Civic Engagement in the Wake of Katrina DIGITALCULTUREBOOKS is an imprint of the University of Michigan Press and the Scholarly Publishing Office of the University of Michigan Library dedicated to publishing innovative and accessible work exploring new media and their impact on society, culture, and scholarly communication. Civic Engagement IN THE Wake OF Katrina Amy Koritz and George J. Sanchez EDITORS The University of Michigan Press and The University of Michigan Library Ann Arbor Copyright © by the University of Michigan and the University of Michigan Library 2009 All rights reserved Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America c Printed on acid-free paper 2012 2011 2010 2009 4321 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Civic engagement in the wake of Katrina / Amy Koritz and George J. Sanchez, editors. p. cm. — (The new public scholarship) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-472-11698-0 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-472- 03352-2 (paper : alk. paper) 1. New Orleans (La.)—Social conditions—21st century. 2. Hurricane Katrina, 2005—Social aspects—Louisiana—New Orleans. 3. Disaster relief—Social aspects—Louisiana—New Orleans—History— 21st century. 4. Community life—Louisiana—New Orleans—History— 21st century. 5. City and town life—Louisiana—New Orleans— History—21st century. 6. Political participation—Louisiana—New Orleans—History—21st century. 7. New Orleans (La.)—Social life and customs—21st century. 8. New Orleans (La.)—Cultural policy. 9. New Orleans (La.)—Intellectual life—21st century. I. Koritz, Amy, 1955– II. Sanchez, George J. HN80.N45C58 2009 307.3'4160976335090511—dc22 2009018642 ISBN 978-0-472-02448-3 (electronic) DEDICATION To the people of New Orleans and those who joined with them to rebuild the homes and communities of this city. To those still displaced from those homes and communities. To those who have found new homes and are building new communities in New Orleans. Acknowledgments This volume owes its existence to George J. Sanchez’s willingness to come to New Orleans in the spring of 2006. That event, in turn, only occurred because Julie Ellison invited him to present at a September 2005 confer- ence sponsored by Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Nor would I have met George at that con- ference had not Julie insisted that I attend it at her organization’s expense since at the time I was holed up in rural North Carolina with my in-laws wondering if I still had a job. Once George arrived in New Orleans he rec- ognized what none of us immersed in the urgency of daily life in a devas- tated city could see: there was work happening in New Orleans that needed to be shared. It was George who ‹rst suggested this volume, and it was his willingness to devote resources not available to me at Tulane to its com- pletion that made it possible. Although Julie no longer directs Imagining America, she is coeditor of the University of Michigan Press series that has given this book a home and the experiences recorded within it a voice and audience. I owe the deepest thanks to both George and Julie. I would ‹nally like to acknowledge the efforts of the contributors to this volume, all of whom took time away from the pressing needs of their families, com- munities, and organizations to meet, think, draft, revise, and respond to the requests of the editors with generosity and grace. This volume would not have been produced without the vision, determi- nation, and networks of Amy Koritz. Having been displaced with her fam- ily by Hurricane Katrina, Amy understood that her return to her adopted city and her job at Tulane University required a new reckoning with the struggles of others in New Orleans to rebuild lives, reconnect with com- munities, and rebuild the city. As part of that refashioning of her work, I was fortunate enough to be invited by Amy to come to New Orleans for viii Acknowledgments the very ‹rst time to help make sense of the new Latino immigrant com- munities that were growing in that post-Katrina region. Amy was my guide, along with several of the contributors to this volume, to the city that once was and the city that was becoming New Orleans. What made that connection possible was the national network of scholars and artists that is Imagining America, and particularly Julie Ellison, who was its ‹rst and founding director. She encouraged us to make this connection and put to- gether this volume to feature the voices of those at the forefront of the work of rebuilding in New Orleans. The new director of Imagining Amer- ica, Jan Cohen-Cruz, has been equally as supportive of these productive networks and collaborations, and I am joyful for her voice in this volume. Three dedicated