Super Sunday - By Any Means Necessary

Yesterday was Super Sunday here in New Orleans. (Thanks to Don Marshall for stopping by the site and telling us about it!! Don put on Jazz Fest 8 months after Hurricane Katrina. Makes organizing the Austin Children's Museum Luncheon seem like a walk in the park!!) A few blocks from my place in Treme the parade passed by on the corner of N. Claiborne and Esplanade. Super Sundays happen 3 times a year in different parts of the city. I was lucky to catch the first downtown Super Sunday since Hurricane Katrina. The theme for the parade was "By Any Means Necessary". Some of the tribal members are still displaced from the hurricane, so the remaining Indians decided to keep the tradition going in honor of those missing or who passed away. From what I understand about the Super Sunday tradition, Mardi Gras Indians pay respect to the history between slaves and Indians by parading their elaborate costumes, music and dance. The chiefs of each tribe, which are divided among the different sections of town, compete in a friendly rivalry seeing which chief's costume is bigger and better. Each 3D costume is handmade, beaded and feathered by the tribes - usually taking a year to complete. The themes of each costume vary. A story about this tradition was featured in the paper this morning.

A jazz band played at the front of the parade and hundreds of people second lined behind them. Only a few tourists were there to see it. Probably because the event started whenever the chiefs decided. ( I waited almost two hours to get these shots AND I was late! It was so worth it.) What keeps playing through my mind is the determination of the people of this city. Half of the city is still devastated. People are still living in FEMA trailers - even on Esplanade. The lower ninth ward, where we've been working, looks like a ghost town. Tour buses cruise the area in what some of the locals call the Misery Tour. But they're glad people want to see the other side of New Orleans because it means they care. Some locals I've talked to have mixed emotions about rebuilding in areas like the lower 9th. Services to these areas are scarce. Occasionally you'll see military police patrolling the site, but mostly you're on your own. Leave before dark they tell us - and we do. (Don't worry Mom...)

I get to see both sides everyday. The New Orleans that everyone knows about: French Quarter, parades, Cafe Du Monde, St. Charles Avenue, Magazine Street. To see just this side of New Orleans is to only see half of what this city is experiencing. And then I see the businesses that are still shut down, the X's on every house, the rows and rows of FEMA trailers where people live. Everyone I meet tells me their story; the addictions they picked up since the hurricane, what city they were taken to during the evacuation, missing neighbors who never came back. Time is split in two, "before Katrina" and "after Katrina".

People I meet keep telling me they are glad we're here. After the parade I was walking home and a friendly "camera man" asked me if if got some good shots. I noticed him during the parade. He was the only guy I saw with a professional looking camera - although it was old. His eyes were foggy and I wondered how well he could see. Apparently he sees just fine since he's the local "go to" guy in town for all the jazz funerals and parades. His name is Sylvester Francis (check out the Spike Lee documentary, When the Levee's Broke...) and he's Executive Director of the Backstreet Cultural Museum which just so happens to be around the corner from my place on St. Claude. He is also the "camera man" and historian for the Mardi Gras Indians. His museum houses some of the best costumes from years past. (!) When he opened the door to his collection I was stunned. It was a treasure chest of New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian history. He offered me a cold drink and we sat on the front porch waiting for the FiYiYi chief to drop off his costume.

While we were waiting I met some of my new neighbors. I forgot their names, but they were all very sweet and welcomed me to the neighborhood. I want to talk with them more and just listen to their history. When the lady in pink found out I was from San Antonio, she got excited because that's where she was evacuated. She told me they took her to the Air Force base, then Montgomery Ward. Everyone was friendly she said. Sylvester invited me back to the Museum and when I asked for his phone number, he laughed and said, "you don't need to call, just walk around the corner ". With all the technology I use to stay connected (cell phone, instant messaging, email, blogging) it's nice to know I can just walk around the corner and have a cold drink on a new friend's front porch. Super Sunday, indeed.

PS: I went to mass at St. Augustine's on Sunday. It's the oldest African American Catholic church in the country. Sylvester and a few friends were planning the route (second line route) for a big celebration the church is having next Sunday. The priest invited me to attend. I can't wait!