitalented in singing, dancing and acting, accepted the royal bid. Dressed as the God of Wine, Kaye positioned himself on the newly designed towering King’s float. There was excitement throughout the city as the parade formed, but also some concern - from Kaye.

The temperature hovered around the low 40s which from the perch of a float was cold, very cold. Although Kaye had been one of the stars in the movie “White Christmas,” this chill was beyond singing about. The Kingdesignate asked if there was something to be done to provide more warmth.

Bacchus officials scurried about.

Floats, when done right, can be poetic masterpieces, but they are not known for their temperature control. As parade time approached, someone was able to rig together an electric heater strategically placed near the throne to provide royal heat. Then, from below, there were whistles and sirens and the parade began.

As the float turned from its den, Kaye dreaded a frigid reign. But then, as the float approached the street, Kaye was overwhelmed by the thousands of fans waiting to see him. Like any caring King he stood up and waved back while turning from side to side to greet the worshippers. He would not sit down again for the rest of the ride.

The little heater projected its glow on an empty throne.

Years later Bacchus officials would recall the ride and how Kaye quickly forgot about the temperature. Nothing provides more warmth than an adoring crowd.

MYNEWORLEANS.COM

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MUSES KREWSES A phrase I use occasionally refers to something taking “a strange bounce” to describe a situation in which there was a sudden course-altering change.

For attorney Staci Rosenberg, as she stood on St. Charles Avenue watching the 2000 parade of the Krewe of Ancient Druids, there was about to be a bounce of such enormity that the effects are still ascending.

Rosenberg was at the parade to see a friend and fellow lawyer ride by in the all-male krewe.

Watching the maskers, she thought that being in a parade seemed like fun and then wondered how she could join a krewe. Then she thought a little more and raised the daring question: “Why not start a krewe of my own?”

Carnival history was about to take on a new character named “Weezie.” That would be Weezie Porter. Rosenberg recalled that she went home that night, called her friend Weezie, told her about her idea to start a new all-female krewe and asked her if she would join. As it happened Porter was hosting several gal friends, so she raised the question to them: Would y’all join?” Posterity was enriched at that moment because they all agreed.

In the weeks ahead Rosenberg, who says she knew nothing about creating parades, asked lots of questions.

“No one in the Mardi Gras community thought we would succeed,” Rosenberg recalled. “But this became an advantage also, since it led to the Kerns float builders charging us very little, since they thought we couldn’t afford it and we would fail.

It was also hard to get bands, because it was a weeknight and they had never heard of us and thought they wouldn’t get paid.”

“While we talked to a few people,” Rosenberg continued, “I can’t say anyone outside of Muses really helped much. We were definitely the blind leading the blind, but it seemed to work out.”

Clearly the blind had the vision to make the right choices. A year later, February 22, 2001, Muses made its debut. While there had been all-female krewes before, this was the first to march on a weeknight at a time when women had become so much a part of the professional workforce.

The krewe also created opportunities for subgroups, notably walking clubs such as the Pussy Footers, Bearded Oysters, Lady Godivas and the Camel-Toe Stompers that have become part of the language of carnival.

Muses’ coveted decorated woman’s shoe souvenir quickly achieved status equal to the Zulu coconut.

The krewe’s evolution would be one of the major developments of Carnival in the 2000s. One wonders how history might have been different had Weezie not answered her phone that night.

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FEBRUARY 2021

THE SURPRISE REX There was a commotion outside of the home of John Ochsner’s parents’ home on the morning of February 10, 1948. For Ochsner, the day was already going to be special because that was his 21st birthday, but the other news superseded that, especially as dad, Alton Ochsner, was escorted to a limousine. Dad, it runs out was going to be Rex, but the family had known nothing about it.

For the rest of his life John would recall that morning. Usually when someone is selected to be Rex it fully involves the family as preparations are made for the big day, but not this time.

Why few knew has remained a mystery. Rex records have no account of the selection process, which is always secret anyway.

Adding to the surprise, John insisted, was that his dad did not even belong to the Rex organization. One old-timer did tell me that he had heard that the original Rex selection that year had had to drop out, but no one knows for sure.

Alton Ochsner, who was born in South Dakota, and whose family was not socially connected locally did not fit the typical profile of Carnival royalty, but he was a hot number in 1948.

In 1942, he had opened the pioneering Ochsner clinic and had already built a national reputation by linking cigarette smoking and lung cancer. He was about as honored as an honored citizen could be.

Darwin Fenner, who was Captain of the Rex organization at the time, was very innovative. It would have been consistent with his style to fill the vacancy on the throne with a big name, but one with the civic credentials honored by Rex. In a sense, twenty years before Bacchus, Alton Ochsner may have been Carnival’s first celebrity king.

Whatever the circumstances, they certainly changed John Ochsner’s plans. A day in which he was supposed to be hanging with friends to celebrate his own big moment ended with his being all dressed up at the Rex ball.

John Ochsner would become a distinguished physician himself specializing in transplants, including the lung but most of all, the heart. Ochsner hospital became one of the leading transplant centers in the country.

In 1990 a limousine would again arrive at an Ochsner household, this time to pick up John, who would reign as Rex that day. (With the full knowledge of the family.)

Although he would only wear one crown, John Ochsner would serve two kingdoms; Carnival and the hospital where staff referred to his as “The King of Hearts.”

CARNIVAL’S BIBLE AT 90

MUSES AND MOOSES Above is a story about the origin of the Krewe of Muses. Now, hold on tight. Time passes. Here’s a story from Krewe founder Stacie Rosenberg talking about the impact of the krewe from the perspective of a young girl who had known of Muses all her life: “When Muses was 11 years old, the 11-year-old daughter of a lawyer in my office was visiting on a Saturday.

When I saw her, she ran over and said, ‘Me and my friends were talking and we thought if there was ever a parade just for boys it should be called Mooses.’ I love this story because this little girl did not even realize that there were any parades ‘just for boys,’ but for her entire existence she knew there had been a parade just for girls. I also love that she wanted to call boys mooses!”

Well, at least the truck parade is run by the Elks Club.

Perry Swearingen Young was a journalist in New Orleans during the 1920s and ‘30s.

He was a gifted writer who produced a local classic, “The Mistick Krewe: Chronicles of Comus and His Kin,” probably the most important book ever written about the origins of the early Carnival. This year marks the 90th anniversary of that book receiving its copyright, 1931. All research about the season properly begins with a reading of the book. It is from its preface that the “Butterfly of Winter” paragraph that opened this feature is taken.

Young was born in Abilene, Texas. As an adult, he moved to New Orleans where he inaugurated a magazine called “Gulf Ports.” He would also open his own business, Carnival Press, the name under which he wrote, edited and published Carnival programs.

Both “World Port” and Carnival Press were operated out of the same office at 520 Whitney Bank Building, a spot which became the informal cradle of Carnival history.

There are many gaps to Young’s story, but it might be supposed that in writing about ports, and in being named public relations agent for the Dock Board, his circle included many of the city’s prominent citizens, some of whom were part of the social side of Carnival. Young had contacts in the Comus organization to the extent that he wrote the krewe’s programs. His best offer came when he was asked by the Captain of Comus, Sylvester P. Walmsley, to do a history of the Mistick Krewe – the group that founded and maintained the New Orleans parading tradition. The book was to be prepared as a krewe gift to celebrate the group’s 75th anniversary in 1932.

But then Young’s career took a turn. Walmsley had died and the Interim Comus captain had decided against the book. These were also hard times in the real world, as the glitter of Carnival was paled by the Depression. “World Port” magazine was moved to California, leaving its editor behind. Young maintained Carnival Press and also began publishing two other magazines, “Shore” and “Beach and Garden.” But the income was not steady.

His daughter, Zuma Young Salaun, once recalled that there was financial uneasiness during that time, but that her father was too proud to discuss his problems at home.

“My mother wanted him to find a job like a streetcar driver,” she remembered, “but he wasn’t very mechanical, he would have wrecked the streetcar.”

Instead, the writer in him tried to prevail, churning out house organs and writing Carnival publications. Young was learned in the classics, mythology and foreign languages, making him the right reporter to break through the lore from which Carnival grew. He wrote with a scholar’s familiarity of the poet Ovid’s description of the early pagan rites of spring. He collected engravings of early parades and listed those long-forgotten who wore the crowns. His was a journal of New Orleans society written and presented in a style to embellish the grandest of reading room coffee tables.

Young died in 1939 at the age of 51. Only about 1,000 copies of his book had been distributed. In a warehouse, his daughter located approximately 9,000 unbound copies, from which she was able to distribute some of the engravings. Eventually, the remaining stock was sold for wastepaper. Young was one of those writers who never fully knew his success. “The Mistick Krewe” remains timeless, although he died without reaping any profit from the book, nor likely realizing its importance.

In 1969, Zuma Young Salaun allowed the book to be reprinted. She had become a Carnival historian on her own, giving lectures, writing pamphlets, and remembering her father.

After his death, Perry Young was eulogized not so much as an historian, but as a conservationist. Of his writings in “Shore and Beach,” for example, it was said that, “the cause of shore protection lost a valiant and gallant advocate…who did not strive for wealth.”

But Perry Young’s memory has been preserved by Mardi Gras, and he will forever be remembered each winter for his book that is so enriched by its opening lines.

Many seasons have passed since Perry Young completed The Mistick Krewe. Now there is a new generation of writers covering Carnival, any one of whom would be fortunate to one day look at the spectacle and see a butterfly.

Errol Laborde: Mardi Gras, Chronicles of the New Orleans Carnival

MYNEWORLEANS.COM

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M AT T E R S O F T H E H E A R T If all hearts are created equal, why are minority populations at such a higher risk?

I

BY TOPHER DA NIEL

n the early days of the pandemic, an unsettling trend began to emerge, one that has endured and been magnified as COVID-19 cases continue to rise: minorities in the United States, specifically Black, Latino and Indigenous populations, are far more likely to die following infection.

According to the APM Research Lab, Indigenous people are approximately 3.3 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than non-Hispanic White populations, while both Latino and Black populations are 2.7 times more likely to die. These trends, while thrown into harsh light since the United States saw its first surge of coronavirus infections in March 2020, are nothing new.

Health disparities between minority and White populations have existed for decades, and the causes are deeply entangled in longstanding social and economic divides that put certain populations at a substantially higher risk for life-threatening conditions.

Prominent among the health issues disproportionately affecting minority populations - and contributing to elevated mortality rates - are matters of the heart, such as cardiovascular disease and hypertension. The Office of Minority Health, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, reports that Black Americans are 40 percent more likely to have high blood pressure than non-Hispanic White Americans and are 20 percent more likely to die from heart disease. Despite that, only 44.6 percent of Black adults with hypertension are likely to have their blood pressure under control, as opposed to 50.8 percent of their White counterparts.

In light of this data, the question is no longer whether disparities exist; they do, and they’re illustrated in our society more clearly than ever. The question is why do they exist, why do they endure through generations and, ultimately, how do we stop the cycle?

PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL INEQUITIES The American Heart Association identifies seven factors that make up an individual’s cardiovascular health, known as “Life’s Simple 7”: 40

FEBRUARY 2021

smoking status, BMI, diet, cholesterol, physical activity, blood pressure and blood glucose. In theory, maintaining ideal levels of all seven factors will decrease an individual’s risk for developing cardiovascular disease or suffering from early mortality.

But in a 2018 edition of “The Journal of the American Heart Association,” Dr. Eduardo Sanchez published, “Life’s Simple 7: Vital But Not Easy,” in which he states that, “Items easy to list are not as easy to achieve...It will likely take individual and socioecological (population-level) efforts to achieve and maintain high [cardiovascular health].”

Dr. Nicole Redmond, a medical officer with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, has dedicated her career to advancing research that addresses health disparities across racial and ethnic lines. The complexity of the issue, she says, arises when evaluating the extent to which physical and social determinants allow minority populations to engage in activities that promote cardiovascular health.

“No one is born with cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Redmond said. “You’re born in normal health, and your environment starts to determine the evolution of your cardiovascular health over time. We see evidence that Black Americans accumulate risk factors like obesity and hypertension earlier in life and at higher levels.”

First, there are physical factors, such as the neighborhood and environment in which a person is raised, their proximity and access to healthy food options and, if those resources aren’t located in walking distance, the availability of transportation to reach them.

“There’s also been a lot of attention on how our housing policies have created ongoing neighborhood segregation and disinvestment in neighborhood resources,” Dr. Remond said. “It’s one thing to say we know physical activity is important for heart health, but how accessible is physical activity for people who don’t feel safe going for walks, or who live in neighborhoods without sidewalks? And if they have to walk somewhere to get groceries, but the only thing they can reasonably walk to is a convenience store, their food options will be limited. All these things are related.”

Additionally, Dr. Remond says these determinants must be considered minority, and specifically as a Black American. Even as a physician, these alongside income and poverty, which “impacts your ability to attain healthare things I didn’t spend time thinking about. But I do now.” promoting resources” that not only include healthy foods, transportation and safe neighborhoods, but subsequently, education and healthcare.

AWARENESS AND ACTION To put this in perspective for New Orleans, unaddressed repercussions It has taken years of inequality - and stagnation in addressing it - to of redlining, a practice which systematically denied funding and services reach a point where the hearts, bodies and minds of minorities are at a to neighborhoods with a majority of Black residents, continue to put distinct disadvantage. In turn, it will take years of work to undo it, and Black citizens at financial and environmental disadvantages. Based on data there are many dominoes that must fall if the health gap and all related compiled by American Community Survey, The Data Center (formerly racial divides will ever be mended. known as Greater New Orleans Community Data Center) reports that “It can be overwhelming when you think about how deep this runs, median income for Black households in New Orleans is $24,813, compared but it’s important that we first have awareness as a community,” Dr. to $69,852 among White households. That puts Black households at a 32 Singleton said. percent poverty rate, and White households at 10.3 percent.

Part of that awareness means acknowledging that inequities in health And while redlining was formally ended by 1968’s Fair Housing and access to care can exist on both macro and micro scales, across Act, The Data Center’s 2018 report, “Rigging the Real Estate Market: states, cities, neighborhoods and streets. The New Orleans chapter of Segregation, Inequality, and Disaster Risk,” details the ways in which Black the American Heart Association reports that “a person living in the zip New Orleanians continue to dwell in underdeveloped neighborhoods code 70112 is five times more likely to die from heart disease than those with fewer resources and lower levels of elevation, where they are more living in the neighboring zip code 70113.”

