Help Holy Cross

Celebrating – and Remembering – On Caffin Ave

It was a night for celebrations on Caffin Avenue this past Saturday, beginning with a block party and the launch of the new book One Block: A New Orleans Neighborhood Rebuilds, featuring photographs by Dave Anderson and an essay by Chris Rose. Sponsored by Aperture Publishing, Oxford American Magazine, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and the Preservation Resource Center, the 500 Caffin block party offered lots of great food and great music from Little Freddie King and the Rebirth Brass Band.

Then at 6 p.m. the L9 Center for the Arts (539 Caffin Ave.) hosted the opening of "Right to Return" [left]. Featuring the photographs and video of Keith Calhoun and Chandra McCormick, this new exhibition documents the people of the city as they make their transitions back to New Orleans.

And finally, a mobile exhibition [below] parked outside the L9 Center commemorated Katrina and rebuilding efforts five years later through a dramatic series of color and black and white photographs.

July Sankofa Marketplace This Saturday

The Sankofa Marketplace of the Lower 9th Ward is a free, open-air event, held every 2nd Saturday in the parking lot of the All Souls Episcopal Church at the intersection of St Claude and Caffin Avenues. This monthly community event was created to help spur restoration, development and economic growth in the Lower 9th Ward. The event features children's activities, a farmers market with fresh produce and wild caught Louisiana shrimp, local entertainment, community resources, health screenings, and health resources.

Fireworks Over Holy Cross

It was a spectacular annual Fourth of July Celebration on the levee in Holy Cross - with great food, great activities and great crowds, all gathered for the best view of New Orleans' fireworks display over the Mississippi River!

ALL PHOTOS: Darryl Malek-Wiley

All Souls' Summer Program for Children

Sankofa Marketplace to Honor Councilmember Cynthia Willard-Lewis and Host Community Car Exhibit

Sankofa Marketplace, a project of the Historic Lower 9th Ward Council for Arts and Sustainability, will honor Councilmember Cynthia Willard-Lewis for her service to citizens of District E and also host a car exhibit by the Untouchables Car Club on Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the corner of Caffin and Claiborne Ave in the Lower 9th Ward.

Come celebrate Spring with us as we express our appreciation for Councilmember Willard-Lewis at 1:30 p.m. The Untouchables Car Club car exhibit is from 1 to 3 p.m.  DJ Action Jackson will be playing music along with a special performance by Artspot Productions from 2 to 2:30 p.m. There will also be a model car giveaway for kids, with awards for those children who assembled the cars they received during the previous market this past month.

Stanley Stewart, spokesman for the Untouchables Car Club, says: “The purpose of the car exhibit is to help inspire youth to be able to focus their minds on something positive in their life, detour them from drugs and crime, and let them know that positive things go on in their community.”

Children can also visit the New Orleans Public Library Bookmobile for the book giveaway and participate in the Ujamaa Project health, nutrition and art activities at the Sankofa Marketplace Youth Tent to learn about the importance of eating fresh fruits and vegetables. The Marketplace will also host various outlets for health information dissemination with private HIV testing by NOAIDS Task Force CARE VAN and information on STD and HIV by St John Camp ACE #5.

The Sankofa Marketplace, is a free, open-air event, held every 2nd Saturday  at the intersection of St Claude and Caffin Avenues in the parking lot of the All Souls Episcopal Church 5500 at St Claude Ave. This monthly community event helps spur restoration, development and economic growth in the Lower 9th Ward. The Marketplace features children's art activities, a farmers market, local entertainment, health resources, and exhibits of Lower 9th Ward culture. The Sankofa Marketplace thanks the Milagro Foundation with funding support by the W.K. Kellog Foundation for the Ujamaa Project to encourage children to increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables through arts education. HL9CAS is in partnership with Home, New Orleans, a project of National Performance Network with funding support by the Ford Foundation.

This is Holy Cross

Sunday Photo: This is Holy Cross

Visit Sankofa Marketplace This Spring!

Sunday Photo: Second Line Marching Up St. Claude Bridge

"Second Line Marching Up St. Claude Bridge". Photo by Darryl Malek-Wiley

Rain, rain go away...Making the Case for Better Drainage in Holy Cross

Flooding of another kind has returned to the Lower Ninth Ward due to a deteriorating storm drainage system – a problem long before Katrina paid an unwelcome visit four years ago.

According to Marna David, a Holy Cross resident who lives with her husband J.W. on some of the area’s highest ground near the river…

“It has seemed like "monsoon season" here for a week and some of us are now ready to organize a push for better drainage. We'd like to ask for EVERYONE with drainage problems to photograph them and send name, location and photo to me @ jtatum7@cox.net. We'd like to create  documentation to submit to every relevant entity regarding this overwhelmingly neglected situation. Anyone reading this who has problems themselves (or know someone with these problems), please do  contact me. Our neighborhood is a Recovery Area. Let's start  recovering from this long-standing (pun intended) reality.

PS: These photos are taken along Douglass Street which has NO storm drains along any of the residential blocks (only around the warehouse at  the end of the block).”