40 Ways in 40 Days: Remembering the Survivors of Katrina (Day 20! w00t!)

Day 20, Way 20

Halfway there! Yee ha!

Today, as I finally hit the 50% mark, I would like to stop and reflect about what I've learned from the first half of this Lent project. But first, here at 40 Ways, let us celebrate one of the proud American traditions promoted by the Bush administration: Outsourcing!

On Monday when I was researching the Buddhist response to Katrina, and realizing that really I just knew fuck-all about Buddhism in America, I decided to call my sister, who is very into yoga and who has just added a Buddhist meditation class to her regimen. Alas, she had never heard of any of the organizations or people I asked her about, and so ultimately I had to rely on my own wits, and you have seen the results. However, my sister did mention the 40 Ways project to my mother. My family knows that I have a livejournal, but apparently none of them read it; they also know I used to write a column at DU, though none of them read that either until I sent my dad a copy of Snake Bites because it was dedicated to him. Anyway, one of my mother's talents is that if you tell her something about a project you're doing she will immediately start coming up with ways to do it better, whether or not she knew anything about the subject 30 seconds ago. True to form, within minutes after learning about 40 Ways from my sister, my mother called me up to pass on two ideas for Katrina relief which she had picked up from a wedding she went to in New Orleans recently. (By strange coincidence, the only time in my life I ever went to New Orleans, it was also to attend a wedding.) One of them was the New Orleans botanical gardens, which may be the subject of a future Way/Day depending on how desperate I become as Holy Week approaches. The other was

Tipitina's Foundation

Named after a famous New Orleans club called Tipitina's Uptown, the Tipitina Foundation has been in existence since at least 2002 (they don't have a "history" page on their website, which is a shame). Before Katrina, Tipitina's Foundation was dedicated to supporting New Orleans musicians through their Music Co-Op, described as a "do-it-yourself business incubator" for musicians who may have plenty of talent, experience, and ambition, but need financial and moral support when it comes to the business side of things. Tipitina's Foundation also took up the cause of supporting music programs in New Orleans high schools, raising money for instruments with their annual Instruments A-Comin' benefit concerts and creating an internship program for talented high school musicians. As a band veteran myself (I don't mean a hip kind of band, I'm talking marching band/concert band/wind ensemble...you ex-band geeks know exactly what I'm talking about) I cannot stress how important that kind of work is. You can have all the talent in the world, but if you never have access to an instrument and someone who will teach you to play, you will never find out what you can do. Most kids who learn to play instruments in school will never become professional musicians; but the ability to make and appreciate music is something that changes the lives of people who discover it no matter what they do with it later; and I think it's just wrong that people take the attitude that music is a luxury which is nice for people who can afford it, but is always going to be the first thing to get cut from the school budget. Being poor doesn't transform you into a robot who neither needs nor wants anything more than food, shelter, clothing, and a minimum-wage job. There are intangibles that are essential to human health and happiness even though they cannot be eaten, and music is one of them.

Well. I seem to have wandered a bit.

No, I haven't, because that's the point: life is more than survival. If New Orleans is going to come back to life, music is one of the things that will have to be revived. Tipitina's Foundation obviously gets that, and since Katrina hit they have been using their resources to help musicians get on with their lives and their work in the New Orleans area. They are partnering with Hands On Network, which I wrote up in the first week of 40 Ways, to help rebuild musicians' homes, and they're looking for volunteers. They are also looking for donations--offers of housing for displaced musicians and their families, volunteer medical care, "gigs"--that's "work" for us squares--and, of course, musical instruments. Few musical instruments can survive prolonged immersion in water. Anyone who had to leave behind a string bass, a clarinet, a piano, or a drum set is not getting it back. Musicians without instruments cannot work. So, donate a trumpet, and you are putting a trumpet player back to work--which means that your will have a greater positive effect on the American economy than Bush's entire administration has managed to produce since 2000.

But of course my mother isn't the only person out there offering me advice. Back when I first posted about this project on DU, I asked the DU community for help. The thread generated a number of useful responses from various DUers including one mopinko, who was looking for a 501(c) through which he could donate musical instruments to help New Orleans musicians. mopinko's explanation for why this was his specific mission, as opposed to donating money for housing and food, is succinct and powerful and bears repeating:

"i know everyone needs money, but as an artist myself, i know that there are some things that money cannot buy. i would find it hard to choose between keeping my chops up and feeding my family. so, this way, somebody does not have to choose."

