Another Historic Black Church Faces Extinction

Despite Scarce Funds, Volunteers Push On

The historic Wesley United Methodist Church, the second oldest African American church in New Orleans, the eighth oldest in the United States and a symbol of the struggle for emancipation and human rights in the state of Louisiana, is in jeopardy of being demolished due to extensive hurricane damage.

Around the 1830s, enslaved Africans built Wesley United brick by brick. “The church was built voluntarily by our people while they were in slavery,” said Sakura Kone, who is leading the movement to save the church.

Not only did they work on the church every evening after working tirelessly in the fields, but they also worked all day on Sundays, their only “day off.” They used the bottom level of the church for entertainment, gatherings and other meetings, while on the second floor is the sanctuary filled with hand crafted pews.

During the abolitionist movement to end slavery, Wesley United was a stopping point and hiding place for people fleeing to freedom. Walking through the church gives a sense of communion with the builders who worked so hard for something they could call their own.

The story continues...

BREAKING NEWS: Louisiana Judge Keith Bardwell Resigns!

White Justice Quits After Interracial Marriage Controversy

A Louisiana justice of the peace who refused to marry a couple because the bride was white and groom was black has given up his post.

Here's Keith Bardwell's one-sentence statement to Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne: "I do hereby resign the office of Justice of the Peace for the Eighth Ward of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, effective November 3, 2009."

Bardwell refused to perform the ceremony for Beth Humphrey and Terence McKay because they are of different races.

When questioned about his refusal, Bardwell acknowledged he routinely recuses himself from marrying interracial couples because he believes such marriages cause harm to the couples' children. In interviews, he said he refers such couples to other justices of the peace, who then perform the ceremony, which happened in this case.

Humphrey has said she and McKay received their marriage license from the parish clerk of court, where they also received a list of people qualified to perform the ceremony. When she called Bardwell's office to ask about the ceremony on Oct. 6, Humphrey said Bardwell's wife told her that the justice wouldn't sign their marriage license because they were a "mixed couple."

Humphrey and McKay have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Bardwell.

By MELINDA DESLATTE of Associated Press

No More London, No More France, You Could Get Fined With Those Down-Low Pants!

Momma always told you “pull your pants up, you look like a bum. So you pull up your oversized Girbauds and walk out the door, letting them drop stylishly back into place just under your butt.

Those were the good old days, but now in some cities in America, Momma could be down the street, ready to get on your back about those pants again. Well, not Momma, but Sergeant Friday might soon be on the case.

City Councils in several southern cities have voted for creating an ordinance to ban sagging pants that expose underwear and skin. Two cities that have approved this are Shreveport and Alexandria, Louisiana. In Alexandria, violators showing more 3 inches of booty could be fined $25 to $200 and ordered to perform community service and counseling. "I'm tired (of) looking at behinds," said Councilwoman Joyce Bowman, in Shreveport's 4-3 majority Tuesday.

The idea to outlaw this trend has also reached cities as large as Atlanta, where the debate has heated up. Critics have said that Atlanta's measure is a form of racial profiling that would allow police to target some young black males who wear their pants below the belt line. Similar initiatives in other states have spurred complaints from civil liberties groups.

It’s been known that this style of sagging has been prevalent in the Black community for years. Young Black men have been hearing, “pull your pants up, tie your shoes, turn your hat around” from their mothers and grandmothers forever. Some of my favorites were, “Who’s gonna respect you if all they can see is your ass?

And while watching COPS, “Look at him; trying to run away, he can’t get away from the police running in those pants down around his ankles.” So despite the possibility that these new laws could give some police officers one more thing to bother a young Black man about, the sponsors of the proposals are older Black people fed up with the unsightly appearance.

Although the older citizens of these cities have good intentions in mind, the fact is that no one should be able to make others wear their clothes the way they want them to. Indecent exposure is one thing, but disagreement with this sloppy style is another that deals strictly with opinion. The attention of our law enforcement should be focused on real issues that actually affect our communities, like theft, shootings, and drug dealing.

This isn’t the Red Carpet in L.A., and I don’t see Joan Rivers anywhere, so the fine people of Louisiana should let the fashion police do their job on E! If you don’t like the look, then look away, all it takes is a simple twist of the neck.

Now that sagging has been forbidden, I’m proposing that the opposing “Waistline up to your chest” look be next on the chopping block. It makes me shudder every time I have to wonder exactly where someone’s waist really is.

