NEW ORLEANS, 2009

My husband and I went to New Orleans this weekend. We wanted to see how far things have progressed since Hurricane Katrina, and catch up with some old friends.

I did not expect to see what I saw there. Downtown New Orleans, the French Quarter, and the Central Business District, all of the areas that make money for the city, are still thriving. We visited some of our old stomping grounds (the 'hoods), and white folks have actually bought houses and moved in! The houses that my husband and I lived in before the storm have been rebuilt (white folks live in them now). I am surprised, because those neighborhoods (Uptown New Orleans close to the CBD, and the Fifth through the Seventh Wards) have always been off-limits to white people. Not meaning that they weren't welcome there, but those have always been unsavory areas for them to live in. The whites in New Orleans always migrated to the suburban areas of the city (Chalmette, St. Tammany, Slidell, Kenner, the Westbank). But I guess that they were forced to re-think their options since those suburban areas were wiped out by the storm.

Uptown New Orleans from South Broad Street and Washington Avenue to Tchoupitoulas Street are still in good shape, but most of the homes out there are for sale. Oschner Hospital purchased Baptist Hospital and opened its emergency room. This and Tulane are the only hospitals in the Metro Area, but they are still severely understaffed, and cannot serve every patient that needs care.

City Park is open, but most of those old oak trees that framed the park are gone.

Most of the grocery stores are gone. Rouses bought most of them, but the only Winn-Dixie that survived seemed to be the one on Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Metairie. The Wal-Mart where I used to work (on Tchoupitoulas Street) is still open.

The Gentilly area is only a shell of its former self. The former home of the 'Creoles', most of those homes are now empty, torn down, or for sale. Many people just didn't return.

New Orleans East, home of the prosperous, middle to upper-middle class African-American and Asian population, is wiped out. Street after street, row after row of homes, apartment complexes and businesses lie desolate and empty. An entire shopping mall, Lake Forest Mall, is gone. Nothing there but a huge, empty lot. The Read Road Wal-Mart, the first in the New Orleans area, didn't re-open. Probably for every house that is occupied, 6 to 8 in the same block aren't.

Many of the housing projects, including the one I grew up in, The Calliope (Or B.W. Cooper) have been destroyed. Ironically, the city decided to destroy the development with the history of the fewest crime problems, the Lafitte Project (the one that ran along Orleans Avenue, and sat right across the street from Dooky Chases' restaurant), and left the troubled Iberville housing project, the one that sits in the middle of the New Orleans' Central Business District, open.

We did not have a chance to drive through the lower Ninth Ward, and were advised by some members of our church not to do so. There weren't many people out and about, and this was a weekend. Most of the 'hooptie' cars, a signature feature in New Orleans, are gone now. But what really managed to bring me to tears, though, was the state of the Lakefront.

Lake Pontchartrain was this beautiful, serene place that everyone, whether rich or poor, could go and just enjoy the sunset (or sunrise), listen to the waves, and get away from all of the noise and the dysfunction that was New Orleans. I remember bringing my kids there to play. Watching the fish jumping in the water. The speed boaters showing off their new toys. My husband and I always went to spend quiet time together. We ate a lot of good food together out there. Lots of picnics, barbecue, kicking it with friends and just good times.

Half of the Lakefront now is closed off, unfit for anyone to go near. What's left is overgrown with grass, and unkempt. The benches and picnic areas were never restored. They are now just heaps of bricks and piles of wood and debris. Most of those beautiful Lakefront properties lay desolate. Many of the property owners were too afraid to return. It's like a ghost town there. It's just awful. Oh, the Lakefront was so beautiful. How can anyone let such beauty waste away is beyond me.

We did manage to enjoy some good eats while we were down there. My husband and I ate our first "Po'Boy" sandwich in almost four years (I had a catfish sandwich, and he had a hot sausage and cheese sandwich). That french bread is the best bread in the world, in my opinion. And it was fresh! Like they had just taken it out of the oven that day! We also managed to get some beignets and cafe' au lait, some pulled pork, barbecued baked beans and homemade rolls from Corky's barbecue, some sweet treats from Gambino's Bakery, and Big Shot Sodas! I am so full! LOL

The people that are left in New Orleans are still as friendly as ever, easy to smile and give you a great, big hug. The love is still there, but you can tell that they are fragile. So much has happened to try and break their spirits. I have seen and heard more depressing things this weekend then I care to admit. But I am glad that I went. New Orleans is my home, always will be. It's where I came from, and I will never forget that. My husband and I are already talking about going back again. We need to do what's best for the family right now, but there's no harm in staying connected.

