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We are enlightened by our time in Louisiana. It is so different from home you almost feel as though you are in a different world. In New Orleans we have felt very aware of our privilege as white middle class tourists. We were staying in a gentrified area that an Uber Driver lovingly called the Upper Ninth Ward, meaning there has been a lot of gentrification of a very poor black neighbourhood, especially after Hurricane Katrina. We saw where the levees broke in one part of the neighbourhood and the AirBnb we stayed in was only a few years old, likely rebuilt after the storm. Homes in the area are already 6-8 feet below sea level and when the levees broke they flooded up to 15 feet or the attic/second floor of many homes. A reported 1000+ people died from the area, too poor to leave and too late to get rescued in the flooding. And it's mostly a black neighbourhood. I know it's about 15 years since but the feeling brings me right back to the horrified feeling watching the after math on TV. And I believe the people of New Orleans, though resilient, are traumatized still.
Luckily there are many celebrations that help lift the spirits, and drown your sorrows. Music is one cure for the soul.
There is a very rich black history here and also a sad legacy of slavery. We were hopeful to see a plantation today to learn more about the perspective of a slave in the sugar plantations nearby. We learned from attending the Danny Barker Festival that landowners would hire local jazz musicians to play music on the busses taking all the slaves to their next assignment to keep their Spirits up.
The history of Jazz is alive and well here and we have heard so many great jazz bands while we visited. Some in little jazz clubs on Frenchman street, or the French Quarter with a long history of the great performers such as Cab Callaway, Louis Armstrong and Danny Barker with his wife Blue Lu. We listened to the blues, with incredible musicians strumming our blues away. My favourite style of music is traditional jazz with the big Brass Bands. I love the sound of the tuba, trumpet and trombone belting out the familiar sounds of jazz. Oh, It gets inside of me....it's the heart thumping feel good kind of music that makes me smile, laugh, and find gratitude. When you think about what was happening in the world when a lot of it was written it's how people got thru difficult times....a couple of wars, a depression, and Americas slavery and racism. And the thing is, most of the great Jazz musicians were black.
We made our way to the Bayou today for a little exposure to Zydeco and Cajun Music. We are staying in the sweet town of Breaux Bridge for some gators in the soup and in the swamp. (Yes you read that right...they cook 'em up real good here!) Stay tuned for our last adventures in Louisiana before coming home Saturday.
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sylvia-anne enga Gator soup, oh my!