The Trumpet - January/February 2012 by Neighborhoods Partnership Network

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January/February 2012 • Community Voices Orchestrating Change • Issue 6 Volume 1

NEIGHBOR OOD SPOTLIGH HT

7th War d INSIDE

• Congratulations to Favorite Fathers • Interview with A.P. Tureaud, Jr. • Neighborhood Spotlight: 7th Ward • 7th Ward Community Center in the Making • Sixty Years of Successful Black Male Achievement

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

THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

Letter From The Executive Director

Changing My Address Won’t Change My Heart Photo by: Odd but Complete

or the past five years of my serving as the Executive Director at NPN, the first page of The Trumpet Magazine has always served as a space where I can share with our readers not only who I am as a resident but also why I am so in love with the city of New Orleans. Like reality soaps, I have used this space to celebrate, acknowledge and debate, promote and criticize all the good, bad and ugly that I see in my fair city, a place where history and culture can sometimes override the need for growth and change. Being only an authentic New Orleanian, I have tried to be honest with you, the readers, as I cleanse my heart and soul about the joys, struggles, challenges and resilience that the neighborhoods of New Orleans are experiencing in our current environment – acknowledging that, although the world has moved beyond the waters of 2005, it is still as new to some as the day we returned home. The ability to move beyond that timeline has been a struggle for some in the city, as we are still struggling with the outcomes of decisions that were made on that August morning or the days that followed. How do you move forward and not reflect back? How does one rebuild and dismantle simultaneously? Who do I become in this newfound space that has been identified as the “new frontier”? These are questions that I personally have tackled in my own journey back to New Orleans. Last September I started my process of making a conscious decision to learn and accept the past as a toolkit used to move toward a new future. Making strides toward my goal, I shared with my friends and family my plan to “de-lock” my hair of locks, a process that would require time and patience, neither of which I possessed. The easiest option would have been to just cut my hair off. I started locking in 2002. My locks and I had grown together and experienced all of the joys and pains of the past nine years. So the thought of just chopping my hair down to my roots was unacceptable. As Mardi Gras, secondlines and gumbo are to the city, my locks had become the signature of who I was. The process took me all of two days. I could feel my eyes well up with tears each time I completed a lock. As dead shreds of my hair fell to the floor, so did some joy, pain and past memories. The shape of my face began to change as I looked at my reflection in the mirror. There were things about my hair that I did not remember: its thickness, texture and my hairline that was not as visible with my locks. Unlike in the past when I could just wake up and go with a run of my fingers through my locks, I now was going to have to participate in a routine of hair styling. All of these things became my reality of who I was and what I would need to deal with in the near future. This analogy can be applied to many neighborhoods in the city. Although the water has receded and many homes, schools and roads have been built, we are still shaping our new identity. We have and have elected new decision makers. New folks have moved in and out. The city has had some drastic changes, both good and bad; however, there are some neighborhoods that haven’t adjusted to the many changes that are overtaking them. Some have fallen to the side for various reasons – all with hope for a rebirth or renewal to their community. The hope that they are not forgotten because they, too, experienced that devastating storm named Katrina. The birth of NPN and The Trumpet Magazine are meant to exhibit and highlight those neighborhoods – to show that all of New Orleans deserves to be a great place to live and that the quality and uniqueness of the neighborhood is best celebrated by those who continue to invest in that community.

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

Find Out More at NPNnola.com

NPN Board Members Victor Gordon, Board Chair, Pontilly Neighborhood Association Angela Daliet, Treasurer, Parkview Neighborhood Association Benjamin Diggins, Melia Subdivision Katherine Prevost, Upper Ninth Ward Bunny Friend Neighborhood Association Leslie Ellison, Tunisburg Square Civic Homeowners Improvement Association Sylvia McKenzie, Rosedale Subdivision Tilman Hardy, Secretary, Leonidas/Pensiontown Neighborhood Association Wendy Laker, Mid-City Neighborhood Organization Michael Heaney, Hoffman Triangle Darryl Durham, St.Anna’s Church Rashida Ferdinand, Sankofa CDC 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 Copyright 2012 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.

Sincerely, Timolynn Sams

THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

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

P A R T N E R S H I P

Contents

The Trumpet

5 6 7 8 9 14 18 25 27

Building a Playground Healthy NOLA Neighborhoods Celebrating What Works in Four Different NOLA Schools 2011 Favorite Fathers Redd Linen Night Is Coming to Central City History of the 7th Ward – Spotlight The Porch–7th Ward Cultural Organization A.P. Tureaud Jr. Interview Sixty Years of Black Male Achievement

Favorite Fathers

N E T W O R K

Sixty Years of Black Male Achievement

16 Neighborhood Spotlight: 7th Ward

The Trumpet Editorial Board

The Trumpet Editorial Staff

Brian Opert, Talk Show Host, WGSO 990AM

Scott Bicking, Art Director

Becki Chall, Global Green, USA

Kathleen Burns, Copy Editor

Jessica A. Goins, Spears Consulting Group

Nora McGunnigle, Local History Editor

John Koeferl, Holy Cross Neighborhood

Lakshmi Sridaran, Policy & Advocacy Editor

Linedda McIver, AARP Louisiana

Patricia A. Davis & Tia Vice, Associate Neighborhoods Editors

Melinda Shelton, Xavier University School of Journalism Ray Nichols, Maple Area Residents Inc. Rocio Mora, Puentes Lindsay Nash, HandsOn New Orleans Zoé Belden, Creative Industry

Special thanks to Mimi DiMassa for her photos

4902 Canal Street • #301 New Orleans, LA 70119 504.940.2207 • FX 504.940.2208 thetrumpet@npnnola.com www.npnnola.com

THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

Engaging to Open New Possibilities Lucas Diaz, Director of Neighborhood Engagement Office, City of New Orleans

ublic engagement can take many shapes. What usually comes to mind when we think of public engagement is the well-known public meeting or the town hall meeting. The government wants to share something with you, so it holds a town hall meeting. Truth is, this is only one very small part of how government can and should engage community. Local government, especially, has the ability to engage the public in an unlimited number of ways, from small conferences to visits to community meetings to tours at City Hall. As the Neighborhood Engagement team moves into its second year under Mayor Landrieu’s administration, we want to explore all of the many ways we can engage with each other. We want to grow the ways we engage. We want to grow the opportunities for engagement. And we want to grow the reasons for engagement. Usually, we engage for the purposes of reaching consensus on a decision or informing each other about a decision. These are very valuable reasons for government and community to engage, which are always priority in the day-to-day work of governance. But there are other reasons worth valuing, as well. One strong reason that comes quickly to mind is exposure. Think about it. How many of us, if we are not in the business of dealing with government, understand who does what in City Hall and where it gets done and how one can aspire to get there? These were the kinds of questions that youth mentors from the B.W. Cooper neighborhood had in mind when they reached out to our office with a special request. They wanted to know if we could help them with two things: Could we connect their youth with Crime Commissioner James Carter, and could we give the youth a tour of City Hall?

Of course, we could and we did. In two hours on one special evening, five young men from B.W. Cooper and three of their mentors sat down for an honest conversation with Commissioner Carter. He shared with them how he believed that each of them could one day do his job. After a visit with the Commissioner, we walked with the group down to the Mayor’s office and showed them the Mayor’s Press Room. The mentors had never had the opportunity to set foot in that room before this moment, and they were impressed with its historical significance. As one mentor pointed out with a question, “Was this the same room where Mayor Nagin stood to announce Katrina?” Yes, the very room from which our former mayor gave us the news that would change our lives forever. We reflected afterward that we needed more engagement of this type, the sort of engagement that is both educational and inspirational, that is eye-opening and perhaps even life-changing. Too often, we fail to connect the simple pieces that can help our young people aspire to something great. Too many of our less-advantaged young people and their families don’t have enough information to see how successful paths to leadership could be created right here in their backyard. Our hope is that this simple opportunity for a handful of young men and their mentors plants a seed that grows into many more opportunities toward success. We see the benefit of these engagement activities and will do our part to create more opportunities such as the one we highlighted here. After all, we all want the same thing: success for our entire community, which means success for these young people. Let’s engage them to help them see the paths that are possible.

THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

Building a Playground is

Good Community Development Kevin J. Brown, Executive Director of Trinity Christian Community

f you’ve ever participated in a KaBOOM! playground build, you share ideas. Ultimately, the camaraderie and brainstorming made for know what fun it is and how it brings the community together in a healthier relationships and deeper trust. In short, the organization of the directed and organized way. What you may not know is the months playground made the community stronger. of work that take place behind the scenes. On “Build Day”, Conrad Playground became It takes a handful of deeply committed, a reality on Hamilton Street in Hollygrove. We had service-oriented community members to make a more volunteers than we needed, 356, when we At Atday’s day’send, end,there therewas was only needed 200. Each of those volunteers was fed playground happen. That’s exactly what occurred aabeautiful in November in Hollygrove. beautifulplayground. playground. breakfast and then deployed into various projects. Starting about six months before the actual Throughout the day, they were entertained by a There Therewere werealso alsoside side build, Trinity Christian Community (TCC) neighborhood DJ, had lunch and listened to determine projects projectsincluding includingpicnic picnic whether or not they had won a raffle prize. Food was became the lead organization by signing a tables, letter of intent, committing to raising substantial provided by 13 local restaurants and several people in tables,chess chesstables, tables,aa monies, organizing committees and overseeing the community, including a neighborhood corner store. new newsign signfor forthe thepark, park, the community’s portion of the project. Joining At day’s end, there was a beautiful playground. hand-painted hand-paintedwalking walking KaBOOM! personnel and TCC were the New There were also side projects including picnic tables, paths, paths,original originalart artand and Orleans Saints Players from the 2011 Lockout and chess tables, a new sign for the park, hand-painted the DJR Foundation. Both committed to funding enclosures enclosuresfor fortrash trashcans. cans walking paths, original art and enclosures for trash major portions of the project. Other participants cans. More importantly, there was a strong sense of included the Carrollton-Hollygrove Community community accomplishment and togetherness. Development Corporation, the Hollygrove Market Our neighborhoods face many challenges. Great and Farm, Grove Community Church, Hollygrove Seniors, NPN, the community development requires a unified community working together Livable Communities Project, Make Playgrounds Safe, Hollygrove to address these challenges. Holding regular meetings focused upon a Neighbors and AARP. specific task will result in strong, concerted action. In Hollygrove, the Each of these organizations played an important role, from result was a new playground. But there was more. We continued to planning the playground itself, to organizing food, volunteers, tools, discover the power of relationships and that the process was as important music and more. Everyone had their specified role. Meeting weekly, as the outcome. In short, we discovered that a new playground could be each committee would report on their progress or lack thereof and a vehicle for good community development.

THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

Web Tools & Technical Assistance to Help You & Your Neighbors on

Your Quest to Build a Healthier Community! By Tia Vice, Associate Neighborhoods Editor

The Healthy NOLA Neighborhoods Team is offering tools and face-to-face support to you and those working with you in your community to build a healthier neighborhood.

ealthyNOLA.org, a FREE web-based resource, is designed to provide “community health” data about your neighborhood and the surrounding areas in Orleans Parish as well as to provide examples of successful community projects and ideas for you to reference and use as you create plans and actions for your neighborhood. “Community health” data includes population, demographics, environment, public safety and traditional health statistics. HealthyNOLA.org also includes location data, which allows you to locate or map neighborhood assets like health clinics, fire stations, libraries, grocery stores, farmers markets and childcare services. In addition, the Healthy NOLA Team – Neighborhoods Partnership Network (NPN), Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI) and Concordia, LLC – is offering technical assistance to interested neighborhood organizations. The Technical Assistance Team will help neighborhoods with strategic planning and strategic action that address community health. As noted above, “health” includes the social environment, traditional health, local environment 6

and infrastructure, and all of the people, places and things that make up a community. Technical assistance includes helping your neighborhood group: to strategically leverage your community assets and strengths; to utilize those assets and other resources to meet your needs; to research local and national best practices and great ideas; as well as to help you seek solutions and additional resources.

For more information, or to sign up for the next HealthyNOLA.org Training, or to receive Technical Assistance for your community group, contact Tia Vice, Neighborhoods Liaison at NPN, 504.940.2207, tia@npnnola.com, or Ashley Burg at LPHI, 504.301.9811, aburg@lphi.org. Be on the lookout for the next HealthyNOLA.org Training in early February 2012 ! THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

Focus on Success

Celebrating What Works in Four Different New Orleans Schools By Nicholas Carl, Community Organizer, OPEN

As the story of education reform in New Orleans is told, there are often divergent perspectives.

t is difficult to assess what’s working, why it’s working and how do we share the most effective strategies citywide. Accomplishing this aim is at the center of the mission of the Orleans Public Education Network (OPEN). In November, the organization premiered its most recent documentary celebrating the success of four different New Orleans public schools. The event not only highlighted the phenomenal successes of these school communities, it provided a tool for examining school success – the Correlates of Effective Schools. It was standing-room-only at the Ashé Cultural Arts Center when OPEN premiered the documentary “Focus On Success” on November 29, 2011. The 160 community members who came together and attended the red-carpet event were greeted as they entered the venue by OPEN staff and volunteers from the Fyre Youth Squad. Attendees included students, teachers, principals, parents and Orleans Parish School Board representatives, all of whom caroused and fellowshipped in the venue before the event began, enjoying refreshments. The film itself was intended to be used as a tool for the community. Created by documentarian Lloyd Dennis, OPEN Board Member and former Chairman of the Board for Ashé, it showcases four public elementary schools in New Orleans: Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary, Lafayette Elementary, Robert R. Moton Elementary and Mary Coghill Elementary. The documentary took viewers inside the schools,which run the gamut of governance. Two of the schools are operated under the governance of the Orleans Public School Board (one charter and one traditional), and the remaining two by the Recovery School District. Notwithstanding those differences, the schools had one extremely important thing in common: They incorporated in total the Seven Correlates of Effective Schools. These correlates are: • • • • • • •

Strong Instructional Leadership A Well Understood Mission High Expectations for Students and Staff Good Parental Involvement Data Guided Instruction Students Actively Engaged in Learning A Safe and Peaceful Environment

The documentary featured interviews with administrators, faculty, students, and parents from the four schools. The people in the film described exactly how each of these Seven Correlates is incorporated into the dayto-day life of their schools. According to those who attended, the event provided a powerful experience and celebration of the four schools. Furthermore, the community garnered a better understanding of Seven Correlates of Effective Schools and how to identify student and school success beyond test scores. One community member learned: “Students meet with success when parents, community and schools come together.” “[It’s good to see] ...that there are great teachers still and many old-school principals – especially the woman with a strong, loving presence,” commented one community member in the audience. “Many aspects reminded me of my elementary days. I am 92 years old.” Perhaps the most effective aspect of November’s public premier of “Focus On Success” was that attendees felt the information and experience would be of use as the community advocates for a high-quality public education system that successfully educates every child. Eighty-four (84) percent of surveyed attendees indicated that they could use what they learned at the premier to impact their children’s school. OPEN is a New Orleans-based non-profit committed to ensuring that there is an informed and engaged community that exercises influence on policy and programs to realize excellence and equity for every child in public schools in New Orleans. “Focus On Success” came out of OPEN’s “What Works and Why” program, which examined what was working in schools in New Orleans. The program looked at the four schools featured in the film and examined student achievement, data and school practices. All four schools hosted site visits during which participants from OPEN toured the schools, and a community-wide meeting was held to bring together parents and practitioners to share and discuss how these best practices can inform and strengthen schools citywide. The idea for the “Focus On Success” documentary was born when an attendee of that event mentioned that it would be powerful and useful for community engagement if a documentary that captured the “What Works and Why” experience in DVD form could be distributed to the community as an informational organizing tool. For more information about OPEN or “Focus On Success”, contact the organization directly at 504-821-4004 or via e-mail at open@opennola.org.

NPN needs bloggers Sign up at: thetrumpet@npnnola.com THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

Dr. Sams-Abiodun,“Welcome and Congratulations to the 2011 Favorite Fathers”

Reclaiming our Fathers By Dr. Petrice Sams-Abiodun, Executive Director, Lindy Boggs National Center for Community Literacy, Loyola University,and Member, Women in Fatherhood, Inc., Board of Directors

The New Orleans Fatherhood Consortium (NOFC), in partnership with Ashé Cultural Arts Center and Women in Fatherhood, Inc., hosted the “2nd Annual New Orleans Favorite Fathers Celebration” this past summer, again in Central City. Dr. Petrice Sams-Abiodun’s opening comments set the tone for this special event to honor fathers. This year The Trumpet Magazine will celebrate the fathers of New Orleans and honor them all year long.

