<![CDATA[MY NOLA, MY STORY ]]> https://xulamasscomm.omeka.net/items/browse?tags=Xavier+Mass+Comm&sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle&output=rss2 Sat, 13 Aug 2022 08:36:12 -0400 mscm@xula.edu (MY NOLA, MY STORY ) Copyright 2020 My Nola, My Story Zend_Feed http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Chief Chanagimire Durall]]> https://xulamasscomm.omeka.net/items/show/115


Chief Chanagimire Durall




Chief Chanagimire Durall


This is an interview based on the first female police chief- Chanagimire Durall-of Xavier University of Louisiana


Domonic Archie Jr.


My Nola, My Story via YouTube


Mass Communications Department at the Xavier University of Louisiana


December 2, 2020


Domonic D. Archie Jr.


My Nola, My Story


My Nola, My Story, 2020




Imovie, Video





Original Format


Domonic: Can you start off by telling us a little bit about yourself ?

Chief Durall: Um. let's see I started off my university career Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. I was there for about five and a half years, I raised from the ranks of police officer made sergeant, I was a night patrol sergeant. They're located in a very urban area, 25,000 students so our call for service was pretty high especially on a Friday or Saturday, then I got the opportunity to go to Norfolk State University, which is an HBCU also in Virginia and there student population is about 6,000, so I made the rank of Lieutenant and went to Norfolk State. I was there about two years, umm ultimately my goal was become a chief of police, so when the opportunity for Xavier came up I couldn't say no. I mean I'm a Saints fan, I'm from New Liberia, so it kinda brought me kinda close to home, so I couldn't turn down that opportunity especially to work at you know a top rank university, for the pharmacy program, as well as it being catholic and HBCU, I mean not to many can say they work for a place like this. The I happen to be the first African American Chief of police, so I kinda made history coming here. So that was exciting

Domonic: Why law enforcement ?

Chief Durall: UM, like I said my dad was in law enforcement, so I think he kinda put that in my head and it just kinda stuck with me. And I thought about the medical field but I don't like blood and needles, so that was kinda easy, to cross of my career list of things to do. Well like I said, policing made it so exciting, everyday he cam home, he had a different story to tell and I was like, "well that's good I don't wanna go to work and have the same, everyday be the same, I wanted everyday to be different." And certainly sitting in this chief has not changed that, umm, i have people come to my door everyday with something different.

Domonic: How does it feel to be the first female chief ?

Chief Durall: It's exciting, I mean it's groundbreaking, its sad that it took so long for there to be a first female. However, it seems likes umm, because the relationships and because of the publicity that has shined the negative spotlight on law enforcement, umm theres a feeling and need to put a umm face of color on the police department so it looks like you know there's a softer presentation to the relationship with the community. But um I mean I'm excited, it's always exciting when your the first of anything because you can claim " I was first" wether I was being chief or anything. The first to got to college or anything like that is monumental when you claim to be the first.

Domonic: What are some of the obstacles you face being a black woman in your line of duty?

Chief Durall: Well, umm, traditionally law enforcement, and i tell people all the time, was not designed for us. Meaning it wasn't designed for us to work i law enforcement. It was created to stop slaves from getting away from their master, so thats how law enforcement started. So it heart-warming that we have evolved from that even though that foundation is there we need to recognize in the institution to be able to serve the communities that um are we're serving today. So I mean, I've had experiences with racism, I've had experiences with unconscious bias and all those things and it's unfortunate that were told we're told that we bare to get through it versus you know our counterparts are not told that. That not going to happen to them. So thats why the conversation is important to have those uncomfortable, powerful conversations to have us realize our biases, and our racism, and inequities and injustices in society, and thats something the only way we're going to get through being able to police and work with the community that we serve. It's not about what we wanna do in the duties as a police officer, it's about what the community needs us to do. Cause every community is different, they might have burglaries in one community and trash problems in another. So that's very difficult. So we have to listen to those nuances of each community and adjust our police.

