To my New Orleans friends and family,
It's okay if you don't want to watch, read, or participate in any of the Katrina events. It's also okay if you want to go to the second line then call up a public official and cuss their ass out. Whatever you decide to do today is the right decision. You went through the struggle so the choice is yours. After a long emotional week I think I am going to sit this one out.
So maybe holiday still isn't the word to describe what happens during the days surrounding 8/29. Maybe not yet. On the other hand, for five years now, it has been a time for city-wide recognition of the most significant historic event of our lifetimes. It has become a time most New Orleanians are becoming accustomed to marking with reflection, family, service, and, yes increasingly, celebration. I expect that, as years pass, the celebratory nature of the event will continue to grow. August 29 is and will continue to be a time to remember tragedy but also to count blessings, reconnect with family and neighbors, and, if the previous five years are any indication, engage in civic dialog and service in remembrance of an event that reminded us how important our community is to us. At times during the week of innumerable gatherings, parties, symposiums, parades, concerts, readings, and so forth that sprung up around 8/29, I found myself referring to it as "Bizzaro Mardi Gras" in conversation. But I'm beginning to see it as a kind of Thanksgiving.
On 8/29, Varg wrote a post that I thought captured this perfectly. There's much more to it but here's the part that left the biggest impression.
Today is a day of remembrance and those neighbors we lost will be honored. The voids they are leaving are a chaos all their own. Along with the “other victims,” those unclassifiable friends we lost from cancers, heart attacks, drug abuse, alcoholism and suicide in the years following.I, and I'm sure many of us, could write something along similar lines. It made me think, anyway.
I’m just one person and not some symbol of New Orleans but I have seen improvements in my life since the Flood. I am earning more income, have a better quality of life and live by many of my own terms. I have been married. I have finished working on my home and added value to it. I have developed and continue to develop a circle of friends and social contacts – these are New Orleans artists, builders, mothers, business people. I have a deeper empathy, sympathy for my neighbors. So, for me, things have recovered. We’ll see.
A lot of horrible shit has happened as a result of the flood and during the five years following upon it. Most of this horrible shit, the public stuff, the stuff that affected everyone, we've spent a lot of time kvetching about in public places; I have on this blog for one thing. I could also make a list of personal traumas I have accrued during this time and they would be familiar to most; lost family, friends relocated who haven't returned, workplace upheaval, general drama with friends, neighbors, acquaintances, that whole chaos thing Varg was talking about. And yet while all that was going on, I also got married. I went to Paris. Mac McClelland signed my book. Like Varg, I've also "developed and continue to develop a circle of friends and social contacts". Frankly, in the past five years, I have learned a great deal more about the city I live in and the people I share it with than I expected I could and I thought I'd had a pretty good handle on that to start with. I'm less lonely now than I've ever been. And I can't help but feel a little guilty about that. But then guilt is a common element during holidays, particularly the more somber commemorative ones. As a confirmed atheist, I hesitate to use the word blessings to describe what I've gotten away with personally during this time, but if you've got a better word for profound ethereal good luck, I'd love to hear it.
So how does one observe a holiday like this? How does one celebrate the survival of some of the things, places and people we love while also confronting our losses and the fragility of what remains? Editor B writes,
Be revolutionary.I'm cutting out an example B presents from his personal experience, but he continues.
That’s it. That’s my wish for the people of New Orleans. Come to think of it, that’s also my wish for the people of this nation and this world. But somehow it seems especially apropos at this place, at this time. We’ve been having to rebuild and rethink everything, and five years on there is still much to do. So, as we continue to work at building it back better, we need to be bold. We need to be daring. We need courage and compassion and creativity.
Not all revolutions are good. Not all revolutions are just. I don’t endorse change for the sake of change. For a community that has lost so much, in fact, more change may be difficult to face. But that’s our challenge, to preserve the good while revolutionizing the bad.
And actually, I think a lot of New Orleanians are doing this already. But it seems that it’s never enough. We need to constantly be supporting one another to be stronger and go further.
And this is why I've spent the weekend around 8/29 at Rising Tide each of these past few years. It's what I think B would would call "good" revolutionary. It isn't organized around any political orthodoxy or narrow social grievance. Rather, it is, or tries to be, a conference about the state of New Orleans organized for and by New Orleanians looking for ways to support one another. Mostly they do that through watching, reading, talking and sharing information in a raucous and open forum. New Orleanians have always been free with their opinions, but now more than ever they've come to understand the importance of countering banal happy bullshit even if that gets a little sloppy at times. Maitri puts this more eloquently than I could ever hope to.
It has been five years since Hurricane Katrina, The Flood and the information flood it brought with it. My hope for five years from now is increased information flow, but more than that, that we consider the source and its intent. That we build a more accurate picture, and not a sparklingly precise one. For the future we make comes from what and why we remember.
