New Orleans Case Studies That Illustrate Coalition Work of Organizers, Educators, and Artists
The Case Study sessions will happen from 11:00 to 12:30 on Saturday 1/24/04 at Frederick Douglass Senior High School. During the 90-minute session each organization/coalition will facilitate the following three broad tasks:
- present case study of the local organization focused on how movement building happens. What worked and didn’t work and what’s the how, what’s the methodology of summing up work (should include self-criticism)—10-15 minutes
- gather similar ideas from other folk in the room--60-70 minutes
- develop model of some sort to report out to larger group (may include an issue that collective needs to tackle)—10-15 minutes
Please note that this list is pretty much complete, but one or two organizations are still making sure their schedules fit. The organizations that are still tentative are a) Neighborhood Unity/M. E. R. G. E., b) Christian Unity Church, and c) Twomey Center. Probably all three—and at least two—will be able to participate.
Liberation Zone Ministries
The four major current projects are a) Morris F. X. Jeff National Center for Manhood Development, b) street level outreach work—in association with Gov. Nicholls community project—to African American males, c) construction and operation of a community center (in development), and d) convening of The Gathering, a long-range strategic planning effort for people of African descent in New Orleans. This group also works closely with Community United to Reform Education—see below.
Community United to Reform Education (CURE)
Kojo Livingston contact (above) has
been lead contact with this group that works in opposition to high stakes testing but also works to develop grass roots involvement in public education. The major initiative over the last two or three years involves deep community involvement in A. P. Tureaud Elementary School, including development of a community learning center that combines arts, education, and organizing.
Christian Unity Church uses social justice ministries and African-oriented church arts
traditions as community organizing tools. In addition to typical education work, this congregation has recently embarked on a community-school partnership at Wicker Elementary, a public school located around the corner from the church.
Tambourine and Fan Club:
Jerome Smith, grass roots civil rights veteran activist, has
worked for years with this organization that uses social aid and pleasure club, Mardi Gras Indian, and “freedom school” traditions as key community organizing strategies. Activities range from organizing 2nd line parades when community members die and the annual Super Sunday Mardi Gras Indian gathering to operating the Treme Community Center and running a summer recreation/culture/education camp. Treme Center hosts Community Labor United meetings
Guardians of the Flame and Oretha Castle Haley Elementary:
Cherice Harrison-Nelson, a veteran public school teacher who
works closely with both Community Labor United and the weekly adult math literacy workshops that Bob Moses and Staffas Broussard lead for the Douglass Community Coalition, is daughter of long-time Big Chief Donald Harrison and mother of current Big Chief Brian Nelson. Cherice uses Mardi Gras Indian and similar traditions in her teaching and is key person in organizing the Mardi Gras Indian museum at Oretha Castle Haley Elementary School.
People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, a locally-based anti-racist grass roots
organizing entity that also works nationally, is an active member of Community Labor United and supports/sponsors numerous cultural events.
Jim Dunn Organizers’ Roundtable (same contact as for People’s Institute) is a coalition
of organizations and organizers that will soon become successor organization to Community Labor United.
Twomey Center at Loyola University (Ted Quant) does training and organizing around
social justice and education issues. For the 1/23-25 event will concentrate on
telling story of involvement in collaboration with Junebug Productions’
Environmental Justice Festival.
Ashe Cultural Center does extensive community organizing work from its cultural center
base. Actively involved in organizing coalitions among arts, education, community, and business organizations in the Central City area. Recently finalized planning for Kuumba, a partnership with Woodson Middle School to create a space near the school where community artists can work closely with teachers, students, classes on arts/education projects.
Blackout Arts Collective, or BAC, is a non-profit organization at the forefront of the
movement to utilize and advocate self-expression, communication, and communal collaboration as a means of empowerment.Ü Our mission is to empower communities of color through arts, education, and activism.
Blackout Arts Collective-New Orleans Chapter was established in August 2002 when the Lyrics on Lockdown (LOL) tour came to various N.O. poetry venues looking for support and recruitment.Ü Several artist/activists joined together and BAC-N.O. was born.Ü Since then, BAC-N.O. has been responsible for going into various communities hosting workshops in schools, prisons, halfway houses,detention centers, and youth prisons as well as building coalitions with other organizations such as Black August International South, Critical Resistance, Angola 3, Kuumba, Inc., Neighborhood Unity-M.E.R.G.E. and the Jump Out Poets.Ü Blackout New Orleans has had the honor of participating in New Orleans very own Ethiopian Theatre's 30th year Anniversary, the Free the Angola 3 demonstrations on the premises of Angola prison, Ahmad Nelson rallies, Nanon Williams Freedom Rally in Houston, Self- Determination Weekend in honor of Malcolm X, the NAACP Conference in Miami, and the 2003 Black August celebration.
