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Mike Ainsworth was a perpetually good-natured man with a long stride who would always make time to say “Hello” to me whenever our paths crossed. He was the kind of guy who was comfortable in his own skin; he smiled … Continue reading
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neigh·bor [ney-ber] noun 1. a person who lives near another. 2. a person or thing that is near another. 3. one’s fellow human being: to be generous toward one’s less fortunate neighbors. 4. a person who shows kindliness or helpfulness toward … Continue reading
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It’s the day before Thanksgiving, the time of year when “gratitude’ pieces pop up all over the TV, radio and internet. It’s a good thing to think about everything that’s good and right in your life but saving it for … Continue reading
Wendell Pierce talks about the rebuilding of a green Ponchartrain Park on Future360.
Last Saturday a couple of friends and I toured The New Orleans Healing Center near the corner of St. Roch and St. Claude. Although construction is on-going in the re-purposed building, several businesses are already up and running including Island of Salvation Botanica, Wild Lotus Yoga, The Movement Room, The Street University and The Building Block. Wild Lotus was in the midst of a yoga class and Island of Salvation was open where we had a little chat with Ms. Sally Ann Glassman who graciously allowed me to snap a few pics inside. We also checked out the future homes of Cafe Instanbul (a performance arts space), Fatoush Restaurant ,Coffee Shop and Juice Bar, The Inter-faith Center and the New Orleans Food Co-op, among other spaces. The space that will house the Inter-faith Center opens onto an area of the roof where a deck is planned to show off the beautiful view of the city(see slideshow). An arts and crafts bazaar will be housed in the main lobby/gallery area, a beautifully appointed space with lots of natural light flooding in from the large front windows. One of the services I’m most excited about is the Full Circle Women’s Collective whose webpage states, “The Women’s Collective is a place of gathering for women of all ages, races, faiths, and socio-economic status. All activities and events offered through the Women’s Collective are based on the confidence that intrinsic in each and every one of us is a life purpose ready to be recognized, acknowledged and fueled.”
How wonderful that sounds!
If you haven’t visited the Healing Center yet, I urge you to do so and see for yourself what a promising and exciting venue this is for the community. Meanwhile, enjoy the slideshow below showing both the finished and unfinished areas of the center.
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On WWL-TV at noon today, the New Orleans Baton Rouge Steamship Pilots Association is organizing a fund to help the victims of the flooding from the opening of the Morganza Spillway. In conjunction with the American Red Cross, donations can be made in person at any local First NBC bank: the account accepting funds is named the Morganza Relief Fund and will remain open until June 17, 2011. Please consider helping our fellow Louisianians suffering through this catastrophe, and remember their sacrifices so metropolitan New Orleans and Baton Rouge could be spared.
If you’re like me, you’re probably asking yourself “What is the Peace by Piece Nonviolence Youth Group?” When I received an email about this event from the Katrina Warriors Yahoo Group and read it I had to know more. After all, these kids are representing our state this summer in South Africa as Young Ambassadors for Nonviolence and will be coming back to teach non-violent techniques and skills in New Orleans schools and communities. I wanted to know more so I emailed the group organizer, Ahmane’ Glover, and she was kind enough to send me all kinds of information which I’m going to share with you here. But before I cut and paste the info (rather than trying to reword it all which wouldn’t be nearly as effective) I want to put this little bug in your ear:
The group needs to raise $1800.00 to cover to the cost of travel for 3 students and 1 chaperone. You can be a part of this by making a donation on their webpage, Peace By Piece In Action. This is the season for giving and what better way to show confidence in New Orleans’ youth than by contributing to this effort.
The students were selected based on the following criteria to participate in the “Young Ambassadors for Nonviolence” delegation from the United States to South Africa.:
The Young Ambassadors will join other high school students around the USA in the study of the struggle from Apartheid to Democracy. Ambassadors will participate in student forums in Johannesburg, Soweto, Durban and Cape Town South Africa.