By now you've probably read about the overwhelming success of Rising Tide V from various outlets and websites. Of course, I have a few things to throw on the pile before we set it on fire.
- This Year's Winner: Sure, Cliff took home the Ashley Award and that was well deserved. But the person who won the day at Rising Tide V was Clay by a long shot. Scoring Mac McClelland's autograph on a copy of the Halliburton cementing manual was inspired. Hats off.
- Who can keep up witha da chief?: Ronal Serpas participated in the opening public safety panel and pretty much dominated it. (Video here and here) On the one hand it's encouraging to see that the new chief of police is interested enough in engaging with the public that he shows up to events like this. On the other hand, the ease and polish with which he functions in this capacity is downright suspicious. He's not afraid to tell pretty little lies and make them sound good. Serpas told the room that he believes the state of the NOPD he's taking over now is worse than its previous nadir in 1994 because, according to the chief, the problems now are indicative of systemic accountability failure while the unfortunate actions of individual bad actors in the 1990s somehow weren't. He didn't say why he thinks this. But it is convenient for him to believe so given his history with the department and his desire to play savior now. It's good politics. It's also bullshit.
But Serpas is a practiced bullshitter who tells tight stories and deflects difficult questions with ease. DSB, who lives in the same neighborhood I do, asked Serpas why our nights bring regular patrols of police cruisers riding around with their blue lights flashing. The question wasn't meant as a compliment. Those lights are an ominous and unpleasant presence. Serpas took it the other way and went on for a few minutes about the value of riding around with blue lights and how much everybody loves them and thank you very much for asking.
Of course nobody's perfect and the chief did make two gaffes during his appearance. While delivering a canned line he must have used on numerous occasions back in Nashville about being second-guessed by the public the same way football coaches are, he confused Sean Payton with Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher. Also, he parked illegally.
- My Schoolgirl Crush on Mac McClelland: For some reason this became a running joke around the conference. I have no idea where it came from and I can't account for the general lack of maturity frequently displayed by my colleagues. But look. Mac McClelland is an outstanding and outspoken young reporter whose work during the Summer of Spill challenged the BP-Federal spin machine and the various media outlets not working hard enough to keep it in check. She was undoubtedly THE person to speak to this conference this year. I was pleased and honored that she accepted our invitation. Plus, she exhibits a certain Gonzo sensibility that fit the Rising Tide bill as well as or better than anyone else who has appeared there. If brandishing a Bloody Mary and calling the Governor of Louisiana a "fucking douchebag" on stage doesn't keep our brand out there, I have no idea what does.
Appropriately, the NOLA blogoshere's very own original Gonzo journalist, Lance "Varg" Vargas delivered a stone cold introduction to McClelland's speech which makes all of these points far better than I can here although I can't believe he went on for five goddamn minutes. On the other hand, Varg did take home the Kimberly Marshall It’s All About Me Award at the Friday night party so maybe it isn't that surprising after all. Here's the video.Rising Tide V: Keynote by Mother Jones reporter Mac McClelland (28 Aug 2010 NOLA) from Sophielab on Vimeo.
Varg goes further beyond the call of duty by annotating McClelland's remarks here with links to her work and numerous other notes on topics she referenced. Mac knocked it out the park at RT 5 and did so with even more substance than style. This is not to say that I wasn't utterly intimidated and frozen in my tracks every time she spoke to me. You can draw whatever conclusions you like, but I will continue to insist that my fanboyhood is strictly related to Mac's professional work. I'm sure, for example, that the year we figure out a way to get Matt Taibbi to Rising Tide, I'll behave much the same way. Until he throws a drink on me and storms out of the room, that is.
CORRECTION: The strange man rambling on before Mac in the video, we are told, may not, in fact, be Lance Vargas. We aren't sure but photographic evidence suggests he is actually Tim Ruppert. - Speaking of Tim Ruppert, Tim delivered an excellent presentation on a crucial flaw in the legal design standard for levees where effectiveness is measured in terms of property put at risk as opposed to the standard for dams which are judged in terms of lives. The presentation was cleverly titled When Can We Get Some Dam Safety In New Orleans? and was accompanied by carefully timed informative tweets which I thought was a neat touch. Tim has compiled his supplemental material here.
- I already said what I want to say about the politics panel: It's in this post here. Adding only, I love Pistolette (I have a soft spot for Parish people), but when she says stuff like Clancy Dubos is a "big old liberal" I gotta laugh a little bit. I can't think of a more singular example of down-the-line conventional moderate than Clancy Dubos. Of course, Clancy himself commented that Rising Tide is the only conference where he's considered "mainstream media". I guess it's all a matter of perspective. Or maybe it's the gig as go-to political commentator for the city's top circulating weekly paper as well as its highest rated TV news broadcast. Maybe.