If you want to save some of these Katrina survivors from having to make that choice, here's the organization that mopinko eventually found:

Katrina's Piano Fund

This organization was founded by a group of veteran New Orleans musicians and some of their colleagues from other states, all of whom seem to have ties to the New Orleans Jazzfest. It's not just about pianos. Here's the explanation of the name, from the founders' mission statement:

"While encouraged by the flow of money into the Red Cross for basic needs, we decided that a specific effort was needed to help the city’s musicians. It’s a simple economic equation: once a musician has an instrument in his hands, he can get back to work. Little economies will spin up around each instrument, in all the relocation cities. Money for the long trip home can be earned, and the soul of New Orleans will be saved. Juan and I have chosen the piano as the namesake for our fund-raising effort; from Tuts Washington to Fats and Dr. John, it symbolizes the many genres 'born and raised' in New Orleans.
This fund will be administered by Juan, a soundman, producer, recordist and networker who knows the New Orleans music scene from the inside out. Thanks to our associates at JazzFest, we also know where many of the musicians are, right now. Very few have more than the clothes on their backs. With an instrument in their hands they can begin to rebuild their lives, and the culture of New Orleans."

The fund is clearly still active, and you can donate either cash or an actual musical instrument. Keep in mind that these are people who make a living playing music, so the instrument has to actually work well enough to make music that people will pay to listen to. If you have such an instrument, well, I would encourage you to drop them a line about it as soon as possible, because they have such a backlog of people waiting for instruments that they have had to stop taking new requests. The more instruments they get, the faster the backlog clears and the sooner the pipeline reopens.

Anyway, props to mopinko and my mother. And now, to celebrate hitting the halfway point, some reflections on what this project has accomplished so far.

I'm doing this for a number of reasons. One of them is to find out whether it is possible not just to raise awareness of but to sustain interest in this horrible calamity over the course of a 40-day period, despite all the other calamities that are constantly occurring as Bush brings the country ever closer to the Apocalypse. I have been interested to discover how difficult that really is. When I tell people about this project, they're often skeptical about my being able to find enough organizations to fill out the whole 40 days. That's actually not the problem. There are definitely hundreds, and probably thousands, of groups out there which are in some way involved in Katrina relief. The real challenge is to figure out how to go back to the same topic day after day in a way that deepens our understanding of it, instead of simply fatiguing or boring the crap out of not only myself but anyone who's reading this journal. For me, so far, it's working. I've learned much more about the Gulf Coast, about the wide range of philanthropic and activist organizations in this country, about religious, ethnic, and cultural diversity in the South and in the rest of America, and about the daily struggles still being faced by storm survivors than I did before I started this project. I'm also learning something about myself. There is such a vast glut of Katrina links out there that the only way to get anywhere is to start with a specific question or problem that you want to investigate. So, every day when I sit down to do this, I have to ask myself: what am I looking for? What's today's kind of help going to be? What else needs to be done? What else do I believe is so important that people cannot or should not be asked to live without it, after they have lost everything?

I have also been using this project to kick my own ass about charitable giving. I am not a financial planner; I am a hoarder. My accounting is so fragmentary and nonexistent that I never have a very good idea from day to day of how much money I actually have or what my expenses will be before my next paycheck comes in. I have a gut sense for how much I can spend without getting myself into trouble; but this makes me leery of spending "extra" money on things I've never budgeted for. This project is teaching me how to give, and that, I hope, will turn out to be valuable to me and to a few other people in the long run.

What I don't know is whether this project is having an effect on anyone else. I don't even know how many people are reading it, because there's usually not much of a response to the individual entries. There are the stalwarts who show up every day on DU to keep the thread kicked, and I truly appreciate the effort. What I would be really interested to know is what, if anything, any of you are getting out of reading these entries. So if you are reading the 40 Ways entries, and you are getting something out of it, it would cheer me up if you would add a comment about what that is. It would help me figure out where to take the project during the 20 days and ways remaining.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

NOAHleans is an organization that helps with employment and relocation to musicians affected by Katrina. I heard about NOAHleans when I was in Houston in early September.

http://www.noahleans.com/

My friend gave me a Celtic harp to find a home for, and I connected with this group. Even though Celtic music, and especially harp music, isn't normally identified with the New Orleans music scene, they found a home for the instrument. The woman who received it has relocated to Austin, and she goes around to nursing homes playing harp for the residents.

