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November/December 2014 • Community Voices Orchestrating Change • Volume 8 Issue 8

Trumpet Awards The 2014 Neighborhoods Partnership Network

Celebrating those neighborhood heroes who help make us

Uniquely New Orleans

Neighborhoods Partnership Network’s (NPN) mission is to improve the quality of life by engaging New Orleanians in neighborhood revitalization and civic process.

Letter From The Executive Director Photo: Kevin Griffin/2Kphoto

NPN provides an inclusive and collaborative city-wide framework to empower neighborhood groups in New Orleans.

Building My FRANKSTEIN

Find Out More at NPNnola.com

NPN Board Members

Timolynn Sams Sumter

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et’s make no mistake about this: The World Class city that New Orleans is known for starts with the neighborhoods. Neighborhoods in New Orleans are the heart, soul and rhythm of the city. Only a fool would think otherwise. It is the neighborhoods where music, food and culture emerge.

These assets have helped to define the relationship and connectivity that would rule the flowing dynamics of New Orleans. These dynamics would dictate everything from where you would go to school from kindergarten to 12th grade to where you purchased your shrimp po-boy or snowball.

I was (and still am) a rebel. I never followed the order of that which was designed for me. Making rules was a waste of your time and those who chose to prescribe such things had too much to do so I usually would play along for the sake of keeping you entertained. From the day I was born I had what my mom calls “a strong will.” I was a drummer with my own beat. I didn’t go to any neighborhood school. In fact my parents lived in our house since I was three and I had no clue what was my neighborhood school. I owned the city and the city owned me. There were no boundaries. I crossed all lines, rivers, avenues, and boulevards. The neutral ground in my world of thinking was a space to be utilized for Mardi Gras parade watching and holding your cars when there was a bad flooding.

And then Katrina happened… I soon learned how important many of these factors such as schools, snowball stands, and shrimp po-boy dressed with ketchup and hot sauce were to the identity of a family and neighborhoods. Immediately after hurricane Katrina when conversations began to circle about how and who would rebuild this centuries old city, only the foolish must have thought they could rebuild New Orleans without the neighborhoods and its greatest asset the people. I only say that they were foolish because the things that made New Orleans great had to be present for the vibrancy of the city to thrive.

When I arrive to the city in 2007 I believe like Victor Frankenstein, I was obsessed with the idea of creating a “quality life” out of apathetic objects and considering how to do so with the little that I had in my own control. Foolishly I thought I was doing a service for my beloved city and those who “needed” me by creating a “new New Orleans” I have later learned that like Dr. Frankenstein, many of us return and gave to New Orleans believing the city had died were in denial about our own death and disconnect of the immorality of New Orleans neighborhoods. The revival of New Orleans neighborhoods where blight and vacant and abandoned houses had to change the rule would essentially mean building a vision for New Orleans that includes neighborhoods as the centerpiece. We must mature and not only have a neighborhood vision that can be articulate by nonprofits, philanthropies, and federal government, but a plan of action that achieves that vision with a broad base of partners inspired by opportunities for the future.

I encourage you as we approach the 10th anniversary of Katrina to get involved. Develop an inventory of neighborhood assets on which the future can be built. This can begin by building each neighborhood on its authentic, distinctive assets.

The legendary writer Mark Twain wrote: “We take stock of a city like we take stock of a man. The clothes or appearance are the externals by which we judge.” Our neighborhoods are our externals, and we need to make sure that their image is a top priority because they are critical to our economic success.

Victor Gordon, Board Chair, Pontilly Neighborhood Association Wendy Laker, Mid-City Neighborhood Organization Tilman Hardy, Leonidas/Pensiontown Neighborhood Association Ryan Albright Karen Chabert, Irish Channel Neighborhood Association Sylvia Scineaux-Richard, ENONAC Katherine Prevost, Upper Ninth Ward Bunny Friend

Neighborhood Association

Third Party Submission Issues Physical submissions on paper, CD, etc. cannot be returned unless an arrangement is made. Submissions may be edited and may be published or otherwise reused in any medium. By submitting any notes, information or material, or otherwise providing any material for publication in the newspaper, you are representing that you are the owner of the material, or are making your submission with the consent of the owner of the material, all information you provide is true, accurate, current and complete.

Non-Liability Disclaimers The Trumpet may contain facts, views, opinions, statements and recommendations of third party individuals and organizations.

The Trumpet does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other information in the publication and use of or reliance on such advice, opinion, statement or other information is at your own risk.

Copyright © 2014 Neighborhoods Partnership Network. All Rights Reserved.

Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of any of the contents of this service without the express written consent of Neighborhoods Partnership Network is expressly prohibited.

Timolynn Sams Sumter

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N E I G H B O R H O O D S

P A R T N E R S H I P

N E T W O R K

Contents

The Trumpet

6 Does Your Community “Walk the Walk?”

7 Navigate Her: Bridging the Generation Gap 8 2014 OPEAs Highlight Education Excellence 30 Citywide Neighborhood Meetings Neighborhoods Partnership Network 13 2014 Trumpet Awards

activist believed in the power of 11 Teen foood justice ad gardens

Month 16 Neighborhoods Community Calendar of Events

The Trumpet Editorial Board

Rachel D. Graham, Editor-in-Chief

Christy Chapman, Author

Scott Bicking, Art Director

Heidi Hickman, Resident

CeCe Gets 20 Thoughts from The Champ Marcus McDaniel

The Trumpet Editorial Staff

Jewel Bush, SEIU Local 21 LA Kelsey Foster, Committee for A Better New Orleans

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2014 Trumpet Awardee Portraits by Kevin Griffin, 2K PHOTO NOLA Photography & Graphics

Elton Jones, New Orleans Rising Naomi King Englar, Tulane Prevention Research Center Linedda McIver, AARP Louisiana Ray Nichols, Maple Area Residents, Inc. Brian Opert, Talk Show Host, WGSO 990 AM Valerie Robinson, Old Algiers Main Street Corporation

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3321 Tulane Avenue New Orleans, LA 70119 504.940.2207 • FX 504.940.2208 thetrumpet@npnnola.com www.npnnola.com

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THE POWER of the Neighborhoods Partnership Network (NPN) lies within a solid foundation of diverse Members all working together to improve the quality of life New Orleans. Join NPN today to plug into that power and to take advantage of all the benefits of membership.

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Opportunities to serve on NPN committees Exclusive Member-level profile on the NEW NPN Website.

This includes the ability to post events and news.

Invitations to exclusive Membership events.

Monthly members-only email One year subscription to The NPN Trumpet bi-monthly magazine NPN Best Practices Binder filled with more 100 valuable resources Access to the Civic Community Hub and Resource Library 20 percent discount on print and digital advertising Recognition as a new member in monthly members-only email Recognition in 2014 Annual Report

Visit www.npnnola.com/npnnola_members to PLUG INTO THE POWER TODAY.

SCAN TO PLUG INTO THE POWER TODAY!

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HAVE QUESTIONS? GIVE US A CALL! 504-940-2207

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Does Your Community “Walk the Walk”?

Five Easy Steps for Evaluating Your Neighborhood’s Walkability

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By Amy Levner, Manager, Housing and Mobility Options, AARP Education & Outreach

he difference between breaking and keeping those New Year’s resolutions can be as simple as a pair of walking shoes.

After driving, walking is the most popular means of travel in the United States. It’s easy, cheap and gentle on the body and environment.

Doctors recommend adults engage in physical exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, five or more times a week, to maintain and improve health.

But how walkable is your neighborhood? Too many communities are designed for car travel, with little consideration given to the needs of walkers.

Sidewalks that are too close to roads, not well maintained -- or even missing altogether -- are all factors that discourage people from walking regularly.

So, before you lace up and head out on your walk, do a quick survey of your neighborhood’s walkability. To begin, it’s as simple as answering the following five questions:

Do you have room to walk?

• Are there existing sidewalks, paths or shoulders?

• Do you have sidewalks that are blocked, broken or cracked?

• Do the sidewalks start and stop in a way that makes it difficult to walk uninterrupted?

Is it easy to cross the streets?

• Is the road too wide?

• Are there crosswalks and traffic signals?