Domonic: In what ways do you seek to change or improve the community's safety

Chief Durall: Umm, getting the students more involved in their safety. I mean, the police department can certainly put out cars, people on bikes however, the students have to change their mindset coming from home and having their parents make safety decisions for them, versus coming on campus and mom and dad aren't there, so now it's your responsibility to make those safety decisions for you. A lot of people -student and parents- always ask " what are you going to do to keep my child safe?", Well imma try to educate your child and make sure your child has more situational awareness so they're aware of whats going on. Most of the time there is situations and they feel like something not quite right, they need to pay attention to that and get out of that situation. So thats helpful and the community helping us, help them stay safe, so it's not strictly a responsibility of the police department, we do share that responsibility.
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Wed, 21 Oct 2020 13:50:09 -0400
<![CDATA[Heart N Hands]]> https://xulamasscomm.omeka.net/items/show/116


Heart N Hands




Heart N Hands Non-Profit Organization


This is a questionnaire video to learn more about Heart N Hands. This video entails an interview with the founder, Essence Banks, and an in-depth view of heart disease in young women.


Amber Parks


My Nola, My Story via Youtube


Mass Communications Department at the Xavier University of Louisiana.


3rd December 2020


Amber Parks


My Nola, My Story


My Nola, My Story 2020




Premiere Pro, video




A Digital Humanities project by Xavier University of Louisiana's Mass Communication Department students, led by Dr. Shearon Roberts

Original Format


Amber Parks : Heart N Hands is a non-profit organization created to spread awareness about heart
disease and the role it plays in women's