New Orleans Delegation Student Profiles:
All three of these youth are working with AFSC as Nonviolence Leaders that train middle school and high school students on MLK’s principles of nonviolence using poems, skits, songs, dancing and much more. They are currently working in SciTech Middle School and St. Rita School in New Orleans.
Domonique Triggs (Male, 17)
1. Attends New Orleans Charter Science and Math High School and has a 3.5 GPA.
2. Wants to go to college to study biology pre-med and become an anesthesiologist.
3. At school he is the manager of the robotics team and is the treasurer of the school’s student government.
4. He is a member of The New Orleans Overcomers- a group of high school aged community organizers that formed after Hurricane Katrina. He has been a youth organizer for 3 years.
5. Wants to help other young men change their lives with nonviolence.
6. He believes that, “My life of nonviolence started because my brother was a local drug dealer ever since he was 16 years old. When I was young the only thing that I wanted was to be just like my oldest brother. Now I promised myself that I would never turn to drugs or violence for anything. ”
Rose Gilliam (Female, 18)
1. Recently graduated from New Orleans Charter Science and Math High School.
2. Wants to be a pediatric surgeon. Will attend Delgado Community College and study biology in Spring 2011.
3. Violence was the only relief she found before turning to nonviolence.
4. She is a youth poet that has been a member of a spoken word group called “Creative Forces.” She enjoys singing and using her talents to tell her story.
5. She is a member of The New Orleans Overcomers- a group of high school aged community organizers that formed after Hurricane Katrina.
6. She believes that, “Nonviolence plays a major part in my life because before turning to nonviolence my life was headed down the wrong path.”
Briana O’Neal (Female, 20)
1. She has just won “Youth Change Maker Award” from Operation REACH on Oct. 16, 2010.
2. She is a member of FYRE Youth Squad and Young Adults Striving for Success (YASS).
3. Delivers speeches about the inequities of life in New Orleans.
4. She has been in trouble in the pass for fighting and having a violent lifestyle.
5. She believes that, “Living in the city of New Orleans, that rates number 3 in the highest number of murder rates, we must educate our peers about nonviolence. I hope that one day our city can reach its’ full potential where every young person will have the chance to live past their eighteenth birthday, graduate from high school on time and where most of the jail cells will be empty of our youth and closed for good. “
Ahmane’ Glover (Female, 24) Group Organizer & Trip Chaperone
1. She is a community activist with the American Friends Service Committee, a human rights non-profit, working with the youth peace building program.
2. She graduated from Loyola University New Orleans with a B.A. in Communications. She received a community service and academic scholarship.
3. She believes that, “after my cousin was murdered for his jacket and my best friend’s brother was murdered for less than $30, the fight for the lives of our youth became real to me. Nonviolence is a saving grace and it transforms lives.”
Cocktails For A Cause is the first of 10 planned events leading up to the South Africa trip. Watch this space for continuing information.
“Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”
~~~Martin Luther King, Jr., Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Stockholm, Sweden, December 11, 1964.
“However, without a new contract many services that the city is required by law to provide, including bite case management, stray animal pickup and assisting the city with its evacuation plans, can not be provided by LA/SPCA.”
That is only part of the scenario regarding animal control that will affect our city beginning October 1 because the city has not signed a new contract with the LA/SPCA. Do you think this won’t affect you? Read on.
NEW ORLEANS, LA – (September 26, 2010) The Board of Directors of the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (LA/SPCA) announced that effective Friday, October 1, 2010 the LA/SPCA’s contract with the City of New Orleans to provide full animal control services will expire. LA/SPCA will be forced to scale back Animal Control services to emergencies only for Orleans Parish residents until a new contract is signed with the City of New Orleans.
“The LA/SPCA continues to face a significant operating deficit because the current contract leaves us with close to $1 million shortfall that we’re forced to cover,” said Ana Zorrilla, LA/SPCA’s Chief Executive Officer. “With the continued increase in costs associated with employment, utilities and insurance, we can no longer rely on the generosity of philanthropic donors to pay for this critical city service.”