e believe that fathers are an asset to the recovery, rebuilding and revitalization of New Orleans. However, father absence in New Orleans families and the lack of positive male role models and father figures in neighborhoods are a problem. The goal of this event is to show that there are countless numbers of men who have dignified themselves by being great fathers to their children and role models and father figures in the community. Many times the importance of what fathers contribute is not recognized or acknowledged. The New Orleans Annual Favorite Fathers Celebration is an event that showcases the important contributions that these men make as parents and community members. A call was extended throughout the city for the nomination of fathers who are making a difference in the lives of their children, family and the greater New Orleans area. As a result, 45 fathers will be celebrated this year who were nominated by a diverse group of organizations, family members including wives, daughters, grandchildren, girlfriends, fiancées, sons, uncles, fathers and friends. These fathers are making a difference not only for their children and family, but the community as a whole. They are parenting their children responsibly. Several are raising their child alone. Some are parenting blended families. They are volunteering in schools such as Head Start. They are continuing their education by getting their GED and at the community college so that they can make a better life for themselves, their children and family. Several are serving as father figures for youth in the community. For example, one celebrant created “Teen Day” to expose youth to computers, technology and the many opportunities that it can provide them. Another works as a youth advocate for young black men who are trying to improve their lives. One Favorite Father Nominee is currently incarcerated, but he trains black males in prison to be better fathers. We have tried to plan a fitting reception and a formal program that recognizes fathers in the many roles that they serve. There will also be culture and art tributes to the fathers in dance, poetry and music. Our special guest this year is Jabari Greer, New Orleans Saints’ right cornerback. Mr. Jabari Greer established The Greer Foundation, aimed at supporting fathers and establishing programs that foster community involvement and family enrichment. We are celebrating black men as fathers most of all because we love and respect them. But we also want to help our neighborhoods and city begin to rethink the importance of men as assets in the lives of children, family and community. We want to show that there are black men who are good fathers; and for those fathers who are struggling with their role and responsibilities as a father, we want to provide both hope and support. It is our hope that they will understand that parenting is both the most imperfect, yet perfect role in their lives. We also want them to know that there are people who appreciate what they are doing and that there are supports to assist them in this role. All Favorite Father Celebrants are asked to mentor other young fathers. As a result of this event, these fathers will be engaged as mentors to other fathers through ‘Men of Service’, an NOFC strategy to support service activities in the community. Images of the celebrants, their families and the event will be used as a part of our positive media campaign about black fathers.” Dr. Sams-Abiodun concluded, “This celebration and the work of NOFC is influencing many neighborhoods, non-profit groups and other stakeholders that work with black men who have begun to acknowledge fathers in the context of their work with children, family and community development. The New Orleans Favorite Fathers Celebration is a key part of NOFC’s vision to renew the role of fathers, reclaim our families and create healthy lifestyles, so that our community is strong.”

THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012 Captured Moments Photography & Video

Doug Reed painting

Redd Linen Night Is Coming to Central City By Viola T. Johnson, Communications/PR, Ashé Cultural Arts Center

shé Cultural Arts Center is delighted to present its first fundraiser of the year, “Redd Linen Night”. The event takes place on Saturday, February 4, 2012, from 6 to 10 p.m., at the Center at 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard in New Orleans. Ashé, established in December of 1998, was born from a collaboration between Douglas Redd (1947-2007), a visual artist and a mentor for cultural expression, and Carol Bebelle, a writer/ consultant, respectively, who brought to life a place where culture now lives. Ashé Cultural Arts Center, an initiative of Efforts of Grace, Inc., uses art and culture to support community development. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that creates and supports programs, activities and creative works emphasizing the contributions of people of African descent. Located in Central City, the Center provides opportunities for art presentations, community development, artist support and the creation of partnerships that amplify outreach and support efforts. In the Big Easy, “linen night” is fast becoming synonymous with art showings, particularly in the French Quarter and the Arts/Warehouse District. Now, the Oretha Castle Haley corridor and “Redd Linen Night” will join them, showcasing homegrown visual artists, but with a twist. Featuring prominent and emerging artists who were mentors, contemporaries or protégés of Ashé’s cofounder Redd, this affair is more than just an art exhibit. It is unique in that each visual artist will present a piece of work that will be paired with stunning live-performance art, using music, dance or spoken word.

THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

This fundraiser is a celebration of Redd’s life and visual art work, which has been described as the pivotal graphic influence for many of the African, African-American and Caribbean programs and events held in New Orleans as far back as the 1970s. As such, this accomplished graphic artist, sculptor, printmaker and jeweler would have wanted to see his ultimate work, Ashé Cultural Arts Center, sustained. “Redd Linen Night” will feature Redd’s work and that of artists Ron Bechet, Marcus Brown, Rukiya Brown, Jeffrey Cook, Dollie Eaglin-Monroe, Louise Mouton-Johnson, Michelle Lavigne, Danielle Miles, Peter Nakhid, Jamar Pierre and Ivan B. Watkins as well as students from Audubon School, the Kuumba Institute and others. Select artwork will be for sale at the event. Your support for this worthwhile endeavor is solicited to ensure that Ashé will continue to grow – far beyond the expectations of its founders. To connect with the theme, attendees are asked to wear something red.

This fundraiser is a celebration of Redd’s life and visual art work.

Tickets are $20 in advance, available online at http://bit.ly/ReddLinenNight or $25 at the door; students age 12 and under, $10. For more information, call Tammy Terrell, John Grimsley or Karel SloaneBoekbinder at (504) 569-9070.

“Focus on Success” Premieres to Standing Room Only

t was standing room only at the Ashe Cultural Arts Center when the Orleans Public Education Network (OPEN) premiered the documentary “Focus on Success” on November 29, 2011. The 160 community members who came together and attended the red-carpet event were greeted as they entered the venue by OPEN staff and volunteers from the Fyre Youth Squad. Attendees included students, teachers, principals, parents, and Orleans Parish School Board representatives, all of whom caroused and fellowshiped in the venue before the event began, enjoying free popcorn, cold drinks, and juice. At 6:30, an introduction was given by OPEN Board Chair Flozell Daniels, Jr. Following the introduction, the Lafayette Elementary Bell Choir performed two songs. At 7:00 pm, the lights were dimmed and attendees--whether they were standing or sitting--began viewing the film, presented in high quality Blue-Ray. The film itself was intended to be used as an educational tool for the community. Created by documentarian Lloyd Dennis, OPEN Board Member and former Chairman of the Board for Ashe, it showcases four public elementary schools in New Orleans: Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary, Lafayette Elementary, Robert R. Moton Elementary, and Mary Coghill Elementary.

THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

The documentary took viewers inside four highly successful elementary schools that run the governance gamut. Two of the schools were run by Orleans Public School Board, two by the Recovery School District. Also, two were charter schools and two were traditionally run. Notwithstanding those differences, the schools had one extremely important thing in common: they incorporated in total the Seven Correlates of Effective Schools. These correlates are: • • • • • • •

THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

community garnered a better understanding of Seven Correlates of Effective Schools and how to identify student and school success beyond the test scores. “[It’s good to see] ...that there are great teachers still and many old school principals--especially the women with a strong, loving presence,” commented one community member in the audience. “Many aspects reminded me of my elementary days, I am 92 years old.” Perhaps the most effective aspect of November’s public premier of “Focus on Success” was that when it was over, attendees felt that the information and experience truly would be of use as the community advocates for a high quality public education system that is controlled by the community and focuses on successfully educating every child in New Orleans. A survey was distributed, which 64% of the attendees filled out. Of those, 83% said that they could use what they learned at the premier to impact their kids’ school. OPEN is a New Orleans-based nonprofit committed to ensuring that there is an informed and engaged community that exercises influence on policy and programs to realize excellence and equity for every child in public schools in New Orleans. “Focus On Success” came out of OPEN’s “What Works and Why” program, which examined what was working in schools in New Orleans. The program, which took place in 2010, looked at the four schools featured in the film, and examined student achievement, data, and school practices. All four schools hosted site visits during which participants from the community toured the schools, and a community-wide meeting was held to bring together parents and practitioners to share and discuss how these best practices can inform and strengthen schools citywide. The idea for the “Focus on Success” documentary was born when an attendee of that event mentioned that it would be powerful and useful in for community engagement if a documentary that captured the What Works and Why experience in DVD form which could be distributed to the community as an informational organizing tool.

When Is It Time to Hang Up the Keys? By Julie E. Lee, Vice President, Driver Safety Program, AARP Education & Outreach

or many people, driving equals independence. It provides the freedom to visit family and friends, run to the store or the doctor’s office and travel freely. As we age, or as we observe an aging loved one, such as a spouse or a parent, it’s important to think about – and plan for – a life without driving. But how do you know when it’s time to “hang up the keys”? Giving up the keys is a very sensitive, personal decision. For some, the experience of relinquishing their driving rights can ignite feelings of anger, frustration, isolation and depression, according to AARP’s We Need to Talk seminar, which is based on information created jointly by The Hartford and MIT AgeLab. It’s therefore crucial that when you broach this subject with a loved one, you’re educated and prepared. Before initiating these conversations, you should observe your loved one’s driving firsthand. Look for warning signs, such as these:

1. Almost crashing, with frequent “close calls”. 2. Finding dents and scrapes on the car, on fences, mailboxes, garage doors or curbs. 3. Getting lost, especially in familiar locations. 4. Having trouble seeing or following traffic signals, road signs and pavement markings. 5. Responding more slowly to unexpected situations; having trouble . moving from the gas to the brake pedal, or confusing the two pedals. 6. Misjudging gaps in traffic at intersections and on highway entrance and exit ramps. 7. Experiencing road rage or frequently being honked at by other drivers. 8. Easily becoming distracted or having difficulty concentrating while driving. 9. Having a hard time turning to check over the shoulder while . backing up or changing lanes. 10. Receiving traffic tickets or “warnings” from traffic or law enforcement officers.

When observing and assessing your own or your loved one’s driving, try to differentiate between everyday mistakes and more serious safety risks. If you do notice one or more of these cautionary signs, consider exploring the free We Need to Talk online seminar, available at www. aarp.org/weneedtotalk. If you’re not at the point where a conversation is needed, you and your loved one may benefit from taking a driving refresher course, such as the classroom and online courses offered by AARP. The AARP Driver Safety course is offered in both English and Spanish, and in some states, you may even be eligible for an insurance discount upon completion of the AARP Driver Safety Program.* *The insurance premium discount is not available in all states for the online or the classroom versions of the course. Requirements vary from state to state. In some states, separate rules may apply to online driver improvement courses. Please consult your insurance agent for further details. Julie Lee, Vice President of AARP’s Driver Safety Program, has more than 30 years of experience in management, strategic planning, transportation and safety. With AARP for over eight years, Lee directs the largest driver improvement course designed for drivers age 50 and older.