Another, more critical part, is that once your awareness of an issue has vulnerable to natural disaster, as a result of the economic divide created been raised, Dr. Singleton says it’s important not to look away, no matter by decades of disenfranchisement and racial segregation.

“Factor in living on the coast, where a hurricane can affect infrastructure, how uncomfortable it may be. That’s especially true for higher-income, transportation, power grids, food and clean water, you start to see all non-minority households--because no matter how aware a minority these differential health impacts on a larger scale,” household is of health disparities, that doesn’t give them Dr. Redmond said. access to healthy foods, healthcare or geographical equity.

In light of how these disparate circumstances fall along Those who have benefited from and perpetuated such racial lines, the physical factors required to maintain divides - even unknowingly - must be part of the solution, cardiovascular health using the “Life’s Simple 7” model No one is at both the individual and community levels. born with become all the more difficult for minorities to achieve.

“A great place to start would be to connect with your cardiovascular And then there are the social factors which, when local American Heart Association,” Dr. Singleton said. disease.You’re compounded with the physical determinants, further “Find out what programs are having a significant impact born in normal widen the health gap minorities must overcome. in our local communities, where you can see what’s health, and your Dr. Tammuella Singleton is a pediatric oncolohappening. Maybe you can help to provide additional environment gist who practices in both New Orleans and Slidell, healthy foods at Second Harvest, or support organizations starts to like Liberty Kitchen. That’s something you don’t have to and she describes how social determinants such as determine the go far to accomplish. Everyone can find something, some stress - which in the case of minorities is fueled by evolution of your racial bias, microaggressions and discrimination - can way, to get involved.” cardiovascular lead to poor cardiovascular health. Both she and Dr. In New Orleans, ongoing initiatives at the American health over time.

Heart Association include the establishment of safe Redmond relate this chain of causality to the “fight spaces for minorities to engage in physical activity, in or flight” survival response.

“When you’re stressed, your heart rate goes up. Your addition to providing healthy foods and addressing blood pressure climbs a little higher. Your cholesterol levels increase, and affordability. Meanwhile, local organizations like Heart N Hands are you probably eat more and retain a little more fat,” Dr. Singleton said. actively engaging young girls--a minority demographic itself--in fitness “Self-preservation is the first law of nature, but that fight or flight response and wellness activities. In 2020 alone, Heart N Hands provided more than was only designed to be there when we needed it. From a biological or 400 schoolchildren with fresh fruit in a collaborative effort with No Kid physiological standpoint, it was never meant to exist indefinitely, for Hungry and hosted an in-person and virtual “Running for the HEART” days, weeks, months or years on end. Stress is a significant contributor to 5K to both fundraise and stimulate physical engagement. Supporting heart disease, and when you compound that with poor dietary options, any such organizations through donations or voluntarism could yield a lack of daily exercise, and add them to the stress of just being a Black tremendous effects in helping to expand their reach and impact.

While there’s a long road ahead, with many more disparities to address American, now you have a recipe for disaster.” along the way, taking that first step on an individual level can begin the Dr. Singleton notes that many of these stress-inducing social factors might begin to affect a person’s health before they even realize they’re process of incremental - and eventually, monumental - change. experiencing them. For reference, she describes her first experience at “New Orleans has a heart and a soul, and it has a large Black populaXavier University, an HBCU, after receiving early and secondary education tion,” said Dr. Singleton. “We need to partner together and focus on all at public schools where she was a minority. angles to figure out how we can all live better lives in our city and our “It was a release,” she said. “It was like I exhaled. All this time, I didn’t state. It starts with awareness and attention. It’s going to require some even know I was under this pressure, but for the first time, I knew that if difficult and uncomfortable conversations, but if we are thoughtful and one of my peers didn’t like me, they just didn’t like me. It wasn’t because I deliberate in what we do, we can still change the quality of life for these was Black. These are stresses accumulated just existing in the world as a individuals and allow them to make a significant impact on their health.”

MYNEWORLEANS.COM

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FINANCIAL HEALTH CHECK UP TIPS TO GET YOUR MONEY IN SHAPE by rebecca friedman

f your physical health has commanded most of the spotlight recently, it might be time for a financial checkup. That is especially true after a year filled with unanticipated shocks – economic and otherwise.

“History has shown that the unexpected is always going to come along,” said Shelley Ferro, Founder and Owner of Ferro Financial, LLC. “Good financial planning is going to help people navigate those situations.”

We asked a panel of experts what good financial planning looks like at various life stages, from workforce newbie to retirement ready and everything in between.

Just starting out According to the experts, it’s never too early to establish good financial habits. “They’re like muscles,” Ferro said. “If you keep using them, they will just get bigger and stronger through the years.”

No surprise here – all the experts agree on the most important habit: saving, then saving some more. For many people, the pandemic offered a painful lesson in the value of an emergency fund. “It’s like the levee system in New Orleans,” Ferro said. “That is for protection against storm surges, and this is a financial surge.”

This emergency fund should be safe, but accessible. Ferro suggests a money market or bank account: “It’s plain vanilla – not exciting, but very important.”

Once an emergency fund is established, the next step is building a long-term investment program. According to Mark Rosa, President and CEO of Jefferson Financial Federal Credit Union, a brokerage account offers the most reliable path to accumulating wealth. He suggests options like mutual funds for growth that outpaces the rate of inflation, something young investors don’t always consider when they begin socking away money for the long term.

Though new savers may perceive investing as risky business, financial planners emphasize the fact that financial markets have weathered decades of crashes, recessions and pandemics, while continuing to rebound and grow.

“You want to be positioned to have your foot in the door,” Ferro said. “Accept that there are setbacks, but the setbacks are temporary. The movement forward has always won.”

Early professional life often carries start-up costs, including debt from school loans, upgrading a car, or investing in a workplace wardrobe. The goal, Rosa advised, is for workers to eventually transition to a career stage where that debt dynamic flips and “the choo-choo is running up the track.” Employees might get promoted, pay off school loans and contribute to their company’s 401k plan. Along the way, Rosa encourages people to “save until it hurts.”

He also suggests putting off major life transitions, like parenthood, until a financial cushion is in place. “Those first couple of fragile years when you’re taking on more debt, I see people feel pressure to get married, start a family… It doesn’t permit them to start saving and build that cushion if they move too quickly in those other directions.”

Growing your family It’s never too soon to start saving for higher education. “The child is born, and you’re starting a college savings account,” said Shelley Ferro. “If you do it then, you’re going to be fine. If you wait too long, you can’t get the compounding effect of money to work for you.”

Ferro recommends the Louisiana START savings program, a state-administered program that allows families to save for higher education with a tax-deductible benefit.

The state commits to match a portion of that savings on a sliding scale based on the family’s income, with lower incomes receiving higher percentages.

New parents also need to address other provisions for their children, like establishing guardians and securing life insurance. These considerations are especially important for single parents. “Things like an emergency fund and life insurance become even more important when you’re single because you just don’t have anybody to fall back on,” Ferro said.

Buying a home The turbulence of 2020 has also affected expert advice for prospective homebuyers. Drew Remson, President and Owner of America’s Mortgage Resource, Inc., now cautions buyers to take a more conservative approach.

“Historically, first-time homebuyers come in, and the first thing they ask is ‘How much do I qualify for?’”

Remson said. “They want to know the max, and they shop the max.”

Remson warns that this period of unexpected income changes is not a time to be “house poor.” Buyers should make their decisions based upon only stable income, rather than components like overtime or commission. He also encourages dual income families to take the conservative approach of qualifying on one income, which would protect their investment in the event that the other disappears.

Because a savings cushion is so important today, Remson has also amended his typical recommendation for a sizable (e.g., 20 percent) down payment. “In this environment it may make sense for folks to put less down and have more in reserve,” he said.

“Move forward with some money in the bank rather than being in a better position on a monthly basis but having no money in the bank after closing.”

Interest rates remain historically low, a trend Remson expects to continue through 2021. “From an interest rate standpoint, it’s an absolutely ideal time for people to get into the market that don’t own a home now,” he said. “Your buying capacity is so much higher at a 2.5 percent rate than it will be at a four or five percent rate.”

Above all, Remson advises firsttime homebuyers to work with a professional who can guide them through the process and the various programs available.

Readying for retirement

Estate planning

When it comes to retirement planning, many people focus on a magic savings “number” that will allow them to retire with security. According to Mara Force, Professor of Practice at Tulane’s A.B. Freeman School of Business and retired Managing Director, J.P. Morgan Private Client Trust, “What you’re seeing now is a lot of people who don’t quite retire because finding that number is elusive.”

Several factors play into the equation, like the age at which someone wants to stop working and their plans for healthcare coverage. “If you’re not yet old enough for Medicare when you retire and have to cover your healthcare, that’s going to be a really big cost,” Force said.

Force also reminds retirees-in-waiting to account for property taxes, which stick around even after a mortgage is paid off, as well as any taxes they will owe once they begin taking distributions from 401k accounts.

People who haven’t been able to reach their savings goal by retirement age often pick up secondary careers or “side hustles.” Those can be helpful for retirees who miss the routine, stimulation or other aspects of their former career. “There are a lot of people who retire and then quickly unretire because they say, ‘Oh my god, I’m bored out of my mind,’” Force said.

As retirement nears, people should evaluate the riskiness of their investment assets and reduce volatility in their portfolio. “You want to make sure you’re not putting your retirement at risk by investing in something that’s too potentially risky,” Force said.

Mark Rosa advises people to use time to their advantage when saving for retirement – and not wait too long to start putting away money. “You’re not going to get from age 55 to 60 with any growth capability,” he said. “Then you’re relying on the Social Security process, anything you’ve accumulated at work and in savings accounts.

It’s not a strong financial position.”

For people approaching retirement with a mortgage, Drew Remson advises them to refinance while they’re still employed. “If you’ve got a mortgage out there, you can cut your long-term payments by refinancing,” he said.

Given current low interest rates, retirees might also opt to borrow against the value of their home through a reverse mortgage. Remson believes there is a lot of misinformation out there about reverse mortgages, but he finds them to be a good answer for certain clients. “It is the right product for a lot of people to age in place and be able to stay in their home for their lifetime without having to sell their property and downsize significantly to survive.”

Through a career spent working with high-net-worth clients and their beneficiaries, Mara Force has seen the full gamut of estate planning (including trusts for pets). According to Force, many people set up trusts because they want to ensure that their offspring are cared for and won’t “go off the rails,” to have their basic needs met in a tax-efficient way or to provide for certain types of enrichment or philanthropic activity.

Trusts are often created to fund children’s education or with plans for legacy building that will involve heirs in philanthropy. Force suggests people set up a donor advise fund, which can be done with a relatively small amount of money, for grandchildren or others to administer and provide recommendations for charitable giving after the donor’s death. “The money has to go to charity, but those whom you designate can recommend the charity to which it goes,” Force said. “That will cause them to be engaged in philanthropy, and your money will continue to give and give and give until it runs out, as opposed to just one gift upon your death.”

Force also reminds people to think about where their investments are sitting to minimize any tax burden for their heirs. “You can designate that the money you would give to charity come out of an IRA or 401k plan, and money that you had free and clear [already taxed] in a checking account goes to your kids.”

Pandemic takeaways for every stage The COVID era has led Mark Rosa to move from a one-size-fits-all recommendation for savings to a more job-specific approach. “If your job is waiting tables, there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s fragile to downturns,” he said. “You might need more savings than most folks. if your job is medically related, those people have been employed eight days a week, so they could have money flowing out of their pockets.” Rosa adds that people working jobs with no benefits or retirement plans should try to build a sizable savings stash – as much as twelve to eighteen months of net income.

Shelley Ferro encourages everyone, especially young people, to have an accurate handle on their expenses and income. “It seems basic, but you’d be surprised at the number of people who just don’t do it,” Ferro said. “I knew a 90-year-old woman who had literally millions of dollars, and she was really scared she was going to run out of money. I was like, ‘It’s mathematically impossible. You can worry about other things, but not that.’”

That example shows the role of psychology in a person’s financial health, a subject known as behavioral finance. Ferro focuses on this dynamic in her work as a money coach. “What I’ve seen in my career is that so much of what goes on is behavior that’s based on beliefs,” she said. “If you can work with someone to help them uncover that, then they have the ability to change that behavior and create a more peaceful state with their finances.”

As we emerge from a time of uncertainty, there is little doubt that the pandemic era will leave lasting financial impressions on people across careers and life stages.

For everyone, Ferro offers some timeless advice: “Life is what it is. Enjoy the happy times and prepare yourself for the times that are more challenging.”

Eight Common Money Missteps

1

4

6

8

Racking up credit card debt

Missing out on refinancing opportunities

Investing prematurely in retirement

“Right now, the first and foremost mistake people make is not taking the time to refinance if it makes sense,” said Drew Remson. With today’s low interest rates, many people could secure a rate that would allow them to decrease their interest payments over the life of a loan by nearly fifty percent. “On a $200k-plus loan, we’re talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars over the life of a loan,” he said.

Remson also sees people missing out on refinancing because they have taken mortgage payment deferments, now easily obtainable from most lenders servicing a loan. “One of the mistakes I see is people taking them that don’t need it, and then they can’t get a refinance because they took the deferment,” he said. “The rules on deferment state that you have to be out of deferment and make at least three payments after you come out before you’re eligible for a Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac-type loan, so people are getting frustrated that they are in deferment and can’t refinance.”

Shelley Ferro doesn’t like to see people putting retirement savings ahead of more pressing needs.

“It doesn’t help to contribute to retirement if you have no savings and then you run into problems and you’ve got to go to your retirement,” she said. “It’s all got to be done when you’re financially ready.

I don’t like when people jump the gun. I’ve seen on more than one occasion couples who have started to save in 401k but don’t have any money saved up – for anything.”

Underestimating the task of building wealth

“The biggest mistake people make is when you’re just starting out and you get your first credit card,” said Mara Force. “You’re so excited, and you impulse buy things you shouldn’t and rack up early debt on stuff you just didn’t need to own.”

2 Neglecting the snail mail Force sees this trend among younger people. “This can be a really big problem if someone is sending you a bill and you don’t pay it – it can really damage your credit,” she said. “People should remember to open their mail and at least glance at it before throwing it out. I admit opening bills is not my favorite thing to do, especially when we are so used to paying things online, but once a week you’ve got to bite the bullet and do it.”

