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Red Beans and Ricely Yours

By Mona Lisa Saloy

 

 

Update on the Re Building of New Orleans 

A Report from Mona Lisa Saloy

7 December 2005 

Hey now Rudy,

Thank you so much for the lovely review you did on my book. Just a short update on the Re-Building New Orleans Conference with the Tulane School of Architecture and Xavier University.  It was held at Loyola University last week. I was there to deliver the fourth Keynote Address.

The conference was overwhelming with huge amounts of technical info regarding the topography of New O. and the coast, bold possibilities for infrastructure remakes.  The overall news is that New Orleans can be saved.  The levee system was not built to a substantial depth for holding back such waters but that it can be.  The time and cost to do it right is more than a notion but possible. 

After architects, urban planners, policy makers spoke, it was my turn to address "Social Networks," that is, the complexity of New Orleans culture.  Giving a historical overview, I explained how the unique Crescent City culture evolved over the last hundred-and-fifty years, especially why this culture is built from the ground up, from working-class Blacks.  They actually listened to me on the complexity of the culture. 

It was an honor to be a part of this conference. Practical steps for now as well as long-term needs were addressed.

Essentially, the lead architect said that if we want to be safe, we needed first-floor elevations: 12 feet off the ground!  Timelines are estimated at a minimum of 5 but probably 10-20 years to return New Orleans to former glory, not what anyone wanted to hear.  Sigh.  I'm hopeful, but guarded; how can we pay for all of this?

In the meantime, there was still no telephone service, no electricity, no mail service, no gas so no hot water in the hard hit areas (80%) of the city.  At least UPS and FedEX in Metairie and Kenner, cities closest to the west.

OK, must return to grading and reading student work.  Thanks again for your concern, interest, and support.

Red Beans and Ricely Thankful and Hopeful,

Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa Saloy, Ph.D., M.F.A.
Visiting Associate Professor of English
University of Washington

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posted 15 December 2005 / update

 

 
 

Mona Lisa Saloy is associate professor of English and Director of creative writing at Dillard University (before Katrina). She won the 2005 T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry for this collection. She has also won fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities and from the United Negro College Fund/Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Her poems have appeared in anthologies, magazines, journals, and film. She received her PhD in English and MFA in creative writing from Louisiana State University and her MA in creative writing and English from San Francisco State University. Displaced by hurricane Katrina, Saloy is a visiting associate professor of English and creative writing at the University of Washington for the 2005/2006 academic year.  Mona Lisa Saloy Bio

 

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