In December 2009 the LA/SPCA agreed to provide nine months of full services described in the Cooperative Endeavour Agreement (CEA) with the City of New Orleans for Animal Control Services concluding on September 30, 2010. The reduction to nine months was negotiated with the Nagin administration and was a result of the 10% reduction in funding as compared to the 2009 CEA.
“LA/SPCA is fully committed to working in partnership with the City of New Orleans to provide high quality services for our residents and the animal community,” said Ana Zorrilla. “We are concerned that the 2011 Cooperative Endeavour Agreement has not been enacted. We are hopeful that the City of New Orleans will recognize that animal control services are an essential city service that has to be provided. We don’t want to see animals or our city’s residents suffer.”
LA/SPCA has proposed a new 12-month CEA for 2011 that will provide a full level of animal control and enforcement services. The expiring contract was not funded at a level to provide these services for the entire year. Without the newly proposed budget, LA/SPCA will be forced to scale back services, meaning that the agency will be unable to lead, assist or be involved in any animal evacuation activities, as outlined in the City Assisted Evacuation Plan.
LA/SPCA will continue to provide its humane programs and services as a private non-profit organization, including cruelty investigations, adoptions, humane education and providing shelter and care for the hundreds of homeless animals that enter its doors everyday. However, without a new contract many services that the city is required by law to provide, including bite case management, stray animal pickup and assisting the city with its evacuation plans, can not be provided by LA/SPCA.
“The LA/SPCA’s will continue to fulfill its mission as an advocate for the animals of Louisiana by advancing their welfare, promoting their interests, and fostering the human/animal bond through innovative programs, education, and service. We deeply regret being forced into a position where we are not able to continue to provide the crucial service of Animal Control to Orleans Parish,” said Zorrilla.
The specific outline of services that will be scaled back effective October 1, 2010 are:
LA/SPCA will continue to provide the following services out of our commitment to the quality-of-life of our companion animals and our community:
1. Emergency response to humans injured or attacked by animals and emergency response to injured animals between 9 am and 5 pm (Mon. – Fri.)
2. Bite case investigation and management
3. Drop off location for found or unwanted animals 9 am and 5 pm (Mon. – Fri.)
4. Lost and found services
5. Housing and humane care (food, shelter and veterinary care) for animals brought by the public
6. Adoption and re-homing of cats and dogs
7. Humane euthanasia and cremation for unadoptable animals
Zorrilla and the Board will be reaching out to neighborhood associations and community residents to respond to any concerns and outline the essential services the organization continues to provide to residents. Headquartered in New Orleans, the LA/SPCA manages a total operating budget of $4.2 million and employs more than 60 full-times employees and hundreds of unpaid volunteers serving in a variety of capacities. The LA/SPCA shelters over 6,500 homeless animals each year. An additional 6,000 animals receive veterinary care via its community clinic and 3,300 students participate in Humane Education afterschool and summer programs through the LA/SPCA.
The Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is an organization devoted to improving the lives of animals and eliminating the homelessness, neglect and abuse that signal animal suffering. Chartered in 1888, our history has been paved with an understanding that only through an improved human-animal ethic can we better the lives of companion animals and that of our community. Our programs and services are infused with the highest standards of care and compassion.
Successful aid to others means respecting individual dignity and community authority within complex emergencies and disasters. We’re so used to seeing the U.S. at the top of the world food chain that well-intended folks can take those ethical considerations for granted. As someone who works in diverse communities with extreme inequalities domestically and internationally, this is a big topic of my profession — and something I write and think about often, particularly after living through the summer of 2005 and the experience of being in a community receiving aid. The bottom line is that the arrogance and superiority of some well-intended folks can end up alienating and insulting the group they are trying to help.
AND… here is a perfect example.
“30 Oregonians with a wealth of compassion, community service experience and technical expertise, will show the nation what the Gulf Coast disaster looks like from inside the Gulf. We will shine a sustained light on what our neighbors need to survive and what the environment needs to recover.”