• Are the traffic signals timed incorrectly (i.e., do they make you wait too long or do they not give you enough time to cross)?

• Is your view of traffic blocked by parked cars, trees or plants?

• Are curb cuts missing or in need of repair?

Do the drivers behave well?

• Do drivers back into streets without looking?

• Do they watch for and yield to pedestrians? (Drivers who cut in front of pedestrians in a crosswalk unwittingly put the pedestrian in a blind spot for other drivers.)

• Do they drive too fast?

• Do drivers stop too close to crosswalks?

Is it easy to follow safety rules?

• Can you cross at crosswalks or in areas where you can see and be seen?

• Can you walk on sidewalks or shoulders facing traffic?

Is your walk pleasant?

• Is it well-lit?

• Is the area dirty, littered or polluted?

• Is there lots of traffic?

• Are there resting places?

If you see anything that needs improvement, take action. Tools including AARP’s Create the Good “Sidewalks and Streets Survey” (createthegood.org) or Walk Score (www.walkscore.com), provide more comprehensive assessments of your community’s walkability and suggest ways to improve its walk score. The pay-off is worth the effort. Neighborhoods with higher “walk scores” tend to have less traffic and pollution, higher property values, and residents who are healthier and have more social interaction with their neighbors. Plus, the more you walk, the better you’ll feel!

Amy Levner is the Manager of Housing and Mobility Options at AARP. She leads the Association’s educational and outreach efforts related to housing options, including universal design and living in place, as well as broader mobility options, including expanding transportation choices for older Americans.

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While the more mature (in age) interviewees candidly chronicle their experiences by revealing some of their lives’ most vulnerable and defining moments, and sharing how they found strength and purpose within these moments, the young women reflect on their childhood expectations for their lives as a young adult, and explore whether or not their 4th grade self would be proud of the women that they have become. The high-school students discuss their hopes and dreams for the future and identify both assets and barriers to attaining those dreams. The 4th grade students reflect on self-identified assets that keep them encouraged and focused on their short and long term goals.

The documentary also features a three part narration which pays homage to the black women whose shoulders current generations stand upon, and provides viewers with historical context around black feminist theory, the history of black women’s contributions to the city of New Orleans, and historically negative stereotypes of black women perpetuated throughout the media.

The documentary was premiered at the historic Joy Theater, located in downtown New Orleans, on June 5, 2014. The premiere attracted approximately 400 guests.

Documentary seeks to bridge the generation gap amongst Black women

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avigate Her: An Intergenerational Conversation Among AfricanAmerican Women in New Orleans is a project of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. The 79 minute documentary is comprised of 33 interviews of African-American women across varying generations, ranging from the tender age of 3 to the more mature mid to late 60’s age category, living in and/or born and raised in New Orleans.

Post premiere, Navigate Her lives on. The Executive Producer and Writer of the film, a local social worker and public health practitioner, Danielle Wright, cultivated The Navigate Her Leadership Institute, as a call to response to the young girls that were inspired by the women in the film. The Navigate Her Leadership Institute (NHLI), is an African-American Female Youth Leadership Training Academy. NHLI seeks to bridge the transgenerational leadership gap that exists in the African-American community among adolescent girls, young women and more mature women. The goal of the youth leadership academy is to: 1.) to promote the positive portrayal of African-American Women in New Orleans, 2.) to provide African-American girls, in the city of New Orleans, with positive adult role models, and 3.) to facilitate the engagement of AfricanAmerican women in New Orleans cultivating the leadership of African-American adolescent girls in the city.

NHLI currently works with a cohort of 15 adolescent girls at Joseph S. Clark high-school. The group meets once per week with the program director and engages in larger scale cultural, historic, service, and civic engagement activities once per month. Partnering organizations in support of the Navigate Her Leadership Institute include The African-American Women of Purpose and Power, Links, Inc, Crescent City Chapter, The Orchid Society and Le Musee de f.p.c.

The Navigate Her team is preparing for the second screening of the documentary. The screening will be held at Dillard University’s PSB Auditorium on November 6th, 2014. The screening will be followed by an intergenerational panel, moderated by local news anchor Camille Whitworth.

For more information on Navigate Her or the Navigate Her Leadership Institute, please visit our website at www.navigatenola.com or email Danielle Wright at navigateher1@gmail.com.

Navigate Her provides viewers with an untold history of the black women of New Orleans, by interlocking the innocent and tender experiences of young children with a certain gravitas of inherent wisdom from the more mature generation. The film seeks to bridge the gap that exists among black women across varying generations through the connection of shared experiences.

Through these shared experiences, the documentary counters many of the negative historical stereotypes of African-American women by revealing the realistic accomplishments of the women being interviewed.

The cast features President of the Urban League of Greater New Orleans, Erika McConduit-Diggs; Environmental Justice scholar Dr. Beverly Wright; WDSU News Anchor Camille Whitworth; Dillard University’s Vice President for Student Success, Dr. Toya Barnes Teamer; 4th grade students from Lawrence D. Crocker College Prep; Link Restaurant Group Director of Events Brandy Trepagnier; President and CEO of ILSI Engineering Iam Tucker; and a host of local treasures.

The film also features members from two local civic and service organizations, African-American Women of Purpose and Power (AAWPP) and The Orchid Society.

Students from Lawrence D. Crocker College Prep and stars of Navigate Her arrive at the June 5, 2014 premier. Photo courtesy Danielle Wright

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OPEN Public Education Awards Highlight Excellence in Schools November 15th Awards honor individuals and organizations who have made a measurable, long-lasting impact on New Orleans youth

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By Deirdre Johnson Burel and Julia Ramsey, Orleans Public Education Network

n November 15, 2014, New Orleans unifies to pay tribute to the best and brightest working to support our youth. The OPEN Public Education Awards (OPEAs) commemorate educators, schools and community organizations who have achieved data-backed success in improving outcomes for the students of New Orleans. Together, the education, business, and civic communities will stand as one to honor the past, celebrate the present, and look forward to a bright future in our school system.

The 2014 Honorees OPEN is proud to present the 2014 OPEA school winners Edward Hynes Charter School, Warren Easton High School, McDonogh #32 Literacy Charter School, and Alice Harte Charter School.

In addition to celebrating work being done present, the OPEAs also honor the accomplishments of the past. Two very special New Orleanians are picked as premier awardees, exemplary figures of the promise of public education.

Why a Public Education Awards?

In 2010, many parents and community members were asking ‘What does excellence look like?’ OPEN set out to answer this question and help bring citizens to the front lines to see change in action. The organization looked to and adopted the framework employed in the Effective Schools Research: the Correlates of Effective Schools. We then analyzed achievement data and visited the topperforming schools to get a feel for which were following most closely to these Correlates during the OPEN Goes To School project.

During the process, we saw amazing work in progress and knew that the stories of these organizations and their educators had to be told. We took the first step in producing FOCUS ON SUCCESS, a mini-documentary taking the viewer inside of great schools to see their work in action. While this was a necessary step, it was still not sufficient. We knew that the community deserved a leading indicator of success that takes us past the test score.

At their essence, the OPEAs are about highlighting the story of effective schools and holding up exemplars that are achieving excellence or are on the road it. At such a critical time in public education, it important to draw a firm line in the sand in defining excellence and pointing to clear examples and the criteria on how to identify it.

Creating a Platform Worthy of our Educators: Education’s Unifying Night There is amazing work happening in New Orleans schools, and particularly among the city’s exemplars. The OPEA’s were created to connect what we’d learned in the research and site visits with the rich history of public education in this city and its graduates, and provide a much deserved platform to let our best educators shine, A night when their work could be celebrated by the city’s public, business, and civic leadership. Moreover, this event is the one night we stand as a unified community in support of educators.

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2014 OPEA Award Winners Absolute Achievement Correlates Award, Elementary School Edward Hynes Charter School

Absolute Achievement Correlates Award, High School Warren Easton High School

Fast Growth Correlates Award, Elementary School McDonogh #32 Literacy Charter School

Teacher Quality Award

Alice Harte Charter School

Enduring Impact Award

Ms. Mary Haynes-Smith, Principal Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary

Distinguished Product of New Orleans Public Schools

Hon. James “Jim” Singleton, Chairman, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority

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member of the New Orleans community since his family’s arrival in 1948.