research assistants at the University of Southern Califor- nia helped me put this volume together and worked tirelessly on its behalf. Adam Bush, Margaret Salazar, and Barbara Soliz are each up-and-coming scholars, and their dedication to academic excellence, civic engagement, and racial equity is what makes working with graduate students such a ful‹lling experience. What I experienced in New Orleans, certainly as an outsider to the city but as a supporter of sustained civic engagement, is an unparalleled dedication to the people and communities in Louisiana by a host of academics, community organizers, and professional activists. They welcomed me into their world and allowed me to make my small contribu- tion to their efforts. For their openness and willingness to share their sto- ries, I will forever be grateful. We would both additionally like to acknowledge the support of our fami- lies. Bob, Ben, and Daniel Gaston have never failed to provide for Amy a reminder of the really important things in life. Without their humor and understanding, patience, impatience, and willingness to pick up the slack at home, everything I do would have less meaning, less ›avor, less laughter. Debra Massey Sanchez, after much worry, allowed George to partici- pate in a project in New Orleans just months after Hurricane Katrina and put up with all the travel and work involved in getting this project done with great love and support. She is a constant reminder to me of what true love is all about and why it is so important for each of us to ‹nd the person that makes life meaningful and passionate. Contents Introduction 1 Amy Koritz and George J. Sanchez SECTION 1. COPING WITH DISASTER 19 Amy Koritz “Bring Your Own Chairs” Civic Engagement in Postdiluvial New Orleans 23 Richard Campanella A Reciprocity of Tears Community Engagement after a Disaster 44 Pat Evans and Sarah Lewis Not Since the Great Depression The Documentary Impulse Post-Katrina 59 Michael Mizell-Nelson Another Evacuation Story 78 Rebecca Mark SECTION 2. NEW BEGINNINGS 85 Amy Koritz The Vision Has Its Time Culture and Civic Engagement in Postdisaster New Orleans 89 Carol Bebelle x Contents How to Raise an Army (of Creative Young People) 101 Mat Schwarzman, with illustrator Keith Knight The Gulfsouth Youth Action Corps The Story of a Local CBO’s Response to Restoring Youth Programs in New Orleans after Katrina and Rita 115 Kyshun Webster and D. Hamilton Simons-Jones Welcoming the Newcomers Civic Engagement among Pre-Katrina Latinos 132 Elizabeth Fussell SECTION 3. INTERCONNECTIONS 147 Amy Koritz Cultural Policy and Living Culture in New Orleans after Katrina 151 Carole Rosenstein HOME, New Orleans University/Neighborhood Arts Collaborations 162 Jan Cohen-Cruz Interview with Don Marshall, Executive Director of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Foundation 185 Conducted by Amy Koritz Afterword Civic Engagement Is a Language—What Can Universities Learn from Public Cultural Work in New Orleans? 203 Julie Ellison Contributors 223 Index 231 Civic Engagement in the Wake of Katrina Introduction Amy Koritz and George J. Sanchez New Orleans is a place where the “slaves of the city” still ask “who will betray us today.” —Brenda Marie Osbey Democracy must be reborn in each generation. Education is the midwife. —John Dewey The local community must be the microcosm of our pluralistic, inclusive democracy, and the realization of our democratic ideals. Community is, in fact, democracy incarnate, where culture is woven into the fabric of our daily lives, not worn as a decoration on its surface, or observed from afar as the province of the privileged few. —Sondra Myers Everything that happened at Charity during the storm was a failure . everything bad was a failure of the system. Everything good was a success of individuals. —Joel Rene Morrissey, chief resident at Charity Hospital ON AUGUST 29, 2005, THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS and the surrounding Gulf Coast region was hit by a monstrous hurricane named Katrina, which ex- posed the underlying racial and economic inequalities and public corrup- tion that mark so many cities in the United States at the beginning of the 1 2 CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN THE WAKE OF KATRINA twenty-‹rst century. Over the next few days, as the rest of the United States and the world witnessed the lack of adequate planning and prepara- tion, which left thousands of residents to struggle for their very survival in the wake of Katrina, residents of New Orleans realized that they had expe- rienced one of the most catastrophic failures of public investment that had ever been perpetrated on a resident citizen population in the history of the United States.