3

7 Not paying off the monthly credit card balance Mark Rosa is discouraged to see people “getting creamed” by keeping a balance on a credit card. “You never get a reprieve,” he said. “That’s the downside to credit – getting ahead of yourself and not paying attention.”

Mara Force knows it can be challenging to accumulate wealth and wants to encourage empathy. “Some people think it’s easy and America is the land of opportunity, but it’s hard, and not everyone gets to start from the same place,” she said. “People often think those who don’t have savings have done something wrong or didn’t work hard, but it’s a bigger issue. A significant percentage of the population just doesn’t have the type of income to allow them to have savings.

That’s not because they’re not trying but because we have some significant gaps between rich and poor in this country.

If someone is making enough to subsist, you can’t ask them to be saving for retirement and then telling them they’re lazy if don’t save enough. That said, I would also tell us to take a life lesson from 2020 and not buy a bunch of needless, worthless crap. The things are not going to fill the emotional void in the way we want them to, so don’t waste the money.”

Not questioning fees “If you have a financial advisor, when you go to a bank, get a mortgage, ask somebody ‘How much am I paying for this?’” said Force. “Because a lot of times fees are deducted from places you wouldn’t notice or called something that doesn’t scream ‘fee.’

Ask: ‘How much are you charging for this? What are your rates? is this market standard?’ Know how much you’re paying for something and feel like you’re getting the value for what you’re paying.”

5

Using the wrong financial advisor Ferro points out the difference between advisors selling products and fiduciary advisors, who, like attorneys and CPAs, are legally obligated to look out for the client’s best interest. “A fiduciary is in a process-driven relationship with clients, whereas people on the sales side are in a productdriven relationship where they are trying to sell products in the best interest of a corporation.” She encourages people to understand these distinctions when choosing an advisor and to consider that different advisors may be appropriate for different life stages.

Ferro also disputes the notion that financial advisors are only for wealthy people. She recommends Garrett Planning Network, which offers advisory services on an hourly basis, to people beginning their search for financial planning guidance. To people hesitant to spend hard-earned money on advice, she says, “If you have to spend a couple of hundred dollars to ask someone a question, it’s probably worth it if it’s going to save you the cost of a mistake or non-action in the long run.”

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TRAVEL

B Y CHE R É CO E N

DO

Visitors can learn about Rosa Parks’ momentous 5-minute bus ride, as well as the city’s part in the Civil Rights Movement at the Rosa Parks Library and Museum. The attraction includes a 1950s Montgomery bus, videos, time machine, exhibits and more. Due to the pandemic, the museum is offering self-guided tours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday, closed weekends. All visitors to the museum are required to wear face masks, practice social distancing, with groups limited to eight..

STAY

For something literary, visitors may stay in the “Zelda Suite,” part of the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum. The couple once lived in the house — Zelda was a native of Montgomery — and is the location where F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote parts of “Tender is the Night.”

Accommodations at the museum, which include utilizing the entire house for the night, are available through Airbnb.

ROSA PARKS LIBRARY

History Lessons Civil Rights remembrance

Montgomery is a city of dichotomies. A telegram by Jefferson Davis to order the bombing of Fort Sumter that began the Civil War was sent from the Winters Building on one side of the Montgomery’s Court Square. On the other side lies the bus stop where Rosa Parks boarded a city bus and helped launch the Civil Rights movement. There’s the White House of the Confederacy where Davis lived and served as president of the Confederacy, and the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. first preached and led the city bus boycott following Parks’ refusal to give up her bus seat to white patrons.

There’s plenty of history to explore in Alabama’s capital, but the most impressive attractions are those dedicated to the Civil Rights movement, from the Rosa Parks Library and Museum to the Equal Justice Initiative’s National Memorial for Peace and Justice, the only memorial dedicated to the enslaved African Americans who were lynched. There’s also the Freedom Rides Museum, showcasing the 21 young people who rode buses to the South to fight segregation through nonviolent protest and were met with violence, and the Civil Rights Memorial Center, a tribute to those who died in the civil rights struggle between 1954 and 1968.

A visit to Montgomery in February for Black History Month brings to vivid life the struggles, sacrifices and successes of African Americans and others who fought for justice, from slavery to the Civil Rights Movement and beyond.

To view a complete list of Civil Rights sites in Montgomery, part of the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, visit Civilrightstrail.com/destination/montgomery. For more information about Montgomery, visit Visitingmontgomery.com.

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EAT

Enjoy pizza on the patio from Bibb Street Pizza Company with brews from Common Bond Brewers next door. Prevail Union Montgomery on Dexter serves up craft coffee drinks derived from sustainable coffee farms and its creations have been causing a stir; it’s been written up in the “New York Times,” “Food & Wine” and “The New Yorker.”

Order the Alabama Stinger, espresso sweetened with honey, poured into a shaker with local organic milk and served cold.

GET OUTSIDE

There are numerous ways to enjoy the outdoors in Montgomery.

Coosa River Adventures in nearby Wetumpka rents canoes, kayaks and offers guided trips on whitewater.

Close by is the Swayback Bridge Trail, a 4.6-mile loop trail for hiking and mountain biking. Lanark’s Alabama Nature Center offers boardwalks and trails at its 350-acre outdoor education facility. In town, the 293-acre Blount Cultural Park provides walking trails and ponds but it also houses the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts and the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.

CIVILRIGHTSTRAIL.COM PHOTO

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GROWING PAINS

BY E VE C R AWFO R D PEYTON

Carnival Spirit Embracing the (new) celebration

Picture it: A bleak and freezing midFebruary Tuesday in Columbia, Missouri, the sky gray, the trees bare and brown, black piles of plowed snow lining the busy street. I pull on gloves and a hat and boots and double socks and a coat and a scarf and grit my teeth, preparing to fight against the wind as I walk, snow stinging my cheeks, my ears burning and aching with cold, to go take a midterm.

The cold feels personal to me on a good day; I will take 100 degrees and 100 percent humidity every single time. But this wasn’t a good day.

This was my first-ever Mardi Gras away from home, and as I took that midterm, I knew my friends were in tank tops and costumes, laughing and drinking and waving their arms in a world full of color and joy and noise and warmth. (Thankfully, this was before social media, so I just sensed it; I didn’t actually have to see pictures of it.) The dining hall that night was decorated with purple, green and gold, and they served something that purported to be jambalaya, along with Hoppin’ John, which I’d never even heard of. I was sad and lonely and so very homesick – and I didn’t think I even liked Mardi Gras that much.

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For more Eve check out her blog “Joie d’Eve” on Tuesday mornings at myneworleans.com

I swore I’d never take Mardi Gras for granted again; I would never again complain about it.

And that lasted … maybe two years once I moved back home.

I still go to parades, and I still have fun, but I also grump about the traffic and the crowds and the inconvenience of it all.

Last year, I took my teenage

daughter to Krewe du Vieux for the first time, which was both hilarious and awkward, and we did a couple of Sunday parade marathons, but by the time Ash Wednesday rolled around, I was burnt out and well past ready to be done with it all and get back to normal life.

I had no idea that life was about to be anything but normal for a very

long time.

No French Quarter Fest. No Jazz Fest. And now, no parades. I almost said “no Mardi Gras.” (And then I automatically revised that to “no Carnival.” The five years I spent working for Errol Laborde made its mark on me, and so I know better than to call the entire season “Mardi Gras.”) But then I realized that it isn’t really a case of no Carnival, just no parades.

Just as Santa Claus isn’t a real person but lives in all of us (or that’s what I told my kids, anyway …), Carnival season is more than just parades. Carnival season is Zooms with friends where everyone eats a slice of King Cake together. Carnival season is the incredible creativity of the Krewe of House Floats. It’s the Bacchus app and the “Mardi Gras for All Y’all” virtual celebration.

Even on that horribly depressing frigid day back in 1999, I had a bit of the Carnival season within me because I was actively missing it as opposed to just being oblivious.

I have no doubt that Carnival 2022 will be a glorious celebration … and I promise to never complain about it ever, ever again.

(At least until Carnival 2023.)

JANE SANDERS ILLUSTRATION

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HOME ADVICE

BY L E E CUTR O NE

ABOUT THE DESIGNER As a longtime New Orleanian with experience as an interior decorator, licensed landscape contractor and horticulturist, Beverly Katz understands New Orleans and its climate, as well as the relationship between the interior and exterior spaces of one’s home. For 30 years, she has beautified and improved the function of outdoor areas across Greater New Orleans.

BEVERLY KATZ Winter garden maintenance

F

ebruary is named for the Latin word februum, which means purification. This fact seems in line with the sage gardening advice that local landscape designer Beverly Katz of Exterior Designs prescribes for the third month of the year.

February usually brings cold temps and that, according to Katz, makes it a good time for simplifying, maintaining, taking stock and planning.

“It may freeze, but it’s important that you don’t let [your garden] get sloppy,” said Katz.

“Keep a simple mix that’s easy to maintain.

Keep the lawn neat and the garden uncluttered.

Less is pretty.”

Katz recommends color year ‘round, but in February that means choosing hardy flowers like pansies (which pair nicely with alyssum) and/or using colorful containers. Because much

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of your outdoor plants may be dormant, she says February is also well-suited to assessing what needs to be done and starting a plan.

“February is time to check things like drainage and hard surfaces,” advised Katz. “Redoing those things can be messy. Get it out of the way so your space is ready for the spring.”

She suggests incorporating art, which adds interest, expresses your personality and provides a focal point, and furniture, which has become even more necessary as people are at home more due to COVID. “Plants aren’t everything,” she said. “Think about a statue, a piece of sculpture, or a what kind of furniture you want. Do you want a rocking chair or something vintage or artsy?”

On pleasant February days, Katz suggests visiting a nursery for inspiration. She also says an endless array of colorful containers can be found online. And while she notes that many

1 Plant in pots that can be moved if there is a freeze.

2 Think outside the box when visiting a nursery. They may have something that you hadn’t considered.

3 The planning to execution stages may take months due to demand for outdoor improvements these days, so don’t waste time getting started.

people like to plant and tend small container vegetable gardens on their own, she says there is no substitute for the benefits of hiring a professional for an overall base plan. Paying a professional for a plan can help eliminate problems that cause unexpected expenses and delays. Base plans can also be carried out in phases.

Katz says she sees an increase in people investing in their outdoor spaces.

“Landscapers and outdoor contractors have more work now because we are staying home more and noticing things that need improving,” she said. “There’s no time like the present to start your plan. It’s the least expensive but most important.”

GREG MILES PHOTOS

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TABLE TALK

BY JAY FO R MAN

Hidden Gem

Rosedale hits the spot

M

ost cities have their neighborhood joints, casual places where you can get a sandwich or splurge a bit more for an entrée. But only one has Chef Susan Spicer working the line, helping to come up with “Thank You Baby Jesus” ideas like “Duck Pastrami” or a BBQ shrimp that can be super-sized, giving you more sauce for attacking with flakey shreds of Leidenheimer’s French bread. This is what you will find at Rosedale, an eclectic gem tucked against the train tracks in a part of town where a tourist would need a map and a compass to track down. In fact, even locals may have a hard time finding it.

It is absolutely worth the visit. While Rosedale has been open for several years, 2020 saw an expansion of its outdoor seating capacity, the better to comply with distancing requirements. That, plus the 2019 closure of her restaurant Mondo in nearby Lakeview, gave Spicer more time to spend with her casual outpost in Navarre.

The building, a rambling historic former police station complete with its own jail cell, connected with Susan on her first visit.

“It reminded me of a funky fish camp.

I could just see a casual, down home restaurant here,” she recalled. “It spoke to more about being a local place, drawing from local influences.”

Unlike her globally-inspired flagship Bayona, Rosedale’s focus is largely southern and regional. Start with her aforementioned BBQ Shrimp, a favorite dish of famed Mississippi Chef Robert St John. Black pepper and fresh rosemary are first toasted in a dry pan. Then comes lots of shallots and garlic, beer, Worcestershire and hot sauce. Brought to a boil and then reduced, this savory brew is then finished with lemon juice and zest and serves as the base of the sauce.

Diners will be tugged in two directions with the

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DUCK PASTRAMI SANDWICH

menu. On one hand you have compelling sandwiches like the “Duck Pastrami,” whose main ingredient requires a four-day process to cure, cold smoke and then caramelize. “We serve that with my mom’s Danish pickled cabbage with Russian dressing on our WildFlower multigrain bread,” Spicer said. Competing with that will be entrees like her popular bourbon and buttermilk-brined fried chicken plate.

Spicer sneaks a little pure, uncut Coca Cola syrup into the brine to amplify the Southern kick. This comes with a slab of baked Mac and Cheese and a peppery side of smothered greens. An entrée of “Sauteed Gulf Fish with Caribbean Crab and Coconut Rice” has its roots in Spice Inc., an ahead-of-its time retail initiative from Spicer which closed years ago but is still missed by hard-core foodies. The rice component is lavished with attention. “We cook it with onions, peppers, curry paste and powder,” Spicer said. “It also has tomatoes, lime, coconut milk and bitters.” It is that last component that gives it an especial complexity. Mirliton chow chow plays an accompanying role.

Spicer’s cousin Jonas Owens oversees operations as GM, and Chef Sarah Master (formerly of Mondo) runs the kitchen. But there is no mistaking Spicer’s care, attention and time spent here. As the dining landscape adjusts to a post-pandemic environment, locally-owned places from top-tier talent like Rosedale that feature less fuss and more al fresco are likely to be the beneficiaries.

As long as places like this can survive, so can the unique character of New Orleans dining. Rosedale, 801 Rosedale Dr., Mid-City/Navarre, 309-9595, Rosedalerestaurant.com.

ABOUT THE CHEF Chef Susan Spicer is among the most recognized names in the hospitality industry. Originally from Key West, her cooking career took off in the ‘80s at the Maison de Ville hotel. Eventually she opened Bayona, which stamped her reputation on the national map. She won a James Beard Award in 1993 and has appeared in a series of television shows and was the inspiration for a lead character in HBO’s Treme.

Along the way she has helped to blaze a trail for women in the industry and remains a nationally respected figure in the culinary landscape.