He went on to serve the city of New Orleans in a wide variety of capacities, eventually becoming the namesake of the James M. Singleton Charter School in Central City.

Since retiring from politics, Jim continues his work in the community.

His voice and wise counsel are constantly sought out to resolve disputes and to bring fairness and equity to situations involving the underserved and disenfranchised.

Also joining on this special evening is Honorary Chairman Dr. Norman Francis, former President of Xavier University. Dr. Tracy Crear of Smiling Faces Family Dentistry serves alongside him as Honorary Chairwoman.

Photo by Ashley Lorraine

The first of these awards is the Enduring Impact award, given to an educator who has done an exemplary job of motivating students, enriching their community, and creating a lasting legacy of change. 2014 Enduring Impact educator Mary Haynes-Smith has led the charge for over 25 years in inspiring, developing, and enhancing the lives of New Orleans public school children.

Mrs. Smith’s educational path began in the New Orleans Public School System, where she eventually graduated from Joseph S. Clark High School. Under her leadership as the principal, Stuart R. Bradley (pre-Katrina) made continuous academic growth. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina interrupted the city of New Orleans, the education system, and Mrs. Smith’s career. Quoted in the September 6th edition of the American School Board Journal, “Her take charge attitude served her well as she assembled employees strewn across the country and convinced them to return to uncertainty and lead them to reopen one of the city’s first district run schools post-Katrina, displaying her tenacity for perseverance.”

The Distinguished Product of New Orleans Public Schools award celebrates a local public school graduate who has made a demonstrable impact within his or her field. That certainly describes the storied career of James “Jim” Singleton, former City Councilman and Chair of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority.

Born August 10, 1933 in Hazelhurst, MS, James Singleton has been a dedicated

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How Are the Correlate Winners Selected?

Correlates awards are determined by examining three years’ worth of LEAP, iLEAP, and EOC test scores. After the finalists in two categories — Absolute Achievement and Fast Growth in student success — are narrowed down, trained evaluators conduct site visits to get a feel for the culture and atmosphere of the school.

The Teacher Quality Award requires at least 50% of the teachers of a school to fill out a survey indicating their satisfaction with the organization’s working conditions, professional development, and more. The award celebrates a school whose success in anchored in the value of the teaching profession, and the art and science of effective instruction.

No high school met the qualifications for the Fast Growth Award, which identifies schools with a 50% or greater growth in students performing at Basic level on the LEAP, iLEAP, and EOC exams.

Through quantitative data analysis combined with qualitative attributes of culture, spirit and dedication, the OPEAs help build a collective understanding of what excellence in education embodies beyond test scores.

More information about the awards, including full honoree biographies, can be found at www.opennola.org. Tickets and tables to the 2014 OPEAs are available at openpubliceducationawards2014.eventbrite.com.

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Teen killed in New Orleans believed in the power of food justice and gardens

By Brentin Mock, www.grist.org Reprinted with permission from author from original blog posted to www.grist.org on October 22, 2014. Photo courtesy Brentin Mock

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met George Carter when he was 10 years old, at a banquet where his organization, Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools*, was receiving an award.

The “Rethinkers” are young people who came together in 2006, after Hurricane Katrina, to ensure that students’ voices would be heard in the rebuilding of public schools. George joined when he was just 8 years old, following his older sisters and brothers who were leading the Rethink cause. He was the youngest of the group, and hence was dubbed a “Pre-Thinker.”

His thoughts helped mold the organization, which took on school administrations by demanding healthier foods for school lunches and safer learning environments. He loved gardens. He believed they could be a calming presence for young students, especially those recovering from the most traumatic storm disaster the U.S. has known. His thought seeds grew into the kind of ideas and projects that helped earn Rethink an award that night on Oct. 25, 2009.

After the banquet, he posed with his friends holding the plaque and then pranced around the room gathering roses from each table’s centerpiece arrangement. He told me that he was going to be a biologist when he grew up.

He decorated himself with the roses and asked me to take pictures of him.

Today, there’s another picture of him I can’t get out of my head, though. It shows George’s body lying on the ground, partially obscured by a cop car. Police around him are scribbling notes.

George was found dead from gunshot wounds yesterday morning. He was 15. His killing was added to an obscene murder count in New Orleans that I find no value in enumerating here. Suffice to say that it is high. Another black life was ended before it could reach its potential.

I’m not writing about George to say he was some exceptional young man.

Hundreds of black teenagers and young adults have been killed in New Orleans over the years, and all of their lives matter, whether they were drug dealers or burgeoning biologists. Two women were found dead in New Orleans within 24 hours of George’s death, and I’m as saddened by their killings as I am of George’s.

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Many people were shot and killed in the four years I lived there, some of whom I knew personally, but all of them equally heart-breaking.

But I want to tell you about George, because his ideas about the transformative energy of gardens needs to live on.

This is George sharing his garden theory, when he was just in fourth grade: To me I think all schools should have gardens because you can use the plants, and plants give you oxygen. I like to go out in the garden because it calms me down. … If you just had a fight, you can just go in the garden, calm down, eat some strawberries, and you’ll feel safe because you’ll be around nature. And nature, it won’t hurt you.

“This insight was one of the first that connected the idea of school gardens and fresh food to school to the prevention of school violence,” said Jane Wholey, one of Rethink’s founders.

While supplying school students with fresh fruit sounds like common sense, it wasn’t the practice in New Orleans schools (nor in many other schools across America). One of the primary ways that George and the Rethinkers thought they could reform schools was to convince them to provide healthier lunch options.

So they did their own study. In 2010, the Rethinkers — aged 10 to 17 — visited various schools across the city, surveying students about their feelings about their school lunches. To little surprise, they found that most kids found their lunch disgusting.

Next step: The Rethinkers stepped to Aramark, the company contracted to provide food for the schools’ lunch programs. George was part of a round of negotiations that led to Aramark agreeing to purchase locally grown fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish for school lunches. No more of the canned, processed stuff. Aramark signed and sealed this contract in 2011, during a press conference organized and coordinated by the Rethinkers themselves. It was hosted at the Hollygrove Farmers Market, and for their guests — a packed room — they served strawberries.

(Continued on Page 12)

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This was all captured in the HBO documentary, The Great Cafeteria Takeover, which is part of its “The Weight of the Nation” series on obesity.

The kids’ logic, as expressed by Rethinker Ashley Triggs in the film: “When people don’t eat, they act out. When they act out, they get in trouble. When they get in trouble, they get suspended, so they need to eat.”

Companies like Aramark had gotten away with providing cheap, processed foods to schools for so long because no one had challenged them on it. Its bottom line did not figure in kids acting out and getting suspended. This macroeconomics lesson was explained by George’s older brother Vernard Carter, another Rethink co-founder, in the doc: People are putting money before people’s lives and thinking that as long as they have money they’re OK. That makes me wonder what is going on with the world? Why are people leaning towards more of these beliefs? Why aren’t they leaning more towards humane ideals that keeps the human population flourishing and keeps us going?

These were thoughts and values that circulated within the Carter family.

They did not arrive at this academically. George’s older brother Victor and sister Victoria were recently the first in their family to go to college. And yet academics have drawn the same conclusions. A study last year from Joan Luby, a researcher from Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, found that: The effects of poverty on hippocampal development are mediated through caregiving and stressful life events further underscores the importance of high-quality early childhood caregiving, a task that can be achieved through parenting education and support, as well as through preschool programs that provide high-quality supplementary caregiving and safe haven to vulnerable young children.

George didn’t need an empirical study to understand this, though. He was connecting these dots in elementary school. His thoughts on these matters continued to evolve.

In 2012, George sat on a panel for a conference called “Root Of It All: The State of Mental Health of New Orleans’ Youth,” which was sponsored in

part by the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. MSNBC TV news host Melissa Harris-Perry was one of the keynote speakers. When George spoke, he emphasized the stressful environment of schools in his city.

Compounding that were the new mandatory standardized tests, which George and his peers found inflexible if not counterproductive to their educational pursuits.

