Hurricane Katrina 5th Anniversary

Today is the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katina's devastating landfall in the New Orleans area.

I was pissed off when it happened then and I'm still angry about what happened to New Orleans in the wake of this disaster. And don't even get me started on Karl Rove using this tragedy for GOP political purposes.

New Orleans is one of the unique treasures of America, and it took a major blow.

It has half the population nowadays and the 2010 Census will reveal just how much population the Big Easy lost.

The aftermath of Katrina has profound social and political consequences as well. Rove went into this with the intent of turning Louisiana red and suceeded. In his zeal to do so, he may have sowed the seeds to turn Texas into a swing state thanks to all the people displaced from New Orleans who relocated to Dallas and Houston.

Thanks to all those New Orleans evacuees who stayed here combined with Latino population growth, our population in Houston finally surpassed 2 million. If it's confirmed by the census, it will trigger the addition of two more city council seats.

We Gulf Coast residents also take hurricane evacuation warnings seriously now.

We also know another affect it had-It highlighted the GW Bush administration's gross incompetence and putting a bright media spotlight on the failure of conservapolicies. It was a factor in helping eject the GOP from federal power and giving the Dems control of Congress in 2006.

So on this fifth anniversary, let's pray for and remember the people who lost their lives during and after the storm and never forget what happened to New Orleans.

Louisiana Memories

Polar and I as you read this are probably at our planned stopping point of Hammond, LA.

Yep, we're in Jindalland after our day started earlier this morning in Da Ville rolling the moving van southwards on I-65.

We picked Hammond because Interstate 55 intersects with I-12 here, and once we get on I-12 west it's a short run to Red Stick (aka Baton Rouge) and the intersection of I-10.

I-10 west will take me through Louisiana's state capitol, over the Mississippi River, through the Atchafalaya swamp, past Lafayette, Lake Chuck and finally the last 30 miles to the Texas-Louisiana line at the Sabine River.

Louisiana is special because it's another one of the places that is home for me. For two years I lived in Marrero, LA just across the river from New Orleans. I started elementary school there and my godsister and her family still live on the West Bank. I have a few friends still living in Da Swamps who have told me they're happy to hear that I'm back on the Gulf Coast and I'm only a five hour drive away west of them.

When I worked for CAL, one of my first non-rev trips I took when I became pass eligible was to New Orleans. I flew to the city several times during my time there because it was a short flight to the French Quarter and a club on St. Charles Ave I used to hit called Nexus. It was a jazz piano bar downstairs and had a dance floor with DJ upstairs.

There was one memorable night I hit the place and Charmaine Neville was performing at the jazz bar part of Nexus the same weekend that New Orleans was invaded by Washington Redskins fans. The DJ obliged by playing a lot of go-go that night in his music mix.

If you want to get on my good side bring me a dozen beignets from Cafe DuMonde and you have gained a BFF.

And yes, my other fave NFL team plays in the Superdome. Geaux Saints!

Polar and I probably are going to find something to eat and call it a night because we still have some driving to do before we hit the Houston city limits.

Who Dat Gonna Be NFL Champs!

The New Orleans Saints were founded in 1967 and have endured 43 seasons of good, bad and ugly football. After Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005 and wrecked the Superdome, it wasn't even certain that the Saints would even be playing their future NFL games in New Orleans.

Today you can call them NFL champions after playing and winning in their first Super Bowl appearance.

They ain't the Aints no more.

In a Super Bowl for the ages the Saints turned a 10-6 halftime deficit, gutsy play calling and stout defense into a memorable 31-17 win and a well deserved championship for the long suffering Saints fans.

Mardi Gras has already started, but this party will probably be going on until tomorrow morning and maybe into next week.

Congratulations Saints. Way to geaux!

Louisiana Interracial Couple Denied Marriage License

Looks like gay couples aren't the only ones being denied the ability to get married in Louisiana.

We made the argument in Kentucky when our marriage ban was on the ballot in 2004 that if you banned same gender marriages and gave local clerks the power to deny or annul people's marriages, then the marriages of people they didn't like would also be on the chopping block.

Hmm, didn't take long for them to go after interracial marriages now did it?

A justice of the peace in Hammond, LA put on his pointed white sheet and denied a marriage license to an interracial couple.

Guess he hasn't heard about the 1967 Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court case in which they ruled 9-0 the government cannot prohibit marriages simply because of the race of the spouses.

Tangipahoa Parish justice of the peace Keith Bardwell said he refused to issue a marriage license to 31 year old Beth Humphrey and 32-year-old Terence McKay of Hammond citing concern for any children the couple might have.