JEFFERY JOHNSTON PHOTOS

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NOSH

B Y C H E F T O Y A B O U DY

Heavenly Match Divine dish for date night or more There’s so much to love about fried ravioli. (Fun fact it was one of the recipes I submitted to “Guys Grocery Games” when I got picked to compete, so it holds a special place in my heart.) It’s the combo of fried and creamy that makes everything right about this dish, on top of it being so flexible, from transforming as an appetizer to switching up proteins. Don’t like salmon? What about crabmeat? Wouldn’t that be divine? And don’t forget about how swiftly it comes together with such a big “I’ve cooked all day” flavor. Once you try this, it’ll change your thoughts about having date nights at home, especially when it’s paired with a good wine or glass of bubbles. We all know Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and I believe this meal could tug on anyone’s heart strings. Trust me you’ll surprise yourself once you taste it.

1

2

Remove the skin from the salmon before serving and break it apart into bite sized pieces to show the flaking of the fish.

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Prepping all of the raviolis at once and setting aside on a plate makes the process easier for frying.

3 Substitute the smoked salmon for chicken, shrimp or even crawfish. You can also use any protein you’d like. Change it up!

FRIED RAVIOLI WITH SWEET PEPPER CREAM AND SMOKED SALMON

2

8 oz. packages of refrigerated pre-made ravioli (I used spinach & ricotta).

Do not use frozen.

1

liter of grape seed oil for frying

2 eggs 3

cups of flour

2

cups of Parmesan breadcrumbs

2

Tbsp. half and half

2

Tbsp. Creole seasoning

1

tsp. salt

2

Hot smoked salmon pieces

Sweet Pepper Cream Sauce (see below) 1. To prep the ravioli, set up 3 bowls: one with flour, one with eggs (lightly whisked) and one with breadcrumbs.

2. To the eggs, add Creole seasoning and half and half, whisk well and set aside.

3. To the flour, add salt, combine and set aside.

4. Add grape seed oil to a skillet (about an inch and a half is needed for frying) and bring to a medium heat.

5. Dredge each ravioli by covering first in the flour, then the egg wash and lastly the breadcrumbs. Set aside for frying in batches.

6. Fry the ravioli until golden, flipping halfway.

Each ravioli should take 2 to 3 minutes.

7. Drain ravioli on a paper towel-lined sheet pan and set aside.

To serve: Stack 5 or 6 ravioli per plate and top with sweet pepper cream sauce and smoked salmon, flaked and separated into pieces. Serves 4 to 5 as an entrée, or 6 to 8 if used as an appetizer.

Sweet pepper cream sauce

1

quart half and half

6-8 sweet “snacking” peppers, chopped 2

Tbsp. of butter

3

Tbsp. of flour

Creole seasoning, to taste 1. Melt butter in a sauce pan big enough to 2-3 cups of sauce.

2. To the melted butter, add the flour and mix well.

SCAN

FOR THE LIVE VIDEO OF THIS RECIPE OR VISIT MYNEWORLEANS.COM/NOSH

SAM HANNA PHOTO

3. To the saucepan, add the half and half and chopped peppers.

4. Season to taste with Creole seasoning. Cook until the sauce has thickened and the peppers have softened.

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CHEERS

B Y E L IZ ABE TH P E AR C E

ARNOLD PALMER PARADE PUNCH

1 64 oz. pitcher 1 750 mL bottle of bourbon (Nothing too fancy but preferable nothing too spicy or hot like a high rye bourbon to not overpower the tea)

1 Don’t steep the tea for longer than 24 hours or it will be too tannic and dry

2 Make sure to label the bottle so you know which one is the tea-infused!

Porch Punch

The perfect day drinking mix

3 The lemons are ready when outer ring of lemon starts turning black and flesh starts popping out of lemon

8-10 black tea bags (plain black tea, not English breakfast or anything like that, my preference is Luzianne so that it’s a Louisiana/ southern tea) 18 lemons 14 oz. of simple syrup 18 oz. of water 1. Empty bourbon into a pitcher and drop in tea bags, cover and leave to infuse for up to 24 hours at room temperature. You can infuse for less time if you prefer, but longer will make the bourbon/tea infusion very tannic and dry tasting.

2. Halve lemons and char them face down on a skillet on medium-high heat (I prefer a cast iron, but any skillet will do) for 2-3 minutes 3. Juice lemons and mix with simple syrup in service pitcher; should come out to 28 oz. total liquid.

4. Add water to dilute, about 18 oz., but can be more or less depending on individual taste 5. Add 18 oz. of infused bourbon (about 3/4 of the bottle) and mix.

6. Enjoy while watching your favorite parade roll by, or just chilling on the porch this year.

Luis Zepeda has only lived in New Orleans for two Carnival seasons, but he already has his favorite parade drink: a boozy Arnold Palmer made with Luzianne tea-infused bourbon and charred lemons. The charring brings a subtle smokiness and smooths out the lemons’ acidity. Even without parades this year, he plans to enjoy it outside with friends.

Luis visited New Orleans in 2018 for Tales of the Cocktail, fell in love with the city, and moved here without a job. His credentials landed him a position managing a new Bywater bar, The Domino. New Orleans reminds Luis of the Brooklyn he grew up in, where “everyone went to school together, everyone dated everybody’s cousin.” He appreciates how local bars are “linchpins in their communities.” After working corporate jobs, Luis is happy to make the Domino an integral part of its neighborhood and keep that New Orleans tradition vibrantly alive.

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PS: To make a single serving, combine 1.5 oz. each charred lemon juice and simple syrup with 2 oz. water and ice, and float tea-infused bourbon on top

PODCAST

LISTEN TO ELIZABETH’S PODCAST “DRINK & LEARN;” VISIT ELIZABETH-PEARCE.COM

EUGENIA UHL PHOTO

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DINING GUIDE The Dining Guide is comprised of restaurants recently reviewed and visited by New Orleans Magazine.

The list will change regularly to provide information on others that are also worth noting and acknowledging.

Please check restaurant websites for up-to-date hours and locations. If you feel that a restaurant has been misplaced, please email Editor Ashley McLellan at Ashley@MyNewOrleans.com. $ = AVERAGE ENTRÉE PRICE

AMERICAN

Acorn City Park, $ AcornNola.com Audubon Clubhouse Uptown, $$ AudubonInstitute.org

$ = $5-10

$$ = $11-15

Ye Olde College Inn Carrollton, $$$ CollegeInn1933.com Zea’s Rotisserie and Grill Multiple Locations, $$$ ZeaRestaurants.com

$$$ = $16-20

$$$$ = $21-25

BURGERS

Bayou Burger French Quarter, $$ 5SportsBarNewOrleans.com

$$$$$ = $25 & UP

The Delachaise Uptown, $$ TheDelaichaise.com ITALIAN

ASIAN FUSION/PAN ASIAN

Port of Call French Quarter, $$ PortOfCallNola.com

Andrea’s Restaurant Metairie, $$$ AndreasRestaurant.com

Boulevard American Bistro Multiple Locations, $$$ BoulevardBistro.com

Hoshun Restaurant Uptown, $$ HoshunRestaurant.com

The Company Burger Uptown, $ TheCompanyBurger.com

Arnaud’s Remoulade French Quarter, $$ Remoulade.com

Caffe! Caffe!

Metairie, $ CaffeCaffe.com

Little Tokyo Multiple Locations, $$ LittleTokyoNola.com

FRENCH

Chartres House French Quarter, $$$ ChartresHouse.com

Café NOMA City Park, $ CafeNoma.com

Magasin Uptown, $ MagasinCafe.com

Camellia Grill Riverbend, $ 309-2679

MoPho Mid-City, $$$ MoPhoNola.com

District Donuts Sliders Brew Multiple Locations, $ DonutsAndSliders.com

Rock-N-Sake Multiple Locations, $$$ RockNSake.com

Five Happiness Mid-City, $$ FiveHappiness.com

Union Ramen Bar Lower Garden District, $$ UnionRamen.com

Martin Wine Cellar Multiple Locations, $ MartinWineCellar.com

BAKERY/BREAKFAST

La Crêpe Nanou Uptown, $$$ LaCrepeNanou.com

Breads on Oak Carrollton, $ BreadsOnOak.com.

La Petite Grocery Uptown, $$$ LaPetiteGrocery.com

Café du Monde Multiple Locations, $ CafeDuMonde.com

Lilette Uptown, $$$$$ LiletteRestaurant.com

CC’s Coffee House Multiple Locations, $ CCsCoffee.com

GASTROPUB

New Orleans Social House CBD/Warehouse District, $$ NOSocialHouse.com Parkway Bakery and Tavern Mid-City, $ ParkwayPoorBoys.com Restaurant August CBD/Warehouse District, $$$$$ RestaurantAugust.com Rib Room French Quarter, $$$ RibRoomNewOrleans.com The Grill Room CBD/Warehouse District, $$$$$ GrillRoomNewOrleans.com The Pelican Club French Quarter, $$$$$ PelicanClub.com Upperline Uptown, $$$$ Upperline.com

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Gracious Bakery + Café Multiple Locations, $ GraciousBakery.com Ruby Slipper Café Multiple Locations, $$ TheRubySlipperCafe.net BARBECUE

BB King’s Blues Club French Quarter, $$$ BBKings.com/new-orleans

Broussard’s French Quarter, $$$$ Broussards.com Café Degas Faubourg St. John, $$ CafeDegas.com Coquette Uptown, $$$ 2CoquetteNola.com Justine French Quarter, $$$ JustineNola.com

Bouligny Tavern Uptown, $$ BoulignyTavern.com Cane & Table French Quarter, $$ CaneAndTableNola.com Orleans Grapevine Wine Bar and Bistro French Quarter, $$$ OrleansGrapevine.com Patrick’s Bar Vin French Quarter, $$ PatricksBarVin.com Sylvain French Quarter, $$$ SylvainNOLA.com

Domenica CBD/Warehouse District, $$$$ DomenicaRestaurant.com Gianna Restaurant CBD/Warehouse District, $$$$ GiannaRestaurant.com Irene’s Cuisine French Quarter, $$$$ IrenesNola.com

EFFERVESCENCE

Effervescence, a sparkling wine and craft cocktail lounge in the French Quarter puts an inventive and playful spin on the possibilities that bubbly offers. With a list of more than 200 sparkling wines by the bottle and over 30 by the glass, guests here can explore the delights of this drink while indulging in a creative and complementary menu of small bites to accompany the drinks.

Happy Hour, brunch and private event spaces are all offered in this homage to fine wine and dining. 1036 North Rampart St., 509-7644, Nolabubbles.com.

Josephine Estelle CBD/Warehouse District, $$$ JosephineEstelle.com Liuzza’s Mid-City, $$ Liuzzas.com Muriel’s Jackson Square French Quarter, $$$$ Muriels.com Napoleon House French Quarter, $ NapoleonHouse.com Pascal’s Manale Uptown, $$$$ PascalsManale.com Red Gravy Uptown, $$ RedGravy.com Restaurant R’evolution French Quarter, $$$$$ RevolutionNola.com Tommy’s Cuisine CBD/Warehouse District, $$$$$ TommysNewOrleans.com

ANTOINE’S

Dining crown jewel Antoine’s is celebrating its 180th Anniversary.

Experience the original Herbsaint-imbued Oysters Rockefeller, timeless appetizers like “Crab Ravigote” and shrimp remoulade, and signature entrees like “Pompano Pontchartrain.” Save room for “Baked Alaska,” flamed tableside. Along with its main dining rooms, Antione’s offers a warren of event spaces that celebrate the history and culture of New Orleans. Guests can enjoy a more casual experience at their adjacent Hermes Bar. 713 St Louis St., 581-4422, Antoines. com.

Vincent’s Italian Cuisine Multiple Locations, $$$ VicentsItalianCuisine.com

Drago’s Multiple Locations, $$$$ DragosRestaurant.com

SoBou French Quarter, $$ SoBouNola.com

GW Fins French Quarter, $$$$$ GWFins.com

LOUISIANA FARE

Emeril’s CBD/Warehouse District, $$$$$ EmerilsRestaurants.com

Tableau French Quarter, $$$ TableauFrenchQuarter.com

Kingfish French Quarter, $$$ KingfishNewOrleans.com

The Bistreaux French Quarter, $$ MaisonDupuy.com/dining

Le Bayou French Quarter, $$$ LeBayouRestaurant.com

The Bombay Club French Quarter, $$$$ TheBombayClub.com

Mr. Ed’s Seafood and Italian Restaurant Metairie, $$ AustinsNo.com

Acme Oyster House Multiple Locations, $$ AcmeOyster.com Antoine’s French Quarter, $$$$$ Antoines.com Arnaud’s French Quarter, $$$$$ ArnaudsRestaurant.com Austin’s Metairie, $$$ AustinsNo.com Boucherie Carrollton, $$ Boucherie-Nola.com Brennan’s French Quarter, $$$$ Brennansneworleans.com Brigtsen’s Riverbend, $$$$$ Brigtsens.com Café Reconcile Central City, $$ CafeReconcile.org Casamento’s Uptown, $$ CasamentosRestaurant.com Clancy’s Uptown, $$$ ClancysNewOrleans.com Cochon CBD/Warehouse District, $$ CochonRestaurant.com Copeland’s Multiple Locations, $$ CopelandsofNewOrleans. com Commander’s Palace Garden District, $$$$ CommandersPalace.com Court of Two Sisters French Quarter, $$$$$ CourtOfTwoSisters.com Crabby Jack’s Metairie, $ CrabbyJacksNola.com Criollo French Quarter, $$$ CriolloNola.com Dooky Chase Restaurant Treme, $$ DookyChaseRestaurant.com

Galatoire’s French Quarter, $$$$$ Galatoires.com Gautreau’s Uptown, $$$$$ GautreausRestaurant.com Herbsaint CBD/Warehouse District, $$$$$ Herbsaint.com House of Blues French Quarter, $$ HouseOfBlues.com/ NewOrleans Jack Rose Garden District, $$$$ JackRoseRestaurant.com Katie’s Restaurant and Bar Mid-City, $$ KatiesInMidCity.com Mandina’s Mid-City, $$ MandinasRestaurant.com Mother’s CBD/Warehouse District, $$ MothersRestaurant.net Mulate’s CBD/Warehouse District, $$ Mulates.com NOLA French Quarter, $$$$$ EmerilsRestaurants.com/ Nola-Restaurant Palace Café CBD/Warehouse District, $$$ PalaceCafe.com Ralph’s On The Park Mid-City, $$$ RalphsOnThePark.com Richard Fiske’s Martini Bar & Restaurant French Quarter, $$$ RichardFiskes.com Royal House French Quarter, $$$ RoyalHouseRestaurant.com St. Roch Market Upper 9th Ward, $$ StRochMarket.com

Toups’ Meatery Mid-City, $$$ ToupsMeatery.com Tujague’s French Quarter, $$$$$ TujaguesRestaurant.com PIZZA

Pizza Delicious Bywater, $ PizzaDelicious.com Reginelli’s Pizzeria Multiple Locations, $$ Reginellis.com Theo’s Pizza Multiple Locations, $$ TheosPizza.com Pizza Domenica Multiple Locations, $$ PizzaDomenica.com SEAFOOD

Borgne CBD/Warehouse District, $$$ BorgneRestaurant.com Briquette CBD/Warehouse District, $$$$ Briquette-Nola.com Deanie’s Seafood Multiple Locations,$$$ Deanies.com Desi Vega’s Seafood and Steaks Metairie, $$$$ DesiVegaSeafood.com

Mr. Ed’s Oyster Bar & Fish House Multiple Locations, $$$ MrEdsRestaurants.com/ oyster-bar New Orleans Creole Cookery French Quarter, $$$ NewOrleansCreoleCookery. com

La Boca CBD/Warehouse District, $$$ LaBocaSteaks.com Mr. John’s Steakhouse Uptown, $$$ MrJohnsSteakhouse.com Ruth’s Chris Steak House Multiple Locations, $$$$$ RuthsChris.com The Steakhouse at Harrah’s CBD/WarehouseDistrict, $$$$$ HarrahsNewOrleans.com WORLD

1000 Figs Faubourg St. John, $$ 1000Figs.com

Oceana Grill French Quarter, $$ OceanaGrill.com

Bayona French Quarter, $$$$$ Bayona.com

Pêche CBD/Warehouse District, $$$ PecheRestaurant.com.