Said George, “If I get stressed I won’t be able to do my work, if I don’t do my work, I’ll probably flunk a class or drop out of school. If I drop out of school I’ll be on the streets. If I’m on the streets I’m gonna be homeless, dead, or in prison.”

He told the conference that New Orleans schools needs support teams in the classrooms that can help with tutoring and serving the students “healthy snacks” throughout the day, because — you know, “when people don’t eat, they act out. …”

“Students and teachers should work together to make the environment healthier,” said George, his voice deeper and more confident than when I first met him at the awards banquet.

As George aged, his interests expanded from biology and gardens to architecture, law, and justice. He started an internship this year through his school with the Capital Post-Conviction Project of Louisiana, which provides legal defense for people who’ve been sentenced to death. His first day was Monday. He was killed before he could make it to his second day. As of this writing, the police have no suspects or motives. According to nola.com he was found on a “narrow street bordered by a fenced-in field on one side and overgrown trees, weeds, and vegetation on the other.”

“I’m afraid to walk down this street,” a woman told the reporter. “The streetlights don’t work, the city don’t cut this. … They could just snatch you and pull you into the bushes.”

The city could honor George’s legacy by converting those bushes into a garden, perhaps with strawberries.

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They are natives and transplants. Elected officials and constituents. Children and elders. Men. Women. Veteran organizers and new organizations. Mothers and even a Son of Saint. They come from all walks of life - from every part of the City of New Orleans - all using their passion, resources and commitment to improve the quality of life in the place we call home. Each plays their part in making us Uniquely New Orleans. And for that, they truly deserve to be celebrated. Without further fanfare meet the winners of ...

The 2014 Neighborhoods Partnership Network

Trumpet Awards THE TRUMPET | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER | 2014

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Kara Lynn Morgan (posthumously) The 2014 Trumpet Awards

Model Citizen

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ara Lynn Morgan served her neighborhoods, her city and, ultimately her state, tirelessly, even as she worked full-time and was a mother and partner. A natural-born organizer and peacemaker, she gave of herself in many ways but children were her focus.

Beginning with her work on the Irish Channel Neighborhood Association’s (ICNA) Youth Outreach Committee - which organized the Irish Channel Basketball League, the success of which enticed NORD to bring organized team sports back to the kids in the Irish - and continuing through her presidency of the association, she was instrumental in making the Channel a better place to live. If it needed to be done, Kara would see that it was done, or would do it herself; everything from cooking and selling hot dogs and snacks at park events at both Burke Park and the Lyons Center, to working on neighborhood safety concerns, to negotiating friendly neighborhood agreements between businesses and residents, to keeping pressure on city government. It was no surprise to anyone who knew her when she did not let her diagnosis of advanced Stage IV melanoma in February 2013 stop her. She immediately began advocating for awareness of sun exposure, culminating with her testimony before the 2014 Louisiana Legislature in support of a bill to ban minors from sun tanning palors. Just weeks before her death this year she attended the signing of the bill into law. In fact, she served her community right up till the last few days of her tooshort like, when as President of the Irish Channel Neighborhood Association she contined to discuss neighborhood isses and plan strategy with members of the association board - from her hospice bed. One of her final acts was to request that, in lieu of flowers for her funeral a fund be set up to build share structures at the Lyons Center and Burke Park to reduce the risks of sun exposure to children.

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State Representative Wesley T. Bishop The 2014 Trumpet Awards

Elected Official Neighborhood Hero

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tate Representative Wesley T. Bishop (Democrat, District 99) has served his constituents in the Bywater, Desire, Holy Cross, Lower Ninth Ward, St. Claude and St. Roch neighborhoods and parts of New Orleans East since 2011. Recently recognized as the 2014 Legislator of the Year by the Alliance for Good Government, Rep. Bishop is respected for the energy, activism and responsiveness he brings to his position. He recently worked with 2014 Trumpet Best Neighborhood Makeover Award winner Vanessa Gueringer of A Community Voice to author legislation to give first priority to current and legacy residents in the sale of blighted, vacant lots in the Lower Ninth Ward available for $100. Owners commit to maintain or build on the properties.

A native of New Orleans, Rep. Bishop serves as Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO).

In this capacity, he is the youngest senior level administrator and Chancellor’s cabinet member in the history of the university. An advocate for Historically Black Colleges/Universities and a tenured professor of Criminal Justice, Wesley quickly rose through the ranks to become the youngest Program Director, Department Chair and Graduate School Dean at the institution. At age 29, Wesley served on the Board of Directors for the New Orleans International Airport - making him the youngest airport commissioner in the country.

Representative Bishop currently serves on the Appropriation; Education; and Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs Committees as well as the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.

THE TRUMPET | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER | 2014

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2014 Neighborhoods

Community

2 New Zion Baptist Church Annual Women’s Day Celebration 2319 Third Street 10:55 am

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Standing in the Shadows (No More) Ashe Cultural Arts Center 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.

6 to 8 p.m. (Through Nov. 25)

Glassbaby Glass Roots Tour Benefitting LA SPCA Esplanade Studio 4 to 7 p.m.

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Treme Creole Gumbo Festival Dedication and Blessing of Hibernian Memorial Park Lakeview Neighborhood 1 to 4 p.m.

Guantanamo Public Memory Project Ashe Cultural Arts Center (Nov. 5 through Nov. 20)

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23 Oak Street Po Boy Festival Oak Street at S. Carrollton Avenue 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

24 Thinkerkids Holiday Camp Thinkerella 8218 Maple Street 9 a.m. to Noon

VETERANS DAY

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Brain Food: The Dillard University President’s Lecture Series Presents Misty Copeland Georges Auditorium 7 p.m.

Roundtable featuring P.3 artist Tameka Norris The Orange Couch, Royal & Spain 7 p.m.

Wole Soyinkas The Lion and The Jewel Dillard University Cook Theatre 3 p.m.

(Also on Nov. 7,8, 14 & 15 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 23 at 2 p.m.)

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ELECTION DAY!

Lady Fest New Orlea (Through Nov. 9)

Art by Yasmina Reza Playhouse NOLA, 32 8 p.m.

Kinder Garden: Creepy Crawlies in th Longue Vue House a 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. (No Dishcrawl Magazine Wednesday Edition Magazine Street 7 to 9 p.m.

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“Organ and Labyrinth” and Candlelight with Albinas Prizgintas Trinity Episcopal Church 1329 Jackson Avenue 6 p.m.

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New Orleans Fring City-wide Location (Through Nov. 23)

Business of the Futur A U.S. Black Chambe Series co-sponsored Classic Hyatt Regency Hotel Registration - 7 a.m.

30 LUNA Fête Gallier Hall 545 St. Charles Avenue 7 & 7:30 p.m.

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THE TRUMPET | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER | 2014

s Month

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a 214 Burgundy

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Get Fired Up for Kingsley House with Kermit Ruffins 1600 Constance Street 7 p.m.

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re er & NORBCC

by The Bayou

Boesman and Lena

by Athol Fugard Ashe Cultural Arts Center 8 p.m.

(Also on Nov. 14 & 16, 19-23 )

Words and Music Festival (Through Nov. 24)

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NOAC Turkey Day Race City Park 8:30 a.m.

Bayou Classic Smoke-Free Thanksgiving Day Parade Mercedes Benz Superdome 8:30 a.m.

THE TRUMPET | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER | 2014

7 2014 NPN Trumpet Awards Tulane City Center 6 p.m.

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Gomela to Return: Movement of our Mother Tongue McKenna Museum of African American Art 2003 Carondolet Street 4 p.m.

(Also on Nov. 14, 15 & 20 -21)

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Celebration in the Oaks City Park 6 to 10 p.m.

(Through Jan. 1, 2015) 2014 Battle of the Bands Mercedes Benz Superdome 6 p.m.

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2014 Neighborhoods Summit Dillard University 9 a.m.

Irish Fest NOLA Kingsley House 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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Central City Fest Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. at Euterpe

OPEN Public Education Awards Harrah’s New Orleans Casino Theater 228 Poydras Street 7 p.m.

21 Xavier University Young Alumni 40 Under 40 Awards Xavier University Ballroom 6 p.m.

French Tree Lighting Ceremony Washington Artillery Park 5 to 7 p.m.