While predictably denying in the Hammond Daily Star he wasn't a racist, he then offered his opinion that most interracial marriages do not last long.

"I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house," Bardwell said. "My main concern is for the children."

He said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of Black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does White society, he said.

"I don't do interracial marriages because I don't want to put children in a situation they didn't bring on themselves," Bardwell said. "In my heart, I feel the children will later suffer."

If he does an interracial marriage for one couple, he must do the same for all. "I try to treat everyone equally," he said.

Yeah, right. Where's the equality in this situation?

The couple stated they will consult the US Justice Department about filing a discrimination complaint.

Humphrey told the newspaper she called Bardwell on October 6 to inquire about getting a marriage license signed. She says Bardwell's wife told her that Bardwell will not sign marriage licenses for interracial couples.

“I simply can’t believe he can do that. That’s blatant discrimination,” Humphrey said.

The Louisiana American Civil Liberties Union and the Tangipahoa Parish Chapter of the NAACP agree.

Louisiana ACLU Executive Director Marjorie R. Esman said Bardwell’s refusal to sign the license is both “tragic and illegal.”

Pat Morris, NAACP Tangipahoa Parish chapter president, said she was shocked to hear that the choice of a spouse is still an issue in Tangipahoa Parish.

Humphrey and McKay met where she works and the couple and had planned to go to South Carolina for a traditional wedding ceremony to be officiated by her youth minister brother. But McKay lost his job, and by the time he was re-employed he was unable to get off for the wedding. They decided to go ahead and get married in Lousiana “to make it right before God,” she said.

“We decided on a very short, simple ceremony with a couple of my friends as witnesses,” she said. “Later, when he got some time off, we would go to South Carolina for the traditional ceremony, although we would actually already be officially married.”

According to the Louisiana clerk of court's office, application for a marriage license must be made three days before the ceremony because there is a 72-hour waiting period. The applicants are asked if they have previously been married. If so, they must show how the marriage ended, such as divorce.

Other than that, all they need is a birth certificate, the $35 license fee and a Social Security card. The license must also be signed by a Louisiana minister, justice of the peace or judge with the original being returned to the clerk's office.

"It is really astonishing and disappointing to see this come up in 2009," said American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana attorney Katie Schwartzman. "The Supreme Court ruled as far back as 1963 that the government cannot tell people who they can and cannot marry."

The ACLU was preparing a letter for the Louisiana Supreme Court, which oversees the state justices of the peace, asking them to investigate Bardwell and see if they can remove him from office, Schwartzman said.

"He knew he was breaking the law, but continued to do it," Schwartzman said.

Bardwell has been a JP for 34 years and his term expires December 31, 2014.

With the attention this case has garnered, he might be leaving sooner than that.

Hurricane Deja Vu?

Incredibly, three years after Katrina devastated the New Orleans area it faces another Category 3 storm bearing down on it in Hurricane Gustav. Gustav wreaked major havoc and took 68 lives as it whacked Haiti, Jamaica and the western tip of Cuba enroute to the Louisiana coast.

I lived on the West Bank in Marrero as a toddler for two years. My dad worked for a New Orleans radio station before we moved back to Houston in 1967. We were living there when Hurricane Betsy clobbered the New Orleans area back in 1965, taking a path similar to what Katrina would follow 40 years later. Betsy caused flooding in the New Orleans area when the levees were breached by storm surge.

Gustav is going to make landfall in the Houma-Grand Isle area sometime between 6 AM-12 Noon CDT, which will unfortunately put New Orleans on the 'dirty' or east side of the storm. It's also expected to make landfall around high tide, which will add to the storm surge as well.

With Gustav hitting that area, it means that the Harvey Canal, which is the eastern border of my old neighborhood in Marrero, could possibly get a storm surge that will overwhelm the Harvey Canal flood control gate and flood most of the West Bank like New Orleans got in 2005.

I'm also concerned because I haven't heard anything from my godsister Angela or her family yet. All I can do is pray they are all right and will call us soon.

Gas prices are going to get jacked with because Gustav is running through not only an area with a large concentration of refineries but there are a large concentration of offshore oil rigs in the area as well. One fifth of the United States' oil refining capability is concentrated between Houston and New Orleans.

Another problem is that the pipelines leading from the LOOP (the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port) come onshore in the Houma area.

Interestingly, we have evacuees from New Orleans being housed here in Louisville. As of the time I'm writing this 1500 people have arrived at the Fairgrounds Exposition Center and it has room for 3000 people.

I and others who have family and friends in the area will have some anxious moments over the next several hours until Gustav makes landfall. And hopefully this time, the GOP and Karl Rove will refrain from playing politics with people's lives like they did in 2005.

