Pam Dashiell inspired and genuinely moved hundreds, perhaps
thousands, of lives in her work as a community activist. She believed
passionately that green, healthy, safe living wasn't for the rich alone. The
Lower Ninth Ward, too, could be green. Following Hurricane Katrina and the
flood caused by the failure of the federal levees, Pam convinced a former
president, a Hollywood heartthrob and thousands of ordinary folks, including
her neighbors, that not only should the Lower Ninth Ward be rebuilt, but it
should be rebuilt as nothing less than the nation's first carbon-neutral
neighborhood.
In the great tragedy and social injustice that occurred after the levee failures, Pam saw opportunity and hope. She saw an opportunity to get things right, to undo past social, political and environmental ills and rebuild safer, stronger and smarter. She also saw the effects of the flood in a bigger, global context. In a 2007 story I wrote for Gambit Weekly, Pam said, “I don't think anybody understands the effects of climate change and global warming better than the people of the Lower Ninth Ward and other parts of New Orleans. We've lived the effects.”
Then quoting her grandmother she added, "You have to do right and live right to get right and be right. And that applies here. We have to shepherd our resources, and we have to adapt to our environment."
Pam was a visionary. But she was also a fighter. She was the rare leader who could reach across entrenched racial and geographic divisions in both the Lower Ninth Ward and New Orleans and find common ground. She was the embodiment of fearless, selfless tenacity. She led with dignity, respectfully disagreeing with advisories. And when those in power misused the public's trust, she called them out, publicly. She saw leadership qualities in people reluctant to get involved, then empowered them. Pam Dashiell was nothing less than the matriarch of the Lower Ninth Ward, a real-life hero who died a hero's death – in battle, at her computer, working to Sustain her beloved Lower Nine.
Pam worked long, late, lonely hours. She was so busy taking care of her community, she didn't take care of herself. She didn't go to the doctor when she didn't feel well, let alone for checkups. And she smoked, a lot. Reluctant to share her burden with others, she also held a lot in. But she was never too busy for a back-porch chat and a laugh with a glass of wine, a smoke and a friend, old or new. Pam always had time for people.
Pam was everywhere and involved in everything. Most people involved in rebuilding efforts in the Lower Nine go to three, maybe four, meetings a week. Pam often attended three or four meetings a day. She'd get off a plane from a week of meetings in D.C. and go directly to a community meeting. There isn't one, single, grassroots community-building project in the Lower Ninth Ward – and there are dozens of projects at one stage or another, almost all green – that Pam Dashiell was not involved with or supported. She touched everything and everyone.
Pam Dashiell will be missed, dearly, desperately. Her loss to this community will be palpable for years. Most are still in shock. We can't imagine the Lower Ninth Ward without her. We're lost. For many, Pam wasn't merely a friend or mentor, she was family.
It will take an army of angels to replace Pam Dashiell. But that's exactly what we have in the people working to rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward in her heavenly vision – a greener little Zion. As we attempt to move forward without her, let us remember that as much as she inspired us, we inspired her. It was the “pioneering pluck” (as she liked to say) of the people of the Lower Nine that moved Pam, that inspired her to get up every day and fight. Now that she's gone, there is no better way to honor her life than to shoulder her charge and continue her fight.
In the great tragedy and social injustice that occurred after the levee failures, Pam saw opportunity and hope. She saw an opportunity to get things right, to undo past social, political and environmental ills and rebuild safer, stronger and smarter. She also saw the effects of the flood in a bigger, global context. In a 2007 story I wrote for Gambit Weekly, Pam said, “I don't think anybody understands the effects of climate change and global warming better than the people of the Lower Ninth Ward and other parts of New Orleans. We've lived the effects.”
Then quoting her grandmother she added, "You have to do right and live right to get right and be right. And that applies here. We have to shepherd our resources, and we have to adapt to our environment."
Pam was a visionary. But she was also a fighter. She was the rare leader who could reach across entrenched racial and geographic divisions in both the Lower Ninth Ward and New Orleans and find common ground. She was the embodiment of fearless, selfless tenacity. She led with dignity, respectfully disagreeing with advisories. And when those in power misused the public's trust, she called them out, publicly. She saw leadership qualities in people reluctant to get involved, then empowered them. Pam Dashiell was nothing less than the matriarch of the Lower Ninth Ward, a real-life hero who died a hero's death – in battle, at her computer, working to Sustain her beloved Lower Nine.
Pam worked long, late, lonely hours. She was so busy taking care of her community, she didn't take care of herself. She didn't go to the doctor when she didn't feel well, let alone for checkups. And she smoked, a lot. Reluctant to share her burden with others, she also held a lot in. But she was never too busy for a back-porch chat and a laugh with a glass of wine, a smoke and a friend, old or new. Pam always had time for people.
Pam was everywhere and involved in everything. Most people involved in rebuilding efforts in the Lower Nine go to three, maybe four, meetings a week. Pam often attended three or four meetings a day. She'd get off a plane from a week of meetings in D.C. and go directly to a community meeting. There isn't one, single, grassroots community-building project in the Lower Ninth Ward – and there are dozens of projects at one stage or another, almost all green – that Pam Dashiell was not involved with or supported. She touched everything and everyone.
Pam Dashiell will be missed, dearly, desperately. Her loss to this community will be palpable for years. Most are still in shock. We can't imagine the Lower Ninth Ward without her. We're lost. For many, Pam wasn't merely a friend or mentor, she was family.
It will take an army of angels to replace Pam Dashiell. But that's exactly what we have in the people working to rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward in her heavenly vision – a greener little Zion. As we attempt to move forward without her, let us remember that as much as she inspired us, we inspired her. It was the “pioneering pluck” (as she liked to say) of the people of the Lower Nine that moved Pam, that inspired her to get up every day and fight. Now that she's gone, there is no better way to honor her life than to shoulder her charge and continue her fight.
SUSTAIN THE NINE!