THANKSGIVING

1st Annual Delachaise - Calvary Community Health Fair Cohen College Prep 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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International Irish Famine Commemoration (Through Nov. 8) Family P.3 Reads NOPL Children’s Resource Center 913 Napoleon Avenue 5 to 6 p.m.

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22 The Ogden Museum of Southern Art Presents Free Family Day Inspired by Basquiat 925 Camp Street 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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29 Bayou Classic Fan Fest Presented by Cox Louisiana Champions Square 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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Ashé Cultural Arts Center The 2014 Trumpet Awards

Best Neighborhood-based Initiative Addressing a City-wide Public Policy Issue

Photograph Credit: Mary Crooks

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shé Cultural Arts Center is an initiative of Efforts of Grace, Inc., a not-for-profit organization that creates and supports programs, activities and creative works emphasizing the contributions of people of African descent. Under the watchful eye of co-founder and executive director Carol Bebelle, Ashé has been serving Central City New Orleans and the broader cultural community in the City of New Orleans since 1998. The building houses two halls and twenty-nine apartments. In addition, Ashé has established an incommunity facility called Redd House in memory of its co-founder Douglas Redd. Ashé also has several other innovative programs and projects in various stages of development. All of these endeavors are designed to utilize culture to foster human development, civic engagement and economic justice in the African-American community.

More than just a cultural performance venue and ground zero for the renaissance of the historic Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard, Ashé spearheads the concerns of culturalbearers and their ability to realize an equitable share of the $11 billion in culture and tourism spending city officials expect by the Tri-Centennial in 2018. As an outgrowth of concerns raised during its 2014 Douglas Redd Cultural Summit, Ashé has tailored its Side-by-Side initiative to help artists take a business approach to their craft and be well positioned to capture their share of revenues.

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THE TRUMPET | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER | 2014

Sylvia Scineaux-Richard &

Urban League of Greater New Orleans Women’s Business Resource Center The 2014 Trumpet Awards

Good Neighbor to Neighborhoods Co-Awardees

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ylvia Scineaux-Richard has been a tireless advocate for her fellow residents as either the Vice President or in her current role of President of the Eastern New Orleans Neighborhood Advisory Commission (ENONAC) since its founding seven years. She heads this state-mandated organization comprised of leaders from more than 30 different subdivisions that seeks to aid the community in managing the inevitable growth of New Orleans East. As President of ENONAC and a concerned citizen, Sylvia has always given her all, no matter the end results, going above and beyond to serve the Eastern New Orleans Community. She starts her day very early and ends it very late (seven days a week), many times sacrificing her own health and job to do the things that are necessary to make our community a better place for all who live and work here. She attends meetings wherever necessary. From Baton Rouge to New Orleans City Hall to the State Capital; from Presidents of Corporations to the neighborhoods in Pines Village, Kenilworth, Eastover or Lake Carmel, Sylvia is on the job. She attends meetings; writes letters; makes phone calls; attends funerals, baby shower and weddings; visits the sick; cut ribbons, and chairs fundraisers, health fairs, Christmas giveaways and many other community affairs. There is no end to the personal sacrifices she has made. All for the love of others; all as a volunteer (often using her own money); and all for the betterment of neighborhoods of New Orleans East.

THE TRUMPET | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER | 2014

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ountless women and minority entrepreneurs throughout the Greater New Orleans area can point to a single source for the support and assistance they needed to successfully make it in business: the Urban League of Greater New Orleans Women’s Business Resource Center.

As the only certified SBA women’s business resource center in the state, the WBRC works in eight parishes providing an array of business services and products. From its monthly Entrepreneurship Bootcamp to hands-on business advisor services, technical assistance and support of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Initiative, the Urban League WBRC is the eptimoe of a Good Neighbor to startup business and for the regional economic development landscape as a whole.

The WBRC recently stepped into the entrepreneur accelerator competition arena with its Women-In-Business Challenge. The program encompasses business growth education, individualized consulting, mentorship and business pitch presentation assistance. Finalists go on to participate in a pitch competition held during New Orleans Entrepreneurship Week for the chance to win $10,000.

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Household of Faith Family Worship Church Int’l.

The 2014 Trumpet Awards

Best Faith-based Initiative

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ousehold of Faith Family Worship Church International has been serving the community since 1995 under the leadership of Pastor Antoine Barriere. Beginning in the heart of one of the community’s more impoverished housing developments - the St. Thomas Housing Project - Household of Faith has been committed to showing God’s love to all mankind. It leads weekly Wednesday Mission Outreach service which clothes and feeds the homeless. The church’s numerous annual Mission Outreaches - including W.O.W. Jam where the church partners with other organizations to reach hundreds of souls and its annual biker blessing touching motorcyclists from all walks of life - all make for a better community. One of its most ambitious initiatives has been the City United in Prayer. On the first day of every month, hundreds of New Orleanians gather at 6am at the Mercedes Benz Superdome. Pastor Barriere and other spiritual leaders pray for a murder-free city, safer streets, better schools, economic development and fair criminal justice system. The believe is faith can work to improve the quality of life for all residents.

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THE TRUMPET | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER | 2014

Son of A Saint Foundation The 2014 Trumpet Awards

Best Youth Group

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ounded by Bivin ”Sonny” Lee, III in 2011, the mission of the Son of A Saint Foundation is to enhance the lives of fatherless males through mentorship, education, mental health and recreational access. The organization’s name and work is inspired Sonny’s own experience growing up with a single mother after his father, Saints’ cornerback Bivian Lee, Jr., passed away at the age of 36 from a heart attack.

Each year, Son of a Saint selects ten boys to join the existing mentees in the program. The boys are without their fathers as a result of incarceration or death, entering the program between the ages of 10 and 13 years old. They remain members of the group until they receive their college acceptance letter. As of October 2014, Son of a Saint had 30 enrollees and is accepting applications for its 2015 enrollee class. One of the biggest challenges some of Son of Saints boys face relates to self-confidence, anger and feelings of abandonment. To help the mentees navigate these emotions, the organization partners with Loving Hearts Social Services of New Orleans and other mental health agencies to provide evaluations and ongoing counseling for the boys.

In its first three years, Son of a Saint has focused on a group mentoring approach. Day-long sessions are held once a month and are designed to aid in the academic, personal and overall development of Son of A Saint mentees. Sessions are held at local colleges in order to expose the mentees to that environment and help them realize that higher education is an attainable goal and worthy of aspiration. Topics of mentorship sessions have included etiquette, time management, decision-making skills, critical thinking, anger management, moral reasoning, life skills training, work ethic, leadership, civic responsibility, teamwork and integrity. A cadre of volunteer mentors attends each session. The relationships the boys build with the volunteers are developed over a long period of time, and the mentors provide consistent support, guidance and encouragement. Additionally, mentorship teams attend various events around the city - either one on one or in various groups. Events include, sports, educational trips, movies, dining, parades and more. Starting in 2015, the organization’s focus will shift to include increased one-on-one mentoring.

THE TRUMPET | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER | 2014

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Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools The 2014 Trumpet Awards

Best Education Advocate Co-Awardee

K

ids Rethink New Orleans Schools is a youth organizing and leadership development organization that uses participatory education and action research to build the organizing and leadership skills of New Orleans youth. Its mission is to support young people in becoming thoughtful and capable leaders through the process of rethinking their experiences in their own school communities and taking action to make systemic improvements. What’s most intriguing about this organization is that it was actually founded by kids.

Rethink coordinates three flagship programs as vehicles for youth organizing and youth leadership development. The SUMMER LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE is a five-week arts based intensive that explores the deep connections between art, agency and justice and is geared toward building a collective vision for schools in New Orleans. RETHINK CLUBS are compromised of youth ages 10 through 14 who are challenged to think critically about and become engaged in the world they know best: their own school. Rethinkers build leadership skills and critical analysis through exploration of the conditions in their own school during weekly after school meetings. In the RETHINK ORGANIZING COLLECTIVE, youths and young adults aged 15 to 21 deepen their leadership and organizing skills through further exploration of privilege, power and oppression and its far reaching impact on social, political and systemic levels. Rethinkers discover new ways to act to make systemic changes.