Katrina Third Anniversary

Today is the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastating landfall in the New Orleans-Mississippi Gulf Coast area. It's interesting that as I write this Tropical Storm Gustav whacked Haiti as a Category 1 hurricane, is building in the Caribbean and is headed toward Kingston, Jamaica. Unfortunately the storm's projected track is pointing it toward the Louisiana-Mississippi Gulf Coast area.

The possibility that Gustav may be making landfall in New Orleans, where I spent two years of my childhood on the West Bank has me concerned. Mu godsister, her hubby and kids moved back to the area after temporarily hanging out with my family in Houston, I have yet to visit New Orleans post-Katrina.

Three years after the landfall and the devastation it wreaked on the area, it's still negatively affecting many people's lives.

Mardi Gras 2008

It's been overshadowed by the 2008 election, but today is also Mardi Gras, in which New Orleans is partying and having a good time.

Despite its struggles to survive and stay in the nation's consciousness post-Katrina, the city is recovering, although not as fast as I and others would like it to.

In case you're curious, here's the link to the Times-Picayune's Mardi Gras section.

Last year I posted articles about how the city's Black krewes and social clubs are fighting to not only stay alive with members scattered all over the country, but hold on to their history as well.

This year's Krewe of Zulu king, Frank Boutte is a native New Orleanian who has done something only one other Zulu king has done. He's only the second king since 1909 to reside (in Houston) outside of New Orleans. The other one was Louis Armstrong in 1949.

There are even gay Mardi Gras events as well. The lower French Quarter is the home of the Gay Mardi Gras and it's here that you'll see the more outrageous costumes on Mardi Gras Day, or in some cases, the lack of them.

Mardi Gras isn't just a one day event in New Orleans. It all begins on January 6th and continues until Midnight on Fat Tuesday, which can fall at any time from early February through early March. Parties, parades and balls are happening all over the New Orleans metro area through that period.

The last time I went in 1990, I stayed with my godsister Angela in Marrero. I caught two West Bank parades Saturday morning that passed within two blocks of their house before we battled a two hour traffic jam trying to get across the Greater New Orleans bridge from the West Bank for the Endymion parade that started at 7 PM in Downtown New Orleans. There was another West Bank parade the next day.

But that was BK (before Katrina).

The exact timing of Mardi Gras is actually based on the church calendar with the date being driven by when Easter Sunday falls, which is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of Spring. The dates of Fat Tuesday for the next few years are:

2009: February 24
2010: February 16
2011: March 8
2012: February 21
2013: February 12
2014: March 4
2015: February 17
2016: February 9
2017: February 26

As I mentioned, parades roll through the streets of New Orleans for several weeks before Mardi Gras Day. On Fat Tuesday, they begin early in the morning with the Krewe of Zulu, followed by Rex, which is followed by the popular truck parades.

Happy Mardi Gras!

What's A Turducken?

John Madden extolled the virtues of it during Thanksgiving Day NFL football telecasts when he worked for Fox. Despite the fact I've lived in southeast Texas for most of my life, last Christmas was the first time I finally got to taste one.

What I'm talking about is a turducken. It's a partially deboned turkey stuffed with a deboned duck which is stuffed with a small deboned chicken. Whatever hollow spaces are left are usually stuffed with either Cajun sausage, dirty rice, or Cajun style stuffing depending on who you get the bird from. The result is a multilayered piece of meat that you cook by either grilling, baking, roasting, or barbecuing it.

The turducken can't be Cajun deep fried because you need the hollow space inside for the bird to cook evenly

The turducken is thought to be Cajun in origin, but peeps in east Texas and northern Louisiana claim it originated there. A November 2005 National Geographic article gives credit for the idea to brothers Sammy and Junior Hebert, who invented them in 1985 at their family meat market in Maurice, LA and have been selling them commercially ever since.

The turducken tradition is growing and the Hebert stores (one in Maurice, three in Houston and one in Tulsa, Okla.) sell over 10,000 turduckens per year. Increasingly they are being sold not just for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners, but for Easter and other holidays as well.

Whoever came up with the idea, it's tasty eating and I'm looking forward to chowing down on it for our upcoming Christmas dinner.

Jena 6 Protest

I am so proud of our people this morning. I caught parts of the Jena 6 protest yesterday on CNN and took time to fire off comments to the CNN website.

As I saw our people gather in Jena, assemble in front of the LaSalle Parish Courthouse, visit Jena High School and watched 'the Revs' and others speak I found myself wishing I could have been part of this history making event. We had a bus full of people that left from Louisville to go there, but I had to work last night.

