Hi all! Long time, no blog! I just finished up my documentary materials for the Robertson Scholars Program and thought I'd post the film version of it here. So, if you want this entire blog condensed down to about a 10 minute video (most of which is the spoken word piece I did), check it out below!
Love for NOLA always,
Jess
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Operation Beautiful
Since my internship is done, I've been doing random things around the city. Today, I decided to participate in Operation Beautiful. If you've never heard of it, Operation Beautiful is a simple movement that encourages people to leave random encouraging notes about beauty in public places to combat poor self-image and self-esteem indicative of modern culture. It's a simple thing to do, and from reading what people who have found these notes have posted on the website, it can make a lot of difference. Since I didn't get to participate in Nola Rising, it's kind of nice to jump in on something in the same spirit.
My housemate Austin was really the one who convinced me to get out there and post these notes, though. I made them a few days ago and hadn't gotten around to posting them yet, so I left them on the coffee table. Austin works for Crescent City Farmer's Market, meaning he gets up at an ungodly hour most days of the week to go to work. Yesterday was one such day. Of course, lazy Jess was sleeping in while Austin was getting ready for work. When I woke up and groggily stumbled to the bathroom, I found this waiting for me on the mirror:
I'm not a morning person, really, but waking up to such a pleasant surprise in the last place I expected to find it was really wonderful. I didn't expect to get my own feel-good mission turned on myself! Austin is too sweet.
So! I spent the majority of the morning posting these around the city:
If you happen to find yourself in a New Orleans Walmart or grocery store bathroom, keep an eye out.
In other news, I am contemplating starting my own webcomic. Thoughts?
Energy,
Jess
My housemate Austin was really the one who convinced me to get out there and post these notes, though. I made them a few days ago and hadn't gotten around to posting them yet, so I left them on the coffee table. Austin works for Crescent City Farmer's Market, meaning he gets up at an ungodly hour most days of the week to go to work. Yesterday was one such day. Of course, lazy Jess was sleeping in while Austin was getting ready for work. When I woke up and groggily stumbled to the bathroom, I found this waiting for me on the mirror:
I'm not a morning person, really, but waking up to such a pleasant surprise in the last place I expected to find it was really wonderful. I didn't expect to get my own feel-good mission turned on myself! Austin is too sweet.
So! I spent the majority of the morning posting these around the city:
If you happen to find yourself in a New Orleans Walmart or grocery store bathroom, keep an eye out.
In other news, I am contemplating starting my own webcomic. Thoughts?
Energy,
Jess
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Various Videos
Here are the afore-promised Maafa videos! For more information on what's happening in each of these, please refer to the previous Maafa post. I think the titles are pretty self-explanatory.
Apologies for my lack of filming skills (I hope these didn't make you sea sick),
Jess
Apologies for my lack of filming skills (I hope these didn't make you sea sick),
Jess
Sweet Loraine's Snazziness
Moe won't forgive me if I don't post this. Tuesday night my boss, Christine, asked me to come with her to Sweet Loraine's, which is a bar on St. Claude, for open mic night.
First off, I'm not sure if I've mentioned how awesome Christine Brown is. She works full time at Ashe as Carol Bebelle's assistant, runs her own photography business (CFreedom Photography), is a rapper), is a spoken word poetry artist, and a single mother of a hilarious little guy named Devalon who is about to graduate from Pre-K. She's the emcee for his graduation, and also is the president of the PTO. I do not see how she does it all, but she does, and is amazing at it.
Moe was staying with us for a few days before he headed home. Unfortunately he contracted a nasty case of food poisoning, but was feeling better by Tuesday night. He and Austin came with Christine and I to aforementioned open mic night.
Earlier that day, I decided to take a jump and write a spoken word piece and possibly perform it that night. Which much encouragement from the other three of our happy clan, I didn't back out of it, and have this sweet footage to show as a result. Credit to Moe for his filming skills. When they called me up, they called me Tess because my J's look like T's. No matter. Here's the finished product (albeit, extremely unpolished, because it was composed in an afternoon).
Contemplating submitting this as my summer reflection,
Jess
First off, I'm not sure if I've mentioned how awesome Christine Brown is. She works full time at Ashe as Carol Bebelle's assistant, runs her own photography business (CFreedom Photography), is a rapper), is a spoken word poetry artist, and a single mother of a hilarious little guy named Devalon who is about to graduate from Pre-K. She's the emcee for his graduation, and also is the president of the PTO. I do not see how she does it all, but she does, and is amazing at it.