Essence Banks : i started heart and hands in 2014

because i really wanted to educate young girls

about heart disease and heart health

prevention which we know heart disease

is the number one killer women

so i'm really passionate about the work

on being proactive and educating

about heart health and heart disease

because i am a survivor now

of 16 years as

a heart disease survivor and wanted to

educate young women

and girls about the importance of really

just taking care of their overall health

especially their heart health

so you know being able to start a


is very hard it's hard work it takes

perseverance determination all those


right that you think about but i think

for me

it really wasn't that hard because it's

a passion of mine

and you know when i was diagnosed with

heart disease i was only 30 years old

and so i just really felt like i needed

to educate as many women

as i could right and so i did that for

the first 10 years

and then after that um

i was celebrating my 10 year anniversary

as a survivor and thought what else

could i do to really get ahead of this

disease right

and that's when i thought about the

young girls

and so starting a non-profit was like

you know started in my living room and i

thought wow i can do this but then once

you get

involved in it and you see everything

that you need to do

and that comes with start a non-profit

that's when you really have to pull

those skills out right and figure out

you know how you're going to pull


your board of directors and how you're

going to you know focus on your

financials and raise money

you know all that fun stuff but it

definitely takes

you know time and it takes dedication to

really get it started and so now we're

celebrating six years

and just really excited about the work

that we've done i mean we're

still growing and still learning so the

journey you know never ends

so with you know a non-profit it again

it is hard work

but it's so rewarding when you see how

you're impacting you know lives and

changing lives in the community

especially with the girls and young

women that we serve

well new orleans because i am a native

right so i

am a new orleans girl so i always say

i'm a local

at heart and so i wanted to have an

organization where

you know when you look at the statistics

for heart disease

louisiana is in that i guess that

southern belt where we have high cases

especially in our um people of color

communities right so you see

high blood pressure cholesterol diabetes

you know strokes

all the risk factors for heart disease

are in

predominantly southern states and so of

course you know being here i really

wanted to focus on our community

educating them about the importance of

just really taking care of their overall

heart health

the goal though for heart and hands i'm

glad you asked that question

is to expand to other cities right so

this year

uh during the pandemic we were able to

really focus on expanding

our reach for the organization and so

now we are

in nashville tennessee as of august of

this year

and then january it's a secret

we will be launching and rolling it out


memphis tennessee and then hopefully

we'll have other cities to follow

but the goal is to be in all 50 states

so you'll see

us just like you see an american heart


you know and some of our other

partnering organizations so that's the


yes i was nervous from the very

beginning because i

have never started a non-profit before

so of course i had like this anxiousness

like what am i supposed to do how do i

get this started

how do i get people to know what i do in

the community so

that's the part that was really

nerve-wracking and then how am i gonna


an organization you know when

it is really like my secondary job right

so i have

you know your day job then you have this

passion project so it's kind of like how

do you

juggle and manage you know both of them

um and so initially in the beginning

very nervous about raising funds you

know how do i get other

organizations and donors and supporters

to believe

in the mission you know kind of like i

do and like the other

members of the board of directors so uh

yeah very very nervous initially i must


and you know some days i still have that

where you know i might be working on a

new project for heart and hands or

we come up with something that's

different and we're thinking okay

are people gonna like it are the girls

gonna like it you know so we have put

junior board members on our board of

directors as well

just to kind of hear what is happening

in the community right because we're


we don't know what you know girls really

want or what

they would be interested in and so

that's why we kind of brought on

some younger board members like you know

we have an eighth grader

because again we want to hear what's

happening in their community right among
their peers

so we can try to make sure that you know

we're really touching on all the things


they're interested in and doing so we

tied it into our program

but you know all those thoughts about

you know

sustaining the organization what does it


you know how are we going to get money

how are we going to fund the


always make me pretty nervous and


i guess as the years go by it's going to

get better so the

programs that we produce for the young


everything is interactive because we

know you know young girls attention

spans right you got to get them

keep them engaged as long as possible so

when we go into schools or we partner

with you know girl scouts or girls on

the run

we're bringing to them possibly a

fitness session so we might go in and do


yoga pilates um we do mindfulness

meditation you know with them so we have

interactive activities and then we tie

the lecture piece in about

the importance of taking care of your

heart so it's not just all a straight

lecture you know we try to make sure the

girls are up and moving

and while they're doing that you know we

may bring in

one of our cardiologists to talk about

the importance of you know heart health

etc and then we have also done cooking

demonstrations right we've also

you know done some sessions where we

bring in heart healthy snacks to

different extracurricular activity teams

you know at schools so that's been

really fun to bring in some fresh fruit


you know a heart healthy snack into

their exercise or their practice

routines so yeah we do so many different


with the girls uh in our community and

we always are looking for

organizations that have girls so we go

where the girls are right so right now