It was beautiful to see 50,000 people peacefully assembling to march for justice. The best part of it was seeing all the young people that were involved. It brought tears to my eyes.

This is an opportunity for parents to have a teachable moment for their kids about our history in this country and the civil rights movement.



We must constantly remind our kids (and some whites as well) that 400 years of racism did not magically disappear in the 60's and 70's. The Forces of Intolerance are always at work and there are Jena's everywhere along with the attitudes that created them.

My hope and prayer is that our young people's involvement in social justice issues doesn't stop with this case. I hope that our youth and the participants realized that our fight for justice as African-Americans is an ongoing battle and that they must do their part to continue 'Fighting the Power' to the best of their abilities until Dr. King's dream is an unalterable reality.

Katrina Plus 2

Today is the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastating landfall in New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Never forget the people who died.


Never forget Bush's indifference to the suffering of fellow Americans.

Never forget the people who simply want to return home but can't.

Never forget the neglect and suffering our Republican controlled government allowed to happen (and continues to allow to happen) to our people in the aftermath of this disaster.

Keep fighting to make sure that the people responsible for this travesty are held accountable for it.

25 Things I Miss About Houston

I'm approaching six years of living in Kentucky. Moving here was the first time I'd lived more than 50 miles away from the Gulf of Mexico or in a city not on I-10. Even though Louisville and Kentucky has its charms and things I like about it, there are a lot of things I miss about home besides my family.

Fortunately one of the things I missed, Blue Bell ice cream is now sold up here and I have happily gotten reaquainted with it.

So without further ado, the twenty-five things I miss about Houston.

1A-The drive to New Orleans
Before Katrina, New Orleans was THE getaway spot for many Houstonians. It was only a five hour drive or one hour plane ride away. I lived on the West Bank in Marrero for two years as a toddler and my godsister still lives there so it was doubly special to me. I loved driving that scenic stretch of I-10 that cuts through the Atchafalaya Swamp between Lafayette and Baton Rouge.


1-Major league sports
Astros baseball, Texans football, Rockets and Comets basketball. I can drive to Cincinnati, Chicago or St Louis to see the 'Stros, Indianapolis or Chicago to see the Rockets or Comets and Indy to see the Texans. (I refuse to drive to Nashville to go see them while Bud Adams still owns the Tennessee Traitors) While it's fun to cheer my home teams to victory in hostile arenas it's not the same seeing my teams in their road uniforms. While Bats games are enjoyable and the price is right, there's a huge difference between a Triple A game and a MLB one.


2-TSU and the Ocean of Soul Marching Band
Grew up watching a lot of TSU games in the Astrodome. Spent a lot of time on TSU's campus for various reasons. Listening to the high stepping Ocean of Soul as they did musical battle with the other outstanding bands in the SWAC such as Grambling, Jackson State, Southern and Prairie View was the bomb as well.

3-Texas high school football
Arguably the best in the country. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights there's high quality games going on at stadium complexes all over the area from Class 2A to Class 5A. Houston area teams are usually in the mix for state championships. TV stations in the area have 30 minute shows devoted just to covering it and there's a syndicated show that covers Texas high school football on a weekly basis. One of the sure signs that fall was coming for me is when the latest issue of Dave Campbell's Texas Football hits the stands.

4-Frenchy's chicken
The Scott Street legend located between the TSU and UH campuses that's grown to five locations. Had many nights I rolled by Frenchy's at 3 AM to grab a three piece and those creole seasoned Frenchy fries or chow down on one of their po boys.

5-Katz's deli
Katz's is an Austin institution that opened up a store in Montrose. I went to the Austin location after the 1999 lobby day and fell in love with their sandwiches and the caramel cheesecake. I did the happy dance when they opened up their Houston location in 2000.

6-The nighttime pride parade
Because Houston can get rather toasty in late June, the pride parade became a nighttime event. Attendance and popularity skyrocketed as a result.

7-Hermann Park
The Houston equvalent to Central Park in NYC. The Zoo, the Burke Baker Planetarium, the statue of Houston's namesake Sam Houston, Miller Outdoor Theater and Hippie Hill, the reflecting pool and a mini railroad train that circles a portion of it are all there on its 445 acres. The Museum District and Montrose are nearby, Rice University borders it on the west and the Texas Medical Center to the south.

8-Montrose
Houston's eclectic gayborhood that also has St Thomas University, La Colombe d'Or hotel, the Chinese consulate, the Menil Collection and various bed and breakfast places in the area along with some of my fave restaraunts and shops.