Moe was staying with us for a few days before he headed home. Unfortunately he contracted a nasty case of food poisoning, but was feeling better by Tuesday night. He and Austin came with Christine and I to aforementioned open mic night.
Earlier that day, I decided to take a jump and write a spoken word piece and possibly perform it that night. Which much encouragement from the other three of our happy clan, I didn't back out of it, and have this sweet footage to show as a result. Credit to Moe for his filming skills. When they called me up, they called me Tess because my J's look like T's. No matter. Here's the finished product (albeit, extremely unpolished, because it was composed in an afternoon).
Contemplating submitting this as my summer reflection,
Jess
Photos from Essence
Continuing in the backlogging of my internship, it's Essence time! My boss just sent me some pictures that she took of the booth. There's not much to say about Essence except that it was crazy busy, frustrating, and a lot of fun. I worked all three days and helped set up. They were anywhere from four to twelve hour days. Don't get me started about the parking! Traffic is bumper to bumper all down Canal and the connecting streets when Essence happens which makes getting around downtown by car, whether you're going to Essence or not, impossible. NOTE TO FUTURE INTERNS: If you are heading to Essence, DO NOT DRIVE YOURSELF AND TRY TO PARK. Otherwise you'll spend two straight hours looking for parking and end up getting rear-ended by a saucy elderly lady pulling out of the casino parking garage. I rest my case.
Anyway, pictures! (All pictures courtesy of Christine Brown of CFreedom Photography )
We had two booths at Essence. One was dedicated to the artwork of Douglas Redd, pictured below. The lady in blue is the director of Ashe CAC, Carol Bebelle. She was helping us hang up clothes when the business got crazy.
The other booth was dedicated to selling clothes from the Ashe boutique. You can see me in this next picture, customer servicing whilst sporting one of Ashe's lovely tye-dye wrap dresses, which we basically sold out of. It was pretty intense. They let me keep the dress, though, which was very nice of them.
These lovely ladies work with and at Ashe and helped a lot with the booth. The lady on the left is Annie, who volunteers with Ashe, and the lady on the right is Twyla. She is operations manager for Ashe. They are both modeling t-shirts bearing Douglas Redd designs.
Ashe also had an information booth in the outside hallway, pictured below. Here's Gwen, Ashe's Intern Coordinator, doing her thing. Needless to say, we're fine friends by now (:
And last but not least, an Essence post would not be complete without a photo of the patron saint of boutique success, Fatiha.(pictured in the center wearing an Ashe Scarf). This lady is a boutique machine and a lovely person in general. We bonded a lot over Essence. In the orange is Carol Bebelle again, and there's Annie on the right, being awesome as always.
So, yay Essence! Keep in mind that this event happened simultaneously with Maafa. Needless to say, such a hectic weekend. Everyone at the center got Monday off to recuperate from the weekend. I definitely slept all day.
Yay Essence!
Jess
Anyway, pictures! (All pictures courtesy of Christine Brown of CFreedom Photography )
We had two booths at Essence. One was dedicated to the artwork of Douglas Redd, pictured below. The lady in blue is the director of Ashe CAC, Carol Bebelle. She was helping us hang up clothes when the business got crazy.
The other booth was dedicated to selling clothes from the Ashe boutique. You can see me in this next picture, customer servicing whilst sporting one of Ashe's lovely tye-dye wrap dresses, which we basically sold out of. It was pretty intense. They let me keep the dress, though, which was very nice of them.
These lovely ladies work with and at Ashe and helped a lot with the booth. The lady on the left is Annie, who volunteers with Ashe, and the lady on the right is Twyla. She is operations manager for Ashe. They are both modeling t-shirts bearing Douglas Redd designs.
Ashe also had an information booth in the outside hallway, pictured below. Here's Gwen, Ashe's Intern Coordinator, doing her thing. Needless to say, we're fine friends by now (:
And last but not least, an Essence post would not be complete without a photo of the patron saint of boutique success, Fatiha.(pictured in the center wearing an Ashe Scarf). This lady is a boutique machine and a lovely person in general. We bonded a lot over Essence. In the orange is Carol Bebelle again, and there's Annie on the right, being awesome as always.
So, yay Essence! Keep in mind that this event happened simultaneously with Maafa. Needless to say, such a hectic weekend. Everyone at the center got Monday off to recuperate from the weekend. I definitely slept all day.
Yay Essence!
