Missed Opportunity?

The Essence Festival (http://www.essence.com/essence/emf/) is currently the talk of New Orleans. Moved to Houston one year ago courtesy of Hurricane Katrina, the festival returns to the Crescent City this year for its 13^th go round, and for some, none too soon. Per an article in today’s Times-Picayune (http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1183623813216720.xml&coll=1), many fans weren’t thrilled with how the event came off last year. That’s not surprising. New Orleans and its atmosphere, particularly the musical side, would be hard to replicate for any city.

I decided to spend Thursday afternoon at the seminar session at the Convention Center so that I could at least get a taste of the atmosphere, flavor and energy. Sponsors, guest speakers, authors, celebs and even politicians (Hillary) spend the first two afternoons of the Festival providing what’s billed as the Empowerment Seminar Series and Celebration. It didn’t disappoint. The crowds were large, there was enough energy in the air to fill 10 convention centers and the Convention Center itself looked great inside (impressive considering that it was home to some of the most horrific scenes - along with the Superdome - witnessed in the days following the storm). Unfortunately, the above wasn’t applicable to all of the areas or booths at the seminar.

I almost decided to not touch on this, and to focus only on the positive. But like my Posting below (Letter of False Hope, 7/3/07), I can’t help but be frustrated that people aren’t using this huge event as a way to raise awareness and to garner more help for the greater New Orleans area. There are thousands of visitors in town (the hotels up and down Canal St. are nuts right now) for Essence and so why not take advantage of that and reach out more? There were small attempts. One of the speaking sessions featured a panel of Katrina Survivors, each with a different connection to the storm (resident, victim, case manager, etc.). The crowd for that was sparse, however (see pics below). And there was a row of booths set up for volunteer and non-profit organizations, but you could have counted on one hand the number of people over in that area at any one time (again, see the pics below). Meanwhile, the booths or areas for Coke, Budweiser, McDonald’s and Sony boomed with wall to wall people.

There’s no question that a festival like this should be positive, fun and uplifting. People don’t need to constantly wallow in the misery that Katrina has caused, and the residents here need outlets and diversions. But isn’t that what the concerts at night at the Superdome are mainly for? Couldn’t there have been a bigger push to remind people, particularly those visiting from out of town and at least during the daytime sessions, to not forget Katrina and to promote the rebuilding, community and volunteer efforts? I think the city, and Nagin, are blowing it on this one.

Crowds were heavy and enthusiasm high at the booths filled with fun and celebrity, such as the one for the TBS show House of Payne tent, Budweiser's booth and the Sony exhibit. All had glitzy prizes and big names to attract the masses.





...while at the booths pertaining to volunteer and non-profit work, or at the discussion by the panel of Katrina victims in the main auditorium, visitors were hard to come by.


Update (7/6/07, 9 a.m.): Today's Times-Picayune had several stories pertaining to the opening day of the 2007 Essence Festival. One had to do with a return visit by former New Orleans' Mayor and current National Urban League President Marc Morial. Morial spoke at the Seminar session at the Convention Center (which is named after his father, by the way) earlier in the day. I did not see his talk, but I thought it was worthwhile to share an excerpt from it, as it hits the mark on many key points. I only wish this theme came from more voices here, and more loudly.
Again, this was taken from today's edition of the T-P.....

"New Orleans is this generation's Birmingham: a reminder that there's too much poverty, a reminder that the government at every level dropped the ball, a reminder that, not withstanding the success of some, there is still suffering for too many."

In addition to action by Congress, Morial urged local elected officials to ask voters to amend the City Charter to provide "a protected right to return" and assurance "that every neighborhood is rebuilt."

Morial labeled the city's spotty redevelopment as "one of the great American tragedies of our time" and encouraged festival visitors to venture outside the rebuilt tourist districts.

"I urge you not to stay downtown," he said. "I want you to take a trek down to the 9th Ward. I urge you to take a trek out to New Orleans east. I urge you to take a trek down to St. Bernard Parish. I ask you to do that because your eyes must see in person what the television tried to convey."