9-The Galleria
So many childhood and transition memories there. It's one of my fave malls because of the ice rink, the high end designer shops and its international fame. Did a lot of walking, shopping, eating and window shopping there. My high school prom was at one of the hotels there. I also miss the Harwin Drive discount shopping strip as well.

10-Galveston and fresh seafood
It represented the beach in my youth and my transition in adulthood. My gender clinic is located there. Whether I got my seafood in Galveston, one of the restaurants like Gaido's, Pappas or at one of the local mom and pop seafood joints, it was plentiful and the bomb.


11-The amenities of large city living
It aggravates me when I have to drive to Cincy or Indianapolis to see my favorite acts or have to wait for traveling plays, movies or shows to come here after they do limited engagements in larger cities elsewhere.

12-Marrrrrrrrrvin Zindler, Eyyyyyyeewitness news
Rent the Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. Melvin P. Thorpe is modeled on Marvin Zindler, KTRK-TV's longtime pioneering crusading consumer affairs reporter who unfortunately died Sunday. Marvin's had more plastic surgery than many of the girls who dance at Rick's. The Friday Rat and Roach report of restaurants that failed city health inspections is punctuated by his 'sliiiiiiiiiiime in the ice machine' line.



13-Mattress Mack's Gallery Furniture commercials
Another Houston institution. Mattress Mack ends his commericals by jumping up and down, holding a dollar bill and reciting his tagline 'Gallery Furniture will save you money.'

14-The Ensemble Theater and Black culture
Houston's award winning Black theater company. Houston is also the epicenter of Black history and culture in Texas. If there was a African-American trailblazer in Texas, nine times out of ten they had a Houston address.

15-The downtown Houston skyline
No matter what angle I looked at it, whether it was from the stands at Minute Maid park, from IAH, my south side 'hood or the southwest side, I got to watch our world famous modernistic skyline grow as the city did.

16-Texas barbecue
Whether it was chowing down at Harlon's, Drexler's, Pappas, a street vendor in the parking lot of a nightclub or a neighborhood hole in the wall, it's all good no matter what 'hood I was eating it in.

17-UH
Eat 'em up, eat 'em up, rah rah rah! I miss walking around campus, checking out Cougar basketball, football and baseball games and reliving some memories from the time I was there.

18-Houston Splash
The Black gay pride weekend that includes a beach party in Galveston and events in Houston that usually happens the first weekend in May.

19-Majic 102
Houston's first R&B FM station that started broadcasting in 1977. Over my teen and young adult years our radios eventually were tuned to it. It's now owned by Cathy Hughes' Radio One.


20-Astroworld
Houston's amusement park that was opened by Judge Roy Hofheinz in 1968 and later bought by Six Flags. I was horrified to find out Six Flags not only closed it, but tore it down in early 2006. Another place that has fond memories for me.

21-Shipley's Donuts
Krispy Kreme only opened its first Houston location in 2000 and still got their butts kicked by Shipley's. It's a local doughnut chain that also offers stuffed kolaches and fresh coffee. Some of the locations, especially in the 'hood are 24 hour ones.

22-Charlie's Restaurant
When I wasn't feeling Denny's or was crossdressed, I used to roll up in this gay owned gay friendly 24 hour Montrose hangout, enjoy the food and the eclectic crowd that gathered there to boot.

23-Niko Niko's
A Greek place in Montrose that also serves dynamite seafood and burgers.

24-Driving to Austin and Dallas
The state capital was only a two hour drive away and I enjoyed rolling up state highway 71 and seeing the bluebonnets blooming along the highway. Most of my Texas relatives live in Dallas and we used make that four hour drive up I-45 nearly every summer to see them.

25-The Unity Banquet
One of the major events of the Houston transgender community. One of my first community award nominations was for the Dee McKellar in 2001 for what else, the most outspoken person in the community. Lost that one to Kat Rose. ;)

In New Orleans, Black Carnival Has its High-Society Side

The 2005 Bunch Club Gala attendees seven and a half months before Katrina struck. Photo by Lloyd Dennis

The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS

Considering she says she's not a "girly-girl," Lynez Preyan has spent a lot of time dressing up, practicing the graceful wave of a scepter and working on her curtsy.

"They want us to sweep all the way to the floor," Preyan says, giggling as she demonstrates the move she employed as queen of the Young Men Illinois Club ball. "I'm a little shaky, especially in high heels."

Preyan _ who's older sister Lynesia made her debut with the club in 2002 _ is carrying on family and New Orleans traditions that are an important thread in the social fabric of the city's black community.