- Ray called me wuss: Everybody knows I hate Treme. But I was glad to see the panel happen at Rising Tide because 1) It drew a big crowd. 2) It gave Maitri an excuse to fly in to host it. 3) While the show is in season, I like to read Back of Town as much as anyone. Still, I don't care for the show and I know a lot of people know this so when it came time for Q & A I didn't feel like getting involved because I knew a lot of people wanted to see me be a dick and I just didn't think that was an appropriate time. But for some reason I was standing near the stage when Ray came over and kind of smirked as he asked me if I had anything to say. I started to tell him I didn't want to make a stupid scene but he just grunted, "Wuss," and ambled away before I could protest further.
Well okay then, I'll just ask my damn question. I tried to ask it in a polite way so that the panelists would answer honestly and not defensively. I think I accomplished that. I can't remember what I said, exactly. I think it was something about how the show, in its effort to present HBO viewers with a version of what it calls "authentic" New Orleans culture, is creating a sort of newly fake yet neatly packaged set of images and expectations about New Orleans to be further exploited by an ever hipper brand of tourism. I wasn't too surprised, although I was a little saddened, to hear Eric Overmeyer and Lolis Elie both embrace this very concept. One of them, I can't remember who, even said, "Well I know they appreciate all the new business over at Bullet's" And I'm sure they do and good for them. But I wasn't asking how Bullet's is doing. I was asking a question about what really is ours anymore and what do we do for ourselves as opposed to what we do for the benefit of an audience and I wasn't satisfied with the response to that at all.
But at least I wasn't a dick. I had a follow up question in mind where I would ask the panelists to help me design a Treme bus tour (like a Katrina bus tour but faker because it's about a TV show) which might help fans of the show reach places like Bullet's where they appreciate all the business and whatnot. But I didn't ask that. I already had the answer I expected anyway. - Not for burning this weekend: As in years past, Octavia books was on hand with an amazing selection of NOLA-centric reading material to sell.
The blury one in the lower right corner there is a photo project by Dave Anderson called One Block
NY Times:
Mr. Anderson focused on a block in the Lower Ninth Ward, the largely poor neighborhood that suffered some of the most catastrophic flooding in the city. At first, he said, he resisted shooting in that area “because it was so overexposed.”
But he found himself falling in love with a block bounded by Chartres Street, Douglas Street, Caffin Avenue and — yes — Flood Street. It was a racially mixed neighborhood with lovely homes and not-so-lovely ones. “It seemed to represent ethnically what New Orleans was like, to a degree,” Mr. Anderson said. “And they hadn’t gotten so much water that they had absolutely no chance of making it back. There was a chance the neighborhood could recover — but it certainly wasn’t a sure thing.”
Yes I know how hokey that sounds. And, yes, Chris Rose wrote the foreword so you kind of know what you're getting here. But I mention it because I'm close to the family of one of Mr. Anderson's subjects. I was at her funeral just two months ago. On August 28, the book launch was celebrated with a block party in the neighborhood where these photos were taken. Rebirth was there. Because I was at Rising Tide that day I couldn't be there for the party but I am told it was a good time. Sort of like a holiday really.
It is often said that there are four seasons in New Orleans and that those seasons are Carnival, Festival, Hurricane, and Football. Isn't it only fitting, then, that this newest holiday on the NOLA calendar sits almost exactly on the emotional cusp of two of those seasons? This line of demarcation between segments of the year also marks the end and beginning of yet another year since the disaster. Falling as near as it does to Rosh Hashana, it's tempting to think of 8/29 as the NOLA New Year. This fifth New Year, not surprisingly, has a certain fin de siecle aspect to it as well. I won't go into the numerous personal reasons I have for saying this. You can cite your own, I'm sure.
But because it's Football season, I'll note, for everyone's benefit, one blessing I left off of my list way way back at the top of this post. I got to see the New Orleans Saints become Super Bowl Champions. Okay wait. I got to sit in the Superdome for four seasons and watch this particular Saints team go through the long hard slog toward becoming a Super Bowl Champion. Wait. That doesn't quite get it either. I sat through the most harrowing, frightening, intense football game I've ever watched as this Saints team exorcised a long time bogeyman opponent in the NFC Championship game, in the Superdome, with my wife and my best friend there with me to see it happen. And then I saw them win the Super Bowl. All told, I am one lucky son of a bitch.
On the day of the 29th, Menckles and I decided to take Cliff's advice. Working upon the assumption that "whatever you decide to do today is the right decision" we walked down to Parasol's to catch a glimpse at another remarkable transition as the longtime operators of that bar celebrated their eviction from the building and subsequent occupation of the bar down the street. There are details but we've already hashed them out here. The move was marked by, what else, but a party and second line from Parasol's, around the block, and down to the new space, Tracey's, where participants were greeted by more music and a priest on hand to bless the building and throw holy water at people.
I caught these thirty seconds of video with my phone. It's not much but I think it captures the spirit of the day pretty well.
Happy New Year.
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