Compére Lapin CBD/Warehouse District, $$$$$ CompereLapin.com

Pier 424 French Quarter, $$$ Pier424SeafoodMarket.com Red Fish Grill French Quarter, $$$ RedFishGrill.com Sac-A-Lait CBD/Warehouse District, $$$$ Sac-A-LaitRestaurant.com SPECIALTY FOODS

Antoine’s Annex French Quarter, $$$ Antoines.com/AntoinesAnnex STEAKHOUSE

Crescent City Steaks Mid-City, $$$$ CrescentCitySteaks.com

Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House French Quarter, $$$$ BourbonHouse.com

Desi Vega’s Steakhouse CBD/Warehouse District, $$$ DesiVegaSteaks.com

Don’s Seafood Metairie, $$$ DonsSeafoodOnline.com

Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse French Quarter, $$$$ DickieBrennansSteakhouse. com

Grand Isle Restaurant CBD/Warehouse District, $$$$ GrandIsleRestaurant.com

Galatoire’s 33 Bar & Steak French Quarter, $$$ Galatoires33BarAndSteak. com

El Gato Negro Multiple Locations, $$ ElGatoNegroNola.com Lucy’s CBD/Warehouse District, $ LucysRetiredSurfers.com Lüke CBD/Warehouse District, $$$ LukeNewOrleans.com Mona’s Café Mid-City, $ MonasCafeAndDeli.com Patois Uptown,$$$ PatoisNola.com Saba Uptown, $$$ EatWithSaba.com Seaworthy CBD/Warehouse District, $$$$ SeaworthyNola.com Shaya Uptown, $$$ ShayaRestaurant.com

Doris Metropolitan French Quarter, $$$$ DorisMetropolitan.com

MYNEWORLEANS.COM

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DINING & ENTERTAINMENT

SPONSORED

Briquette

Galatoire’s Restaurant

New Orleans Creole Cookery

Briquette is proud to showcase contemporary and coastal dishes like Snapper Pontchartrain, Louisiana Redfish on the Half Shell, and Prime 14oz. Ribeye.

Happy Hour Daily from 3-6pm.

Experience the time-honored tradition that is Galatoire’s, the grand dame of New Orleans' restaurants. Located in the heart of the French Quarter, Galatoire’s serves classic, signature dishes and the finest selection of wines and hand-crafted cocktails during lunch and dinner.

Enjoy Oyster Happy Hour daily from 3-6pm in our beautiful French Quarter courtyard.

Brunch served Saturday and Sunday from 11am-3pm offering Bloody Mary’s and Shrimp and Grits.

Pascal’s Manale

Saffron NOLA

Seaworthy

Renowned for our raw oyster bar, famous BBQ shrimp, traditional Creole and Italian cuisine and thick juicy steaks. Join us Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for select appetizer and drink specials! We also offer two private rooms that seat 10-14 guests in one, and up to 20 guests in the other. A New Orleans tradition since 1913.

Saffron NOLA, a swanky Indian restaurant by the lauded Vilkhu family.

Intertwining Indian tradition with New Orleans soul on a modern stage. The Vilkhus pay tribute to where they come from while also honoring where they live, New Orleans. Saffron is a one-of-a-kind experience on Magazine Street.

Seaworthy showcases wild-caught and sustainably harvested oysters from all over North America – as well as locally sourced fish and game. The celebrated beverage program offers both classic and proprietary cocktails, with a smart selection of beer and wine.

Briquette-Nola.com 701 South Peters St, New Orleans 504-302-7496

PascalsManale.com 1838 Napoleon Ave, New Orleans 504-895-4877

Galatoires.com 209 Bourbon St, New Orleans 504-525-2021

SaffronNola.com 4128 Magazine St, New Orleans 504-323-2626

NewOrleansCreoleCookery.com 508 Toulouse St, New Orleans 504-524-9632

SeaworthyNola.com 630 Carondelet St, New Orleans 504-930-3071

SPONSORED

Photo Contest PRESENTED BY

A R E YO U I N T H AT N U MBE R ?

New Orleans Magazine wants to see YOUR Mardi Gras house decorations.

In a two-part decoration contest, we’re looking for the best Mardi Gras decorated house.

Get in that number for a chance to win a spotlight in our New Orleans Magazine March 2021 issue and a $1000 Grand Prize. Runner up will receive a Mixology Bar Set from The Sazerac House with a starter set of bitters valued at $104.

Visit MyNewOrleans.com for contest details.

ENT E R TODAY !

SPONSORED

Valentine's Day Gift Guide 1. Perlis Clothing Perlis.com 6070 Magazine St, New Orleans 600 Decatur St, French Quarter 1281 N Causeway Blvd, Mandeville 8366 Jefferson Hwy, Baton Rouge 504-895-8661 New unisex Crawfish logo Mardi Gras rugby. 100% cotton jersey with cotton twill collar and true rubber rugby buttons. Made in the USA. Also available in rugby dress.

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2. Porter Lyons PorterLyons.com 631 Toulouse St, New Orleans 800-585-0348 Anatomical Heart Locket - Ruby (3.9GMS .50CT). Rubies course through this anatomical heart locket, which opens up to a hidden message inside: “BE LOVE.” 14K Solid Gold & Rubies. Length: 16-18”. Other gemstones available by special request. $1,450.

3. Sazerac House Museum store.sazerachouse.com/bee-sknees-kit-curbside-pick-up.html 101 Magazine St, New Orleans 504-910-0100 Bee’s Knees Cocktail Kit. You are the Bee’s Knees! Enjoy a 1920’s cocktail made famous in Parisian nightlife during Prohibition. Available for curbside or in-store pick up. This cocktail kit includes a 750ml bottle of Henry Ramos Gin, Capstone honey, 2 coupe glasses and a recipe card.

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4. Clandestine Events + Experiences Clandestine-Events.com/Shop 3436 Magazine St, New Orleans 504-766-3033 Give the gift of relaxation with our locally curated Spa Day box – same day local delivery available.

Featuring a top-of-the-line candle, body oil, lotion, scrub and other self-care necessities, it's perfect for your stressed-out spouse. Additional boxes starting at $145.

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5. NOLA Boards NolaBoards.com 4228 Magazine St, New Orleans 504-435-1485 The handcrafted heart-shaped wooden jewelry tray is a sweet Valentine’s gift! Come in or visit us online to see other gifts like our signature cutting boards, counter tops, furniture, and much more.

6. Diamonds Direct DiamondsDirect.com/New-Orleans 3230 Severn Ave, Metairie 504-383-3900 This XO pattern tennis bracelet features round brilliant cut diamonds that weigh 3.75 carats total weight and is set in 14 karat white gold. (The total carat weight may represent a range. actual total carat weight may vary up to 5%.) $5,170 70

FEBRUARY 2021

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SPONSORED

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Are you a leader in your field?

7. Southern Refinishing SouthernRefinishing.com 708 Barataria Blvd, Marrero 504-348-1770 Give a gift card to Southern Refinishing this Valentine’s Day. With the refinishing/restoration process, your worn-out fixtures and tile can be restored to their original luster in less than a day.

You can even change the color of your fixtures and tile to have the bathroom of your dreams.

8. Auraluz ShopAuraluz.com 4408 Shores Dr, Metairie 504-888-3313 A Lampe Berger gift set is the perfect Valentine’s Day gift. Over 50 fragrances and lamp colors to choose from. Shop local New Orleans-themed items for kids to adults. Gift wrap and drivethru pickup available!

9. Home Malone HomeMaloneNola.com 629 N Carrollton Ave, Mid-City 504-324-8352 4610 Magazine St, Uptown 504-766-6148 These King Cake Gold Star earrings will be the perfect Valentine’s Day gift or great as an addition to any Mardi Gras outfit! Made with lightweight polymer clay, these fun, handmade earrings come with a slight dusting of glitter and 18k gold plated, nickel free ear post. $28.

Highlight your impact in our community and build your personal brand as an influential leader in New Orleans Magazine’s July 2021 edition For more information on our Women of Influence special section, contact: Kate Henry 504.830.7216 Kate@MyNewOrleans.com

MYNEWORLEANS.COM

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SPONSORED

well as their families.

The goal of the Heart Center is to enhance the quality of life for every child under its care. Complex pediatric heart conditions often require care tied to other existing medical conditions. The Heart Center offers the benefits of a full-service pediatric hospital dedicated only to the care of kids and is proud to be the only facility in the state of Louisiana that offers a full array of pediatric specialists and sub-specialists to care for the whole child, from heart to toe.

Learn more at chnola.org/heartcenter.

Heart Health F

ebruary is American Heart Month, a designation it was given in 1964 in an effort to tackle heart disease across the country.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, deaths from heart disease are declining, but unfortunately, the country faces a steady death rate from heart attack and stroke. This month, take note of the steps you can take to reduce your risks for heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. Some steps include eating a hearthealthy diet, getting regular exercise, and quitting smoking. Talk with your primary care physician about your cholesterol and blood pressure and what tests, screenings, or medications may benefit you as you seek to lower your risks. When a heart specialist is needed, New Orleans is fortunate to have a number of accomplished cardiologists, vascular surgeons, and other specialized professionals who can help. Learn more about the area’s many options for improving heart health from the following healthcare providers and insurers.

HEART CENTERS Cardiovascular Institute of the South Cardiovascular Institute of the South (CIS) is a world-leader in the diagnosis and treatment of all forms of heart and vascular disease, including peripheral vascular disease and venous disease in the legs, valvular disease and heart arrhythmias. With 20 clinic locations and more than 65 providers, CIS’s services include pre-operative clearance, Coumadin management, stress lab, echocardiograms, cardiac rhythm monitoring, and vascular labs. In addition, CIS has an advanced structural heart program, comprehensive tobacco cessation program, and virtual care center designed to assist patients 24/7.

CIS is proud to announce the opening of the Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) in Gray, Louisiana. This outpatient facility offers patients advanced, innovative procedures and the latest technology at a lower cost. The CIS ASC provides high-quality care in a convenient and safe environment.

For a list of clinic locations near you or to schedule an appointment with a CIS provider, visit cardio.com.

Children’s Hospital New Orleans The Heart Center at Children’s Hospital provides comprehensive evaluation and treatment of patients with congenital cardiovascular disorders from before they are born through childhood and into their adult years. Children’s team of accomplished and dedicated specialists includes physicians, surgeons, nurses and support staff who are trained to care for the unique needs of children with heart disease as 72

FEBRUARY 2021

Thibodaux Regional Thibodaux Regional’s Heart & Vascular Center located in Lafourche Parish, provides comprehensive cardiovascular care, including education, prevention and screening programs, a state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization lab, heart and vascular surgery, cardiac rehabilitation, home health, and WellFit Cardiovascular Care.

Combining expertise and the best cardiovascular imaging equipment in the region, the heart team at Thibodaux Regional provides the best possible care in the fight against heart disease and other cardiovascular ailments.

For the second year in a row, Thibodaux Regional is the only hospital in Louisiana to be named one of the nation’s 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals by IBM Watson Health for high performance in delivering the best quality and most efficient, cost effective heart and vascular care. Call 985-493-4326 for more information, or visit thibodaux.com.

WELLNESS VISITS Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is devoted to its mission to improve the health and lives of Louisianians. Now more than ever, it’s important to stay on top of your healthcare, especially if you’re over 60 or have a long-term condition like diabetes, heart disease or high blood pressure.

Plan your annual wellness visit for the New Year now. This checkup is a great opportunity to talk to your primary care provider about any health concerns you have, including any questions you have about the COVID-19 vaccine. Call your primary care provider today to make an appointment for your 2021 annual wellness visit.

For more on keeping up with care, visit bcbsla.com/keepupwithcare or call 1-800-495-2523. Offices are located at 5525 Reitz Avenue in Baton Rouge.

BLOOD DONATION & COVID-19 ANTIBODY SCREENING The Blood Center For a limited time, The Blood Center is screening all blood donations for COVID-19 antibodies. This free service informs the donor if they carry the COVID-19 antibody, which has been used via plasma transfusions to help critically ill patients battling the coronavirus.

Scheduled donations are required to practice social distancing and insure a safe, stable blood supply. Results post three to five days after a completed blood donation. Following donation, donors need to visit TheBloodCenter.org and log into My Account for their results. Donors testing positive for COVID-19 antibodies may be eligible to donate COVID Convalescent Plasma (CCP).

“We’ve seen promising results from patients who’ve received CCP, but there’s only a few recovered patients eligible to give at this time,” says Dr. Tim Peterson, Medical Director for The Blood Center. “The scarcity of donors with the COVID antibody make this test extremely beneficial to patient care.”