After Hurricane Katrina, Carnival clubs to which prosperous black New Orleanians have belonged for generations were lost, their members scattered by the storm.

Last year the Young Men Illinois Club, and its parent, the Original Illinois Club, founded in 1895 by Pullman porters, canceled their balls. The Black Pirates, Plantation Revelers, Bon Temps, Beau Brummels and the Bunch Club also canceled.

This year, many of the clubs are making a comeback.

Mardi Gras in the black community happens on several strata. There are the blue-collar Mardi Gras Indians, whose marches in Native American regalia are highlights of the season, and the middle-class Zulu organization, whose float parade is a local favorite. But the upper crust of New Orleans black society _ doctors, dentists, lawyers or skilled professionals _ debuts its daughters in the private setting of the traditional, invitation-only Carnival ball.

"People only talk about the poor people that were displaced by the hurricane," said Dr. Willard Dumas, a dentist and member of the Bunch Club. "But a lot of the black professionals, families that were a big part of New Orleans economy and culture, were flooded out as well."

Historically, the private side of Carnival has been a mostly segregated affair with whites and blacks forming their own organizations. In recent years, the race barrier has broken down somewhat, partly due to a 1991 city ordinance to bar street parading by racially discriminating groups.

Rex, an old-line white society krewe, admitted black members, but Comus, founded before the Civil War, dropped its parade rather than admit minorities though it still holds an exclusive ball. Zulu has long admitted white float riders.

"We've talked about admitting white members at length," said Lawrence Robinson, president of the Young Men Illinois, and a member for 31 years. "We don't prevent anyone from joining. We just haven't been approached yet. I think it will happen though. I look at the girls now and they have more white friends. They go to school together, play sports together. It'll happen."

The black Mardi Gras clubs are an important part of New Orleans society, said Errol Laborde, a Mardi Gras historian.

"New Orleans always had a large black middle class," Laborde said. "And the clubs became the way they introduced their daughters into society. And just as the white clubs do, it was always in connection with Carnival."

So despite the daily burden of the recovery from Katrina, the balls are reappearing on the Carnival scene. The Bunch and Plantation Revelers will stage scaled-down dances and balls as did the Young Men Illinois Club, though the latter is still short 10 of its 40 members.

Preyan, a freshman pre-med student at Xavier University, was queen for an evening on Feb. 2, reigning over a court of 15 other debutantes under the auspices of the Young Men Illinois Club. They range from 16 to 18 years old and most are students at the city's old-line Catholic high schools.

Preyan's family was displaced for almost a year after Katrina. Her father, who owns an electric service company, commuted from Baton Rouge. Preyan made the trip with him from January to June 2006 so she could finish her senior year at Dominican High School.

Their home in eastern New Orleans was gutted and rebuilt. But damaged houses, some with Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers in the yards, extend out for miles around it.

For the club's debutantes, events begin in September and include a formal tea and three or more formal parties, plus the debutante ball.

They attend weekly meetings with the club's etiquette officer, Gail Barnes-McConduit. Her instructions cover everything from proper table place settings to how to execute the floor-sweeping curtsey they will use at the ball.

"The Young Men Illinois Club has a great interest in teaching these girls how to make the transition into adulthood," Barnes-McConduit said. "That covers everything from table manners to common courtesy."

At 18, Preyan prefers jeans and tank tops. She and fellow debutantes balked a bit when Barnes-McConduit began introducing then to the finer points of protocol.

"It was all about which glass went where, which fork was used for what," she said. "We even had to learn how to walk a certain way. Grace and dignity, I heard those words over and over."

More than that, she began living them.

At the formal tea in September, Preyan, decked out in am off-white silk suit, matching hat and gloves, was undaunted by the elaborate place settings or the sedate ambiance of the regal tearoom.

In addition to the suit for the tea, the debutantes must have a different gown for each party and the ball.

"It is very expensive," said Dalton Savwoir, spokesman for the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office. His daughter, Macy, 17, is making her debut this season.

Besides the wardrobe, which costs thousands of dollars, Savwoir said, there are presents for the queen and the other debutantes, the pages _ young boys that escort the queen onto the stage at the ball _ the club members and their families.

Savwoir threw the required party for Macy at Gallier Hall, the Greek Revival building that served as City Hall for more than a century.

"The party ran about $8,000," Savwoir said. "And that doesn't include the limousine or the hairdresser or any of the incidentals."

The ball was the culmination of the debutante season.

Preyan, in a flowing white gown, a sparkling rhinestone crown on her head, a jeweled scepter in her hand, began the traditional tableau _ the picturesque grouping that highlights the ball.