we don't have a program that we work

with a specific group of girls

but if there is another non-profit

organization that has a mentoring


or they're looking for someone to come

in for one of the week sessions and


you know a fitness session or again

something you know light something


related uh giving them heart healthy


we will then come in and partner with

them on programs such as that

and hopefully we'll have our own girls

soon where we can kind of work with them

and you know track their progress and um

you know just see how they enjoy some of

the components of the program

and so i think the most important thing


my journey with heart health and heart

disease is

every time i do a talk or i go to a

church or i'm presenting to a sorority


whatever it is in the community or i'm

working with the young girls at the end


every session someone always comes up to

me and says you know oh i didn't know

that this could happen to me it happened

to you wow you were just 30 years old

or they'll say you know i'm having some


you know that you mentioned you know in

your talk what should i do

and that's always so rewarding for me is

to hear

people actually open up about it and not

you know think i can't share it or i

can't really say what's going on because

it's personal

and then to hear later you know after

a session that we've done that some of

the girls come up to me and say yeah you

kind of like change

my thought process about fast food you


or yeah i shouldn't have fast food every

day maybe i'll just cut back and

you know have my have a treat every week

versus you know seven days a week

so i've heard so many great stories

about that i've actually had a cousin

after a recent 5k she did the virtual 5k

she lives in atlanta

and she said as a result of the 5k her

and her son

are now walking like three times a week

you know just because

when she got out to move for the 5k she

thought wow i could do this

right it's not that long 3.1 miles

but when you constantly are thinking

about working out you think oh

i don't want to do it but then once you

get out there it's

you know it's easy it becomes fun so

really hearing like testimonials and

you know people who have changed their


as a result of some of the things that

we're doing is just so rewarding

and and the other thing is i mean

there's young women that i know in their

early 20s

now that you know have been diagnosed

with some form of heart disease

or diabetes and so you know my message

always is it's not the old people's


it's not the old man or old woman or a

fat person even

you know when you think about heart

disease and all the myths that we

already have in our hair like yeah i

have time for that or

i don't need to worry about it the

reason why i started heart and hands is


people can say no i need to worry about

it now so i can prevent it later

that's the biggest thing about heart

disease eighty percent of it is


and not a lot of people know that they

think oh if i get i just get it no

like you can do things to combat it you

know you can live a healthier life you

can get out and start walking and

exercising and just paying more

attention to your health

versus in the long run you'll have to


you know and so for me the the odd thing


i didn't have any of those symptoms

the things i just mentioned to you i

didn't have high blood pressure

no high cholesterol no diabetes never

had a stroke

never had a heart attack was never

overweight didn't smoke

never smoked you know so all the things

that you see on the checklist

of what is heart disease you'll see all

those things

what are the risk factors for heart

disease i didn't have any of them

so it's like okay some people say it

could have been stress related

or it could be hereditary right it could

be something down the line that

you know mine presented itself in the

form of coronary artery disease so

blockage of the arteries

but yeah you know so my thing is you

just never know

you think yeah 30 years old is pretty

young you're in the prime of your life

you're working getting your career going

you know and this happens it definitely

is a huge shock

to the system like what not me

so that's why i'm just so passionate

about getting the message out especially

to young

girls young women like yourself because

you can make a change now

yes for sure so the prevention part is

focusing on your doctor's visits

right creating you know coming up with a

list of questions

that you want to know about your overall

health because a lot

of times and i know this happened to me

when i was younger you go to your annual


everything's fine you check the box and

you leave but you didn't really ask

questions about how did my blood work

come back how was my numbers for my

you know total cholesterol my blood

pressure um

glucose levels things like that so

really having a checklist when you're

meeting with the doctor and

asking you know how are the levels

because maybe
you could be borderline and just don't

know it right so

just really being more proactive about

your overall health

knowing your numbers totally versus

waiting for something to happen

and then you go you know hit you out of

the blue um

and then of course sticking to some type

of you know

heart healthy eating habits

incorporating fruit and veggies

and everything that you do that should

be like on a weekly

basis you know making sure that you're

having balance meals

and that you're getting out and doing

some type of physical activity

so those are the main things and then

listen to your body whatever it is

whether it's heart disease or something


your body never lies and we know our
bodies more than anyone

so you know my key message is when you

feel something is wrong

go get it checked out go to the doctor

right don't be afraid to just say let me

just make sure

everything is okay versus waiting or you

know putting it off

procrastinating just go get it checked out

thank you

across the sky


Closing Credits




Amber Parks


Amber Parks
Screen Shot 2020-12-03 at 12.34.19 PM.png
Wed, 21 Oct 2020 13:50:16 -0400
<![CDATA[More Than A Barber]]> https://xulamasscomm.omeka.net/items/show/57


More Than A Barber




This is the story of Ronnie "Right Side" Dents, a 27-year-old New Orleans Native.


Ronnie Dents, a 27-year-old artist, has been doing art since he was a young child. In this interview, he discusses how he has incorporated his art into barbering.


Kai Wilson


My Nola My Story via Youtube


Mass Communications department at Xavier University of Louisiana.


May 9, 2018


Ronnie Dents


My Nola, My Story.