At the foundation of all Rethink activities is an intentional Rethink culture that is based on the core philosophy of “power among” not “power over.” This is practiced daily through the Rethink Circle. Based on Native American and African meeting protocols and customs, the Rethink Circle invites all members, no matter their age or status, to conduct daily business by sitting face-to-face in a circle of chairs, and offering their thoughts in turn. Through this simple, yet profound process, Rethinkers learn respect, equality and the twin arts of deep listening and articulate communication.

The Rethinkers recently lost one of their founding members, 15-year-old George Carter, to one of the primary concerns facing youth in New Orleans today, gun violence; further punctating the need for organizations like Kids Rethink to bring about necessary changes in our community.

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THE TRUMPET | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER | 2014

Eric Jensen

The 2014 Trumpet Awards

Best Education Advocate Co-Awardee

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ric Jensen currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Partnership for Youth Development, a youth development intermediary in New Orleans. Eric joined the Partnership for Youth Development in January 2009 as the Director of Youth Engagement. Eric has a profound experience in authentic youth engagement and out of school time strategies. He has primarily focused on methods of engagement and increasing quality associated with youth enrichment models.

He is currently managing PYD’s collective impact youth system, YOUTHSHIGHT an initiative to improve youth outcomes to ensure that all young people in New Orleans are successful and thriving. This initiative serves as a guide for public and private leaders to inform youth related policies and investments made across that city. YouthShift offers an opportunity to affirm a shared vision for the future, an assessment of current resources and needs, and a roadmap for moving forward. initiative, a city-wide initiative that brings together service providers, governmental agencies, scientists/researchers, public schools, and young people in order to define a shared vision for youth success in New Orleans. YOUTHSHIFT envisions a New Orleans in which all young people receive the educational, emotional, and civic supports they need and deserve. By leading this call to action and providing sure-handed, respectful and non-partisan leadership for New Orleans’s first truly comprehensive “youth master plan”, Eric has built bridges among formerly contentious partners and he has laid the foundation for a framework that will make New Orleans the most youth-friendly city in the country for future generations.

While at PYD Eric has also developed and facilitated an innovative and regional youth-driven resource mapping project as well as develop a municipal leadership fellowship for older youth. The mapping project’s outcome is a user friendly online resource map for youth, families, and resource providers to use as a community engagement tool. It was awarded a New Orleans CityBusiness Innovator of the Year award. Eric has also has a large knowledge base and experience in youth participation strategies, leadership, and participatory action research models.

THE TRUMPET | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER | 2014

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Vanessa Gueringer & A Community Voice The 2014 Trumpet Awards

Best Neighborhood Makeover

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Community Voice (ACV) is a non-profit community organization comprised of working, poor, elderly, women, children, and families. ACV provides a community voice for its members and constituencies in the everyday issues that affect their daily lives. This enables the community to bring together those who have common interests and concerns to improve the quality of their lives and those of others in the community. It was founded on October 22nd, 2009 by the former board members of Louisiana ACORN. A Community Voice members fight for social and economic justice for low to moderate income families.

Vanessa Gueringer, Vice President of A Community Voice, has waged several different campaigns against blight in the Lower Ninth Ward, including neighborhood-wide cutting campaigns, phone-ins to get dangerous lots cut, actions at blighted houses where a girl was raped. This year she brought the issue of selling blighted lots to neighborhood residents to her state representative, the 2014 Trumpet Elected Official Neighborhoord Hero Wesley T. Bishop, who would work to have legislation passed this year. As a result, a ballot issue in the November primary election will allow voters to decide whether the lots may be sold for $100 each to residents commit to keep them maintained. This model legislation is now being expanded for proposed coverage of other neighborhoods’ lots as well as a Mow to Own Program.

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THE TRUMPET | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER | 2014

New Zion City Preservation Association The 2014 Trumpet Awards

Neighborhood Phoenix

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ast year’s Neighborhood Phoenix continues its ascent and has again been selected as the neighborhood which best demonstrates resiliency in its ability to rise from its cirmcumstances to improve the quality of life for its residents. A former sponsored project of the Neighborhoods Partnership Network, the New Zion City Preservation Association has made steady progress toward transforming its community over the last year. With NPN’s help, the organization received its 501(c)(3) designation this year, a major step toward increasing its organizational capacity and ability to change its neighborhood.

They also finished executing a Foundation for Louisiana grant to develop a blight strategy and began implementation by securing an Neighborhood Capacity Building Initiative grant through the City of New Orleans to develop a pocket park on a corner that has been vacant for years and plagued by crime.

Leading the charge along the way has been the organization’s president, Cynthia Harris. Mrs. Harris has tirelessly led the charge to renew and restore the Zion City neighborhood by bringing elected officials, city programs and devoted residents together on a number of projects over the past year. Her leadership serves as a prime example to others, and her peers regard Cynthia Harris as a neighborhood advocate to watch. The level of dedication and perseverance that she has demonstrated is extraordinary.

THE TRUMPET | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER | 2014

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The Homer A. Plessy School The 2014 Trumpet Awards

Best Neighborhood School

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he Homer A. Plessy School is committed to being a school for and of the downriver neighborhoods of the Bywater, Marigny, St. Claude and St. Roch. Their commitment to being a racially and economically diverse school is seen in the fact that the diversity found in the hallways reflects the diversity on the sidewalks of the surrounding neighborhoods.

Led by principal Joan Reilly, The Plessy School’s arts-integrated, Reggio-inspired curriculum provides a stimulating environment that insists on academic excellence in a developmentally appropriate setting. At Plessy, they want students to mature into whole, healthy people who are confident about their gifts and their place in the world as citizens who have keen minds and compassionate hearts and who contribute to a world that needs them. They are committed to an academic program that emphasizes excellence, creativity and a passion for life-long learning. Their commmitment to integreting arts with eduction and carrying on the legacy of namesake of Homer A. Plessy reflects their emphasis on celebrating the creativity, culture and resilient people of New Orleans.

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THE TRUMPET | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER | 2014

THE TRUMPET | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER | 2014

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iel n a D c M cus r a M p m The Cha” Chapman, the author of theeanbsonoatk, iv20e Twhhoou, gashtsof this issue rl eCe e is a New O

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This interview was very encouraging to me. To go from being an orphan to a father and professional boxer is an aspiring story for anyone. You never know someone’s road to greatness. This guy here most definitely beat the odds of being a product of environment . Let’s all welcome “ The Champ” to the stage...

1. What is your actual career?

My career is professional boxing.

2.

How did you get into boxing/fighting?

I’ve been boxing since I was 12 years old. I used to have to sneak to the gym because my grandmother wasn’t approving of it at the time. My mentor Percy Pugh, would pick me up at the bus stop on Claiborne for 3:00 p.m everyday. If I wasn’t there, I had to walk to the gym 10 miles away, dead tired, and he would still make me do my workout. It really instilled serious discipline in me in and out of the ring.

3.

Where are you from?

Born and raised in New Orleans, and very proud of that. I’m from the Lower 9th ward, Cross the canal off Deslonde. As a kid I never could’ve imagined, me, a poor kid from the streets would be able to go all over the world doing something I love. I had the right people around me and right team in my corner. That same team is still around me today 18 years later.

4. As a child what did you want to be?

As a kid all I wanted to do was fight. When Percy got me in the gym he introduced me to Ronald Weaver who was the IBA middleweight champion at the time. He too, took me under his wing. He showed me the finer points of boxing. I was and still am a student of the game. I would call Ronald at 2 or 3 in the morning just to ask simple questions about boxing. I would watch all the fighters in the gym and knew that I could be better than them all.

5.

What boxer do you feel influenced you the most?

I cant just name one fighter than influenced me. I am still being influenced by fighters today. Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roy Jones Jr., All of these guys influenced me. I would watch hours and hours of film on these guys. Just to study little subtleties these guys were doing in the ring, and how I could add those skills to better my fighting style. I still do that today with guys still fighting, like Floyd Mayweather and Bernard Hopkins.

6.

What is boxing to you?

Boxing to me is my life. This sport saved my life. I’m in love with the sport. I eat, sleep, and breathe this game.

7.

How do you juggle being a family man with your busy career?

