b.rox

In the recovery planning efforts that followed the flooding of New Orleans, we often heard the mantra that we need to have “the community involved in the schools and the schools involved in the community.” I first heard this from Clifton James. I’m sure he was repeating an aphorism, but it made an impression on [...]

We worked a little magic in Mid-City today. We gathered on the banks of Bayou St. John and collectively welcomed a new person into our community. (What better place for a baptism than a body of water named for John the Baptist?) We sanctified her and gave her a name. We shared a pomegranate and [...]

One of the young volunteers asked me a pertinent question yesterday: “So, when we get done painting your house, are you going to help other people with their houses?” I confessed that I hadn’t thought about it. I’ve been so focused on our own renovation for almost three years now. “That’s how some people I’ve [...]

I administer an online discussion group for my neighborhood. With 432 members at last count, it’s been fairly successful, and we do our best to promote it as a higher-quality alternative to the notorious nola.com forums. However, there’s always room for improvement. After toying with the idea for months, I decided to try an experiment [...]

A short while ago, Mid-City got a grant from Mercy Corps to do community outreach. As part of that effort, we decided to make our monthly community meeting for June into a BBQ. They say free food is the way to bring people out. We hoped such an event would bring out some new faces, [...]

It’s the eleventh story about our renovation in this morning’s paper.

I had breakfast with Arthur Hardy this morning! Yes, the Arthur Hardy. Michael and I met him at Betsy’s Pancake House to discuss how Mid-City Neighborhood Organization might work with the Warren Easton Charter Foundation, of which Arthur (class of ’65) is Vice-President. I live right behind Warren Easton High School, so I’m very much [...]

If I was in New Orleans today, I’d go to the Orleans Parish School Board meeting scheduled for this evening. One of the first items on the agenda is “Consideration of establishment Of Charter Schools on the West Bank (Algiers) of Orleans Parish by Algiers Charter Schools Association.” That directly affects us, because Xy’s school [...]

The university where I work is located on the edge of a neighborhood called Gert Town. Back when I lived Uptown, I used to ride my bike through Gert Town every day. Some people said I was crazy to do this. Gert Town is an economically depressed neighborhood populated almost exclusively by African Americans. I [...]