Solid Quarter

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Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Where do you stay at?




Day 11:

How (how) fierce (fierce) do (do) you (you) have (have) to (to) be (be)
no (no) one (one) can (can) give (give) you (you) freedom (freedom)
your (your) life (life) is (is) a (a) flash (flash) of (of) lightning (lightning) in (in) the (the) sky (sky) hold (hold) on (on) to (to) that (that) and (and) be (be) free (free)

***************************


Process Notes: 

"What cannot be exchanged. The most translucent. The most clairvoyant."
-M. Buzzeo 

The dream is that sound experiences time. 



if i was a better poet
i could tell you how we ended up like this
how we survived
came to sublime grace
the luck of your life
will be to be loved well
by people who see you clearly

i had no idea how much happiness
existed here. but it is bound
to suffer. we have to let go all of it.

you let go. ready or not.
time is fast.




Photograph:

Train tracks in the Bywater near the End of the World 
29°57'29"N   90°1'44"W

The Bywater & Gentrification:

The Bywater was one of the first areas to witness gentrification. Now, it is hard to visit the neighborhood and imagine anything other than a hub of young, hip transplants, but this colorful area once was pallid.
A manager at a local store, Henry recalls that nearly two decades ago the Bywater was entirely different, "It was mostly older, black, and retired folks. A lot of families. A lot of people that had never left. A lot of people that had lived for generations in the same house or on the same block. All of the houses were white-painted white with green shutters. A lot of rundown places-and not many businesses left."
Despite how it may appear, the Bywater has not been completely glossed over yet. The local sports bar Markey's has existed in some form or another for at nearly 120 years. In 1947, it adopted the name Markey's, which has stuck until today. Many frequent the bar for food, drinks, and sports games, honoring its history and traditions, perhaps without
realizing it.
Source: https://www.whereyat.com/a-requiem-for-the-most-changed-neighborhoods-gentrification-in-nola

The Advocate reports the Housing Authority of New Orleans released a plan to combat segregation and gentrification in New Orleans, which have both become exacerbated in the 11 years since Hurricane Katrina. The plan, which HANO is submitting to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of a federal mandate, also includes findings on segregation and gentrification in New Orleans post-Katrina.

According to the report, neighborhoods like New Orleans East and Gentilly on lower ground that had high numbers of black residents before the storm had even higher numbers of black residents after (however, Gentilly is now increasingly a destination for young white families).

However, previously black neighborhoods on higher ground—including Bywater, parts of Treme, St. Roch, and St. Claude—"are now majority-white or moving in that direction," according to the report.
Source: https://nola.curbed.com/2016/9/6/12821038/new-orleans-gentrification-report

Over 50% of renters in New Orleans will face eviction in August, 2020: 

“A significant proportion of rental housing in New Orleans that is vulnerable to eviction is covered by the CARES Act,” Breonne DeDecker of the Jane Place Sustainable Neighborhood Initiative told The Lens. “So it’s possible that some of the reason we’re not seeing the wave of evictions yet is because landlords are waiting for the CARES Act coverage to expire.”
Source: https://thelensnola.org/2020/06/29/evictions-resume-in-new-orleans/



They did not want to rebuild us.

We rebuilt anyway. 

We built our homes. We returned and worked. We held up the tourist economy. We raised our children. We created community.

And 15 years later, they tried to take it all back again. 


"Talking about painful events doesn't necessarily establish community..."
-The Body Keeps the Score


"People who have something to hold onto can relax. People with nothing have to hold on very tight."
-Dancing in the Flames


New Orleans, 2005




Plague Journal:

5.24.20

you get to the edge and maybe you aren't alone. maybe clearer. maybe succinct. how can you believe in the facts of who you are if it's based on memory. it's not a hard line you take to pulling. such a hollow threat, to say that i'll leave this life behind. but here, a clutch of less of everything for everyone. what beauty are you attempting to overthrow. music in place of your heart. for the heart cries for what it longs for. the  missed moments of before, and we never return. what's the word for dangerous now in this world. is it the "certitude you are insane" (Notley) and how many times to turn over that surfacing. a caught net. a strapping. what you can take from the channel is that she is certainly insane. it's only beautiful in a passing way.

our lives are moonlight 


Resource:  End of the World 


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