Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2005-2006 - (Page 17)

ing of New Orleans, start with the President. He stood in Jackson Square and told the nation that he would rebuild New Orleans and fix the levees. When public outrage was at its highest and his popularity was nearing its lowest, let’s remember that he put Karl Rove in charge of the reconstruction effort. That was in September. Has anyone seen or heard from Karl Rove? Hmmm In the opening days of this New Year, the President reiterated that the levees will be fixed. Yes, money has been appropriated. But is it enough? The task has been assigned. People have been put in charge. But are they going to take care of it? Are they waiting for people — like you — to stop paying attention? N ow is the time for your generation to reclaim the energy, optimism, and fire that is the real American spirit. I am confident that you students can, and will, make an incalculable contribution to the intelligent and compassionate rebuilding of our city and protection of our dispersed populace. In doing so, you will be using your collective power to redefine the soul of our nation. You know, democracy is a can-do form. We always hear about the rights of democracy, but the major responsibility of it is participation. Throughout American history, we have seen causes for the betterment of democracy invigorated by young people unafraid to fight for the general welfare of all, even if it meant alienation from their own families. Don’t be disheartened by the destruction of the hurricane or by political ineptitude or even by the apathy of others. Remember, we are all home. That is why I urge you not to let this moment pass without sending a clear message to your peers and elders around the world, “New Orleans will be rebuilt, and it will be rebuilt with an intensity, with an intelligence, with an impatience and with a freshness that only serious minded young people can bring.” One of the great lessons of the Civil Rights Movement: when the minds and hearts of enough citizens are focused on change, America changes very quickly. I know that the challenge of rebuilding may seem insurmountable. But we have a roadmap to success — the path of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Because he didn’t settle for “that’s just the way things are,” we don’t have to. Because he led an intelligent assault on all sorts of sanctioned corruption, we too can use our intelligence to protect and project integrity. Because he understood that all human beings are of one race long before the discovery of the DNA strain, we can now live that reality. Because Dr. King was always about the business of making real the human grandeur outlined in the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, we can still believe that our government can be of the people, by the people, and for the people. Let’s concentrate our energies to that end. You will hear that the most immediate concerns for New Orleans are the wetlands, the levees and the homes. But I’m here to tell you that the most immediate concern for New Orleans is the well-being of our displaced neighbors spread out in a Diaspora all over the United States. Look around the room. I want you all to understand that there are forces all around you who wish to exploit division, rob you of your freedom, and tell you what to think. They are afraid of change — some of these forces are even within you. But I’m here to tell you, when young folks are motivated to action, when they act with insight, soul and fire, they can rekindle the weary spirit of a slumbering nation. It’s time somebody woke us up. LCV Wynton Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, educator and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York. Editor’s Note: Wynton Marsalis delivered the preceding speech at Tulane University on January 16, 2006, at an event sponsored by the consortium of Tulane, Xavier, Dillard, and Loyola Universities, followed by a jazz concert accompanied by his father, Ellis Marsalis, and fellow musician Irvin Mayfield. All photographs courtesy of Jazz at Lincoln Center. From Congo Square to Lincoln Center The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, directed by Wynton Marsalis, will premiere Place Congo, a cross-cultural musical collaboration between Wynton Marsalis and the Ghanaian drum master Yacub Addy, May 4, 5, and 6 at the Rose Theater in New York’s Lincoln Center. Place Congo will be an extended composition, about 45 minutes in length, co-composed for joint performance by the LCJO and Addy’s eight-piece ensemble Odadaa! The piece is inspired by the public square in New Orleans where, from the mid-1700s to the late-1800s, people of color gathered on Sunday afternoons to perform African rhythms, songs and dances on a variety of African and European instruments. Due largely to the fact that New Orleans was originally a French colony, Congo Square was the only place in America where such a continuous, regular performance of African music and dance by slaves took place. Elsewhere in the British colonies and later, in the U.S., African drumming was regarded as a menacing form of communication that was banned and punishable by death. Historians agree that the unique exception of Congo Square is what made it possible for New Orleans to become the birthplace of jazz at the turn of the 20th century. In addition to performances, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra will participate in multiple master classes for students, educators and cultural leaders that will focus on the importance of jazz in the cultural landscape and in the educational system. Education is a priority for Jazz at Lincoln Center and events like these have always been an integral part of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra touring activities. For more information on Jazz at Lincoln Center, call (212) 258-9800, or log on to: www.jalc.org. Winter 2005-06/LOUISIANA CULTURAL VISTAS 17 http://www.jalc.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2005-2006

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2005 Contents Letters Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Louisiana State Museum After Katrina: “It’s time somebody woke us us up.” Missing New Orleans On Perilous Ground The Buildings of Louisiana (Architectural History by Karen Kingsley) Historic New Orleans Collection Louisiana Association of Museums Back to New Orleans Diary of a Displaced Person Jazz Notes (Music History by Bruce Raeburn) Cradle of the Stars The Terrible and the Brave Bookstand (Book Review by Thomas Uskali) Sound Advice (Music Review by Ben Sandmel) Forum (Commentary by James Lee Burke)

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2005-2006

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