As a vinyl .45 record that reads ‘Atlantic’ flips onto a record player, the piano in the background grows louder and more energetic, punctuated by drums and horns. Then here comes the signature whistling that every New Orleans kid recognizes — it’s from the Professor Longhair song, “Go to the Mardi Gras.” Longhair died in […]
Category: In the N.O.
Orleans culture
Posted inOpinion
There’s healing to be done in New Orleans, say descendants of Homer Plessy and John H. Ferguson
At the top edge of the Bywater, where Royal Street crosses the railroad tracks, a plaque marks a moment that changed our nation’s history. A shoemaker named Homer Plessy was arrested here in 1892 for sitting in a passenger railcar designated for “whites.” The arrest was planned; Plessy’s friends, the Citizens Committee, called ahead to […]
Posted inIn the N.O.
Peanut in Limbo
Big 6 Brass Band leader Thaddeus “Peanut” Ramsey has been stuck in Bermuda for nearly a year, fighting an invisible adversary: possible criminal charges. “If it’s something illegal, we should know that by now,” said his cousin, tuba player Walter Ramsey.
Posted inIn the N.O.
Fatman Set the Pace
Grammy Award-winning snare drummer “Fatman” Hunter, who was killed by a car on Mardi Gras morning and laid to rest today, spoke his mind and created a distinct second-line groove.
Posted inIn the N.O.
Civil Rights Icon in a Gown
In 1966, Karen Becnel made civil-rights history, as the first Black Carnival queen to be presented at Municipal Auditorium – a place where her grandfather had helped to dress the kings of the traditional old-line krewes like Rex and Comus.
Posted inSchools
Shoebox Floats Everywhere
They are a longtime Carnival tradition that focuses on little ones — and education advocates say that the current shoebox-float renaissance may be a sign that public schools are seeing the positive side of once-repudiated New Orleans traditions.
Posted inIn the N.O.
From Back-a-Town to St. Charles, on Foot.
As my mom and two aunts prepared food for us 10 cousins, we worried that we were missing out on the fun on St. Charles Avenue. We weren’t worried about seeing Rex, the krewe that parades after Zulu. In the eyes of a 10-year-old, that was boring.
Posted inIn the N.O.
Down the Drain
The Lower 9 senior center – based in Andrew “Pete” Sanchez Multi-Service Center – has the highest participation rate of any senior center in New Orleans. It’s a must-do stop for candidates running for any office. Seniors eat hot meals and compete at the center’s two tables reserved for cards: one for spades and one […]
Posted inNews
On Saturday, MLK Parade Again Spans St. Claude Avenue
Here it comes again this year: a birthday parade for Martin Luther King Jr. that returns to its traditional route: St. Claude Avenue, starting at 11 a.m. today (Saturday, January 13). The parade’s announcement came late from organizers at Friends of King School District, who finally resolved parade-permit security a few days ago, after being […]
Posted inIn the N.O.
Judging a block by its covers
THIS WEEK, a Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans contractor in a neon-green vest quietly made his way through a block of Mid-City, lifting the round metal disks out of front sidewalks and yards to install new “smart” water meters. But as he left, one thing was missing: the water-meter covers embossed with a […]