Yes, a group of folks from Portland and it’s surrounding universe are headed to New Orleans! (No offense to beautiful Portland and our friends doing wonderful things out there, this just happens to be where this group is coming from.) In any case, these folks are coming here to do 6 days of visits to Gulf Coast communities which:
“…will culminate in the production of a graphic travelogue of what we saw, learned and felt. Our experiences will be represented through the arts of drawing, writing, filming and making music. The images and voices we capture will be engaging, powerful and influential. And, most importantly our final documentation will contain a roadmap for individual action to minimize a second occurrence of this type of catastrophe. The proceeds from the sale of our book, and any other money raised, will be contributed to Gulf Coast and national efforts to educate children about this catastrophe and how we can do the best possible job of cleaning up after ourselves, plus prevent this from ever happening again.“
Also, they are trying to raise $60,000. You can donate on their website. But no, the money isn’t for the Gulf… it’s to finance their trip. So that they can come to the Gulf, visit as “caring neighbors arriving to help,” spend 6 days capturing images and voices, and then put them in their book.
Hmmm.
I showed this to my graduate students earlier today in class. In the words of one of the students: “I’m not even from the Gulf Coast and this insults ME.”
Check out their website. What do you think?
Here are are some lessons that these undoubtedly very nice, wealthy-with-compassion-Oregonians should have considered:
These folks are coming here with an agenda that is their own, focused on their own needs, their own desires. This does not help a situation, it only makes it more difficult.
—
(Hat tip to local bloggers, who found and shared the website.)
I’m doing a 10K in 10 days.
If you know me well, I suspect you may have just fallen out of your chair. I apologize. Let me clarify: I’ve been training for a 10K which will happen in 10 days.
If you’ve known me for a few years, you’ll not be surprised at why I’m doing this. I’m signed up for the Crescent City Classic, a run/walk through the streets of New Orleans, to support Abeona House — the much-loved non-profit Reggio Emilia-inspired early childhood education center that my husband, Paul, and I helped open almost 4 years ago.
When our childcare center did not open after Katrina-related damages and weeks of closure forced it to fold, together, with other working parents, we founded a pre-school. Opening in September 2006, Abeona House was the first new school to open after Katrina.
I tried to go through my old blog posts and find some to mention here to show how special Abeona is — not only to us, and not only to all of the families, teachers, and children within — but to the community around it.
I had volumes to choose from… you could start at the beginning and read some of the logistics of opening and sustaining. Like about that darn ramp we had to build (written by Paul) or when we finally got the 501c3 or the day we got the sign or teacher appreciation or about walks to the levee.
You could find the letter that we put in our holiday cards in 2007 or the article in the local paper. You could see how we came together in tragedy. And then how excited we were when Starbucks employees flew in from Seattle to lead a hand.
You could watch the fun in the kids’ exploration of Oak Street through tricks-or-treats or a visiting a senior center or riding the streetcar to the zoo. You could see how Abeona teaches kids to give back. And sets the example.
You could laugh at pictures from our first annual Krewe of Abeona Mardi Gras parade down Oak Street — or the second annual parade when our son was king.
You could go elsewhere, too. Founding families wrote about their experiences here and here. (Both are wonderfully written.) A new family writes about Abeona here.
But no matter where you learn about our school, I hope that you’ll support us.
I’m asking everyone I know for $5.
I’m at about $300 right now in my fundraising (enough to send a teacher to a professional development training!) and I’d like to see this grow. It’s as easy as can be… just visit the Abeona House website and click on the “donate” button. Sure, we’d love you to give whatever you can, but I know times are tight so I’m asking for 5.
Abeona House is a wonderful organization worthy of donation — but even so, I consider your donations to be equally supportive of me, personally.
If you do, please let me know so that I can send a personal thank-you. (You can make a note that it’s to support me — Holly — in the Reggio Run when you donate online!) THANK YOU!!
