Events unfolded this week in Baltimore almost exactly as they were played out in Spike Lee’s 1989 film Do the Right Thing. 
A black man was killed in custody. 
And black people rioted. 
When will there ever be any real change? 
This doesn’t have to be a rhetorical question. Democracy is supposed to address issues of social justice. 
New leaders need to be elected – what about a new political party? – laws passed, and change should follow.
Category Archives: politics
Oak Alley: History on a Louisiana Plantation
The property at Oak Alley Plantation is something to behold. One of dozens of Louisiana plantations along the Mississippi River that once oversaw the farming of sugar cane, this house features 300-year-old oaks lining the walk. 
The history of the Creole family who owned the home is also intriguing; ice was imported, at a cost of thousands of dollars per week, for their regular dinner parties. 
And the fact that you can drink a mint julep throughout the tour is hard to resist.
But no matter how hard they might try, and how sweet the drink, none of it works. 
History gets in the way.
And then the mint julep isn’t so sweet; none of it it is.
A partial list of slaves who lived and died at the Oak Alley Plantation
It becomes a dark place with a dark past, and nothing, not even the lovely avenue of trees, can change any of that.
New Orleans’ Other Parades: The Second Line
The people of New Orleans love to parade, but not only on Mardi Gras. 
There are actually 40 different Sundays booked throughout the year for clubs to parade behind marching bands, as the famed Second Line, dancing to celebrate the spirit of the music. 
Today’s parade was represented by five clubs: Ladies & Men of Unity, Brother’s of Change, Sophisticated Ladies with Class, KOK King of Kings and Men of Integrity. 
The people gathered at the parade’s starting point, Second Street and Danneel in Central New Orleans…and then the police arrived to announce the parade was cancelled because a permit had not been dated. 
There was a lot of milling around and talking after that, one man directing people to clear the streets as he served shots of bourbon form the back of his pickup truck.
The police repeated their message. There was more milling and talking. 
A band appeared and started to play. And the parade began. Another band followed, the marching band for Brothers of Change, from out of the bar, their second line running after them.
The parade was suddenly in full bloom. 
A lone NOPD car following at a distance.
New Orleans’ Ninth Ward: Nine Years After Hurricane Katrina
Images of the Ninth Ward in New Orleans dominated the news after Hurricane Katrina hit in September 2005. 
Many people fled the area and never came back and it was feared that the Ninth Ward might become an abandoned neighborhood.
Ninth Ward, New Orleans, January 2015
The area no longer is awash in detritus, although the jungle of tall grass and debris remain.
Ninth Ward, New Orleans, January 2015
There are signs of a renewal, and not just in the much-publicized Make it Right enclave where prominent architects and builders helped rebuild on Brad Pitt’s investment.
Make it Right homes in New Orleans Ninth Ward
The construction at Martin Luther King Charter School nears completion. 
As does the work at the Andrew Sanchez Community Center. 
Once these open, the hope is people will really begin to return, the roads be fixed and the empty lots transformed. 
And come the next hurricane, the new retaining wall just might hold.
New Orleans’ Prospect 3: “Guns in the Hands of Artists”
This is the final weekend for the New Orleans Art Show: Prospect 3, and one of the most interesting exhibitions would have to be Guns in the Hands of Artists at the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery. The images and texts speak for themselves.
Jonathan Ferrara’s statement regarding his own work Excalibur No More is most telling: “I have never owned a gun and thought it would be a difficult and cumbersome process. It actually took about five minutes.” Â 
“After finding the gun online, the seller brought it to the gallery and I gave him the money and he gave me the gun. That was it, no paperwork, no receipt, no record, totally legal. It blew my mind. Of course, I had to engage in a fifteen minute conversation about the 2nd Amendment with the seller.”
Your MLK Day Quiz: What Would You Do For Someone Else?
The Dardenne brothers latest film, Two Days, One Night posits a basic question for all of us to consider: Would you choose to receive a bonus if it meant that your colleague lost her job? 
Understanding that your colleague does her job well but she is not a close friend, what would you choose to do?
Martin Luther King Jr. often asked such questions of us. His final speech in Memphis, Tennessee was no exception: “The question is not what might happen to me if I stop to help the sanitation workers. The question is what happens if I do not stop to help, what will happen to them? That is the question.” 
Are you willing to sacrifice for others? Or is it you above all else?
Blogging Floggers: Faith through Violence
The cat is getting ready. 
Apostates are being called out with violence and condemnation. Even the friendly old pope has put himself on the wrong side of the fence: “If my good friend speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others.” 
The fact is that insulting is allowed (freedom of speech) and punching is not (violence).
The society that condones punching, suppresses any sense of freedom of speech. Punching them is the same as flogging them. Is the same as killing them. 
As much as one might find these Charlie Hebdos and Larry Flynts a pain, the only thing to be done is eye-rolling and making an appeal for decency. 
Nothing more.
All of that said, my guess is that a greater conflict is to come in countries that espouse freedom of speech where so many in power maintain the guise of faith simply to avoid a violent reaction from a certain percentage of its citizenry. 
As personal as the question might be – “Do you believe in God, Mr. President?” – people will keep asking and inevitably the truth will come out. And it won’t be pretty.
No-Digi-Phobia: Fear of Being Left Out of the Digital World
We are a phobic society, afraid of the unknown, and now more than anything, being away from our devices. 
The term “nomophobia” has been recently introduced into our vernacular – “no-mobile-phone-phobia” –Â defining our fear of being without a connection. 
There is a lot of finger-posting going on regarding this trend, blaming the kids and their addiction to the digital world. 
Sure, all of my students stare into their phones at every given moment, desperate to scroll, some even convinced that they have been given a new power, that society has conceded to their ability to steer us to a brave new understanding.
However misguided they may be, they’re not the problem, only a symptom. 
The problem isn’t the users, but the providers, the people building these things, selling the latest models, pushing the digital world relentlessly forward. If you don’t buy, you don’t know, and then you die. 
Our nodigiphobia (“no-digital-device-phobia”) only continues to drive us toward the bleak horizon, latest device in hand, blogging and texting as we go.
Fedex Package Delivered!
My package was finally delivered! 
Who cares if it was eight days late and returned to the sender? Those are only silly details! 
Well done, Fedex! No matter what, you always get the job done. (Let’s see how you handle the claim.)