Jess
Friday, July 17, 2009
Catching up? (Or, the Maafa Blog)
Whew! It’s been a long time since I posted! To be fair, things in New Orleans are always extremely busy. Today was the last official day of my internship. I’m still going to be in NOLA until the 30th working on some individual projects and volunteering with various organizations such as NOLA Rising and the St. Bernard project. Personal development, anyone?
It’s difficult to figure out where to begin backlogging the last few weeks. I wrote a little bit post Maafa and Essence, which I shall cut/paste for ease. Bear with me, valued reader. Let’s pretend it is now Monday of last week, shall we? Ahem. Here we go:
(This is definitely the present)
This weekend has so far been the craziest weekend of my internship. All of the activities and festivals we’ve been planning for and working towards happened all at the same time. Needless to say, I’m a little tired, but had a lot of fun.
Essence Festival is an annual African-American music festival that takes place in the convention center and Superdome here in New Orleans. Needless to say, Ashe was involved. The days prior to Essence, Taylor and I helped a lot in the boutique to get things packed up for the two booths we had in the Essence marketplace. One was primarily to sell things that are normally sold in our boutique, while the other’s primary purpose was to display Douglas Redd’s artwork.
But first things first! The Maafa was on Saturday. I believe maafa is the Yoruban word for “great tragedy”. It may not be a direct translation, but it’s the general idea. Maafa is basically an opportunity for members and supporters of the local African-American community to convene and celebrate, as well as commemorate, their history. Its primary function is to honor the ancestors who suffered and perished during the time of enslavement (hence “great tragedy”). All participants are asked to wear white. Nari came with me and participated, because she's cool like that. Nari and I woke up at four and were at the center by 5 to help set up.
Maafa begins in New Orleans every year with a brief service in Congo Square, pictured to the right.
There was an invocation of the different communities of faith, a call to assembly, a representation of the ancestors via the elder community, song, etc. It was really quite lovely. A lot of drummers were playing in the square, including this little guy, who seemed to be having quite a bit of fun joining in.
After the opening ceremony, everyone gathered to begin the procession. The atmosphere was kind of strange on the march. It was both celebratory and mournful, which I think is the crux of Maafa. There is community, but that community arises from a difficult history. We processed to the tomb of the unknown slave where there was a libation by a Catholic group
as well as a song by Michaela Harrison. I have video of it, which I will post in a different entry (I shall post several videos in a different entry). She could sing her face off. Here is a rather dramatic photo of her at the tomb of the unknown slave:
Next, we processed through the French quarter, which looked something like this from mine and Nari's vantage point.
The drummers drummed during the procession. It was very early in the morning (a holiday Saturday morning in New Orleans), so I think we woke a lot of people up. Participants with fliers marched on the edges of the procession and handed a flier to everyone who came outside. Once angered residents came outside and saw the procession, nearly all of them bobbed their heads along with the drums and smiled. It was a nice way to see the city. Some people joined the procession as it passed. It was just a lot of fun to march through the quarter with a group like that.
We stopped a few times for history lessons and Baba Luther pointed out historic locations such as the slave trade buildings in the French Quarter. Though I didn't get a picture of it, the words "slave exchange" were painted on the building. Someone has painted over part of the original lettering. The building now simply reads "change".
After the procession, we boarded the ferry to head over to Algiers for the second half of the ceremony. Here are pictures of Nari and I on said Ferry (we are very sweaty):
On the ferry I met a nice lady named Rose who happens to live 45 minutes away from my home town. The woman next to her was from Charlotte, NC. Small world! Whilst on the ferry, people threw the white carnations into the river in honor of the ancestors. Here's a picture of the view from the ferry. If you look closely, you can see the little white carnation dots in the boat's wake.
Once we got off of the ferry, we went to a service on the shore. Lots of interesting presentations were given, including more drumming, spoken word, and a performance by the Mardi Gras Indians. And of course, here is a picture of one of the Mardi Gras Indians.
Maafa was a really great experience, though extremely tiring, especially because of working Essence afterward. Still, I'm so glad I did it. Hooray Maafa! More backtracking and storytelling to come! Stay tuned.
Catching up for sure,
Jess
It’s difficult to figure out where to begin backlogging the last few weeks. I wrote a little bit post Maafa and Essence, which I shall cut/paste for ease. Bear with me, valued reader. Let’s pretend it is now Monday of last week, shall we? Ahem. Here we go:
(This is definitely the present)
This weekend has so far been the craziest weekend of my internship. All of the activities and festivals we’ve been planning for and working towards happened all at the same time. Needless to say, I’m a little tired, but had a lot of fun.