I first met Jennifer through emails with Katrina Warriors, a local group who came together to support area women and girls shortly after the storm. Founding nodes of the Katrina Warriors Network were
Ashe Cultural Arts Center, The Guardians Institute, Loyola Women’s Resource Center, Newcomb College Center for Research on Women, The New Orleans Regional Alliance Against Abuse (2005-2006), the New Orleans Women’s Studies Consortium, UNO Women’s Center, and V-Day.
Jennifer is a one woman community service dynamo working her magic all over the internets. She maintains the official FaceBook group page for Katrina Warriors in addition to the fan page, Katrina Warriors (heart) Yoni De Lis.
Jennifer has another FaceBook page, Holistic Health and Natural Healing, that is one of my favorite pages. Her page states,
“This group is intended to serve as a networking – informational site for any & all people interested in the beliefs, practices, and activism regarding the union of the body, mind, spirit and soul through Holistic Healing.”
She links to information and articles in various disciplines of the natural/holistic lifestyle such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, Aromatherapy, nutrition and herbal medicine and issues a newsletter through FaceBook as well.
Her latest venture on the web is FaceBook page and blog NOLA-Haiti Solidarity that focuses on expressions of solidarity, donation information and status updates about Haiti.
Below are links to all of Jennifer’s pages and her Twitter ~ this is one information guru you want to follow!
FaceBook Page: NOLA-Haiti Solidarity
FaceBook Page: Katrina Warriors Network
FaceBook Page: Katrina Warriors (heart) Yoni De Lis
Make Your Life Your Argument!
The New Orleans Schweitzer Fellows Program, a program of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship™ with partnership from the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI) provides service opportunities and support for aspiring health professionals who seek to help the underserved in New Orleans. With the generous help of contributors, the New Orleans Schweitzer Fellows Program proudly announces its third year of uniting a diverse range of students, faculty, and community-based providers who share a commitment to public service.
In the spring of 2010, approximately 15 New Orleans Schweitzer Fellows will be selected from applications submitted by students in a diversity of fields, including but not limited to medicine, nursing, dentistry, public health, social work, psychology, pharmacy, education, physical therapy, law, nutrition, art therapy, dance/movement therapy, music, and acupuncture. We seek Fellows from an array of disciplines to contribute to the health of our communities.
Fellowship projects include the following:
In addition to the service project, Fellows work in groups to organize public symposia on pertinent public health topics or community service outreach activities. Fellows are required to attend monthly meetings, all symposia and service days, an introductory meeting on April 16th, 2010, a weekend orientation May 22-23rd, 2010, a mid-year retreat, and the annual Schweitzer Fellows Celebration Event in May 2011.
Students are welcome to submit proposals for an original project that reflects Dr. Schweitzer’s ethic of Reverence for Life or for the continuation of a project initiated by a previous Schweitzer Fellow.
Fellows receive a stipend of $2,500 (paid in three installments) both to underscore the seriousness of their work and to ensure that students who are already struggling financially are not discouraged from participating. Any student enrolled at least part-time for the 2010-2011 academic year in a graduate-level-degree-granting program in the New Orleans area is welcome to apply. Applications are due via online submission by 5pm February 5th, 2010.
Eligibility:
Prior to Applying: Interested students should investigate and reflect on the unmet health-related needs that exist in New Orleans and its communities and on the ways in which their own energies and talents might contribute, even in small ways, to ameliorating one or more of these problems. In proposing a project, keep in mind how your idea addresses those unmet health needs and might be of enduring value to the community. For guidance on national and local health priorities as established by Healthy People 2010, please visit: http://www.healthypeople.gov
Prospective applicants are encouraged to attend information sessions about the Schweitzer Fellowship at their Universities and visit the program website at: www.schweitzerfellowship.org
For more information, or to set up an information session at your school, please email SchweitzerNOLA@gmail.com or contact Holly Scheib, the New Orleans Schweitzer Program Director at 504-208-7368.