Testing also provides statistics to the Louisiana Department of Health about what percentage of the population was exposed to COVID-19. To schedule your blood donation and help save lives, visit TheBloodCenter.org or call 1-800-86-BLOOD. •

SPONSORED

Hospital Buzz

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rea hospitals are always working to improve their offerings and services to stay at the forefront of an ever-evolving industry. From obtaining top of the line technological equipment for complex surgeries to developing strategies to better care for specific populations of patients, the steps these healthcare centers take to better their services help them stand out as leaders in the region. These hospitals strive to be the sought-after destinations for people in need of operations, advanced care and monitoring, or emergency services. They show pride for their award-winning physicians and programs as they work to create safe and reliable healthcare environments for people from all walks of life. The latest news from area hospitals this month includes specialized services for seniors and cutting-edge surgical suites for a variety of operations and procedures.

HOSPITAL SENIOR CARE SERVICES Touro Touro’s new Senior Care Services combines practices from experts in every specialty to provide individualized, comprehensive care to patients 65 years of age and older. Touro’s caring team of physicians specialize in countless areas, from cardiovascular care to orthopedics and everything in between. With an accredited Senior Care Emergency Room and a dedicated Inpatient Senior Care Unit, Touro Senior Care is designed to care for patients 65 and up.

Touro’s Senior Care Emergency Department and Inpatient Senior Care Unit features hospital beds with advanced mobility to make it easier to get in and out of bed, mattresses to prevent bed sores and

skin irritation, slip resistant flooring, and special lighting and room signage. These features combined with a multidisciplinary team of physicians and nurses specially trained in caring for senior patients makes Touro the experts in aging.

To learn more about Touro Senior Care, visit touro.com/seniorcare.

SURGICAL CENTERS Crescent City Surgical Centre Crescent City Surgical Centre (CCSC) is America’s premier physicianowned surgical hospital. Owned and operated by a combination of 36 elite local practicing physicians and Louisiana Children’s Medical Center, CCSC offers eight operating rooms and two procedure rooms.

Using cutting-edge DaVinci robotic laparoscopic technology, CCSC offers patients minimally invasive surgery resulting in less pain and faster recovery time.

Twenty VIP private rooms are available, and CCSC can make accommodations for those whose loved ones wish to stay overnight.

Catered restaurant-style meals are served and designed to meet patients’ personal dietary needs. They offer expedited wait times on appointments in a relaxing and comfortable environment. CCSC features surgical specialists in the fields of Bariatric, Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, ENT, Colo-Rectal, General Surgery, Gynecological Procedures, Urology, Interventional Radiology, Pain Management, Plastic, Reconstructive and Advanced Cosmetic Surgery.

For more information about Crescent City Surgical Centre, please call 504-830-2500 or visit ccsurg.com. • MYNEWORLEANS.COM

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SPONSORED

a holistic approach so that you can enjoy all the benefits of your wealth from generation to generation.

Senior VP Andy Lovell, Financial Advisor Tommy Gamard, and Senior Registered Client Service Associate Alyssa Klein offer clients decades of combined experience and specialize in providing investment advice and financial planning services to families, individuals, endowments, foundations, and women investors.

“We take the time to get to know your lifestyle, goals, and values so that we can deliver and execute a plan for you and your family,” says Andy Lovell. “Our customized approach includes a clearly articulated discovery process through which you will uncover, prioritize and formalize your values and goals. We then build a customized financial plan.”

To schedule an introductory meeting, visit raymondjames.com/lovellwealthmanagement.

MORTGAGES & LOANS

Money Management W

hether organizing your finances to meet your family’s goals or seeking solutions for making your business practices more cost-efficient, managing money is a necessary component for ensuring a more secure future. And whether it’s cash you’re looking to invest, assets you’re looking to expand, or savings you’re just beginning to grow, the scope of money management is wide and far-reaching. Money is an industry with an array of niches, and professionals across the financial landscape can help guide you toward reaching your goals. From securing a home loan for that post-pandemic upgrade to planning for a comfortable retirement or learning what steps your business should take to shave off unnecessary costs, there are bankers and advisors, consultants and experts whose number-crunching abilities can take some of the burden from your shoulders. As you think about your wealth management goals for 2021 and beyond, consider seeking help from a New Orleans area financial resource.

FINANCIAL PLANNING Lovell Wealth Management of Raymond James Located in New Orleans, Lovell Wealth Management of Raymond James is a family wealth manager that seeks to empower clients with the direction to build and protect wealth for every transitionary stage. Their mission is to help you pursue meaningful goals through 74

FEBRUARY 2021

America’s Mortgage Resource, Inc. This year, America’s Mortgage Resource, Inc., celebrates 25 years of serving Greater New Orleans. Founder Andrew Remson wanted to provide a customer-first approach to mortgage banking, and today, his company’s focus remains the same. For Remson, nothing is more important than offering seasoned professionals who consistently put the customer first.

Whether online, over the phone, or in person at any of America’s Mortgage Resource’s three local locations, customers are always matched with an expert who can handle their needs. The company offers one of the most diverse product lines in the region, from conventional, jumbo, construction and commercial lending to non-traditional products and more. Offering mobile applications and secure document handling, this team is on the forefront of technology, and all licensed loan officers maintain a razor-sharp focus on service while staying in tune with the evolving market.

America’s Mortgage Resource is committed to helping you find the right mortgage product for your needs and provides the first step towards saving money on your home. For more information on American’s Mortgage Resource and to find out which loan is right for you, visit amr-no.com.

MERCHANT PAYMENT SOLUTIONS Precision Payment System Precision Payment System (PPS) partners with your business to find the perfect credit card payment solution on the market that suits your needs. By working with a select portfolio of trusted payment processors, PPS is able to offer businesses of all sizes lower rates while never forfeiting top of the line customer service.

“We’re here to help you save time and run a smarter business,” says Alison Burns Schonk, Founder & CEO. In 2013, Alison recognized a need in the marketplace for a trusted resource for competitive rate packages and reliable processors. The New Orleans-based company has since expanded to offer nationwide service to a variety of industries, from retail and restaurant to medical, automotive, e-commerce, and more, and now carries seven cost-effective POS systems to meet their respective needs.

PPS offers complimentary consultations to examine what your business needs to operate at top efficiency, and its rate guarantee means they will meet or beat your current rate. Equipment security and next-day funding add to the benefits your company receives from PPS. To set up a consultation, call 504-229-6394 or visit precisionpaymentsystems.com. •

A Special Section of New Orleans Magazine WYES-TV/CHANNEL 12 PROGRAM & EVENTS GUIDE FEBRUARY 2021

Mardi G ras

Marches on with WYES! NEW ORLEANS PARADES FROM THE PAST | ALL ON A MARDI GRAS DAY STEPPIN’ OUT “IT’S CARNIVAL TIME” | FROM THE GROUND UP: MARDI GRAS FLOATS MARDI GRAS MEMORIES | BIG QUEENS OF CARNIVAL: IT’S YOUR GLORY BIG CHIEFS OF CARNIVAL: THE SPIRIT LEADS MY NEEDLE PRELUDE TO THE BALL & 2021 KREWE REVIEW

WYES-TV/CHANNEL 12 PROGRAM GUIDE | FEBRUARY 2021

PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS NEW ORLEANS PARADES FROM THE PAST Monday, February 1 at 9pm; repeats Sunday, February 7 at 10am; Sunday, February 7 at 5pm; Tuesday, February 16 at 5pm Viewers get a front row seat of rare home movies and archival footage offering a glimpse at past parades of Rex, Comus, Zulu and nearly a dozen other krewes. Rare films of the first Endymion parade in 1967 and the inaugural Bacchus parade in 1969 show the origins of those two parades, before they became superkrewes. Commentary

by Arthur Hardy, Errol Laborde and Peggy Scott Laborde. Produced

by Dominic Massa. Pictured: Bacchus 1970 Float Photo Credit: Krewe of Bacchus/Arthur Hardy STEPPIN’ OUT “It’s Carnival Time” Saturday, February 6 at 9:30pm; repeats Thursday, February 11 at 7pm; Friday, February 12 at 11pm; Tuesday, February 16 at 9:30am; Tuesday, February 16 at 7pm Host Peggy Scott Laborde, along with Carnival historians Arthur Hardy and Errol Laborde, give their annual overview of the upcoming Mardi Gras season. This year’s topics focus on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting Mardi Gras and how some local carnival organizations are coming up with safe alternate season-related presentations.

PRELUDE TO THE BALL & 2021 KREWE REVIEW Tuesday, February 16 at 7:30pm and 11:30pm Peggy Scott Laborde, Carnival Historian Errol Laborde and Rex Organization Historian Will French will spotlight the activities of Rex and other krewes during the 2021 Mardi Gras. They will also present a prelude to the re-broadcast of THE 2020 REX BALL AND THE MEETING OF THE COURTS OF REX AND COMUS. Photo Credit: Estelle DeVerges

THE 2020 REX BALL AND THE MEETING OF THE COURTS OF REX AND COMUS Tuesday, February 16 at 8pm & midnight Since this year’s Rex Ball will not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, WYES will re-broadcast 2020’s Ball.

Photo Credit: Kathy Anderson Photography

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THE BLACK CHURCH: THIS IS OUR STORY, THIS IS OUR SONG Part 1: Monday, February 22 at 8pm & 10pm Part 2: Tuesday, February 23 at 8pm & 10pm This moving four-hour, two-part series from executive producer, host and writer Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University and director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, traces the 400-year-old story of the Black church in America, all the way down to its bedrock role as the site of African American survival and grace, organizing and resilience, thriving and testifying, autonomy and freedom, solidarity and speaking truth to power.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE UPDATE!

Thursdays

STEPPIN’ OUT moves to Thursdays at 7pm on February 4th!

Each week host and producer Peggy Scott Laborde welcomes regular guests Poppy Tooker, Alan Smason, Ian McNulty , Alfred Richard, Doug MacCash and others.

The weekly local restaurant, arts and entertainment discussion will celebrate its 35th anniversary in 2021.

The program repeats Fridays at 11pm.

BRITISH ANTIQUES ROADSHOW will follow STEPPIN’ OUT at 7:30pm.

Fridays Friday night's line-up adds new programs featuring financial reports from Wall Street and statewide coverage of politics and news to WYES' audience. Business and politically savvy viewers will want to tune-in weekly for an in-depth analysis of current events across the nation and locally.

During PBS NEWSHOUR, anchor Judy Woodruff and a team of seasoned and highly regarded journalist share news and analysis on the nation’s top headlines.

Beginning Friday, February 5th: 6pm 7pm 7:30pm 8pm 8:30pm

PBS NEWSHOUR INFORMED SOURCES LOUISIANA: THE STATE WE’RE IN (New!) WASHINGTON WEEK WALL STREET WRAP-UP WITH ANDRÉ LABORDE (New!)

INFORMED SOURCES will celebrate its 37th year on air in 2021. The program, hosted by Marcia Kavanaugh and produced by Errol Laborde, gives an in-depth look into the important news of metro New Orleans and Louisiana.

Repeats Sunday mornings at 9:30am.

WASHINGTON WEEK continues as the longestrunning primetime news and public affairs program on television.

WYES is looking forward to partnering with Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) for LOUISIANA: THE STATE WE’RE IN. Kara St. Cyr and Andre’ Moreau anchor the weekly awardwinning show that focuses on the important issues in the state along with expert analysis of those issues.

Even though the stock market closes, money never sleeps! The new weekly WYES series, WALL STREET WRAP-UP WITH ANDRÉ LABORDE looks at an overview of the past week’s market and brings local and national investment professionals to you.

Send your financial related questions to andre@ wallstreetwrapup.info.

WATCH ALL WYES PROGRAMS ON WYES OR STREAM AT WYES.ORG/LIVE

WYES invites you to a series of virtual dinner parties via Zoom with notable New Orleans chefs!

Dinners must be picked up the day of the event between 4-5:30pm at the participating restaurant. Virtual dinner party with chef(s) begins at 6:30pm.

Link will be provided closer to dinner date. No menu substitutions available.

Reserve your pick-up dinner today at wyes.org/events.

February 1 Chef Melissa M. Martin Mosquito Supper Club (Menu TBA)

March 1 Chef Cynthia VuTran Café Minh

March 9 Chefs Amarys and Jordan Herndon Palm&Pine

March 15 Chef Rebecca Wilcomb Gianna

March 23 Chef Kevin Belton as featured in his WYES series (Menu TBA) KEVIN BELTON OF WYES

All dinners include a bottle of wine from our partner Bizou Wines.

Café Minh $85

Palm&Pine $99

PRE-DINNER COCKTAIL

PRE-DINNER COCKTAIL

in Addition to Wine Jazzerac Buffalo Trace, Aperol, Suze, Montenegro, Peychaud’s, Orijin Bitters

in Addition to Wine Laylatini Lychee Purée & Vodka STARTER

Corn and Crab Bisque

FIRST COURSE

APPETIZER

Summer Roll Fresh Rice Paper with Lettuce, Cucumber, Avocado and Shrimp served with Side of Peanut Dipping Sauce ENTREE

Chicken Roti Lemongrass and Tumeric Chicken Served with Steam Vegetables and Jasmine Rice. *Contains Shellfish

DESSERT

Chocolate Cake Sponge Cake with White and Dark Chocolate and Bavarian Cream

Honey Roasted Carrots Queso Fresco, Sesame Salsa Macha, Burro Bananas, Mexican Mint SECOND COURSE

Shrimp, Crab and Hominy Gumbo with Popcorn Rice ENTRÉE

Oakacan Mole Braised Duck Tamal, CocoaChilie Crusted Breast, Plantains, Chimichurri DESSERT

Satsuma & Pineapple

Gianna $99 ANTIPASTO

Marinated Roasted Mushrooms Served with Crostini PRIMO

Italian Chopped Salad Salami, Olives, Artichokes, Banana Peppers, Vinaigrette SECONDO

Lasagna Fennel Sausage, Mustard Greens, Cauliflower Béchamel, Parmesan DOLCE

Chocolate Budino Biscotti Regina

1 MONDAY 6pm PBS NEWSHOUR 7pm ANTIQUES ROADSHOW “Vintage Tucson” (Hour 2 of 3)

8pm THE JAZZ AMBASSADORS The Cold War and civil rights collide in this story of music, diplomacy and race.

9pm FRONTLINE 10pm ALL ON A MARDI GRAS DAY celebrates Black Carnival in New Orleans in all its riotous, colorful and spiritual glory.

