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"New Orleans is
rebuilding, but its enduring pulse and resilience is found in the
expression of literature,
music, art, and traditions steeped in a culture as rich and old as the
city itself."
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 New
Orleans Hope and Heritage Project
Richard Ford
wrote,
“You can rebuild a city, but you can’t re-make it.” New
Orleans is rebuilding, but its enduring pulse and resilience
is found in the expression of literature, music, art and
traditions steeped in a culture as rich and old as the city
itself. As the New Orleans Hope and Heritage Project has
grown and more writers, artists, photographers, musicians,
sound recordists, film makers, legal wonders, radio
producers, healers, and visionaries have come together, we
realized we were telling a story not only of what has
survived after Katrina, but also of what refuses to be lost.
This is the essence of New Orleans culture. This is the
story that we want to tell.
We sought locals to tell the story of their city because we
wanted to archive New Orleans culture authentically: what
has endured the storm and, therefore, what must be
preserved. We arranged a collection of award winning writers
whose names have garnered great respect in and beyond New
Orleans and those whose voices are fresh and unknown. The
New Orleans Hope and Heritage Project represents a tapestry
of these voices: the Pushcart Prize nominee writing about
the Mississippi River and the restauranteur who serves us
hot sausage and gumbo because the Baquets have been feeding
Creole soul food to New Orleanians for three generations; a
city tour guide illustrating the vital importance of the New
Orleans port and the President and founder of the Black Men
of Labor Social Aid and Pleasure Club divulging the history
of jazz funerals.
Our essays became a weekly radio series on our regional NPR
station during All Things Considered. The audio tracks, one
by one, became – and continue to become – short films. The
short films began
appearing in film festivals. The Moondance Film Festival.
The Ann Arbor Film Festival. The New Orleans Film Festival.
We are only just beginning.
We want to introduce the real New Orleans to our nation: her
charm, her secrets, her mystery, and the stories of her
culture one will only hear told on the stoops and in the
kitchens of her brightly colored
Creole cottages, camelbacks, and shotgun houses.
Web Design SuJen Webs
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