NEW ORLEANS — Tyler Stevenson, 17, stood in the spotlight for his solo on the same stage graced by James Brown and Buddy Guy decades ago at New Orleans’ historic nightclub Tipitina’s. This past spring was his final performance as a student of the Trombone Shorty Academy. After deepening his skills his senior year of […]
New Orleans
Posted inCommunity, LGBTQ
Your Guide to Black Pride Celebrations Across the Country This Summer
Every June, two liberation movements share the same month — Pride and Juneteenth. It’s the perfect time to celebrate Black queer joy. Across the country, as the days get hotter and the sounds of summer get louder, from kiki balls to parades to wellness events, there are Black Pride celebrations that go into the fall. […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Louisiana Exoneree Wins Election, Then Gets Blocked From Taking Office on First Day
Calvin Duncan was supposed to start on May 4 overseeing the criminal court in New Orleans after a federal judge blocked the state from eliminating the position. But less than an hour later, a higher court intervened, halting that decision at the state’s request. Five months after Duncan secured 68% of the vote to become […]
Posted inCulture, History, Incarceration
In New Orleans, Black Cowboy Tradition Collides With Prison Rodeo Spectacle
NEW ORLEANS — Outside, along Claiborne Avenue in the Algiers section of New Orleans, Sunday looked familiar. Black children slurped snowballs in the street, adults danced around them, and Black riders eased their horses through the crowds, past corner stores and shotgun houses, hooves clapping against the asphalt. For Black riders like Robert Pollar, who […]
Posted inNews
Racist Doll Thrown at Mardi Gras Parade Ignites Citywide Backlash
During what should have been a joyful 7th birthday at a Mardi Gras parade, a young Black girl in New Orleans caught a gift that stopped her family cold. The child was tossed a Black doll with noose-like beads around its neck from a parade float adorning the phrase “crack pipe,” the child’s mother, Shayna […]
Posted inCulture, HBCUs
HBCU Bands Bring Big Sound to Mardi Gras Parades
Get ready for Mardi Gras as Black college marching bands’ thunderous sounds are felt throughout the streets of New Orleans. From Southern University’s veteran parade performers to newcomers such as LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Tennessee, these bands are already captivating people on TikTok and Instagram. Earlier this week, Southern University’s Human Jukebox did their rendition […]
Posted inCommunity, Culture, History
The Mardi Gras Indian Tradition Carrying Generations of Black History
NEW ORLEANS — From the porch of his family’s home in Uptown New Orleans, Gerard “Little Bo” Dollis remembers being small enough to see only feathers — plumes of red and gold that blocked out the morning sun and the party bus idling behind his father. “You couldn’t even see the bus,” said Dollis, also […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
A City-by-City Breakdown of Trump’s Immigration Raids and Troop Deployments
The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis is finally coming to an end after two fatal shootings and thousands of arrests. Border czar Tom Homan said coordination with local law enforcement and the success of immigration enforcement have contributed to the end of Operation Metro Surge. “I have proposed and President Trump has concurred that […]
Posted inEducation
New Orleans School Named After Renowned Louisiana Chef to Remain Open
The Leah Chase School got a lifeline this week after the Orleans Parish School Board decided to keep the district’s only direct-run public school open for the next two years. On Jan. 8, parents, teachers and community members packed a room in the office space where the school board meets to demand the district keep […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Extreme Weather, Politics & Policy
How a $5 Billion Federal Project Could Sink the Lower Ninth Ward Forever
Willie Calhoun knows how to live with water. His home, cradled between the Mississippi River and a patchwork of canals, is split by the surging, ever-present current. But it wasn’t always that way in the Ninth Ward. Before the largest canal known as the Industrial Canal was built, the stretch of land between the river […]