Boxing is very time consuming. I wake up everyday and run. Then I go to the gym, twice a day when I’m getting ready for a fight. I’m doing interviews, speaking publicly, and still have to find time for my family which is the most important thing. But I wouldn’t have

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it any other way. I’m very honored and blessed to be able to do what I do.

8.

How do you balance still understanding where you came from , but understanding the changes to get where you are going ?

I can never forget where I came from and who was there along the way. Those same people are still with me today. Same team since Day 1. But like I said, boxing saved my life. It gave me the means to make something of myself, and make a little money in the process.

I come from the streets. I came from nothing, and look at me now..

I could’ve easily been nothing. But God had a bigger plan for me.

But yeah, I’ve lost a lot of friends to the streets along the way.

But because of that it motivated me more to make something of myself, and when the hood gets behind you, that’s even more of a motivation because all the people want to see you make it. Its like you’re fighting for them too, even though they cant fight for themselves. Hopefully I can motivate them to make something of themselves too like they did for me. The street life isn’t for me, and in order to get away and stay away from that there has to be internal drive to actually want to do it, and not let anything stand in your way.

9.

How do feel that you have impacted your community?

I try to do as much as I can to give back, whether its buying school clothes for some kids or just being a listening ear. In fact, I’m starting a youth boxing program along with New Orleans Boxing Club owner Chase Dixon for the youths who grew up like me. Not just them, rich or poor, black or white. I would encourage all kids to learn the brilliance of boxing. It saved my life.. but at the end of the day, The 9 is in my blood, but more so in my heart. I love my neighborhood and community and hope that some of these kids look at me and say, “If Marcus can do it, so can I.”

10. Tell our readers about life for you as a child.

I was very poor. I was an orphan, I was in and out of foster homes.

Parents were both on drugs. Mom on crack, daddy on heroin. I have 7 brothers and sisters. We all got bounced around until we ended up on Deslonde with my Grandmother who took us all into her house. Their was 17 of us living in a one bedroom house.

We had nothing. A lot of time we didn’t have food. Clothes got passed down and back around so much. The only thing we had was each other. But we made it work. If I didn’t grow up how I did, who knows, maybe my life would be totally different. But growing up the way I did, it made me hungry. It gave me something to fight for. I didn’t want to be just another statistic. I wanted to make something of myself, not just for me, but for my whole family. All of us.

THE TRUMPET | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER | 2014

11. Even though you are a professional boxer, where did the nickname Boxer come from?

From my best friend Merl. When we first met 14 years ago, I was fighting. He said I always wanted to fight growing up. So he called me “Boxer” . Surprisingly, doesn’t it fit me NOW though...

12. What was your first fight and how did you feel? What was the hardest part?

My first fight was against a guy named Tommy Manning in 2009.

He was a good fighter, but I knew that no matter who they put in front of me that night I was going to win. I was sure of my training in the gym, the miles on the road, and confidence in my own ability that this was the start of something that was going to change my life. I refused to lose. And that’s still true today. There is nothing like winning. That is my drug, Winning, and I am addicted to it.

13. How did you feel when your supporters attended your first event?

To do it on the big stage like that, at a sold out arena for my first fight, in front of my family, friends, and my city, it’s something that I will never forget. You never forget your first.

14. What was the hardest trial you ever faced?

I was training for my title fight. I had just fought 2 tough opponents in 3 months and after winning both of those I was in line for a shot at the IBA Middleweight title. About 2 weeks before the fight, one of my best friends was murdered. I was devastated.

It would’ve been easy to take some time off and postpone the fight, but with the love and support of my team, they carried me through the last 2 weeks of camp, keeping me focused as much as possible on the goal at hand. It wasn’t easy. But we got the job done. Still to this day, every fight I have I dedicate to my fallen brother. Not a day goes by I don’t think of him, but I know he’s looking down smiling saying “Boxer, you did it.”

15. What do you feel has been your biggest achievement?

Winning the IBA Middleweight title. Without question, one of the greatest moments of my life. When you can see the culmination of all the hard work, and dedication that has been put into this thing over the years, its very gratifying and humbling to be rewarded in that way. Its something that will be with me for the rest of my life and something no one can ever take away from me.

16. If you could box one person, who would it be and why?

If I could box one person, it would probably be Gennady Golovkin or GGG. Not taking anything away from him, he is one of the best out there right now. He is the IBO & WBA Middlewight World Champion. He’s in my weight class. I want a shot at him for the top spot. He’s a strong, young, and fast fighter with a lot of great skills.

With that being said, I know I can beat him. Im stronger, harder, and faster. Hes never fought anyone with my skill set. I can beat him, and the pay day would be a big plus too. But i would fight any of the world champs in my weight class, i deserve the shot and think it will happen sooner than later.

17. What is your biggest goal thus far?

My biggest goal is to be World Champion being from New Orleans and to continue to give back in am immense way to the kids.

18. Name a few that you have fought ? What titles have you won ?

Tristen Todd and Quinton Willis, two great ,talented boxers with undefeated records. I won both of them. I got the job done.

19. What title have you won?

International Boxing Association Middleweight 20. I always close my interviews with this question, where do you want to see yourself in 5 years?

In 5 years, I will be...Champion of the World!

Supporting and celebrating NPN’s efforts to improve the quality of life by engaging New Orleanians, individually and collectively, in neighborhood vitality and civic processes

www.trepwise.com

THE TRUMPET | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER | 2014

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CITYWIDE NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING CALENDAR Algiers Point Association 1st Thursday of the month 7 p.m.

Visit www.algierspoint.org for location.

Algiers Presidents’ Council 4th Tuesday of the month 7 p.m.

Woldenberg Village - 3701 Behrman Place www.anpcnola.org

Chapel of the Holy Comforter 4th Thursday of the month 6:30 p.m.

2200 Lakeshore Drive Claiborne-University Neighborhood Association Quarterly meetings (Date and time TBA) Jewish Community Center 5342 St. Charles Avenue

Broadmoor Improvement Association 3rd Monday of every other month 7 p.m.

Andrew H. Wilson Charter School Cafeteria 3617 General Pershing Street www.broadmoorimprovement.com

Downtown Neighborhoods Improvement Association (DNIA) Last Tuesday of each month 7 p.m.

Joan Mitchell Center 2275 Bayou Road

Bunny Friend Neighborhood Association 3rd Saturday of the month Mt. Carmel Baptist Church 3721 N. Claiborne Avenue bunnyfriendassoc@gmail.com

DeSaix Neighborhood Association 2nd Saturday of the month 10 a.m.

Langston Hughes Academy 3519 Trafalgar Street danadesaix.org

Bywater Neighborhood Association 2nd Tuesday of the month 7 p.m.

Holy Angels Cafeteria 3500 St. Claude Avenue www.bywaterneighbors.com

East New Orleans Neighborhood Advisory Committee 2nd Tuesday of the month 6 p.m.

St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church 7300 Crowder Boulevard www.enonac.org

Carrollton Riverbend Neighborhood Association 2nd Thursday of the month Central St. Matthew United Church of Christ 1333 S. Carrollton Avenue Carrollton United 2nd Monday of the month - 5 p.m.

St. John Missionary Baptist Church Leonidas Avenue and Hickory Street www.healthyneworleans.org Central City Renaissance Alliance (CCRA) 3rd Tuesday of each month 6:00pm Mahalia Jackson Early Childhood & Family Learning Center 2405 Jackson Avenue www.myccra.org

Edgewood Park Neighborhood Association 1st Saturday of the month 10 a.m.

New Hope Community Church 3708 Gentilly Blvd.

Faubourg Delachaise Neighborhood Association Quarterly meetings Visit http://fdna-nola.org for details.

Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association Board Meeting – 2nd Monday of the month 7 p.m.

Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Cafeteria 1368 Moss Street http://www.fsjna.org

Faubourg St. Roch Improvement Association 2nd Thursday of the month 6 p.m.

True Vine Baptist Church 2008 Marigny Street Filmore Gardens Neighborhood Association 4th Thursday of the month (no meetings in November and December) 6:30 p.m.

Project Home Again 5506 Wickfield Street Garden District Association Visitwww.gardendistrictassociation.comfor annual meeting information.