Thanks for the comments to my blog about Professor Gates. Here is another article that supports the point that I was trying to make here. It is my desire that the citizens in this country strive to start respecting one another as individuals. I believe that the only way that this can happen is when we start letting go of past hurts, pains, and injustices, start respecting and loving ourselves (insecurity and self-loathing plague the African-American community in this country), stop with all of the seperatism and biases, cease the infighting, colorism, and racism that is present in ALL races (it's not just black vs. white; there are racist and colorist black people, too), and start accepting one another. And if we want others to respect us as individuals, we must show respect, too. Put your character and integrity on display. Behave in a manner that draws attention to your personhood, not your race. This can be done, but we have to rise above the pettiness that is prevalent in this society. Let's grow up already!

HIS BELLIGERENCE GOT HIM ARRESTED

For heaven's sake! This man behaved as if he has NO IDEA how to act when stopped by the police! Where is the wisdom? Where was his common sense?

The same thing happened a few years ago, when Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney tried to enter a government building without her identification. She threw a fit, too, and later apologized.

Every grown black man or woman should know, having been taught by their parents (or personal experiences) how to behave when the cops stop them or pull them over. Yes, there is a history of racial profiling in America. Yes, when we are stopped, it is aggravating and frustrating, and maybe even a bit scary at the same time. But we, as adults, should know that the key to keeping this inconvenience as short and as civil as possible is to try with all your might to keep a level head and do what the officers ask you to do.

Of course, it is a shame that in this country, we have to train our children to fear the cops because there is a possibility that we may be abused by them. But that stands the reason for a grown, educated man to throw a fit just because the officers were doing their job. They received a suspicious call, and they went to investigate it. It's not like the police knew who Professor Gates was when they went there. It's not like they were sitting in their car, saying to themselves when they heard the call come over the radio "Yeah, that's Professor Gates, I know him! Let's go over there and give that (enter racial slur here) what for!" The house that Professor Gates lives in is rented, so who knows how long he has been living there? For heaven's sake, get off your Ph.D. high horse and show the man your ID. Mr. Gates, you are not a celebrity. Educated, black and successful, yes, but no, everyone in America is not familiar with you. Just because you have a label behind your name does not mean that you are better than everyone else in America, and that gives you a free pass to be exempt from the rules, the agitation, and the nuisances that every other African-American in this country faces on a daily basis.

I am, in a word, embarrassed for him, just as I was when Congresswoman McKinney threw that diva fit. And I wish that President Obama would have gotten the facts straight first before making that comment on national television. I don't care who you are, it is never okay to behave disrespectfully towards lawmakers, police officers, bosses, parents, pastors, teachers...anyone in authority. What an example Professor Gates is setting for today's youth: If you are stopped by the cops, then it's okay to throw a tantrum instead of presenting your ID when asked. Lovely. Overturn all of the values and virtues that millions of us are teaching to our children by behaving in this manner. Anyone, whether white, black, Hispanic, Asian, whatever race, who becomes belligerent when stopped or questioned by the police faces the possibility of being arrested. The reason for the arrest is not because of racial profiling. It's called disturbing the peace.

NO WATER!!!!!

There is a broken water main or a broken water pipe in the neighborhood that maintenance crews are in the process of repairing. This leaves everyone in the subdivision without water this morning. I thank God that I am off today, and working the night shift on Friday! Even if it is not fixed by then (which I am sure it probably will be), at least I have enough time to work something out.

Well, the girls are in Mississippi, and the house is still neat from the cleaning I did to accommodate the in-law's stay here. It is also peaceful and quiet. We are taking advantage of the quiet, and getting some much-needed rest and sleep. The rug rats will be back at the beginning of August, and I have another week-long vacation that I am going to use to get them ready for school, and possibly take them to the beach or something before they go back.

As far as work goes, the last evaluation I had places me in strong status. That's pretty good, but I still need improvement. I've been told that I am kinda rough with the callers. I don't mean to be, but sometimes, some folks are irrational and unreasonable when they are in an emergency, which is understandable, but it is important for me to maintain my composure. The both of us excited aren't going to get either of us anywhere fast (they in enough shape to be of help in the emergency, my being able to get them off the phone, LOL). So I'm working on that.

Pops and I are planning a trip this upcoming weekend, details to follow.