For more information, visit www.aarp.org/driving45 or call 1-888-AARP-NOW (1-888-227-7669).

AARP offers the Driver Safety Course in the New Orleans area on the following dates: 01/21/2012 (4 hours) 10am-2:30 Little Zion Baptist Church 4821 Earhart Blvd., New Orleans LA 70125 391-3213 01/24/2012 (4 hours) 9am-1pm East Jefferson General Hospital 4200 Houma Blvd., Metairie LA 70006 (Room-Esplanade 3) 454-4168

02/07/2012 (4 hours) 5pm-9pm East Jefferson General Hospital 4200 Houma Blvd., Metairie LA 70006 (Room-Esplanade 3) 302-1712

02/15/2012 (4 hours) 9am-1pm Elmwood Fitness Center 1200 S. Clearview Prkwy, Harahan LA 70123 302-1712

02/07/2012 (4 hours) 9am-1pm West Jefferson Medical Center 1101 Medical Center Blvd, Marrero LA 70072 349-6263

02/28/2012 (4 hours) 9am-1pm East Jefferson General Hospital 4200 Houma Blvd., Metairie LA 70006 (Room-Esplanade 3) 454-4168

02/02/2012 (4 hours) 5pm-9pm Elmwood Fitness Center 1200 S. Clearview Prkwy, Harahan LA 70123 828-3962

02/13/2012 (4 hours) 9am-1pm Ochsner Medical Center 181 W. Esplanade Ave., Kenner LA 70065 467-6627

03/01/2012 (4 hours) 10am-2pm AARP Information Center 2475 Canal St., New Orleans LA 70119 826-1973

02/02/2012 (4 hours) 10am-2pm AARP Information Center 2475 Canal St., New Orleans LA 70119 826-1973

02/14/2012 (4 hours) 9am-1pm Terrebonne Council on Aging 995 West Tunnel Blvd, Houma LA 70360 985/876-6245

THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

Looking to Improve Your Computer Skills? By Literacy Alliance of Greater New Orleans Learning how to use a computer can be intimidating, but a very useful and a lot of fun. Learner Web is an online computer learning program that takes anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months to complete, depending on the learner’s pace. Meet new friends while learning with others. Learner Web will teach you: • Computer basics • How to e-mail or use Facebook • Computer safety • How to purchase a quality computer • Applying for jobs online • Volunteer to Help New Orleanians Improve Their Computer Skills and Job Prospects Are you great with navigating the Internet? Are you interested in helping close the digital divide in New Orleans? Would you like to help local residents become more digital literate? Consider volunteering to help adult learners in or around your neighborhood increase their computer and Internet skills through the Learner Web. Learner Web is a program provided by the Literacy Alliance of Greater New Orleans that allows adult learners to increase their computer and Internet skills at community centers, churches and other locations throughout Orleans Parish. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, “Statistical reports on job growth and retail sales show the importance of the Internet economy. Between 1998 and 2008, the number of domestic information technology jobs grew 26 percent – four times faster than employment in the United States as a whole.” Volunteers or “Community Learning Technology Assistants” gain teaching skills while assisting learners young and old. Learner Web Volunteer Coordinator Kelly Harris notes that tutors can get really creative by connecting a person’s interests to the assigned lessons plans. “People want to know how the Internet can help them locate a job or a friend. One tutor at a local site has helped many elderly women find and purchase church hats on line,” says Harris.

Be a Student or Volunteer at the following Learner Web locations: Central City Renaissance Alliance at Mahalia Jackson Center 2405 Jackson Avenue Contact: La Donya Williams, (504) 359-6836

Sojourner Truth Neighborhood Center 2200 Lafitte Street Contact: Claudette Austin or Lana Roberts (504) 827-9963, ext. 218

Goodwill Industries 3400 Tulane Avenue Contact: Jodee Daroca (504) 456-2622

Incarnate Word Community Center 8326 Apricot Street Contact: Manon Pavy (504) 861-6349

Harmony Oaks 2514 Washington Street Contact: Linda Pompa (504) 894-6626 Hispanic Apostolate Community Services 2525 Maine Avenue, Metairie Contact: Caroline Warburton (504) 814-0521 Holy Faith Temple Baptist Church 1325 Governor Nicholls Street Contact: Wanda Route (504) 525-0856

St. John the Baptist Center 1920 Clio Street Contact: Amanda Tonkovich (504) 581-4987, ext. 206 St. Joseph Baptist Church 1100 Odeon Avenue, Algiers (504) 367-0589 Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) 6400 Press Drive, Trailer 42 Contact: Dr. Deborah Darby (504)286-5041

Advertise in the Trumpet! The Trumpet is New Orleans only community magazine written by neighborhood residents, for neighborhoods, and about New Orleans neighborhoods. The bi-monthly magazine, with a circulation of 5,000 copies throughout greater New Orleans, has over 110 contributors from our network who is fulfilling our vision of “community voices orchestrating change.”

And, We Would Like to Invite YOU to be a Part of this Symphony! As an advertising partner, you will help us shape each issue’s theme, which also contributes to the news and stories that affect our city, neighborhoods and residents. You can choose from either a 1/2, full or 3/4 page, which you will own for the entire year, (six issues). Whether you want to write something “article style,” or use the full space for a single graphic to highlight a service or event, you are welcome to shape your advertising space to best communicate your message. In addition, you will also have access to our other communication outlets, including our website, www.npnnola.com, The Trumpet Blog and our weekly newsletter, Trumpet Tidbits, which currently reaches 3,500 readers.

To Advertise, email info@npnnola.com THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

The

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History of the Seventh Ward By Nora McGunnigle, Local History Editor

he Seventh Ward neighborhood takes its name from and is part of the politically defined voting ward, although it does not make up the voting ward entirely. It is one of the oldest neighborhoods in New Orleans, having been part of land held by Claude Dubreuil and later Bernard Marigny. In 1805 Bernard Marigny subdivided his plantation land holdings to create the Marigny and the Seventh Ward, which at that time was known as Nouveau Marigny. The area of the Seventh Ward that Marigny did not hold (from St. Bernard to Esplanade) was the property of Charles de Morand, a French engineer who arrived in the early 18th century to assist Adrien de Pauger in the building of New Orleans’ streets. Morand purchased the parcel that lay between Governor Nicholls, St. Bernard, Galvez, and Rampart in 1731. Nouveau Marigny expanded quickly after the Ponchartrain Railroad connected the Marigny area up to the lake in 1830, which made the lots more valuable, especially to French Quarter residents seeking to escape the overpopulation there. In the mid-nineteenth century, the Germans and Creoles in particular populated this area during this expansion. However, another important population of “les gens de couleur libres” (free persons of color) was also instrumental in the determining the demographic characteristics and culture of the Seventh Ward. They were later known as “Black Creoles” and became the

backbone of the local business community and social organizations from the mid 19th century to the early 20th century. The halls built to house professional and social clubs were numerous and well used for both business and pleasure. The African-American demographics put the Seventh Ward on the forefront on Civil Rights issues in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Since the Seventh Ward was a racially mixed neighborhood with whites, blacks, and creoles, the Jim Crow laws which mandated and enforced racial segregation, strongly impacted residents in the community. People today still remember the “Paper Bag Test.” Darrlyn A. Smither, in her language history book “New Orleans Seventh Ward Nostalgia Dictionary, 1938-1965” defines the test as: “BROWN PAPER BAG TEST: Seventh Warders do remember! To be accepted in some circles, this visual test was used to determine if skin color was darker than a brown paper bag. If skin color was darker than the bag, you might be turned down. But maybe you could pass the fine comb test. If not, maybe your father was a medical doctor or your mother a teacher. You remember!” Such discrimination suffered every day and on every street by Seventh Ward citizens of color did create opportunities and motivation for organizing the civil rights movement in New Orleans. Seventh Ward native A. P. Tureaud, a civil rights activist and attorney for the New Orleans

Since the Seventh Ward was a racially mixed neighborhood with whites, blacks, and creoles, the Jim Crow laws which mandated and enforced racial segregation, strongly impacted residents in the community.