Gentilly Civic Improvement Association (GCIA) 3rd Saturday of the month 6:30 p.m.

Edgewater Baptist Church 5900 Paris Avenue www.facebook.com/gentillycivic Gentilly Heights East Neighborhood Association 3rd Monday of the month 6 p.m.

Dillard University, Dent Hall – Room 104 Gentilly Sugar Hill Neighborhood Association 3rd Monday of the month 6:30 p.m.

Volunteers of America 2929 St. Anthony Avenue Gentilly Terrace and Gardens Improvement Association 2nd Wednesday of the month 7 p.m.

Gentilly Terrace School 4720 Painters Street www.gentillyterrace.org Hoffman Triangle Neighborhood Association 2nd Tuesday of the month 5:30 p.m.

Pleasant Zion Missionary Baptist Church 3327 Toledano Street

hoffmantriangle.org Hollygrove Neighbors Association Quarterly on Saturdays 12 p.m.

St. Peter AME Church 3424 Eagle Street Emailhollygroveneighbors@yahoo.comfor dates Holy Cross Neighborhood Association 2nd Thursday of the month 5:30 p.m.

Center for Sustainability GreaterLittleZionMissionaryBaptistChurch 5130 Chartres Street Irish Channel Neighborhood Association 2nd Thursday of the month 7 p.m.

Irish Channel Christian Fellowship 819 First Street www.irishchannel.org Lake Bullard Home Owners Association Cornerstone United Methodist Church 5276 Bullard Avenue Visit lakebullard.org for meeting schedule Lake Catherine Civic Association 2nd Tuesday of the month 7 p.m.

Emaillakecatherineassociation@yahoo.com for location information Lake Willow Neighborhood 2nd Saturday of the month 10 a.m.

St. Maria Goretti Church Lower Ninth Ward Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association 2nd Saturday of the month 12 p.m.

1120 Lamanche Street www.9thwardnena.org Lower Ward Ninth Ward Stakeholders Coalition 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month 5:30 p.m.

Join the Neighborhoods Partnership Network to post news & events for your organization at NPNnola.com 30

THE TRUMPET | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER | 2014

Ask City Hall

1800 Deslonde Street Melia Subdivision 2nd Saturday of the month 5 p.m.

Anchored in Christ Church 4334 Stemway

Oak Park Civic Association 3rd Thursday of the month 6:30 p.m.

Edgewater Baptist Church 5900 Paris Avenue www.facebook.com/OakParkNewOrleans

Mid-City Neighborhood Organization 2nd Monday of the month 6 p.m. – meet & greet 6:30 p.m. – neighborhood meeting Warren Easton High School 3019 Canal Street www.mcno.org

Paris Oaks/Bayou Vista Neighborhood Association Last Saturday of the month 4 p.m.

Third District Police Station 4650 Paris Avenue

Milneburg Neighborhood Association 4th Thursday of the month 6:30 p.m.

Chapel of the Holy Comforter 2200 Lakeshore Drive The New St. Claude Association of Neighbors 1st Thursday of the month 7 p.m.

Pierre’s Hall 4138 St. Claude Avenue www.newstclaude.assocn.nscan.com New Zion City Preservation Association 1st Monday of the month 7 p.m.

APEX Youth Center 4360 Washington Ave.

Pensiontown of Carrollton Neighborhood Association 1st Saturday of the month 2 p.m.

Leonidas House Community Center 1407 Leonidas Street Pilotland Neighborhood Association 3rd Saturday of the month 3 p.m.

Pentecost Baptist Church Fellowship Hall 1510 Harrison Avenue Pontilly Association Pontilly Disaster Collaborative - 3rd Wednesday of the month General Meeting – 2nd Saturday of the month 3869 Gentilly Blvd., Suite C Rosedale Subdivision Last Friday of the month 5:30 p.m.

Greater Bright Morning Star Baptist Church 4253 Dale Street

Seventh Ward Neighborhood Association 3rd Saturday of the month 1 p.m.

St. Augustine High School 2600 A.P. Tureaud Avenue seventhwardassoc@aol.com Seabrook Neighborhood Association 2nd Monday on the month Gentilly Terrace School 4720 Painter Street Emailseabrookassociation@yahoo.comfor times Tall Timbers Owners Association 2nd Wednesday in April & October 7 p.m.

Tunisburg Square Homeowners Civic Association, Inc. 2nd Monday of the month 6:30 p.m.

Visit tunisburg.org for location information Village de L’Est Improvement Association 1st Tuesday of every other month 7 p.m.

Einstein Charter School 5100 Cannes Street West Barrington Association 1st Tuesday of the month 6 p.m.

Holiday Inn Express 7049 Bullard Avenue

Send your neighborhood meeting details to: info@npnnola.com

Neighborhoods Partnership Network 3321 Tulane Avenue New Orleans, LA 70119 504.940.2207 • FX 504.940.2208 thetrumpet@npnnola.com

THE TRUMPET | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER | 2014

District A Susan G. Guidry City Hall, Room 2W80 1300 Perdido Street New Orleans, LA 70112 Phone: (504) 658-1010 Fax: (504) 658-1016 Email: sgguidry@nola.gov District B LaToya Cantrell City Hall, Room 2W10 1300 Perdido Street New Orleans, LA 70112 Phone: (504) 658-1020 Fax: (504) 658-1025 lcantrell@nola.gov District C Nadine M. Ramsey City Hall, Room 2W70 1300 Perdido Street Phone: (504) 658-1030 Fax: (504) 658-1037 Email: nramsey@nola.gov District D Jared C. Brossett City Hall, Room 2W20 1300 Perdido Street Phone: (504) 658-1040 Fax: (504) 658-1048 E-mail: jcbrossett@nola.gov District E James Austin Gray II City Hall, Room 2W60 1300 Perdido Street New Orleans, LA 70112 Phone: (504) 658-1050 Fax: (504) 658-1058 Email: jagray@nola.gov Council Member-At-Large Stacy Head City Hall, Room 2W40 1300 Perdido Street Phone: (504) 658 -1060 Fax: (504) 658-1068 Email: shead@nola.gov Council Member-At-Large Jason Rogers Williams City Hall, Room 2W50 1300 Perdido Street New Orleans, LA 70112 Phone: (504) 658-1070 Fax: (504) 658-1077 Email:jarwilliams@nola.gov

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Thank you for making Neighborhoods Month 2014

Uniquely New Orleans!

Dillard University Office of Community Relations City of New Orleans Office of Environmental Affairs Downtown Development District NeighborWorks America Sodexo 2014 Trumpet Awards Food & Beverage Sponsors Audubon Nature Institute Basin Street Lounge Café Gentilly Dooky Chase’s Restaurant Fest Cola Krewe du Brew LACE The Grand Ballroom Next to Eat

NOLA Food & Whodoo Bar B Que Pepperoni Ray’s Rum House Smoke n’ Spice The Ruby Slipper Café Tiger Restaurant Whole Foods New Orleans Wooden Spoon

Concordia, LLC Councilmember Jared Brossett Councilmember LaToya Cantrell Councilmember-At-Large Stacy Head Councilmember-At-Large Jason Rogers Williams Housing Authority of New Orleans Louisiana Public Health Institute/Tobacco-Free Living Perez, APC Providence Community Housing TrepWise Waggoner & Ball Scott Bicking

Bobbie Hill

Linda Usdin

New Orleans Neighborhoods Summit Partners 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement & Development Central City Renaissance Alliance City of New Orleans Neighborhood Engagement Office Dana Brown & Associates Deep South Center for Environment Justice Foundation for Louisiana Global Green USA Neighborhood Capacity Building Initiative Neighborhood Housing Services Nexus Research Group NOLA For Life VAYLA

Universal Printing

Professional Services Divatenders Full Circle Courier Signature Offset

2014 Trumpet Awards Committee Ryan Albright Karen Chabert Christy “CeCe” Chapman Rashida Ferdinand Linetta Gilbert Victor Gordon Tilman Hardy Bobbie Hill Wendy Laker Andreanecia Morris Jeanne Nathan Minh Nguyen Katherine Prevost Sylvia Scineaux-Richard Glenda Spears

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★