He also implored Essence fans to help keep New Orleans' plight on the front burner of public discourse after they return to their homes.

"It is easy, it is tempting for some to say, 'Forget that awful past,' " Morial said. "I'm here to say to you that our mantra must be: 'We will never forget.' We will never, ever forget. Because to forget is to ensure that someone else, someplace else, might meet with the same awful fate in this nation."

(it should be noted that Morial is under federal investigation for contracts awarded by his administration while in office; there have already been a number of guilty pleas and a top aide has been sentenced to jail time. the guy might not be an angel and it's likely just another case of politics as usual down here, but his remarks are still very relevant, and very valid).

Letter of False Hope

The following is a "Letter to the Editor" from New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin that ran in Tuesday's (July 3, 2007) edition of The Times-Picayune. The Essence Festival runs Thursday-Saturday in the Superdome and features appearances by a number political (Hillary and Obama) and musical (Beyonce, Ne-Yo) big wigs.

On the eve of the return of the Essence Festival, I want to take a moment to reflect on progress in our great city.

We are recovering, and there are positive trends that both visitors and locals will notice:

-- A cleaner city. New Orleans has never looked better. This is a direct result of an innovative approach to trash and garbage removal and consistent attention to detail to make city streets and sidewalks shine.

-- A financially stable city. We made tough decisions to drastically reduce the city's workforce and took other belt-tightening measures. Today, our tax collections are at 90 percent of pre-Katrina levels, and more than 150,000 building permits, totaling $3.7 billion, have been issued in the last 22 months. Wall Street is taking notice by upgrading our city's financial status.

-- A city that cares enough to get people home. Our current population is estimated at 291,000, compared to a pre-Katrina level of 455,000. The slow pace and other problems of the Road Home program are an impediment, but citizens are rebuilding with their savings, 401(K)s and SBA loans. We've partnered with Chase and Liberty Bank to create the Road Home Fast Track Program, which provides no-interest loans to people waiting for their Road Home proceeds. We continue to reach out to the thousands who make up the diaspora.

-- A city that's rebuilding. Our Citywide Strategic Recovery and Redevelopment Plan has been approved by the Louisiana Recovery Authority, and our recovery action plan is focusing on rebuilding 17 target areas across New Orleans.

Thousands have come here for the Essence Festival -- not only to enjoy what makes our city unique, but to do their part in helping to rebuild New Orleans, one of America's greatest cities.

Welcome home.
C. Ray Nagin
Mayor
New Orleans

Nagin apparently wanted to write a letter to drum up enthusiasm not only for the festival but for the city as well. Unfortunately, this letter just proves that Nagin still doesn't get it. Yes, it's fine to point out the progress and the positives. Optimism and hope are imperative at a time like this, but not at the expense of reality. Here you have an event that is slated to draw thousands of visitors to New Orleans, and instead of Nagin using it as an opportunity to raise more awareness and show people how crippled some neighborhoods still are, as well as encourage visitors to get involved and perhaps spend one of their days here volunteering, he writes a letter littered with idealistic falsehoods and minimal gains that will lead people visiting downtown for a few days to think everything is O.K. Well, I'll use this opportunity to say, the Greater New Orleans area is anything but O.K.

Hall for Rent

I wanted to share some pictures from what was at one time (according to a neighbor next door) a Church Hall on St. Claude Hwy in the Lower 9th Ward. Whether this was, in fact, a church or some other type of hall, it certainly won't be ready for rental anytime soon.

In the picture on the right is Helen Koejo, who lives right next door to the hall and came out to talk to fellow volunteer Andrea Bean and I as we were taking pictures. Helen had a great time chatting with us and sharing her story, although she didn't hide her frustrations over the high grass covering the sidewalk in front of the hall (see middle photo above). She said it results in people having to walk in the street, including kids going to and from school. This is not good considering St. Claude is a busy road that connects the Lower 9th Ward and St. Bernard Parish and has lots of large construction-related vehicles pass through.