"I'm supposed to stop when I first step onto the floor and stand there for a minute so the audience can admire me," Preyan said. "My pages will be behind me and we will slowly move around the room while I sweep my scepter back and forth."

Preyan ended up on the stage where each of the other debutantes was escorted and posed.

Although she originally hesitated at the rules that confined gowns to pastel colors with wide straps and billowing skirts, Preyan said she and the other debutantes eventually came around.

"I'm not really a girly-girl, or a tomboy," she said. "But for a little while I get to be an 1890s girl with all the glamour that goes with it. It really is wonderful."

Beaten but Not Broken, Black Krewes Make a Big Return at This Year’s Mardi Gras Fest

photo-the start of the Zulu parade

Tuesday, February 20, 2007
By Jackie Jones, BlackAmericaWeb.com

When the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, Inc., steps off at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning to lead the Mardi Gras Day parade, it will cap a major recovery of the black Carnival season in New Orleans.

Last year, Zulu, the premier black parading organization in the Crescent City, managed to put together a parade, despite the displacement of many of its 600 members in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The city’s smaller black social clubs, which host parties and debutante balls during Carnival, were mostly absent from the scene.

This year, however, the black organizations have made a comeback.

“We came back strong last year, and we’re going to be even stronger this year. The city needed it,” said Alvin Lee, a Zulu member. “It’s time for it.”

Lee said for a true New Orleanean, Carnival festivities leading up to Mardi Gras are just part of the fabric of life.

“Zulu has been in my life since I was a kid,” Lee told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “There’s something about that second line music. It’s in the blood.”

Zulu is the only black organization marching on Tuesday, but the Bunch Club, the Young Men Illinois and the Plantation Revelers were among the traditional black, middle-class organizations hosting soirees.

The groups have had to patch themselves back into the fabric of New Orleans life because so many of their members were displaced by Katrina. Some commuted from Baton Rouge, Houston or places farther afield to participate in Carnival.

According to the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce Web site, there are about 70 carnival groups. “Some are over 100 years old," the site quotes, "but krewes are continually forming and disbanding.”

A check of a Web site that lists contact information for krewes and social organizations revealed that many no longer have active Web sites, have disbanded or have chosen not to participate this year. A number are inactive because it has been too difficult to keep the organizations going with members displaced by Katrina.

“These cultural events are vital to the city,” Keith Weldon Medley, a writer and a member of Bunch, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “When we put on our dance, we’re making a statement that New Orleans’ traditions are alive and will continue into the rest of the century.”

“To a true New Orleanean, it’s a way to relax, get your focus, deal with the devastation,” Lee said. “For one day, there is no race. Everybody gets along on this day.”

Lee added that for Zulu, Mardi Gras is just one part of its mission.

“Mardi Gras is one day a year. Zulu is 12 months a year,” Lee said, pointing out that while most people know about the revelry of Mardi Gras, fewer know about the community service the organization provides throughout the year.

“We give out Thanksgiving baskets, we have a college fund. We help people in need. We’re a social aid and fun organization,” Lee said.

Zulu is involved with the Partners in Education Program in the city’s public schools. In fact, Morris F.X. Jeff Sr. Elementary School was named for the first black man to become a supervisor in the New Orleans Recreation Department, a man who also was King Zulu in 1972. The organization also has a scholarship fund that helps students at Dillard, Southern and Xavier universities.

“I know any way I can contribute and give back to the things that have been around for years, I want to do,” said Kaira Stelly, who will be riding on the Zulu Governor’s float, one of the most prestigious floats because the Zulu King and Queen will be aboard.

Stelly, a native of New Orleans who now lives in Silver Spring, Md., just outside Washington, D.C., told BlackAmericaWeb.com that she tries to get home every year to participate.

She said that it is even more important to help build the economy and black organizations in the wake of Katrina. She said the Zulu’s theme this year, “Keep It Rollin’,” sums up what participating in Mardi Gras means to her and her family.

“I’ve got family riding with me this year, my dad, my aunt,” Stelly said, adding that it is hard work trying to keep up with the planning meetings and other activities that Zulu sponsors because she lives so far away.

It also is a serious investment of money. Whether you are a member of an organization or a civilian who wants to ride on a float, you have to ante up.

“Anybody can ride a float, as long as you pay your reciprocity,” Lee said. “Everything is a budget; everything is about dollars. It averages $1,200-plus to be a member, then you have to buy your throws,” the trinkets thrown from the floats to the crowd in the street.

The more prestigious the float, the more it costs to ride, but the fee to ride runs around $1,500.