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chapter of the NAACP worked tirelessly and painstakingly to overturn these racist laws, one at a time. He was the lawyer that filed the lawsuit against the Orleans Parish School Board to force desegregation in New Orleans public schools, which succeeded when the Supreme Court turned over Plessy v. Ferguson in 1954 (although implementation would be delayed for five years by the Louisiana Legislature’s repeated attempts to thwart the ruling.) The Seventh Ward has honored Tureaud with the dedication of a park in the neighborhood to him, with a statue of him that bears the plaque: New Orleans Attorney A.P. Tureaud courageously led us toward equal justice and opportunity for all. He boldly challenged each obstacle in our way. He skillfully pried open the gates of segregation that separated us from each other and from our nation’s promise. A.P. Tureaud’s legal victories cleared the way toward reaching the promise of equal protection under the law. These civil rights triumphs encouraged others to lead us forward on the path that A.P. Tureaud made wider, more clear and more certain. The Seventh Ward community has been united over the years through institutions like Corpus Christi Catholic Parish, built in 1915 after the Church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart was destroyed by a hurricane, functioned as a church, a school, and a community center. It still stands and serves today and was known at one time as the larges black Catholic Church in the U.S. St. Augustine High School draws on the Seventh Ward’s Catholic influence and dedication to equal education (McDonogh #35, founded in 1931 in the Seventh Ward, was the only high school in New Orleans for African Americans for more than 10 years) and was founded in 1951 as a Catholic school for African-American boys to become one of the most renowned high schools in the city and is recognized nationally for its academics and celebrated marching band. A crushing blow to the thriving African American Seventh Ward community came in the 1960s when the city razed the beautiful oak trees of South Claiborne’s neutral ground and subsequently destroyed the central hub for business in the Seventh Ward. Almost overnight, the neighborhood became less desirable and the business owners and

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many community leaders flocked to the suburbs. This left their properties abandoned. Increased blight and crime soon followed. However, it continued to be an important African American community, with churches, historic social halls, clubs like the Ernie K-Doe’s Mother-In-Law Lounge, and the Seventh Ward is also the center of Mardi Gras Indian tribal action on Mardi Gras and Super Sunday. Musicians like Jellyroll Morton and Buddie Petit and politicians like Ray Nagin and Dutch Morial are among its famous former residents, along with current television and movie producer Tyler Perry. When Katrina hit, the London Avenue Canal was severely breached on both sides which resulted in catastrophic flooding of the area. Many residents have returned: According to the GNOCDC Neighborhood Recovery report, 79% of the pre-Katrina population are back in the Seventh Ward as of June 2010.There is also talk currently of dismantling the I-10 Claiborne Expressway and restoring the Claiborne Corridor. Hopefully the continued growth of the Seventh Ward will usher in a new era in the community; it is far too important and historically significant to neglect or ignore any longer.

You may have grown up in the Seventh Ward if you remember: • “Meet me at Butsy and Buddy” • Cafe Roux, after a dance at the I.L.A with the Royal Dukes of Rhythm • Hardin’s Park & Pool. Swimming lessons and fun! • Heckmann’s • Martinez Nursery School • Peete’s Pharmacy • Saucier’s Grocery Store • Thornhill’s Pharmacy • Virtue Inn Source: Smither, Darrlyn A., New Orleans Seventh Ward Nostalgia Dictionary, 1938-1965, Seattle; 1996.

THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

NEIGHBOR OOD SPOTLIGH HT

7th War d

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The Porch

7th Ward Arts Alive! Summer Camp Photography (in front of Porch mural)

7th Ward Cultural Organization By Lana Mars, Managing Director of The Porch

In the aftermath of the 2005 storms, community members established a community space where youth, teenagers, adults and senior citizens can begin to reclaim their streets and their lives in one of New Orleans’ most challenged neighborhoods, the 7th Ward. Its mission is to promote and sustain the cultures of the neighborhood, city, and region and to foster exchange between cultural groups. The Porch is a place where “all can come to do and to share their culture, and to take care of our fellow neighbors and the community as a whole.” Projects include the summer arts camp, youth theatre and storytelling project, visual arts, digital media, an herb farm and community garden, film screenings, and Mardi Gras Indian history and bead sewing workshop. Activities are partially supported by grants from the Ford Foundation, the Joan Mitchell Foundation, Arts Council of New Orleans, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Foundation and Zeitoun Foundation. For additional information visit: www.theporch-7.com 18

THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

Above: Original Little 7 Players Theatre and Digital Media, Bottom left: Herb Farm and Community Gardening Bottom right: Mardi Gras Indian Bead Sewing Workshop THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

All Together in Dignity (ATD) Fourth World Movement By Keslie Box, ATD Fourth World Movement

ll Together in Dignity (ATD) Fourth World Movement. As with the title of our organization, our list of activities is quite a mouthful. ATD Fourth World is an international human rights organization that encourages solidarity among people across all backgrounds and ways of life, working side by side in efforts toward the eradication of poverty. This is done in a variety of interactive ways in New Orleans, New York City, southwestern Virginia, Gallup, New Mexico, Washington, DC, and in over 30 other countries around the world. Projects and initiatives are dependent on the needs, strengths and culture of the communities in which we work. Here in the Seventh Ward, our main activities include a Street Library and Young Leaders Training Program. The Street Library is simple in format: We set up colorful blankets on an empty street lot, provide a communal reading and story time, and do creative activities with children from around the neighborhood. This happens every Saturday, with a few holiday and weather-day exceptions. The program, long established in ATD Fourth World Movementâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s international collection of ongoing activities, was held in several neighborhoods throughout the city 20

for 15 years before Hurricane Katrina. Nevertheless, it is a rather new development to the Seventh Ward, where we are currently located at the corner of Urquhart and Pauger Streets, about a year in and counting. Street Libraries in under-resourced communities provide children with opportunities to make discoveries and build links with others that foster a love of learning and encourage social inclusion. Full-time Volunteer Corps members, who make up ATD Fourth Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s staff in New Orleans, initiated the Street Library in the Seventh Ward in the spring of 2011. Danielle Ashby, a former ATD Fourth World Volunteer Corps member, still runs the show by completely volunteering her time, alongside a slew of other supporters, volunteers and ATD Fourth World Volunteer Corps members. Over the summer, we hosted an extended version of the Street Library, what we call a Festival of Learning. It is similar in purpose and design; however, it involves a variety of simultaneous activities, takes place over a more compact, consecutive period, and requires a lot more preparation, volunteers and resources. The Festival of Learning asks and encourages local artists, professionals and neighborhood residents to share their talents and passions THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

through art and creative activities. Every day on three consecutive weekends in July, an amazing group of volunteers and staff came together to set up activities, paraded around the neighborhood to gather the crew of children (most of whom already attended the Street Library in some capacity), and came back to the center, where the children moved freely through activities for the next two to three hours. Among the activities and workshops provided were puppet making, launching water-pressured bottle rockets, football, basketball, play-dough making, painting, music, storytelling and more. On the last day of the Festival, we hosted a barbecue party to exhibit the children’s work to the community and family members. What’s amazing about all of this is that the entire Festival of Learning was coordinated by various young people, all part of the Young Leaders Training Program that also started this past summer, thanks to the initiative of full-time Volunteer Corps member Maria Victoire. The program itself is designed to unite young people of various origins, races, sexual orientations, economic backgrounds, genders and ages in an effort to further develop leadership skills through hands-on community activism and personal skill development. This collective of young people come together a minimum of four times a year for three-day intensive training sessions focused on specific themes or issues relevant to their lives. THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

During these sessions, we invite guest personalities with experience in the designated themes to create awareness about the current situation and how to get involved. Each session incorporates forms of creative expression, hands-on community involvement, project coordination and planning, individual skill-building and collective work and responsibility. Our most recent session focused on planning for the coming year. We developed four themes, which include Leadership Development and Community Organizing, Education, Food Justice and Sustainability, and Human Rights and the Eradication of Poverty. Each session will be planned and facilitated by its volunteered planning committee of young people. Aside from the four training sessions, the Young Leaders have also begun to develop more informal “interest groups” based on individual hobbies and concerns, which will begin meeting a few times a month. These will ideally serve to enhance relationships as well as provide additional support to the larger objectives of becoming more active in the community and further developing leadership skills. We have already begun a discussion about furthering our Food Justice planning committee to a more permanent interest group that places priority on accessibility of healthy foods in schools and neighborhoods, knowledge about nutrition, making connections between food and source and, especially, bringing all 21

of said information and resources to children through the Street Library. Our next Young Leaders Training Session will be held at the beginning of March and will involve collaboration with a group of students from the Center for Community Service Learning at the University of San Diego. This session will focus on Leadership Development and Community Organizing and, hopefully, will catapult us further into our engagement in the Seventh Ward community. In addition to Street Library and Young Leaders, ATD Fourth World strives to create events and gatherings that involve the whole community and support ambitions and initiatives of Seventh Ward residents, particularly those most struggling with the challenges of poverty. Over the past few months, we have partnered with the administration and staff at A.P. Tureaud Elementary School, across the street from our office, to hold two community-wide events. One of those occasions took place on October 17 to commemorate the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, a day initiated by ATD Fourth World Movement over 25 years ago, now honored internationally and recognized by the United Nations. This event 22

was open to the public to honor and highlight the voices and efforts of people struggling every day for lack of resources and support. Another event, our holiday party, occurred more recently in midDecember. This, too, was a public event that catered to all ages. We had a variety of interactive workshops that incorporated and celebrated aspects of Kwanzaa and Christmas and ended the night with a childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s song and dance performance. Our efforts to engage with the community are simple in nature, but provide all those involved with complex experiences, full of meaningful interactions with people of all ages, skin tones, economic backgrounds, sexual orientations, and genders alike. We strive to welcome the most diverse of crowds because we believe the more varied experiences we have in the room, the more we can learn from each other and come to understand our differences, as well as similarities, to create solidarity in efforts toward a better, more inclusive world.

THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

The Old Passes to the New

A Seventh Ward Community Center in the Making By Rev. John Harfmann, S.S.J. Pastor, Corpus Christi â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Epiphany Church and Jayne Nussbaum, Louisiana Public Health Institute

n 1915, Corpus Christi Catholic Church was founded and built on St. Bernard Avenue in the Seventh Ward of New Orleans. Two years after the establishment of the church, the Corpus Christi School began educating local youth. Over the next 90 years, the church and school rotated among buildings on the St. Bernard grounds and a number of extensions were added. By mid-20th century, Corpus Christi was the largest Black Catholic church in the nation; and still today, the church resides in the largest African-American Catholic parish in the United States. Between the early 19th century and the Civil Rights movement, the Seventh Ward was home to many educated and accomplished African Americans. However, eventually desegregation, the destruction of the Claiborne Avenue neutral ground, Hurricane Katrina and years of racial and

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economic inequities combined to decrease the prosperity and development of the neighborhood. As a result, current New Orleans neighborhood-level data indicate that Seventh Ward residents face significant challenges and barriers related to education, employment and safety. In 2005, like many buildings and residences in Orleans Parish, the Corpus Christi School was heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding. The school was inundated with over three feet of water, destroying all mechanical aspects (air conditioning, heat and electricity), which were located in the basement. Since the hurricane, the large school building has laid dormant until now. Although Corpus Christi was heavily damaged by the storm, the nearby Epiphany Catholic School building suffered worse damage. After years of negotiations with the Archdiocese of

New Orleans, the Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded $5.3 million for the value of Epiphany School. By then, Epiphany’s structure was too unstable and it had to be razed. After the Archdiocese combined the two church parishes into one, named Corpus Christi – Epiphany Church and led by Rev. John Harfmann, FEMA allotted these funds to the newly formed parish. The FEMA funds are designated for design work and renovation repairs to the original Corpus Christi School building. It will be used as a new community center for the Seventh Ward neighborhood. However, none of these FEMA funds can be used for operating or providing programming for the community center.

But recently, Corpus Christi – Epiphany Catholic Church, in partnership with the Louisiana Public Health Institute, received a grant from Baptist Community Ministries to create and implement a sustainability plan for the new community center housed in the former school building that will be renovated with FEMA funds. The sustainability plan will consist of business and marketing plans that will assist Father Harfmann, the church pastor, to obtain ongoing resources to support the community center’s programming and building operations and to garner neighborhood and community support. LPHI will hire and oversee a professional consultant with proven expertise in community planning and fundraising to develop the plan.

THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

Statue of A.P. Tureaud in 7th Ward

A.P. Tureaud, Jr. Describes His History-Making Choices By Brentin Mock, a journalist based in New Orleans Guest Columnist

A.P. Tureaud Jr. was the first black person to integrate Louisiana State University’s undergraduate school in 1953, as part of a number of lawsuits which his father, Alexander Pierre Tureaud, Sr., brought against LSU for its refusal to admit African-American students. Mr. Tureaud Sr. is recognized as a civil rights giant for his work as an attorney – undoing the injustices of the Plessy v. Ferguson case that legalized racial segregation. Working through the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, he helped win civil rights victories for African Americans for voting rights, the integration of schools and parks, and fair and equal pay for black teachers. A.P. Tureaud, Jr.’s courageous decision to integrate LSU paved the way for African Americans and people of color to attend the university. Though he eventually switched schools to Xavier University, where he graduated from, he has remained a strong advocate for education in New Orleans, in New York where he currently lives, and around the world. The Trumpet interviewed A.P. Tureaud, Jr. recently. Trumpet: What was your thought process when selecting what college you were going to attend back in 1953 at 17 years old, and how did you make the courageous pick of LSU? A.P. Tureaud, Jr.: I had friends at Xavier, Dillard and Southern. But I chose LSU because I thought, “This is a big school, it will be a good experience for me,” and I was always interested in being in a larger

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environment than the one I grew up in. I went there fully intending to become an active member of that campus. My high school experience was o.k., but it wasn’t anything that was quite challenging. I went to Clark High School – it’s still there on Bayou Road – and I went half a day. So I was really looking for an expanded academic experience. Well, it didn’t happen that way.

Trumpet: When did you realize this might not have been the best decision? Tureaud: I knew this was not the place for me and I had made a mistake. My father didn’t recruit me to go to this school. I decided this is where I wanted to go. So I had become an icon for integration and people began to say to me, “Oh, we’re so happy you’re there and we’re proud of you.” I became this symbol and that put more responsibility on me. I figured I had to get out of here some kind of way. Fortunately, there was a mistrial [in his father’s case against LSU that initially led to his registering as a student], and I had to leave. I said once I got out I was never going back. Case or no case – I didn’t go there to be a test case. Trumpet: Did you ever feel like your life was threatened when at LSU? Tureaud: There were incidents that I learned about later where people were looking for me to do harm physically to me, and my parents had some inkling of that, but they never shared it with me. I’m glad they didn’t, because that would have heightened my anxieties. In 1953, I was the first black undergraduate to go to any of the formerly all-white southern universities. The Alabama and Mississippi cases came two or three years later. And they came after Brown v. Board of Education, which was 1954. Trumpet: How long was it before you landed at Xavier? Tureaud: It was 55 days. The black Greek organizations at LSU just called me a few weeks ago and told me they decided to start an organization called “55 Society,” and asked would I give them permission to use my name. They said the “55 Society” represents the 55 days I was at LSU. I said, “Sure, but what are they going to do?” There’s a new cultural center that’s being built predominantly for minority students and it’s LSU’s way of dealing with diversity. They chose me as the vehicle for recognition and support and identity. It took me by surprise and I’m very honored that they would think that way of me.

Trumpet: Education has been such an essential part of your life. What do you make of the current challenges in education compared with when you were a student? Tureaud: I went to a public school in New Orleans, to Jones School on North Galvez Street and Annette Street. That was an excellent school. There were many excellent schools in New Orleans. There was a tremendous thrust to educate yourself, so what I didn’t get at home, I got at school. I got the sense that I could compete with anyone else. Now, I taught for ten years before I became an administrator – a year in New Orleans, a year in Washington, D.C., and I taught eight years in White Plains, New York, before I became Director of Special Education for 28 years. I had 38 years of public education before I retired. And I taught at every level. And I taught at four or five universities in New York City in the evening. The thrust today is that poverty is acceptable, bad education is acceptable, magnet schools and charters are the way to go, we don’t need a board of education, we don’t need elected board members, a mayor can take over the school district and determine what the budget should be, there should be no teacher unions, no salary negotiations – that is the death of anything constructive. Trumpet: So what do you think of the education reform efforts currently happening in New Orleans? Tureaud: I’m in New Orleans a lot, and I’ve been talking to a lot of people there. I’m on several boards and committees about education, and I think what is happening there is tragic. You’re not going to change that culture of crime and poverty unless you can get public schools back on track. I don’t take anything away from Teach for America, but those are not people who should be solely in a classroom with 25 to 30 kids. You can’t be a teacher with six months of summer training. I’m not saying these kids are not smart or capable, but I can tell you that they’re frustrated. The country is truly in a place where parents are allowing this to happen, or parents don’t know how to put enough pressure on anyone or the government representation is allowing these things to happen. It’s a tragic destruction of public education.

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Sixty Years of Successful Black Male Achievement By Patricia A. Davis, NPN Neighborhoods Liaison

What does it mean to attend a secondary institution that really cares about the well-being of the students – an institution that not only provides excellent academia, but also teaches students life skills? What does it mean to have a support system of an alumni brotherhood in states other than the original state? What does it mean to connect with other brothers and to leave an institution with such pride?

ixty years ago, St. Augustine High School was “constructed by the Archdiocese of New Orleans with funds solicited from Catholics of the Archdiocese through the Youth Progress Program. The building and site on which it stands were purchased by the Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart (The Josephite Fathers and Brothers), to whom the operation of the school was entrusted.