Keep talking, it’s the only way they’ll ever hear you.--JJJ

On The 2nd Anniversay Of Katrina, Black Folks Are Still Dealing With All Kinds Of Vermin... Including Ray Nagin

The deplorable conditions in New Orleans are the single most visible symbol of the state of Black people in this country. While the weapons of mass distraction countinue to take the form of whether a Idaho US Senator Larry Craig is gay, did Owen Wilson's alleged drug use contribute to his suicide attempt, or is Miss Teen South Carolina Lauren Caitlin Upton ever going to live down her youtube blond moment, we better pay close attention to this, family.

Seriously, we are in crisis. Read on:

On the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, anger over the stalled rebuilding was palpable throughout a city where the mourning for the dead and feeling of loss for flooded homes, schools, snow cone stands, old-time hairstylists and hardware stores doesn’t seem to subside.

Katrina's Wrath Impacts 2008 White House Race

Blacks Say They’re Left Out of Katrina Work

Hurricane Katrina made landfall south of New Orleans at 6:10 a.m. Aug. 29, 2005, as a strong Category 3 hurricane that flooded 80 percent of the city and killed more than 1,600 people in Louisiana and Mississippi. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.

New Orleans Poor Are Ignored, Thanks Ray Nagin

Governor Blanco Refuses To Accept Blame For Deaths

On Wednesday, protesters planned to march from the obliterated Lower 9th Ward to Congo Square, a venerable spot where slaves were able to celebrate their culture. Accompanied by brass bands and wielding megaphones, they will again try to spread their message that the government has failed to help people return.

Folks Are Mourning, And Their Angry, Sad

Bush Taken To Task For Katrina

"People are angry and they want to send a message to politicians that they want them to do more and do it faster,’’ said the Rev. Marshall Truehill, a Baptist pastor and community activist. ‘‘Nobody’s going to be partying.’’

At Charity Hospital, a 21-story limestone hospital adorned with allegorical reliefs, public officials will attend a somber groundbreaking for a victims’ memorial and mausoleum that will house the remains of more than 100 victims who have still not been identified.

‘‘It’s an emotional time. You re-live what happened and you remember how scattered everyone is now. There are relationships now that are completely over,’’ said Robert Smallwood, a New Orleans writer. ‘‘The city has been dying this slow death. In New Orleans, you can’t escape it. It’s bad news everyday.’’

Churches will hold memorial services, including one at the historic St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square, and ring bells in honor of the victims.

A candlelight vigil is scheduled in Jackson Square at dusk, right around the time the French Quarter may start getting tipsy with street parties and anniversary revelers, as happened last year.

Several presidential contenders, including Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, have visited in recent days. Meanwhile, an international people’s tribunal has been convened to take testimony from victims.

The tribunal is being spearheaded by legal activists trying to build a case under international law accusing the United States of human rights abuses during and after Katrina.

QUEEN LATIFAH AND HOLLYWOOD ARE GOING SOUTH, Y'ALL

YESTERDAY IN A BEVERLY HILLS RESTAURANT… I was talking with Queen Latifah… well, okay, it was actually her hair stylist and producer friend Julie Baker… and she mentioned to me that Dana (aka Queen Latifah) was heading back to Louisiana.
“For what?” I inquired. (We at 3BAAS/Candleblack Media always ask very deep and penetrating questions.) “For another film shoot,” Julie answered.

What in the past has been a marginal Hollywood story is now becoming a center page item: Film productions are moving out of Hollywood. The story used to be that they were going to Canada. And although that is still true, the bigger and more immediate story is the explosion of film productions that are occurring in the south.

The secret of Louisiana and other southern states recent success is due in large part to a generous bevy of monetary incentives the states offer producers. Under state incentive packages, makers of feature films, television movies, documentaries, commercials, and short films receive rebates and tax breaks generally pegged to how many locals they hire and how much they spend locally.

Incentives matter to filmmakers.


Nia Long & Sandra Bullock shot "
Premonition" in Minden, Louisiana.

A group of small Los Angeles-based production companies probably wouldn't be filming in Georgia this summer without them, said David Koplan, one of the producers of the comedy film "Randy and the Mob." “It's a really big deal for a small movie. It can make the difference in [our] being able to come to a city or not” he said.

But incentives alone aren't enough. Experienced workers, caterers, and camera and equipment rental houses are essential if incentives are to have any lasting effect. Low costs alone will not sustain a film industry. Consequently, Louisiana is beginning to amass just such an infrastructure of people, facilities, and suppliers as the state's film industry matures. Mississippi has set aside a 25-acre "Film Enterprise Zone" where work is scheduled to start this year on a film crew training center.

At least for now, the South is unlikely to ever rival Hollywood or New York as a center of the film and tv industry. But when stars like Queen Latifah, Julia Roberts, Diane Keaton, Nia Long, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock and the hundred of other Hollywood artisans take root in places like Shreveport, Louisiana, well, there is clearly a movement afoot.