Essence Festival is an annual African-American music festival that takes place in the convention center and Superdome here in New Orleans. Needless to say, Ashe was involved. The days prior to Essence, Taylor and I helped a lot in the boutique to get things packed up for the two booths we had in the Essence marketplace. One was primarily to sell things that are normally sold in our boutique, while the other’s primary purpose was to display Douglas Redd’s artwork.
But first things first! The Maafa was on Saturday. I believe maafa is the Yoruban word for “great tragedy”. It may not be a direct translation, but it’s the general idea. Maafa is basically an opportunity for members and supporters of the local African-American community to convene and celebrate, as well as commemorate, their history. Its primary function is to honor the ancestors who suffered and perished during the time of enslavement (hence “great tragedy”). All participants are asked to wear white. Nari came with me and participated, because she's cool like that. Nari and I woke up at four and were at the center by 5 to help set up.
Maafa begins in New Orleans every year with a brief service in Congo Square, pictured to the right.
There was an invocation of the different communities of faith, a call to assembly, a representation of the ancestors via the elder community, song, etc. It was really quite lovely. A lot of drummers were playing in the square, including this little guy, who seemed to be having quite a bit of fun joining in. 
After the opening ceremony, everyone gathered to begin the procession. The atmosphere was kind of strange on the march. It was both celebratory and mournful, which I think is the crux of Maafa. There is community, but that community arises from a difficult history. We processed to the tomb of the unknown slave where there was a libation by a Catholic group
as well as a song by Michaela Harrison. I have video of it, which I will post in a different entry (I shall post several videos in a different entry). She could sing her face off. Here is a rather dramatic photo of her at the tomb of the unknown slave: 
Next, we processed through the French quarter, which looked something like this from mine and Nari's vantage point.
The drummers drummed during the procession. It was very early in the morning (a holiday Saturday morning in New Orleans), so I think we woke a lot of people up. Participants with fliers marched on the edges of the procession and handed a flier to everyone who came outside. Once angered residents came outside and saw the procession, nearly all of them bobbed their heads along with the drums and smiled. It was a nice way to see the city. Some people joined the procession as it passed. It was just a lot of fun to march through the quarter with a group like that.
We stopped a few times for history lessons and Baba Luther pointed out historic locations such as the slave trade buildings in the French Quarter. Though I didn't get a picture of it, the words "slave exchange" were painted on the building. Someone has painted over part of the original lettering. The building now simply reads "change".
After the procession, we boarded the ferry to head over to Algiers for the second half of the ceremony. Here are pictures of Nari and I on said Ferry (we are very sweaty):
On the ferry I met a nice lady named Rose who happens to live 45 minutes away from my home town. The woman next to her was from Charlotte, NC. Small world! Whilst on the ferry, people threw the white carnations into the river in honor of the ancestors. Here's a picture of the view from the ferry. If you look closely, you can see the little white carnation dots in the boat's wake.
Once we got off of the ferry, we went to a service on the shore. Lots of interesting presentations were given, including more drumming, spoken word, and a performance by the Mardi Gras Indians. And of course, here is a picture of one of the Mardi Gras Indians.
Maafa was a really great experience, though extremely tiring, especially because of working Essence afterward. Still, I'm so glad I did it. Hooray Maafa! More backtracking and storytelling to come! Stay tuned.
Catching up for sure,
Jess
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Failcordion Skillz
As promised, a video demo of Jess failing at accordion mastery on an accordion bigger than she is. Ten points if you know the song. Video courtesy of Oli, as evidenced by New Zealand-accented remarks post song. That's what he gets for stopping by... Hah. we love him, and his visits.
I was supposed to give the accordion back today, but at the appointed time, Sunpie had to take a friend to the airport at the last minute, and, when he heard that I was making some definite progress and loved it, he offered to let me hang on to it for a few more days on the condition that I play for him upon its return. Needless to say, I accepted. Suggestions on awesome things to learn how to play?
Accordion snuggles?
Jess
I was supposed to give the accordion back today, but at the appointed time, Sunpie had to take a friend to the airport at the last minute, and, when he heard that I was making some definite progress and loved it, he offered to let me hang on to it for a few more days on the condition that I play for him upon its return. Needless to say, I accepted. Suggestions on awesome things to learn how to play?
Accordion snuggles?
Jess
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