Incorporating classic New Orleans music, previously unseen photographs and film footage, and interviews with major Carnival players, the program will explore African-Creole Carnival traditions. These celebrations date from colonial times, through Reconstruction and Jim Crow – and into the 21st century.

11pm AMANPOUR AND COMPANY

3 WEDNESDAY

PREMIERE 9pm NEW ORLEANS PARADES FROM THE PAST Commentary from Peggy Scott Laborde, Errol Laborde and Arthur Hardy spotlights archival footage from past parades of Rex, Comus, Zulu, Bacchus, Endymion and more. Rare films of the first Endymion parade in 1967 and the inaugural Bacchus parade in 1969 show the origins of those two parades, before they became superkrewes. Other krewes highlighted in the program include Proteus, Hermes, Mid-City, Venus and Thoth. Produced by Dominic Massa.

Pictured: French Quarter parade Photo Credit: Arthur Hardy 10pm INDEPENDENT LENS “9to5: The Story of a Movement” Go inside the inspiring movement for women’s workplace equality in the 1970s.

11pm AMANPOUR AND COMPANY

2 TUESDAY 6pm PBS NEWSHOUR 7pm FINDING YOUR ROOTS “No Irish Need Apply” Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the roots of actor Jane Lynch and comedian Jim Gaffigan, revealing the

6pm PBS NEWSHOUR 7pm NATURE “Pumas: Legends of the Ice Mountains” Follow the fate of a puma family in the mountains of Patagonian Chile.

8pm NOVA “Beyond the Elements” 9pm EUROPE’S NEW WILD “The Missing Lynx” (Pt. 1/4) Across Iberia, food chains and ecosystems are being restored allowing endangered animals, including the rarest cat in the world, to flourish.

NEW DATE & TIME 7pm STEPPIN’ OUT Each week host and producer Peggy Scott Laborde welcomes regular guests Poppy Tooker, Alan Smason and Ian McNulty. Also appearing frequently are Alfred Richard and Doug MacCash. Repeats Fridays at 11pm.

7:30pm BRITISH ANTIQUES ROADSHOW New to WYES! 8pm MASTERPIECE “Poldark, Season 2” (Pt. 1/9) 10pm JAMESTOWN, SEASON 2 (Pt. 5/8) 11pm AMANPOUR AND COMPANY

WYES-TV/CHANNEL 12 PROGRAM GUIDE | FEBRUARY 2021

8pm ANTIQUES ROADSHOW “Celebrating Black Americana” honors Black History Month with a special episode.

Irish American experience through their families.

5 FRIDAY 6pm PBS NEWSHOUR 7pm INFORMED SOURCES

NEW ON WYES

10pm NATURE “Pumas: Legends of the Ice Mountains” 11pm AMANPOUR AND COMPANY

4 THURSDAY 6pm PBS NEWSHOUR

7:30pm LOUISIANA: THE STATE WE’RE IN looks beyond the politics to explain the effect legislation will have on the lives of each Louisiana citizen. This award-winning show combines in-depth coverage about the important issues in the state along with expert analysis of those issues. Program anchors are Kara St. Cyr and Andre’ Moreau.

Produced by Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB).

8pm WASHINGTON WEEK

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WEEKDAYS ON

PREMIERE

10pm AUSTIN CITY LIMITS “Texas Icons: Jerry Jeff Walker & Billy Joe Shaver”

WYES-TV/CHANNEL 12 PROGRAM GUIDE | FEBRUARY 2021

11pm THE KATE ”JJ Grey & Mofro” (Pt. 6/6)

6am & 3pm MOLLY OF DENALI Follow the adventures of curious and resourceful 10-year-old Molly Mabray, an Alaska Native girl.

5:00am READY JET GO!

NOON SESAME STREET

5:30am ARTHUR

12:30PM ELINOR WONDERS WHY

6am MOLLY OF DENALI 6:30AM WILD KRATTS 7:00AM HERO ELEMENTARY 7:30AM XAVIER RIDDLE AND THE SECRET MUSEUM 8AM CURIOUS GEORGE 8:30AM DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD 9:00AM DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD 9:30AM ELINOR WONDERS WHY 10:00AM SESAME STREET 10:30AM PINKALICIOUS & PETERRIFIC 11:00AM DINOSAUR TRAIN 11:30AM CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG

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1:00PM HERO ELEMENTARY 1:30PM LET’S GO LUNA! 2:00PM NATURE CAT 2:30PM WILD KRATTS 3:00PM MOLLY OF DENALI 3:30PM XAVIER RIDDLE AND THE SECRET MUSEUM

8:30pm WALL STREET WRAP-UP WITH ANDRÉ LABORDE Even though the stock market closes, money never sleeps! The new weekly WYES series, hosted by André Laborde, looks at an overview of the past week’s market and helps you navigate your week ahead. Weekly guests include national and local business leaders who will answer your questions.

Have a question? Email andre@ wallstreetwrapup.info.

9pm IN CONCERT AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL “Gustavo and Friends” (Pt. 4/6) 10pm IN CONCERT AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL “Fireworks!” (Pt. 5/6) 11pm STEPPIN’ OUT 11:30pm AMANPOUR AND COMPANY

6 SATURDAY 6pm LAWRENCE WELK: SONGS BY JOHNNY MERCER

7 SUNDAY 3:30pm REX: A ROYAL ANNIVERSARY 4pm MARDI GRAS MEMORIES 5pm NEW ORLEANS PARADES FROM THE PAST 6pm MASTERPIECE “All Creatures Great and Small” (Pt. 4/7) 7pm MASTERPIECE “Miss Scarlet and the Duke” “Memento Mori’ (Pt. 4/6) Go on the case with private eye Eliza Scarlet, Victorian England’s first-ever female sleuth. In this episode, a photographer specializing in post-mortem portraits gets menacing messages from beyond the grave. Eliza’s investigation takes her into the spirit world.

8pm MASTERPIECE “All Creatures Great and Small” (Pt. 5/7) James volunteers to be the official vet at the Darrowby Show. His ordeals include an ethical plight involving Helen’s bull.

7pm FINDING YOUR ROOTS “No Irish Need Apply” 8pm JAZZ “Swing: Pure Pleasure (19351937)” (Pt. 5/10)

4:00PM ODD SQUAD 4:30PM ARTHUR 5PM CAT IN THE HAT KNOW A LOT ABOUT THAT! 5:30PM PEG + CAT 6:00PM PBS NEWSHOUR

9:30pm STEPPIN’ OUT “It’s Carnival Time” Host Peggy Scott Laborde, along with Carnival Historian Errol Laborde and Arthur Hardy, publisher of Arthur Hardy’s Mardi Gras Guide, discuss great moments in Carnival history, as well as how New Orleans krewes are coping with the COVID-19 crisis.

9pm MASTERPIECE “The Long Song” (Pt. 2/3) Follow the hardships and survival of plantation slave July and her odious mistress Caroline.

In this episode, Facing labor unrest and financial ruin for the plantation, Robert’s sanity starts to unravel, with devastating effects on July.

Years later, she makes a remarkable discovery.

10pm JAMESTOWN, SEASON 2 (Pt. 5/8)

11pm PROFESSOR T “The Mask Murders” (Pt. 7/13)

8 MONDAY 6pm PBS NEWSHOUR

9pm FRONTLINE

8pm AMERICAN EXPERIENCE “Going Back to T-Town”

9pm FROM THE GROUND UP: MARDI GRAS FLOATS offers an inside look at the work of artists and craftspeople who design and build Mardi Gras floats. Originally aired in 1990, this WYES special features behind the scenes footage and interviews with Carnival artists, some whom are as colorful as the parades themselves, including the late Blaine Kern, Herbert Jahncke and Raul Bertucelli. Photo Credit: Rex Organization 10pm INDEPENDENT LENS “Women in Blue” 11:30pm AMANPOUR AND COMPANY

9 TUESDAY 6pm PBS NEWSHOUR 7pm FINDING YOUR ROOTS “The Shirts on Their Backs” Henry Louis Gates, Jr. reveals the immigrant roots of actors Tony Shalhoub and Christopher Meloni, introducing ancestors who came to America to build a better life.

10pm MARY QUEEN OF VIETNAM is a lively look at the community surrounding Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church in eastern New Orleans. The program explores the broad strokes and minute details of an immigrant community in transition by following multiple Vietnamese-Americans from three different generations.

11pm AMANPOUR AND COMPANY

10 WEDNESDAY 6pm PBS NEWSHOUR 7pm NATURE “Big Bend: The Wild Frontier of Texas” 8pm NOVA “Beyond the Elements” ‘Indestructible’ (Pt. 2/3) 9pm EUROPE’S NEW WILD “Return of the Titans” (Pt. 2/4) 10pm NATURE “Big Bend: The Wild Frontier of Texas” 11pm AMANPOUR AND COMPANY

11 THURSDAY 6pm PBS NEWSHOUR

8pm JOSEPHINE BAKER: THE STORY OF AN AWAKENING details the fascinating story

NEW

7pm STEPPIN’ OUT “It’s Carnival Time” Learn how New Orleans krewes are coping with the COVID-19 crisis.

7:30pm LIVING IN THE NEW NORMAL WYES’ on-going series continues to look at how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our community focusing on topics ranging from health and education to the economy and cultural institutions.

Watch the latest installment in the series.

The program is produced and hosted

by WYES Community Projects Producer and INFORMED SOURCES host Marcia Kavanaugh.

8pm MASTERPIECE “Poldark, Season 2” (Pt. 2/9) 9pm MASTERPIECE “Poldark, Season 2” (Pt. 3/9) 10pm JAMESTOWN, SEASON 2 (Pt. 6/8)

WYES-TV/CHANNEL 12 PROGRAM GUIDE | FEBRUARY 2021

7pm ANTIQUES ROADSHOW “Vintage Orlando” (Hour 1 of 3)

of the first Black superstar. Baker, born into poverty in Missouri in 1906, moved to France where she became a dancer hailed as the Queen of Paris, joined the French Resistance, and became a civil rights activist.Photo Credit: Copyright Murray Korman/Collection of Bryan Hammond

11pm AMANPOUR AND COMPANY

12 FRIDAY 6pm PBS NEWSHOUR 7pm INFORMED SOURCES 7:30pm LOUISIANA: THE STATE WE’RE IN 8pm WASHINGTON WEEK 8:30pm WALL STREET WRAP-UP WITH ANDRÉ LABORDE 9pm IN CONCERT AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL “Musica Sin Fronteras” (Pt. 6/6) 10pm JOSEPHINE BAKER: THE STORY OF AN AWAKENING 11pm STEPPIN’ OUT 11:30pm AMANPOUR AND COMPANY

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SATURDAYS ON

13 SATURDAY 5pm ALL ON A MARDI GRAS DAY

WYES-TV/CHANNEL 12 PROGRAM GUIDE | FEBRUARY 2021

6pm LAWRENCE WELK: LOVE SONGS 7pm FINDING YOUR ROOTS “The Shirts on Their Backs” 8pm JAZZ “Swing: The Velocity of Celebration (1937-1939)” (Pt. 6/10)

8pm MASTERPIECE “All Creatures Great and Small” (Pt. 6/7) Tristan coaxes James to try a risky procedure to save a stricken cow.

9pm MASTERPIECE “The Long Song” (Pt. 3/3) Facing labor unrest and financial ruin for the plantation, Robert’s sanity starts to unravel, with devasting effects on July.

Years later, she makes a remarkable discovery.

10pm JAMESTOWN, SEASON 2 (Pt. 6/8) 11pm PROFESSOR T “The Go-Between” (Pt. 8/13)

2:30pm LES STROUD’S WILD HARVEST Forage wild foods in season from local sources with host Les Stroud.

5:00AM MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD 5:30AM ARTHUR 6:00AM MOLLY OF DENALI 6:30AM WILD KRATTS 7:00AM GROWING A GREENER WORLD 7:30AM WOODSMITH SHOP 8:00AM AMERICAN WOODSHOP 8:30AM THIS OLD HOUSE

11:00AM LIDIA’S KITCHEN 11:30AM AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN FROM COOK’S ILLUSTRATED NOON COOK’S COUNTRY 12:30PM CHRISTOPHER KIMBALL’S MILK STREET 1:00PM MOVEABLE FEAST WITH FINE COOKING 1:30PM PATI'S MEXICAN TABLE

9:00AM ASK THIS OLD HOUSE

2:00PM SARA’S WEEKNIGHT MEALS

9:30AM KEVIN BELTON’S NEW ORLEANS CELEBRATIONS

2:30PM LES STROUD’S WILD HARVEST

10AM KITCHEN QUEENS: NEW ORLEANS 10:30AM CHEF PAUL PRUDHOMME’S ALWAYS COOKING

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an abandoned prison. When the Duke joins her, they stumble on a nefarious criminal enterprise.

15 MONDAY 10pm AUSTIN CITY LIMITS "Allen Toussaint: New Orleans Legend” Legendary New Orleans songwriter Allen Toussaint hits the ACL stage with songs from The Bright Mississippi and classic hits like "Southern Nights.”

11pm THE KATE “Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives” (Pt. 1/6)

14 SUNDAY 4pm MARDI GRAS: THE PASSING PARADE 5pm FROM THE GROUND UP: MARDI GRAS FLOATS

7pm ANTIQUES ROADSHOW “Vintage Orlando” (Hour 2 of 3) 8pm AMERICAN MASTERS “Voice of Freedom” 10pm SONS OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS 11:30pm LIVING IN THE NEW NORMAL

16 TUESDAY 9:30am STEPPIN’ OUT “It’s Carnival Time”

6pm MASTERPIECE “All Creatures Great and Small” (Pt. 5/7)

3:00PM NOVA 4:00PM NATURE 5:00PM ANTIQUES ROADSHOW

6pm PBS NEWSHOUR

7pm MASTERPIECE “Miss Scarlet and the Duke” “Cell 99’ (Pt. 5/6) Searching for the secret to her father’s fate, Eliza goes to

10am FROM THE GROUND UP: MARDI GRAS FLOATS offers an inside look at the work of artists and craftspeople who design and build Mardi Gras floats.

5pm NEW ORLEANS PARADES FROM THE PAST

10pm NATURE “Equus: Story of the Horse: Origins” (Pt. 1/2)

6pm PBS NEWSHOUR

11pm AMANPOUR AND COMPANY

7pm STEPPIN’ OUT “It’s Carnival Time”

18 THURSDAY

Noon MARDI GRAS MEMORIES weaves together stories and characters of Carnivals past.