My Nola, My Story 2018 Exhibit.




iMovie, Video





Original Format


-Background Music Starts-

Intro: "This is the story of Ronnie Dents and how his many talents make him much more than a barber."

Kai Wilson (question appears): What part of New Orleans are you from and how did it influence your perspective on art?

Ronnie Dents: Well I moved around a lot. I lived in Hollygrove when I was younger, but I didn’t stay there very long. I spent a lot of time drawing on the porch and stuff like that… after that, I moved to Gentilly… and after the hurricane, I moved to the outside of New Orleans, to Saint Rose. But definitely, the Katrina changing was the biggest thing. The fact that I moved around so much… because I feel like my life trajectory would be all the way different if I had stayed in New Orleans or Katrina didn’t happen.

Kai Wilson (voice not heard): What other skills, talents, or hobbies do you enjoy?

Ronnie Dents: Man, shoot! Cutting hair, painting, rapping, songwriting, dancing, building sets, mural work, glasswork, all type of work, slight work (chuckles). You know what I’m saying, yeah. Everything man, art goes all over the place and I’ve definitely dabbled in a bunch of different areas. I’ve been drawing since I was really young. When the hurricane hit I moved to Saint Rose, Louisiana and that’s where I started bounce dancing. And I was doing that for a good seven years or so… but then I did music in college and I went all over the place with a group of talented individuals and just learned a lot about music. So I’ve jumped all over the place.

Kai Wilson (voice not heard): So how do your skills, talents, and hobbies inspire what you do with hair?

Ronnie Dents: They all the way inspire what I do with hair, it wouldn’t have been unless I started drawing that I would’ve even started cutting hair in the first place. I literally do artworks in people’s hair. So just being able to do the hair wouldn’t be as special to me if I wasn't able to bring it back to how it was on paper or something like that yet.

Kai Wilson (voice not heard): How did this all start? What brought your art to the barbershop?

Ronnie Dents: Well I first started cutting hair when I was like 12 or 13, I just started cutting my own hair and I did friends hair for free at have first, and then charge a little bit, then over time I just got better at it. About two years ago I ended up here and I got this internship program so I’ve been a full-time barber ever since you know.

Kai Wilson (voice not heard): What is your inspiration for these amazing designs?

Ronnie Dents: I just take different shapes that I see. Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of stuff with African shapes and Native American shapes.
It has a lot to do with the history of New Orleans...
The collaboration between the Africans that were brought here in slavery, and the native Americans that are already lived here, and that creates the Mardi Gras Indians and it’s a part of the culture that we have and I just like the way they look so I’ve been experimenting with that a lot lately.

Kai Wilson (voice not heard): What do you feel makes you unique as a barber?

Ronnie Dents: I fall in love with whatever style I am doing right now. So right now I’m loving the new stuff that I’ve been doing with the shapes and how I can make them look more three-dimensional, and that’s just been really fun to me so that’s my favorite thing to do right now.


Ronnie Dents: Well I just go, I just take a regular haircut and then I just go further. I feel like all barbers are artists. I just don’t stop once the haircut is just a haircut, I have to make it something more than a haircut, using the lines and shading to create a piece of art. Where hair is already art, but it’s an extreme piece of art.

Kai Wilson (voice not heard): Where can people go to follow your work?

Ronnie Dents: Well they used to call me "Right Side Ronnie". So with that being said, you can follow me everywhere @rightsideronnie, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, I am on there as Ronnie Dents. And Y'all can check me out you know I’m on all the social media’s. You heard me!

Kai Wilson (voice not heard): Do you have any final remarks?

Ronnie Dents: Do you art Y'all. And to all my artists out there, just keep on mastering your craft because when you do or spend time working on whatever you’re working on, you can trade it in for all kinds of stuff, and then it just gets magical at that point. You can enjoy your job. When you can enjoy whatever your job is, it’s a whole nother thing. It’s not just a job is like a career, a lifestyle you know. So do that!