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“The Archdiocese of New Orleans placed the school under the patronage of St. Augustine of Hippo, a preeminent Christian and scholar of Africa and a Father of the Church. The school was designated for the education of young men from Black Catholic families of New Orleans. “Presently, St. Augustine welcomes students of any national or ethnic background and has remained the leading secondary school for black males in Louisiana, and is nationally recognized in educational circles for

outstanding success in preparing its students for higher education.” “Under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, St. Augustine High School is the training ground for leadership through academic excellence, moral values, Christian responsibility and reasonable, consistent discipline.” “Throughout its history, St. Augustine has maintained a tradition of strong discipline and a program of studies which challenges each student to achieve his fullest individual potential.” In addition, “St. Augustine has always served a very diverse student population, seeking to enable each and every student to maximize his potential.”1 Recently, I was given the opportunity to speak with Howard Rodgers III, a 1971 graduate of St. Augustine High School. Mr. Rodgers enrolled at St. Augustine in 1967 as a young man determined to receive an education of high excellence as well as to attend an institution that recognized him as a future asset to the community. In 1968, Mr. Rodgers became part of St. Augustine’s Marching Band as a color guard member under the direction of the late Mr. Edwin Hampton. At that time, St. Augustine participated in Mardi Gras by marching in the parades and remaining strong. The band members focused on their practiced steps and music, while hearing racial slurs from some ignorant bystanders. March on with pride is what the Purple Knights did, with their heads held high and knowing who they were as young, strong black men with discipline, character and strong spiritual values. Mr. Rodgers quoted his mother as saying, “As long as you are black, you will have to fight for what you believe.” The values of staying strong, ignoring others’ ignorance and having determination to believe that you

can accomplish any goal are the teaching of St. Augustine High School. Today the St. Augustine Marching Band is known nationally and receives the respect of any great band in this “democratic” country. Mr. Rodgers credits St. Augustine High School with developing his interests in science and world history, which opened his mind to know that “If one does not know their history, then it will be repeated.” Critical thinking and decision making were the moving forces of these classes. Having successfully completed his studies at St. Augustine, Mr. Rodgers attended and graduated from Loyola University of Louisiana, New Orleans. In fact, three members of the Rodgers family are “Purple Knights”. These include not only Howard Rodgers but also his brother, Dr. Griffin Rodgers, Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. He has made contributions to the development of effective therapy for sickle cell anemia.2 In addition, Mr. Rodgers’ son, Howard Rodgers IV, is a 2000 graduate of St. Augustine High School. The Josephite priests who teach the young men at St. Augustine instilled valuable lessons into the minds of future productive men of this society. Mr. Rodgers remembers what the Josephites taught: “Nothing in this life is free. Have pride and a sense of determination, especially in the African-American culture. Nothing can be accomplished until one has applied himself. And, most importantly, do not settle for second best.” Presently, Mr. Rodgers is Executive Director of the New Orleans Council on Aging. He enjoys every minute of serving seniors in Greater New Orleans and surrounding areas.

Sources: 1St. Augustine High School website: http://purpleknights.com, 2Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D., website: http://healthnews.uc.edu/news.

St. Bernard Avenue

A Hidden Gem and Golden Gateway By By Lakshmi Sridaran, Policy & Advocacy Editor

I first met the Amedee Family back in 2006 when the California-based foundation I was working for decided to host an elaborate soirée celebrating actor Danny Glover’s adoption of the Singleton School. Driving down Claiborne Avenue, I almost missed the right turn onto St. Bernard Avenue; and, as I continued down the avenue, I found myself wondering which of the blighted buildings could possibly be a reception hall.

hen I came upon the beautiful rose-colored building called the Wisdom. The black wrought-iron gate was open, and I saw people walking in and out of the building carrying food trays, workmen and event planners. Suddenly, a street that seemed abandoned was full of life. I first met Annette Amedee, the Director of Event Planning, who relayed the family’s story in renovating the Wisdom, whose entire first floor was flooded by Hurricane Katrina after the family had just opened the venue in late 2004. On my way out, I met Annette’s brother-in-law, Glenn Amedee, who I later came to know was the entrepreneurial brainchild behind the Wisdom. Over the years, I have seen Glenn turn his visions into reality, starting with the Wisdom, then the Perfect Fit Bar and Grill and the latest being a large-scale entertainment complex with a groundbreaking scheduled for later this year. Glenn’s inspiration comes from his deep commitment to the Seventh Ward neighborhood where his family has roots, and particularly St. Bernard Avenue, a street that was once a thriving African-American business and entertainment district rooted by the Circle Foods Store on

the corner at Claiborne Avenue. Today, I believe that St. Bernard Avenue is rooted by the Amedee Family. They continually emphasize the many positive features on the stretch of St. Bernard between Claiborne Avenue and Rampart Street, namely, fast highway access on one end and close proximity to the French Quarter on the other end. With Glenn’s help, I met several other business owners along St. Bernard Avenue earlier this month. Mr. Joseph Williams owns Avenue Quick Stop Café in the 1400 block of St. Bernard Avenue close to Claiborne Avenue, which he opened in 2010 after building it from the ground up. We chatted away at one of his restaurant tables, and he told me about his 25-year business history near this intersection. He started by opening First Foot Forward Shoes and Accessories in 1990 in a leased building, providing high-end retail catered toward a young AfricanAmerican clientele, since this part of New Orleans was one of the few areas for more affluent African-Americans to live and shop. In the late 90s, Mr. Williams went on to purchase more lots and buildings around the Claiborne and St. Bernard Avenue area, upgrading his original store.

THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

But he said that after Hurricane Katrina, he realized there was a more diverse demographic moving into the Seventh Ward, and he wanted to open a store that could cater to this broader spectrum and also meet the Foods service needs of the area, inspiring the Avenue Quick Stop Café. Next, I met Mr. Kijana Wren, who purchased the Bashman’s Meat Market building across the street from Avenue Quick Stop Café in 2009, which he will open as a restaurant later this year. Although Mr. Wren is originally from Uptown New Orleans, he now has three children at St. Augustine High School. He was inspired to open a business after driving down St. Bernard Avenue every day. As the owner of a tour company in New Orleans, he also plans to bring tourists to this neighborhood, making it a destination. I then met Mr. Dwayne Boudreaux, the owner of Circle Foods Store located at the intersection of Claiborne Avenue and St. Bernard Avenue. He recounted his work with Tulane University’s School of Architecture and Business students in partnership with the Seventh Ward Neighborhood Center and New Orleans Foods and Farm Network to recreate Circle Foods Store, incorporating local jobs, health education for the community, and support for local growers. The plan is to reinstate and expand the original services provided by the Circle Foods Store, which included not only a grocery store but also doctors’ and dentists’ offices, school uniforms, check-cashing services, and much more, serving as a historical neighborhood anchor. At this point, the financing must come together to ensure this can happen. When I asked Mr. Boudreaux about the impact of the Claiborne Avenue overpass’s potentially coming down, he responded that he felt it would be mostly a positive thing, with his only concern being that there would be less parking available for his customers and possibly increased traffic congestion. As I trekked down St. Bernard Avenue, closer to Rampart Street, I stumbled into the old bakery building on the 1300 block to find owner Tamar Taylor’s colleagues busily working in what is now an art gallery. I looked up on the wall, and hanging there were the beautiful shotgun home replicas that NPN uses for its Trumpet awards every year! Tamar excitedly called me back after I telephoned her that I visited her gallery. Although Tamar is originally from Connecticut, she has been in New Orleans since 1988. For over a year, she had searched for an industrial space for her art gallery, with no original intention of selecting the Seventh Ward. But, once she saw this property and talked to the owner, she was excited to make her purchase in this neighborhood. “The potential is great,” she said, “and what makes an eclectic and wonderful neighborhood is lots of flexibility, inexpensive housing and, specifically, St. Bernard Avenue has an open palette for what can be done with it.” She wants her art gallery to also serve as a community building, and she rents out part of it to a group of young people who use it as a gathering space. She will use part of the remaining industrial bakery space as her own studio. Tamar is excited by the diverse strata of people living and working on the avenue and proud to be on such a culturally important street. Although the art gallery has not been officially named, Tamar wants to call it “St. Be” to rebrand the

avenue, as many people confuse it with St. Bernard Parish and she wants to create a place where people can just “be”. Next, I met Rachel David, of “Red Metal” custom iron work. She is an expert welder from Baltimore, Maryland, who has been in New Orleans since early 2005. After working as a glassblower, in 2011she opened her own metalworking business in a large commercial building in the 1200 block of St. Bernard Avenue. She was excited by the size of the building and the large open yard, and her clients love the location. Some of Rachel’s work includes a front desk canopy weighing over 2000 pounds, for the lobby at Hotel Club La Pencion. She will also be constructing the main entrance gates for the “new” Bywater Art Lofts development as well as the gate for their sculpture garden, to be completed this October. Rachel wants to see art happening on St. Bernard Avenue, and feels that what is happening on St. Claude Avenue is translated in a special way on St. Bernard Avenue. Many of Rachel’s clients are tourists, as are Tamar Taylor’s. She feels that “Art is so important for the cultural redevelopment of New Orleans, and the city should use the arts as a cultural draw for tourism, while encouraging building redevelopment.” She is particularly concerned about buildings being torn down to create parking lots, rather than being renovated and reused. She hopes that, as the arts spread more widely throughout New Orleans, the city can find incentives for artists to acquire properties and renovate them for living and working. In her hometown of Baltimore, the city was selling homes to artists for $1 in the 1990s with the stipulation that they would renovate the homes within one year. She feels the city of New Orleans needs similar incentives. Rachel loves the buzz on St. Bernard Avenue. I also had the opportunity to speak with the president of Infinity Solutions, LLC, Mr. Norman Barnum, who is from New Orleans, and has been in Philadelphia for the last 22 years. He created Infinity Solutions, LLC, which is based in Louisiana, to remain committed to development in his hometown by helping new and existing entities secure financing for development that supports principles of sustainability. He conducted an overview of what he calls the St. Bernard corridor, from Claiborne Avenue to Rampart Street to come up with a corner-centric redevelopment approach, anchored by the Circle Foods Store and the Amedees’ businesses. He believes that Circle Foods is critical for the urban food desert crisis that plagues most of New Orleans, but particularly the Seventh Ward, and that the Amedees’ developments are a great arts and culture anchor for the street. Mr. Barnum said that St. Bernard Avenue is ideal because its width supports an effective streetscape and the street has great geographical proximity to the French Quarter. Mr. Barnum expressed the importance of St. Bernard Avenue being developed in the right way because it has such a historical significance to Creole New Orleans and the original residents must benefit. With an incredible hybrid of business owners who value the historical significance of St. Bernard Avenue and offer services for the original and new residents of the Seventh Ward, the street is awakening. It is not easy finding urban corridors that cater to such a diverse array of residents and visitors, and St. Bernard Avenue is a hidden gem that is quickly becoming discovered.

