HumidCity

Today a year ago was the day that I finally found out that my family was alive and well, although scattered across the US. My grandmother made it back to NOLA few months after the Storm and died recently in her home on Jackson Ave. Like most of the city’s elders she is gone now, but at least she was able to pass in her own bed in the city that has been her home. Many are not so lucky.

While there are children and a few elderly here in the city the overall demographic seems to mostly be twenties, thirties and forties. A strange new world with no guidance or wisdom (I guess that does make Ray the best mayor for us doesn’t it?) The stories and lessons of the older generations are not being told, the traditions are not being passed on, and the muisc is slowly dying. I know Lex has posted on this before, but it is a situation that demands revisiting. With housing and healthcare in a state that would make a third world country feel superior it is flat out dangerous for those getting on in years to be here. In a city so rich in tradtion that is an incredible loss.

There are times recently when even I wonder if I am doing the right thing for myself and my wife to be by staying here. I immediately pull myself back and reaffirm my desire to fight for something larger than myself, New Orleans, but the doubts persist. All of us have them. It is a daily triumph to stick it out one more day. There is so much at stake right now, we cannot give up or all will be irrevocably lost.

I cannot wait for the begining of October. I will be getting out of the city for the first time since the Storm, going up to visit friends who lleft never to return and to visit soon-to-be family in Bloomington, IN. The trip is an early Birthday present from my future mother in law, and I hope it will be a boon to my mental health.

Last Year’s Posts This Day: One year ago I was looking for many friends and family. Thanks to the wonders of the internet I had already found many people, but to this day there are those I have not yet found. It was also the day that we got news that our new apartment had made it safely through the deluge and began to make plans for the rest of our exile.

Bill Quigley: Gutting New Orleans

Some ask, what can people who care do to help New Orleans and the Gulf Coast? Help us rebuild our communities. Pair up your community, your business, school, church, professional or social organization, with one on the Gulf Coast –and build a relationship where your organization can be a resource for one here and provide opportunities for your groups to come and help and for people here to come and tell their stories in your communities. Most groups here have adopted the theme –Solidarity not Charity. Or as aboriginal activist Lila Watson once said: “If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us struggle together.”

For the sake of our nation and for our world, let us struggle together.

These words come from a Loyola University Law Proffessor. They are only one part of an extremely cogent summation of the current state of affairs here. It’s really shocking, even when you live in the middle of it, to see it all laid down in a list.

As DC gets a little water many here in NOLA have made snarky comments on the subject. Only natural considering the fact that DC was the city that abandoned us in our time of need. Now I realize that seems harsh, unsympathetic and downright mean, but the point missed is that the vitriol is aimed at the seat of (ineffectual) government, NOT the population of DC itself. ScottyNOLA on LJ makes some very good comments on this (read the whole post on his journal and definetly read the commments!):

Queer and Loathing in America - Here Comes the Rain Again

I want to make one thing perfectly clear about my amusement at the flooding of DC:

My snide remarks were directed at every single member of Congress, or of the current administration, or whatever yahoo from wherever, who has made some similar remark about the rebuilding of New Orleans, and most especially that snotrag Orrin Hatch.

I have nothing but the utmost sympathy for those who are losing their homes, possessions, and in some cases, their lives. Having been through the same thing, and knowing what they are facing–I feel very sorry for them. FEMA and the insurance companies–better to suffer the plagues of Egypt.

I do wonder, though, why no evangelical (paying attention, Pat Robertson?) has not called attention to the idea that perhaps God is punishing Washington for its sins against the American people?

That’s right, Katrina was divine punishment for the sins of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast; this is merely “God moves in mysterious ways.” Gotcha.

Thanks to ScottyNOLA