Jacob Miller is a successful lawyer from Minnesota. His mother became a lawyer later in life and his father is the chief of police in one of the emerging metropolitan areas outside of Minneapolis/St.Paul. He came down to New Orleans to serve the role of best man in the wedding of his former law school roommate and his wife-to-be. Jacob had been down to New Orleans years ago, when he was in his junior year of college. He remembers that time fondly, a mix of college-age rowdiness and quiet walks around the city, visiting the paths less traveled by tourists.
The night of his friends wedding, Miller and the groomsmen went to Bourbon Street, planning to celebrate their last Howrah – they were now all married and their lives would now change; gone was the ‘good-ole-days’ of minor responsibilities and now they were men responsible to their careers, their wives and their families. Walking back from his hotel, he was approached by a man asking for money. Jacob ignored him, feeling uncomfortable by the shaking of the vagrant man, unsure if he was a drug addict or simply a vagrant down on his luck. He didn’t want to take a chance, having heard of some of the violence that was plaguing New Orleans at the time.
As he got to the corner where the streets met, two other men were waiting. It occurred to him that he had walked into an attempted money-making scheme. He attempted to ignore it, trying to simply walk past the men, but they blocked his path, taunting him. Admitting that his earlier celebrating had gotten the best of him, Miller fought back, exchanging punches and kicks with the three men.
“Liquid courage. I thought I could fight them off and they wouldn’t bother me or anyone else for the rest of the night. I fully admit that wasn’t the wises of decisions made.” Miller says, sheepishly taking responsibility.
In the middle of the fight, a police cruiser drove by, stopping, pulling Miller away and slapping cuffs on him. He tried to explain to the officer what had happened, but it was the word of three men against his and Miller suspected that at least one of the three men knew the officer based on their interactions. The three that had targeted Miller fled with their freedom and Miller was taken to Orleans Parish Prison.
Upset that the perpetrators had gotten away, Miller told the deputies at Orleans Parish Prison that he was an attorney and knew what his rights were. In hindsight, he wishes he wouldn’t have offered that fact; it was the driving force behind what happened next.
“I’ll put you in the restraints,” he was warned by the deputy, a young man who Miller says looked at him with spite and hate.
“You have no reason to put me in restraints. Again, I KNOW my rights,” Miller contended, feeling outraged that this was happening.
“That’s it boys, buckle him down,” the deputy said, calling for assistance from other officers. After they restrained him in the chair, they took him to a cell, and placed him in five point restraints. He was left alone in a cold room, buckled down, freezing. He had asked to go to the bathroom, but was ignored. After an hour he could no longer hold it and was forced to urinate on himself.
He finally fell asleep, to be woken by two guards beating him, punching him. Laying on the table, strapped down, his body served as a human heavy bag.
“You ain’t no body here bitch,” one officer screamed in his ear, punching him repeatedly on the jaw line.
“You here, bitch. You ain’t got no rights, ” the other officer said, punching Miller in the stomach, then in the genital area.
The next day, he was taken to the doctor, he said nothing of his injuries. His chart read that he was a suicide risk, something Miller did not understand, so he was placed in a cell on the mental health ward.
“We heard them beat you last night, man,’ a toothless man said to him, ” you didn’t even scream, baby. Most of the time, they scream. You tough fan.”
“Does this happen often?”
“Yessir, every day.” the man said.
Miller had a hard time negotiating this, his background in law with seeing what happened when the system sent someone to jail, or when the justice system didn’t work. He was bonded out by friends the next day, but has never really gotten over the experience. Charges against him were eventually dropped.
“For several days, I grew really withdrawn. I do not know if I want to practice law anymore, which maybe that isn’t a bad thing. I do not understand how this can happen with such regularity and nothing is said. If I do ever go back to New Orleans, the next time I see a cop, I will run the other way. What was supposed to be a time of celebration turned into a nightmare. New Orleans will never mean the same thing to me again.”
