Colorlines Magazine, on newsstands now. Check out Colorlines online
at www.colorlines.org, and www.racewire.org)
New Orleans Community Spaces in Crisis
By Jordan Flaherty
March 7, 2007
Community centers have long been central to New Orleans organizing,
serving as a gathering location for people, culture and ideas. One
activist recently explained, "organizing here looks like neighborhood
get-togethers, potlucks, block parties, and conversations on a
neighbor's porch. Its about culture and community." But 18 months
after Katrina, many of New Orleans' community spaces, vital resources
in the reconstruction of the city, remain shuttered. Traditional
sources for support, such as foundations or charities, often miss this
aspect of New Orleans' community, and many of these spaces have
received little outside assistance.
In a city where many people are still in crisis, most federal support
still has not arrived, insurance companies have evaded responsibility,
and every repair seems to take longer than expected, a lot of these
spaces need help. Few of have received anything close to the funding,
resources, or staff they need for their work, and some are working
unsustainable hours while living in a still-devastated city. Because
New Orleans' education and health care systems have been dismantled,
many have either personal or family issues around health or school
that they must deal with.
Many spaces were in poorer neighborhoods, which were more damaged
during Katrina. This is the case for The Marcus Garvey Resource
Center, a community space for African American youth located near the
former Magnolia housing projects, which received several feet of
water.
Many of these centers are Black-owned businesses which nurture the
city's culture, while supporting the community and local organizing.
For example, in the legendary Creole restaurant Dooky Chase, Martin
Luther King, Jr. held strategy meetings with local community
organizers, the walls featured stunning artwork by Black artists, and
figures from James Baldwin to Ray Charles would stop in to eat. For
almost 65 years, the restaurant stood as a community anchor across the
street from the Lafitte projects. Today, 18 months post-Katrina, both
are still struggling to reopen. After months of work and the support
of many prominent national allies, Dooky Chase is scheduled to open
its doors in April. Lafitte remains shut behind metal gates, and is
the focus of grassroots struggles, congressional hearings, and a
federal lawsuit.
Other community spaces were part of public housing developments – such
as the Sojourner Truth Center, which hosted a 2005 performance tour
sponsored by INCITE Women Of Color Against Violence. The Sojourner
Truth Center is located inside the Lafitte, and remains closed along
with the nearby apartments.
Rising rents and costly repairs forced the Neighborhood Gallery, a
Central City-based venue for everything from theatre, paintings and
sculpture to dance parties and community meetings, out of their home.
More than damage from the storm, the Neighborhood Gallery was a victim
of a housing market that has doubled in many areas. With much of the
city still blighted, speculators snapped up non-flooded properties and
affordable spaces became scarce. With tourism down and the population
decimated, businesses around the city are suffering, and for
Black-owned businesses and community spaces, the situation is at a
crisis.
Before closing post-Katrina, Neighborhood Gallery had been open, in
various locations, for almost twenty years. "Every neighborhood we've
gone into, we've enhanced it," Gallery co-director Sandra Berry tells
me. "We take the arts to the 'hood. We've taken artists to a
deserted field and built a playground." Neighborhood Gallery
co-founders Sandra Berry and Joshua Walker are now organizing events
at schools, coffee shops, and other spaces.
Two community spaces that share a Central City building, Ashe Cultural
Center and Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center, faced no
storm-related damage, but were given a choice to either buy their
spaces, or be kicked out, as the building they were located in
transformed to condominiums. Ashe chose to embark on fundraising to
buy their space, while Zeitgeist spent several months searching the
New Orleans housing market. "The best offer I received was for a
space in Shreveport," complained owner Rene Broussard.
The Community Book Center, a vital seventh ward gathering spot,
reopened in December along with several other businesses on the same
block despite still having no front windows and a floor in major need
of work. "Step carefully," founder Vera Warren-Williams warned guests
as they entered the store during the reopening celebration. After
nearly a year and a half of shuttered storefronts, this street's
rebirth is a precious spot of hope in a city where 60% of the
population remains displaced and many businesses still have not
returned.
During the reopening, the owners of Community Book Center and other
businesses on the block spoke of their dedication to their community
and to the city. This is a theme echoed by other community spaces and
small businesses. "We must have spaces that support all of us,"
Sandra Berry of the Neighborhood Gallery explained. "We have to
spread the art, support the culture. From prisons to church.
Wherever there are people, we need to be."
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Jordan Flaherty is an editor of Left Turn Magazine and a community organizer.
To contact Jordan, email: neworleans@leftturn.org.
On myspace: http://www.myspace.com/secondlines
Podcasts: http://www.nolahumanrights.org (click on "podcasts")
=====================================
For more information on some of the places mentioned in this article:
Short Film on The Marcus Garvey Resource Center:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPXA5NCoPTM
The Neighborhood Gallery:
http://www.theneighborhoodgallery.com/
Ashe Cultural Arts Center:
http://www.ashecac.org/
Dooky Chase:
http://www.dookychaserestaurant.com
Zeitgeist Multi-disciplinary Arts Center:
http://www.zetitgeistinc.net
Letter From New Orleans Grassroots:
http://www.leftturn.org/NewOrleansLetter.aspx
Other Resources for information and action:
People's Institute for Survival and Beyond - http://www.pisab.org/
Reconstruction Watch - http://www.reconstructionwatch.org
New Orleans Network - http://www.neworleansnetwork.org
INCITE Women of Color Against Violence - http://www.incite-national.org
Families and Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children -
http://www.fflic.org
A Fighting Chance - http://www.a-fighting-chance.org
People's Organizing Committee: http://www.peoplesorganizing.org
Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund - http://www.peopleshurricane.org
Justice for New Orleans - http://www.justiceforneworleans.org
Common Ground - http://www.commongroundrelief.org
Black Commentator - http://www.blackcommentator.com
Colorlines - http://www.colorlines.com