K&R'd, as usual. :kick:

that's ok, i get that a lot.
so, just let me add 2 cents. i did wait quite a while to hear back from anyone, but did get a reply the other day. here is what i have to report-
katrina' piano fund is working with the nola musicians local to distribute instruments. although their building was damaged, the have room for storage, and the connections to hook up people and stuff. they do have resources to do some repairs, so things do not have to work perfectly. they currently have several pianos waiting for roofs. but smaller instruments are being placed. even student quality instruments are welcome, as they are well hooked up with educators in the area.
i will say that i was never that much of a music person. but after the flood, feeling so helpless, i needed that music. i work near a used record store. somehow, sucking up old jazz and blues discs soothed that helplessness. my kids have been in and out of band, so i had a few decent instruments. passing on a nice vintage king coronet was about as satisfying as any of the things that i have done in the last 5 years. i got hooked.
i have had the fun of spending as much as i can afford on vintage stuff on ebay. i am twisting some arms now on a few repairs. then i will get them down there.
i have had a couple of conversations with the folks at the chicago musicians local, and now that the illinois primary is over, i am going to work on getting some transportation for my donations, and those of their members. they have been doing things informally, but i think with a little work, we can get something going.

but one more thing that the folks at the piano fund asked me to do, and that i ask all of you to do-
buy a ticket to the jazzfest whether you can go or not. i am hoping to make it down for the second weekend. they are hoping to "make a splash before jazzfest". a great fest would heal a lot of wounds.

Sorry I transposed you. Must be because your handle ends in "o" instead of "a."

Too late to fix on edit. Dangit.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

I regret that I am constrained to throwing my nickels and dimes into the busker's hat..

Play on, New Orleans, we love you!

keeping the plight of the Gulf Coast upfront, I'm struck with just how many details that we take for granted each day have to be reworked and rebuilt in the Gulf Coast. Many are literally starting from scratch. your series has brought that home for me.

Since I have to plan my finances carefully, I appreciate the reminders from the series that help me to transform my desire to donate into a reality.

I think a lot of people want to donate, and often don't actually do it until a number of reminders. I seem to recall that there is some actual research into that theory.

I also love to read of how much actual compassion and care exists in this country, and sometimes you've even acknowledged other nations as well. Some countries had a swifter response to the needs of The Gulf Coast than did "our own" government.

actually she may have it now, she lost everything, house, car, all contents, it really means a lot

Something with a musical theme? :bounce:

Thanks for the thread Plaid Adder, especially this one most of all. :hug:

on our minds. Not everyone can help today, but collecting these threads into one eventually will provide someone down the road a list of good organizations to support.

It helps to see the many ways people help people. The job is daunting - caring for all of the victims and all of their diverse issues and problems - but there is hope in each story.

Just keep doin' what your doin'! :thumbsup:

bhg

she mentioned how Katrina coverage in the media has given a false sense of closure to the troubles in the Gulf Coast.

A series such as Plaid Adder's puts the lie to the media's take on Katrina, and challenges how the media would like us to perceive events.

Ms. Davis mentioned the children who are still missing. While the media initially followed that story, they have now let it go. And that is unconscionable.

Every other missing person story is followed in the media until the search is ended. The story of Katrina's missing children--all the missing--should be no different.

And -- an excellent commentary about charitable giving in general. Not only are we looking at the increasing chance of disasters in the future (due to changing environments, increasing vulnerability of many populations, and the trail of damage left by Dubya and his pals, among other rhings) -- but the whole nature of donations is shifting. A lot of charities are increasingly adopting a corporate fund-raising model, and trying to get people to commit to giving a set amount each month. While this makes it easier for them to plan, it also creates a problem for those of us who don't have a steady paycheck -- this includes many artists, academics, and seasonal workers. (I'm fortunate that I don't have a family to support, because while I was able to get by on fridge leftovers for a couple of weeks, after I spent my grocery budget on Katrina relief, I don't think I could have forced my kids to do the same!)

Knowing "how to give" is an important skill, and can prevent you from maxxing out your own resources -- or at the very least getting "donor fatigue". It helps a lot to have detailed research available, of the type being provided courtesy of the Plaid Adder! I have been experimenting with setting up a "dedicated charity account", using a set portion of my income, and any gifts which come my way. I've always felt uncomfortable about accepting money from friends (e.g. for doing work for them) -- and if I get any payments from writing stuff critical of Bush, I feel it should go to fixing things (so I don't feel I'm getting a profit, however indirectly, from people's misfortune. So any money which I have qualms about spending on myself, goes into the fund. As for figuring how much goes to whom ... that's when the information on all these different charities comes in handy.