Tamar is excited by the diverse strata of people living and working on the avenue and proud to be on such a culturally important street.

Get Connected to the New Orleans Neighborhood Network. THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

Post News & Events for Your Organization at NPNnola.com 29

Neighborhood Meetings

Algiers Point Association Every 1st Thursday of the month @ 7pm Holy Name of Mary School Cafeteria Broadmoor Improvement Association 3rd Monday of every other month @ 7pm Andrew H. Wilson Charter School Cafeteria 3617 General Pershing St. New Orleans, LA 70125 http://www.broadmoorimprovement. com Bunny Friends Neighborhood Association Every second Saturday of the month Mt. Carmel Baptist Church 3721 N Claiborne Ave Bywater Neighborhood Association Every 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7p.m. Holy Angels Cafeteria 3500 St. Claude Ave. Carrollton Riverbend Neighborhood Association Every 2nd Thursday of the month Parish Hall of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church Corner of Carrollton and Zimple Carrollton United Every second Monday at 5:00p.m. every other month St. John Missionary Baptist Church, corner of Leonidas and Hickory Central City Partnership Every last Friday of the month @ 1p.m. Allie Mae Williams Center 2020 Jackson Ave. http://www.centralcitypartnership.org Central City Renaissance Alliance

(CCRA) Saturday, September 19 @ 2p.m. 1809 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. http://www.myccra.org Chapel of the Holy Comforter Every 4th Thursday of the month @ 6:30p.m. 2200 Lakeshore Drive Claiborne-University Neighborhood Association Quarterly Meetings, time and date TBA Jewish Community Center 5342 St. Charles Ave Downtown Neighborhood Improvement Association (DNIA) Every 3rd Monday of the month @ 7p.m. Musicians’ Union Hall 2401 Esplanade Ave (entrance through parking lot on Bayou Road and Rocheblave Street) DeSaix Neighborhood Association Every 2nd Saturday of the month @10a.m. Langhston Hughes Academy 3519 Trafalgar Street http://danadesaix.org East New Orleans Neighborhood Advisory Committee (ENONAC) Every 2rd Tuesday of each month @ 6 p.m. St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church http://www.enonac.org Faubourg Delachaise Neighborhood Association Quarterly meetings, time/date/ location TBA http://fdna-nola.org Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association Board Meeting: Every 2nd Monday 7p.m. Holy Rosary Cafeteria 1638

Moss Street General Membership: 3rd Wednesday, every other month 6:30pm Black Gold Room at the Fairgrounds http://www.fsjna.org Faubourg St. Roch Improvement Association Every 2nd Thursday of the month @ 6:00p.m. True Vine Baptist Church 2008 Marigny St. Filmore Gardens Neighborhood Association (meet the 4th Thursday of each month) Rouse’s Food Market (Leon C. Simon & Franklin Avenue) 6:30p.m. to 8:00p.m. (No meetings in Nov. and Dec.) Garden District Association 1 annual meeting per year, time/date/ location TBA Gentilly Civic Improvement Association (GCIA) General Membership- Every 3rd Saturday of the month 10am Board Meeting - Every 3rd Wednesday of the month 6:30p.m. Edgewater Baptist Church 5900 Paris Ave. Gentilly Heights East Neighborhood Association Every 3rd Monday of the month @ 6p.m. Dillard University Dent Hall – Room 104 Gentilly Sugar Hill Neighborhood Association Every 3rd Monday of the month @ 6:30p.m . VOA – 2929 St. Anthony Ave. (meetings on hold until further notice)

Gentilly Terrace School 4720 Painters St. http://www.gentillyterrace.org Hoffman Triangle Neighborhood Association Every 2nd Tuesday of the month @ 5:30p.m. Pleasant Zion Missionary Baptist Church 3327 Toledano Street Hollygrove Neighbors Association Quarterly- Saturdays at noon January 9 April 10 July 10 October 16 St. Peters Church 3424 Eagle St. Eage St. and Edinburgh St. Holy Cross Neighborhood Association Every 2nd and 4th Thursday @ 5:30 Center for Sustainability, Greater Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church 5130 Chartres, Lizardi and Chartres http://www.helpholycross.org Irish Channel Neighborhood Association 2nd Thursday of the month at 7p.m. Irish Channel Christian Fellowship 819 First St. http://www.irishchannel.org Lake Bullard Homeowners Association See website for meeting schedule Cornerstone United Methodist Church 5276 Bullard Ave. http://www.lakebullard.org Lake Catherine Civic Association Every 2nd Tuesday of the month @ 7p.m.

Gentilly Terrace and Gardens Improvement Association Every 2nd Wednesday of the month @ 7pm

Get Connected to the New Orleans Neighborhood Network. Post News & Events for Your Organization at NPNnola.com 30

THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

Neighborhood Meetings

Lake Willow Neighborhood Every 2nd Saturday of the month @ 10a.m. St. Maria Goretti Church Lower Ninth Ward Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association (NENA) Every 2nd Saturday @ 12 noon NENA – 1120 Lamanche St. http://www.9thwardnena.org Melia Subdivision Every 2rd Saturday of the month @ 5p.m. Anchoren in Christ Church 4334 Stemway Drive Mid-City Neighborhood Organization General Meeting – Second Monday of every month@ 6:30p.m. Grace Episcopal Church 3700 Canal Street http://www.mcno.org Milneburg Neighborhood Association Chapel of the Holy Comforter 2200 Lakeshore Dr. 6:30 p.m. Monthly meetings are every 4th Thursday of the month

Oak Park Civic Association Every 3rd or last Tuesday of the month Paris Oaks/Bayou Vista Neighborhood Association Last Saturday of every month @ 4p.m. Third District Police Station 4650 Paris Avenue Pensiontown of Carrollton Neighborhood Association Every 1st Saturday of the month @ 2p.m. Leonidas House Community Center (under renovation) 1407 Leonidas St. Temporarily housed at St. Paul AME Church 8540 Cohn St. (corner of Leonidas and Cohn) Pontilly Association Pontilly Disaster Collaborative – Every 3rd Wednesday of the month General Meeting – every 2nd Saturday of the month http://www.pontilly.com

Ask City Hall

Rosedale Subdivision Last Friday of every month @5:30 Greater Bright Morning Star Baptist Church 4253 Dale Street Seabrook Neighborhood Association Monthly meetings are every second Monday Gentilly Terrace School 4720 Painters Street Tall Timbers Owners Association Semi-annual meetings: Second Wednesday of October & April 7p.m. Board meetings: Second Wednesday of every other month 7p.m Tunisburg Square Homeowners Civic Association, Inc. Every 2nd Monday of the month @ 6:30p.m. http://tunisburg.org West Barrington Association 1st Tuesday of every month @ 6p.m. Holiday Inn Express 70219 Bullard Avenue

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

Neighborhood Partnership Network 4902 Canal Street • #301 New Orleans, LA 70119 504.940.2207 • FX 504.940.2208 TheTrumpet@npnnola.com

THE TRUMPET | January/February | 2012

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@cityofno.com District B Stacy Head City Hall, Room 2W10 1300 Perdido Street Phone: (504) 658 -1020 Fax: (504) 658-1025 Email: shead@cityofno.com District C Kristin Gisleson Palmer City Hall, Room 2W70 1300 Perdido Street Phone: (504) 658-1030 Fax: (504) 658-1037 Email: kgpalmer@cityofno.com District D Cynthia Hedge-Morrell City Hall, Room 2W20 1300 Perdido Street Phone: (504) 658-1040 Fax: (504) 658-1048 E-mail: chmorrell@cityofno.com District E Jon D. Johnson City Hall, Room 2W60 1300 Perdido Street Phone: (504) 658-1050 Fax: (504) 658-1058 E-mail: jdjohnson@cityofno.com Council Member-At-Large Arnie Fielkow City Hall, Room 2W40 1300 Perdido Street Phone: (504) 658-1060 Fax: (504) 658-1068 Email: afielkow@cityofno.com Council Member-At-Large Jacquelyn Clarkson City Hall, Room 2W50 1300 Perdido Street New Orleans, LA 70112 Phone: (504) 658-1070 Fax: (504) 658-1077

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Photo By: Scott Bicking

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