“You have no idea. It gets costly. There’s always that one thing more you tell yourself you wish you had. But I’m at the point that whatever I have, I have. There is no turning back. We have to be ready to start assembling at 2 a.m.,” Stelly said the evening before Mardi Gras.

“Zulu is the first parade of Mardi Gras Day. It’s all black. It’s pretty prestigious,” Stelly said.

“You’ve got to see it to believe it,” Lee said. “Until you really feel it and breathe it and smell it and feel it, you’ll never know. It helps you escape. For that one day, you forget about your troubles.”

Who Dat?

Who dat?
Who dat?
Who dat say they gonna beat dem Saints?
Who dat?
Who dat?
Who dat say they gonna beat dem Saints?

It's hard to believe, but for the first time in the 40 year history of this NFL franchise the New Orleans Saints will be playing in a conference championship game.
Ever since the Saints joined the NFL in 1967 they've been seen more times on NFL Follies highlights than Super Bowl ones. The city has also hosted more Super Bowls than they've played in.

But the Saints are as much a symbiotic part of New Orleans as the beignets and chicory coffee at Cafe DuMonde, Mardi Gras, and the French Quarter. The city lives and dies with this team. Even though I was a toddler when I lived in New Orleans, the Saints were number two in my NFL affections behind my hometown Oilers. (until they moved to Nashville) They serve as a link to the New Orleans part of my life.

So like Saints fans everywhere I was glued to the TV watching their thrilling 27-24 playoff victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in the Superdome. While I watched the game my thoughts drifted to my pre-Katrina visits to the Big Easy. I was either hanging out with my godsister and her family and friends in Marrero, driving or flying there to party, or just spending a leisurely weekend there getting away from H-town for a minute and soaking up the city's history, music and culture.

There are a lot of times when sports events and teams can bring a city together. I saw it firsthand during the Oilers Luv Ya Blue days in 1978-79, Phi Slama Jama's 1983 run to the NCAA Championship, the Rockets back-to-back NBA titles in 1994-1995 and during the Comets WNBA dynasty from 1997-2000. The Yankees 2001 World Series run helped New Yorkers for just a moment forget the tragedy that had taken place just a month earlier. The Saints are providing the same medicine for the New Orleans area.

If there's any team in this year's NFL playoffs that deserves to go to Super Bowl XLI in Miami it's the Saints. After a Hurricane Katrina forced relocation that caused them to play their home games in San Antonio and Baton Rouge, they limped through that 2005 season with a 3-13 record. This year the script got flipped. New coach, new players, new attitude, a NFC South title complete with a first round playoff bye and a rebuilt Superdome that they christened with a nationally televised win.

This ain't the 'Aints. This Saints team has an explosive offense and a suffocating defense. The players also realize that they represent something bigger than themselves. They represent the hopes and dreams of the people in the region and a diversion for just a few hours from their post-Katrina problems. Like a lot of football fans across the country I'm hoping the Saints come marching back into the Superdome in February with the Vince Lombardi Trophy in their possession.

That would set off a celebration that would rival Mardi Gras.

Hurricane Katrina Anniversary

Today is the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall in the New Orleans area and Mississippi Gulf Coast. I couldn't let this day pass without commenting on what happened a year ago.

Many Houstonians have deep connections to New Orleans. It's just a five hour drive down I-10 or a 40 minute plane ride away. Whether it was weekend trips we made there to enjoy the city's culture, food, music and history, romance or just visiting friends and family who live in the area, New Orleans is never far from a Houstonian's mind.

As a toddler I lived on the West Bank for two years (in Marrero) when my dad was starting his radio career. If you get me around anyone from New Orleans for a long enough period of time my speech pattern will revert to Nawlinsspeak for a moment.

I made numerous visits to New Orleans over the years and my godsister still lives there with her husband and kids. I went through a lot of emotions in the days leading up to August 29 and afterward.

Concern about my godsister Angela, her family and my friends. Horror at the first pictures of the devastation. The torn roof of the Superdome. The chopped up I-10 bridges across the mouth of Lake Borgne where it meets the Gulf. Shock as the pictures of the Convention Center were broadcast on CNN and seeing the water pouring through the failed levees. Anger as people waited on I-10 for help that was too slow to get there and seeing the bloated bodies of the peeps that didn't make it.
Disgust as the Bush administration cavalierly waited for days before realizing they had a worldwide PR disaster on their hands and belatedly sent supplies in.

I want to say a prayer for the people that tragically didn't make it and the struggles that residents of New Orleans and the Missisippi Gulf Ccast are having rebuilding their lives.

It shouldn't be happening in the United States. But it is.