-Background Music Ends-
-Video Ends-


5:40 (five minutes, forty seconds)


Kai Wilson


Dr. Shearon Roberts
Ronnie Dents (mscm) .jpg
Fri, 04 May 2018 15:35:49 -0400
<![CDATA[My NOLA, My Story: Tremé Culture Amidst Gentrification]]> https://xulamasscomm.omeka.net/items/show/212


My NOLA, My Story: Tremé Culture Amidst Gentrification




This is an interview with Liz Johnston, the Development Director at Anna's Place New Orleans. Anna's Place is an after school program that supports youth in the Tremé area and greater New Orleans academically, culturally and socially.


Working in the Tremé area post-Katrina after being a New Orleans resident prior, Liz has seen the effects of gentrification first-hand. Through Anna's Place, she supports youths in the hope of restoring a strong sense of community in a culturally important neighborhood.


Lundon Shields, Osoniya Wodi and Kutemwa Masafwa


My NOLA, My Story via Youtube


Mass Communications Department at Xavier University of Louisiana


April 13th 2022


Liz Johnston


My NOLA, My Story





Adobe Premier, video


Digital Humanities project by Xavier University of Louisiana's Xavier Exponential students, led by Dr. Shearon Roberts.

Original Format



Liz Johnston 0:02
We talk about being here in New Orleans, the importance that we ascribe to this area, we don't see any of that here anymore due to the gentrification.

Liz Johnston 0:30
The first thing that comes to mind when I think of the Treme neighborhood is, well, the first thing I'll say is history. The second thing I'll say is an authentic look into the accomplishments of people of color in New Orleans and across the South in general. With Treme being one of the first established black neighborhoods in like not just New Orleans but the country, it's such a hugely important place. It's the birthplace of jazz music; it's the birthplace of so many interracial, interfaith, intercultural exchanges that really make New Orleans what it is today. In terms of that, it's also really sad because if you walk through this neighborhood today, you won't really see that. The history we talk about being here in New Orleans, the importance that we ascribe to this neighborhood, to this area, we don't see any of that anymore due to the gentrification of the city that's been really unfolding for several decades now but we've seen an even stronger push that's given us more gentrification since Hurricane Katrina.