1pm MARDI GRAS: THE PASSING PARADE 2pm CARNIVAL MEMORIES

7pm STEPPIN’ OUT 7:30pm BRITISH ANTIQUES ROADSHOW 7:30pm PRELUDE TO THE BALL & 2021 KREWE REVIEW Peggy Scott Laborde, Carnival Historian Errol Laborde and Rex Organization Historian Will French will spotlight the activities of Rex and other krewes during the 2021 Mardi Gras. They will also present a prelude to the rebroadcast of THE 2020 REX BALL AND THE MEETING OF THE COURTS OF REX AND COMUS. Photo Credit: Estelle DeVerges

3pm CHAPPY GOES TO MARDI GRAS

8pm MASTERPIECE “Poldark, Season 2” (Pt. 4/9) 9pm MASTERPIECE “Poldark, Season 2” (Pt. 5/9) 10pm JAMESTOWN, SEASON 2 (Pt. 7/8) 11pm AMANPOUR AND COMPANY

19 FRIDAY 6pm PBS NEWSHOUR

4pm BIG QUEENS OF CARNIVAL: IT'S YOUR GLORY In New Orleans some women were born to be queens, but not because their fathers were kings. They do not inherit their crowns: they create their own. This documentary gives voice to the powerful women in a tradition best known for its male leaders. Photo Credit: Pableaux Johnson 4:30pm THE BIG CHIEFS OF CARNIVAL: THE SPIRIT LEADS MY NEEDLE captures the artistry and strength of the legendary leaders of New Orleans’ Mardi Gras Indian tribes. Every year the neighborhood tribes create intricate suits of the finest beads and choicest feathers, competing for the role of “prettiest” when they mask on Mardi Gras morning.

8pm THE 2020 REX BALL AND THE MEETING OF THE COURTS OF REX AND COMUS Enjoy an encore of the 2020 REX BALL. WYES host/producer Peggy Scott Laborde, along with Errol Laborde, Carnival historian and author of Mardi Gras: Chronicles of the New Orleans Carnival, and Will French, Rex Organization historian, provide commentary throughout the evening.

Repeats immediately after. Photo Credit: Kathy Anderson Photography

WYES-TV/CHANNEL 12 PROGRAM GUIDE | FEBRUARY 2021

6pm PBS NEWSHOUR

11am ALL ON A MARDI GRAS DAY Incorporating classic New Orleans music, previously unseen photographs and film footage, and interviews with major Carnival players, the program will explore African-Creole Carnival traditions.

Produced by Royce Osborn.

7pm INFORMED SOURCES 7:30pm LOUISIANA: THE STATE WE’RE IN 8pm WASHINGTON WEEK 8:30pm WALL STREET WRAP-UP WITH ANDRÉ LABORDE

17 WEDNESDAY 6pm PBS NEWSHOUR 7pm NATURE “Equus: Story of the Horse: Origins” (Pt. 1/2) 8pm NOVA “Beyond the Elements” ‘Life’ (Pt. 3/3) 9pm EUROPE’S NEW WILD “The Land of the Snow and Ice” (Pt. 3/4)

9pm DRIVING WHILE BLACK RACE, SPACE AND MOBILITY IN AMERICA 11:30pm STEPPIN’ OUT

20 SATURDAY 6pm LAWRENCE WELK: TRIBUTE TO THE SWING AND SWEET BANDS

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SUNDAYS ON

7pm FINDING YOUR ROOTS “Write My Name in the Book of Life”

HIGHLIGHT

WYES-TV/CHANNEL 12 PROGRAM GUIDE | FEBRUARY 2021

8pm JAZZ “Dedicated to Chaos (1940-1945)” (Pt. 7/10) 10pm AUSTIN CITY LIMITS “Willie Nelson” 11pm THE KATE “Delbert McClinton and the Self-Made Men + Dana” (Pt. 2/6)

21 SUNDAY 6pm MASTERPIECE “All Creatures Great and Small” (Pt. 6/7) 7pm MASTERPIECE “Miss Scarlet & The Duke” ‘The Case of Henry Scarlet’ (Pt. 6/6) Eliza’s forensic skills become strained as she gets to the bottom of her father’s death.

11:30AM KITCHEN QUEENS: NEW ORLEANS The series shares recipes and stories from chefs with roots in Creole New Orleans, Louisiana Cajun country, Italy, Vietnam and Latin America.

Pictured: Christie Plaisance of Bouligny Tavern

5:00AM MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD 5:30AM ARTHUR 6AM MOLLY OF DENALI 6:30AM WILD KRATTS 7AM HERO ELEMENTARY 7:30AM XAVIER RIDDLE AND THE SECRET MUSEUM 8AM CURIOUS GEORGE

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11:00AM KEVIN BELTON’S NEW ORLEANS CELEBRATIONS 11:30AM KITCHEN QUEENS: NEW ORLEANS 12:00PM PATI'S MEXICAN TABLE 12:30PM LIDIA'S TABLE

8:30AM LOUISIANA THE STATE WE’RE IN

1:30PM FLY BROTHER WITH ERNEST WHITE II

9:00AM FIRING LINE WITH MARGARET HOOVER

2:00 - 5:00PM VARIOUS PROGRAMAMING

DIAL 12 | January 2019

10pm THE BLACK CHURCH: THIS IS OUR STORY, THIS IS OUR SONG (Pt. 1/2)

23 TUESDAY

9:30AM INFORMED SOURCES 10:00AM VARIOUS PROGRAMMING

8pm THE BLACK CHURCH: THIS IS OUR STORY, THIS IS OUR SONG (Pt. 1/2) Tracing the 400-year-old story of the Black church in America, the two-part series reveals how Black people have worshipped and, through their spiritual journeys, improvised ways to bring their faith traditions from Africa to the New World, while translating them into a form of Christianity that was not only truly their own, but a redemptive force for a nation whose original sin was found in their ancestors’ enslavement across the Middle Passage. In the first episode, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the roots of African American religion beginning with the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the extraordinary ways enslaved Africans preserved and adapted their faith practices from the brutality of slavery to emancipation.

8pm MASTERPIECE “All Creatures Great and Small” (Pt. 7/7) Siegfried hosts a Christmas eve party, with an even bigger event to follow the next day.

Helen accompanies James on an emergency house call.

9:30pm BEYOND THE CANVAS 10pm JAMESTOWN, SEASON 2 (Pt. 7/8) 11pm PROFESSOR T “Motherly Love” (Pt. 9/13)

22 MONDAY 6pm PBS NEWSHOUR 7pm ANTIQUES ROADSHOW “Vintage Spokane” (Hour 1 of 3)

6pm PBS NEWSHOUR 7pm FINDING YOUR ROOTS “Country Roots” Henry Louis Gates, Jr. uncovers the remarkably diverse backgrounds of country music icons Clint Black and Rosanne Cash.

8pm THE BLACK CHURCH: THIS IS OUR STORY, THIS IS OUR SONG (Pt. 2/2) Discover how the Black church expanded its reach to address social inequality and minister to those in need, from the Jim Crow South to the heroic phase of the civil rights movement and the Black church’s role in the present.

10pm THE BLACK CHURCH: THIS IS OUR STORY, THIS IS OUR SONG (Pt. 2/2)

24 WEDNESDAY 6pm PBS NEWSHOUR 7pm NATURE “Equus: Story of the Horse: Chasing the Wind” (Pt. 2/2)

27 SATURDAY 7am ENERGY PARADOX WITH STEVEN GUNDRY, MD

28 SUNDAY

9pm EUROPE’S NEW WILD “Europe’s Amazon” (Pt. 4/4) 10pm NATURE “Equus: Story of the Horse: Chasing the Wind” (Pt. 2/2) 11pm AMANPOUR AND COMPANY

25 THURSDAY 6pm PBS NEWSHOUR 7pm STEPPIN’ OUT 7:30pm BRITISH ANTIQUES ROADSHOW 8pm MASTERPIECE “Poldark, Season 2” (Pt. 6/9) 9pm MASTERPIECE “Poldark, Season 2” (Pt. 7/9) 10pm JAMESTOWN, SEASON 2 (Pt. 8/8) 11pm AMANPOUR AND COMPANY

26 FRIDAY 6pm PBS NEWSHOUR 7pm INFORMED SOURCES 7:30pm LOUISIANA: THE STATE WE’RE IN 8pm WASHINGTON WEEK 8:30pm WALL STREET WRAP-UP WITH ANDRÉ LABORDE 9pm LONGEVITY PARADOX WITH STEVEN GUNDRY, MD 11pm STEPPIN’ OUT

Python's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music, a pivotal moment in the evolution of television humor. Celebrity humorists discuss, laugh and reminisce about various Python segments and bring a fresh perspective to the material, connecting Monty Python's work to today's most successful television humor.

6:30am FOREVER PAINLESS WITH MIRANDA ESMONDE-WHITE 8:30am AGING BACKWARDS 3 WITH MIRANDA ESMONDE-WHITE Did you know that you actually have a choice in how you age, and whether you remain mobile, healthy and pain-free throughout your life? In this program, former ballerina Miranda Esmonde-White uses groundbreaking science to develop a practical six-point plan anyone can use to keep their minds sharp and their bodies active using gentle daily movement.

9:30am KEVIN BELTON’S NEW ORLEANS CELEBRATIONS

8am CLASSICAL REWIND 9:30am INFORMED SOURCES 10am EASY YOGA FOR DIABETES WITH PEGGY CAPPY 11am KEVIN BELTON’S NEW ORLEANS CELEBRATIONS 11:30am KITCHEN QUEENS: NEW ORLEANS

10am KITCHEN QUEENS: NEW ORLEANS 10:30am OVERCOMING ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, TRAUMA AND GRIEF WITH DANIEL AMEN, MD AND TANA AMEN

WYES-TV/CHANNEL 12 PROGRAM GUIDE | FEBRUARY 2021

8pm NOVA “Looking for Life on Mars”

11:30pm AMANPOUR AND COMPANY

12:30pm RICK STEVES ISLAND HOPPING EUROPE 1:00pm RICK STEVES FESTIVE EUROPE 1:30pm EAT YOUR MEDICINE: THE PEGAN DIET WITH MARK HYMAN, MD promotes optimal health by reducing inflammation and balancing blood sugar.

3:30pm SUZE ORMAN’S ULTIMATE RETIREMENT GUIDE 5:30pm LENNON SISTERS: SAME SONG, SEPARATE VOICES A celebration of the Lennon Sisters 55th anniversary in show business and a dazzling journey through the great American songbook of the classic pop hits from the '50s, '60s, '70s and beyond.

7:00pm ANDY WILLIAMS: GREATEST LOVE SONGS

Noon BLACK CHURCH: THIS IS OUR STORY, THIS IS OUR SONG An encore of the twopart series featuring interviews with Oprah Winfrey, John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, Bishop Michael Curry, Cornel West, Pastor Shirley Caesar, Rev. Al Sharpton, Yolanda Adams, Rev. William Barber II, BeBe Winans, Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie and more.

6pm MAGIC MOMENTS: BEST OF 50S POP 8pm BEE GEES: ONE NIGHT ONLY features the group's 1997 concert at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. One of the very few Bee Gees performances ever filmed, the music special showcases many of their greatest disco and pop hits, including “How Deep Is Your Love,” “To Love Somebody,” “Massachusetts," “You Should Be Dancing/ Alone,” and many more.

8:30pm 50 YEARS WITH PETER, PAUL AND MARY

9:30pm EAT YOUR MEDICINE: THE PEGAN DIET WITH MARK HYMAN, MD

10:30pm MONTY PYTHON: A CELEBRATION Monty

11:30pm RICK STEVES ISLAND HOPPING EUROPE

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Lagniappe WYES-TV/CHANNEL 12 PROGRAM GUIDE | FEBRUARY 2021

Business partnerships

WYES’ quality programming and events are brought to you through the generous support of the following businesses and corporations.

To join our list of community-minded groups, contact Jim Tapley at (504) 837-8987, jtapley@ wyes.org or Kerri Blache at (504) 483-8487, kblache@wyes.org.

I want to see the arts continue to flourish because it’s beautiful... and it’s important.

Mailing Address P.O. Box 24026, New Orleans, LA 70184 Web Site wyes.org Questions or Comments info@wyes.org

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Betsy Ashton appreciates the PBS programs that have inspired a new generation of talented people to become artists. She believes PBS shares her values.

That’s why she has decided to leave her PBS station a gift in her will. Please consider including WYES in your will or future plans.

Contact: Robin Cooper 504.486.5511

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STREETCAR

BY E R R O L L ABO R DE

Ashes to Ashes A Season of Ash Wednesdays

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n the morning after Mardi Gras, the streets in the Quarter, particularly those closest to Canal Street, have a crunch to them. City workers with shovels and brooms are busy pushing the debris left from the day before into piles. At first glance the miscellaneous clumps of broken beads, torn costume parts, errant plastic cups and chicken bones are a gooey mess as gushes of water and pine oil are sprayed onto them, but there is also something spiritual in the cleansing.

Ash Wednesday’s message of dust to dust certainly seems appropriate as remnants of yesterday’s celebration deteriorate into grime on the curbs.

A pair of sparkling beads for which many hands grabbed as it flew from a float was quickly reduced to a broken string of bouncing pellets. A plastic cup took several spins before crashing to the street.

A story is told that on Mardi Gras 1960 the police who were assigned to Gallier Hall, where the day’s formal toasts are held, got word that there was disorder down the parade route. Spectators were pushing each other, leaping and diving to the ground because Rex’s float riders were reportedly

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throwing silver dollars. That was the day that doubloons were first introduced to Carnival. They would bounce and roll after reaching the ground as though seeking security in a storm drain. Doubloons introduced a new day in the era of debris accumulation—there was more mess to sweep away, plus it glittered.

For Ash Wednesday to have meaning there must be a period of feasting that precedes it. In the metaphoric sense there has been no feasting in the Carnival of 2021. Fate has mandated instead a different type of mask. There are many rules in place, but rules are contrary to the liberated spirit of Carnival. There has been no debris crunch in the street; instead, we have limped our way through the puddles of a season denied.

If Mardi Gras is a prelude to Ash Wednesday, perhaps a season of Ash Wednesdays can be a prelude to better days.

We will know the moment has arrived when we can again drive down St. Charles Avenue and see beads dangling from oak trees like a new growth of moss. Life will be back to the way that nature intended it.

ARTHUR NEAD ILLUSTRATION