last call?
so many words describe the current state of affairs here in new orleans:
betrayed, abandoned, scared, scarred, scary, broken
each word represents another shot of whiskey, another drug, another way to numb and be numbed … AND i dare anyone to spend a week in my trailer in my hood … piles of garbage, crime, pools of blood (i’m not exaggerating)…. these are my IKEA, my designer jeans…this is my hollywood. i dare people to say things are getting better… they’re not. i dare people to say they donated money or did a benefit … i ask where the money went and who benefited. i dare people to tell me what FEMA, insurance companies and the government have done …nothing. i dare people to crawl into my head and walk around a while … you can’t nor would you want to …
as a vietnamese woman on the westbank said … i came to america for freedom, to escape, now i fear for my life … i cannot expose my children to this
this is not america
everyday more life looters are driving & pushing me to the end of the line
how many strikes will it finally take before this city drives me away?
6 months ago i wanted to save it.
2 days ago i wanted to champion it.
today i just want to survive it …
not sure how or if i will
after further bouts of censorship, distrust,
poor attendence, and now empty coffers
the freddy fred show is coming to an end …
thanks to the artists, musicians, dancers, and clubs that were involved …
if possible, remaining posters may still be printed for archival’s sake
(to think the archive of contemporary music wanted to document this???)
i close my eyes now because the words are killing me …
someone has stolen my gift of laughter …
without that, i have nothing else to give …
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m so sorry.
I have to agree, it’s getting harder and harder to keep waving the NOLA flag. My girlfriend and I have spent several years (albeit separately) here and were quick to come back post-K, and in the general immediate bonhomerie thereafter it was easier to turn an eye towards a hopeful future, “darkest before the dawn”, tra la la. Well, I feel that there’s a second exodus approaching, not marked by contraflow and Aaron Broussard on WWL radio discussing the issuing of body bags but one of attrition by disgust, disappointment, and dismay. Too much is finally becoming enough for many of us who were the same ones clapping our hands the first time we saw a mailman, for all of us who’d smile over a beverage on the curb at the pizza boxes in the back of the Nat’l Guard Humvees, for every (intermittent!) phone conversation with incredulous friends and relatives about how,”yes, we know…it’s getting better..” Time has come and gone and I think that many of us will, also. Many returnees have come to the bald-faced truth of how it actually IS better elsewhere regarding many matters including (but most certainly NOT limited to) education, municipal services, violent crime, and governmental retardation.
Profound words. what else is there to say? You speak for alot of us at some point or another. I just hope we can get ourselves through the low points…
If you must go for your sanity, I wish you well. I hope you stay, because people like you *are* New Orleans.
Sinn Fein.
Fred, I agree with Ashley.
I will also add that Sinn Fein means “Ourselves Alone” not “MYSELF Alone.” There are many of us here who are tired and in agreement with what you’re saying, but as trite as this may sound, we must not forget that we have others out there just like us at any given moment. We’re not in this alone individually.
That having been said, better to be alive elsewhere than dead here. Please feel free to drop me an email. I’d be happy to listen.
I should be at the KdV fundraiser next Friday night. Am hoping to see you there.