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"This morning, after walking 2 miles parallel to rowdy Bourbon Street, through downtown, past the statue of Robert E. Lee and around the block, we arrived at Café Reconcile. After weaving our way around the plastic cups and broken bottles, after observing the busted windows of abandoned cars, the mattresses and furniture atop trash heaps, and the dilapidated buildings that once were homes to thriving businesses, we reached Café Reconcile. Very appropriately named, the colorful building is the manifestation of a massive restoration that is occurring even as I type. Though grateful for absorbing the strength and wisdom of those who were directly involved in the sixties civil rights struggles throughout the course of our trip, I enjoyed today most of all. We did not talk about sit-ins, bus boycotts, or picket lines. But, we did share in the visions of those who are leading a modern day civil rights movement on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard and beyond. I talked for quite a while with Craig Cuccia, director of Café Reconcile and was in awe of his visions for the community. He, along with a board of amazing community leaders, envisions restoring prosperity through literacy, skills training, educational reform, and the embracing of the arts. As he gave us a walking tour and pointed out the most recent developments, Mr. Cuccia and I discussed how well off organizations, individuals, and preservation societies offer to donate money to the community, but fail to support the projects that actually need the funding most. In other words, rather than giving the people what they need, the wealthy only give them what they want them to have, an often futile effort. However, hope is still very much alive, as the grass roots leaders believe very much in teaching members of the community how to help themselves. While
walking down Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard, the thriving businesses,
artistic expressions, and prosperous people began to reappear as
I remembered the words that Mrs. Gracie Hawthorne shared with me
yesterday. She told me that the movers and shakers of the sixties
were the young people and those that have a fervent passion to make
things change. Now, as I reflect upon the experiences that I have
enjoyed with those not-so-famous yet extremely dynamic leaders who
are committed to changing the mindset of an entire community, I
am all the more challenged to get up and start making some of my
own visions happen. New revelations...every day. Lisa Mann "Today we volunteered with Cafe Reconcile. Cafe Reconcile is a little restaurant in New Orleans that teaches people how to work in the service industry. It was a cute little place right in the middle of a lot of busted out old houses on a very poor looking street. The area is going through a sort of urban renewal. Prominent business leaders are trying to revitalize the area and turn it back into the community type of area that it once was. I don’t understand how I have managed to see so many communities that were once vital and vibrant that are now poverty stricken with buildings falling down and few people around who aren’t involved in illegal activities. We have toured through several areas that used to be a place where people could connect, but now are completely poverty-stricken. How does this happen? Why did people move away from these areas? Was it white flight? And if it was, why did it happen in African American communities too? I suppose this is an area of sociology that I need to study further. It’s interesting that it seems to have happened to at least one section in every major city I’ve visited—not only in the south, Detroit MI looked that way as well. I am impressed, though, by the amount of effort people are putting into urban renewal and community revival. Many people are spending their entire savings and risking their livelihood to help these areas come back to life. I don’t know that I would do that, while I do want to live in an old house, I’m not sure I would risk the safety hazards by moving into a neighborhood that has just evicted prostitutes and drug dealers. "
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