UrbanHeart Community Learning Centers operate in five public schools, using arts and
organizing as key components of after-school work. Each of the five sites is managed by a site team comprised of students, parents, staff, and neighborhood residents and organizations. These sites send representatives to the city-wide UrbanHeart board, which assists with community organizing and ensuring local, grassroots, collective governance.
Douglass Community Coalition:
Year-old experiment in building community-school
partnership that involves a handful of organizations on this list as well as others. Includes sponsorship of adult math literacy workshop, arts/economic/organizing initiative under New Orleans Institute for Culture and Community Development project, and regular performance series in the school auditorium
Young People’s Project, My Mississippi Eyes and Algebra Project (Jackson) and
Students at the Center (New Orleans), two youth education/arts/organizing programs, will share their common work as well as report on the day-long collaborative sharing they are doing on Friday, January 23 at Douglass High School in New Orleans. YPP is a youth math literacy teaching arm that is related to the Algebra Project. SAC is a school-based writing program that enrolls students in elective writing classes limited to 15 students who then develop community-based organizing/writing projects. NOTE: One or more of the above groups from Jackson and/or New Orleans can also do separate presentations.
Planned Parenthood of Louisiana, based in N. O., is culminating a week-long organizing
drive the week of the convergence in N. O., including a benefit concert at CafÈ Brasil involving numerous local artists, performers on Friday, January 23. Education work includes traditional Planned Parenthood work as well as a history of women’s struggles for reproductive rights in Louisiana.
- case study on Planned Parenthood's effort to organize a strong delegation to participate in the March for Women's Lives in Washington, DC on April 25, 2004 - www.marchforchoice.org.
- We are planning to highlight our methodology for building a diverse
statewide coalition & our new initiative to create feminist community
spaces. For example, this fall we trained 20 volunteers to "house call"
potential coalition partners using process inspired by the labor organizing
model. This winter we began a collaboration with Girl Gang Productions, an
all-female promotions and production crew in New Orleans that promotes live
music shows, drag king shows, dance parties, spoken word and other
performances and events by, for and about women, lesbians/queer girls/dykes
www.girlgangproduction.com.
Xavier University Community Arts Partnerships program provides high quality arts program for youth in under-resourced, predominately African American neighborhoods in New Orleans, Working in collaboration with our community partners: Pieces of Power, KID SmART, Yellow Pocahontas Indian tribe and Youth Inspirational Connections; we support and cultivate the enormous cultural talent and expertise of our communities to train a new generation of socially-engaged artist-educator-leaders. The Xavier CAP program is part of the national Community Arts Partnerships Institute.
Making Connections New Orleans (MCNO) is a place-based initiative of the Annie E.
Casey Foundation.Ü MCNO seeks to improve the quality of life for families with children in the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans.Ü MCNO works toward that goal by engaging residents, community agencies and external partners in a variety of coordinated strategies that bring affordable housing, family wealth initiatives, adult learning programs and workplace education to the neighborhood.
- THE CASE STUDY
Presenter: Pamela Jenkins, Ph.D.,br>
Resident Presenter: TBD
Voices From the Neighborhood (documentary)
Executive Producers: Linda Usdin and Pamela Jenkins of the Local Learning Partnership
Producers: Cyril Neville, Jr. and Patrick Marrero of 4 Sight Productions, L.L.C.
- The case study examines the production of "Voices From the Neighborhood," an oral history project, and the use of the documentary in garnering neighborhood support for the Making Connections initiative and its commitment to listening to and responding to the expertise of Central City residents.
Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies does research and organizing around public health
issues focusing on youth and women of color. Projects include Teen Expression
Talk Show, OUR VOICE teen newspaper, AHORA project (Latino youth
organizing around sexual health issues), Pillow Talk (discussion groups within
mentoring relationship context involving female teens and young adult females),
and numerous coalition activities.
Ahmad Nelson Defense Committee recently completed successful campaign to throw out
murder charges against Ahmad Nelson. Work included grass roots organizing
and music production.
Neighborhood Unity/M. E. R. G. E. does anti-racist direct action and grass roots organizing. Recent
emphasis has been on public education, serving as watchdog on school board and
successfully working to close a public school run out of the parish prison.
Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women Drama Club was founded in 1996 by Kathy
Randels of ArtSpot Productions, New Orleans and 16 inmates from the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women in St. Gabriel Lousiana. †Current co-directors include Mary Katherine Politz of Baton Rouge, and Ausettua Amor Amenkum of Kumbuka African Dance and Drum Collective, New Orleans. †The LCIW Drama Club has presented 10 original productions, and several adaptations over its eight year history. Founding LCIW Drama Club member, Wilhemina Joseph and Elleanor Eveque, who joined the Drama Club in 1997, were both released in the spring of 2003 and currently live in New Orleans. They will join Ausettua and Kathy as we discuss the intersection of arts, education and organizing surrounding prison issues both inside and outside the institutional walls.
