By Deborah P. Cains

Yes, Dr. Christian, you are New Orleans, rich in culture, diverse, splendid,

rejected, and accepted.

Yes, Dr. Christian, you are New Orleans, an island yet no man is suppose to

be an island, yet you survived.

Yes, Dr. Christian, you are New Orleans, a rich history you presented like

a bowl of gumbo and a rainbow after a storm.

Yes, Dr. Christian, you are New Orleans, the place that care forgot.

Were you saddened because the B---- Bourgeoisie frowned upon you because unlike

them you couldn't pass?

Yes, Dr. Christian, I too know about people in power--who think they are in

power, yet too hypocritical to admit even to themselves that they are

powerless and merely pawns.

Yes, Dr. Christian, you were locked out of love--as well as the academy

you desired and worked for. You didn't want something for nothing.

Yes, Dr. Christian, you marched on, your triumphs were accomplished

even during the great "Seventh Ward" reign in the captivating city you loved

so much.

Yes, Dr. Christian, then James Brown told us all to say it loud, I'm black and I'm

proud. You know the lesson from the short story, Blacker the

Berry tells a sad story but a true one especially for those who were so

called "marginalized."

Yes, Dr. Christian, march on we must march on-the triumph is yours you

know. For throughout the hurricane of division of the so called classes of

exclusion you were at peace when rejected and accepted-all at the same

time.

Yes, Dr. Christian, you and I both know many have knocked the place

that accepted you and educated me in spite of the bleak racial situations

endured, but the deep truth will set us both free.

Yes, Dr. Christian, you know it and I have learned it too; we were both

pioneers in our own individual ways at that place, and they made it worth

our while. It seems to me that both sides made us pay the cost for having

the audacity to march on in spite of the prejudice, pre-judgments of our

secured self worth and our identities.

Yes, Dr. Christian You are New Orleans! The truth will set your rich

legacy free--you are New Orleans!

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