Liz Johnston 2:44
I'll say because I'm from Uptown, I am not originally from Treme. I'm from the Irish Channel Garden District area. It's a different neighborhood and a different part of town so I can't really speak to that authentic experience of growing up in the Treme but I will say even with being from Uptown, which has had a history of money. It has had a history of being mixed. I will say that the entire energy. the culture, the feel, and the population are incredibly different. You go from growing up in a place where you see people who look like you, who understand you and your culture. I'm someone who is Creole so I did grow up with a little bit of my language with a little bit of purity. With a lot of aspects of that culture being a huge part of life and how it was raised in my thought process and how I view the world, the afterlife, and all these other existential questions that are engaged with that culture because it's mine and it's what I grew up with, and I grew up around other people who had it. Being fairly young when hurricane Katrina happened, which is really when we started to have to face that change. I think it's a misconception that Hurricane Katrina happened and suddenly, everything magically went downhill. There were little rumblings and little things there prior to, but Hurricane Karina put us in this spot where we couldn't really deny those things. We couldn't really deny those things; we couldn't really deny people being pushed out of their homes; we couldn't really deny the increase in prices; we couldn't deny that our schools were being taken over by businesses; that instead of having a very balanced private or catholic school and public school system. Also, a lot of inequality here. I was actually talking with my co-worker Brooklyn snout about what it was like - being just playing. It made me so aware and she shared the same sentiments with me in Texas. It made her both myself and a lot of other people so aware of how unique New Orleans culture was down to our language because a lot of us like, we call it 'yet,' which is our New Orleans colloquialisms and our little words and things that we say. It's so entrenched in the way that we talk and what we do and say that we don't notice that other people don't speak that way and don't express themselves that way and often have no clue what on earth we're saying. You know, people throwing the word "refugee" around a lot to people who evacuated from Hurricane Katrina which traditionally "refugee" has such a negative connotation like people very rarely use it to speak of someone positively but it's also like someone who evacuates for a hurricane is usually not that's not what a "refugee" is supposed to be but it puts you in this very weird space of like the negativity with that and how people negatively viewed New Orleanians and a lot of the stigmas that came from me. It's a really strange feeling, especially coming back after hurricane Katrina and even as things got more gentrified to go from being in a place where you saw a lot of people who looked like you, who understood you who understood culturally how to act in a place how to speak in a place what was going on, to suddenly be home and it not feeling like home like you don't see people who look like you anymore; like neighborhoods are becoming, you know, less diverse you're seeing more businesses that really are not opened by people who are from here and not really for the people who are from here like it's a really strange feeling where home doesn't really feel at home anymore. I believe that there truly is an overly romanticized view of what performance is, and I think any place that's a 'touristy' place has that, but there is something to saying that. The feel of the city is different. That music, that magic it just feels off it feels different; it feels weird seeing such a strange place where people don't react the same. We have what's called 'speaking,' like if you see someone on the street you speak, and New Orleans culture is very friendly. You can go to make (well, other people say buying groceries we say make) groceries at a store and end up talking with a stranger for like 20 minutes you know that's a very common occurrence and that's sort of gone. The ways that you would just subtly greet people like walking down the street, a lot of that's gone and it's like you can tell even in such a subtle thing you who's from here and who's not from here. I don't know it's a little bit isolating because you're like where are like my people at. It's strange when you see important historical places really get torn down and torn into overpriced apartments and not really valued and people fighting over land. You have all these beautiful creole cottages and shotgun homes that are historic and someone bought a property in between that and like decided to make like a shipping container house or like a weirdly modern place that doesn't go with anything.It's like you can tell who's buying the property and who's living there based on like the changes you see in the architecture.

Liz Johnston 9:51
I think that people still crave community here and I think that community members still come together. That's really just Louisiana culture. It's the community. That's why we have the Cajun Navy; that's why we have you know even during covet people coming together. You'll have a random person who'll get together with a couple of friends and be like, "Okay this natural disaster just happened we're gonna go and buy a bunch of food, pull our money together, and serve our community food." They're not with the red cross, they're not with you know whatever organization these are just people coming together making sure their community is fine and trying to do the best that they can do. People who will be like, "Hey, even if you don't know me, I have power at my place. One of the few places with power in this area right now; you can come here and charge your phone you can come here and charge your laptop" - that sort of thing. I think that we still have that, but one of the things that I think is increasingly becoming a problem, even in the nonprofit area, as we see more nonprofits and organizations pop up, is people who have a lot of really great intentions and they see that there are people in need and they don't really understand what those needs are and they don't really want to know they just know what they want to contribute to feel great about themselves; feel like they've made a difference, but not necessarily what those needs are and it's really hard to have a community group to help a community without the voices from that community involved.

Liz Johnston 12:12
So gentrification impacts us on several levels. but the first one is we spend over 30 000 a year on transportation for our students when this program first occurred. Now, many of these kids were like in the neighborhood. They lived here some of them still do, but a lot of them no longer afford to live in this neighborhood. A very common thing with people living in poverty is sometimes you have to work out a lot; sometimes you cannot make your payments anymore which is not a moral judgment against anybody. There's so many things that happen; also, being low income you end up with some boards you do not do things morally or ethically and you end up having to move legally. You can't just raise someone's rent out of nowhere in the middle of their lease, but if you have a slingboard and you're barely able to survive and generally you can't afford them you know deal with all it like that's you're not at least that are so many factors in it, but it's a very common thing that people end up having to a move around a lot and change their phone numbers a lot. There's also some people who have to do once a month releases and sometimes there's a month that's simply not great for me, so one of the reasons why we do that is because it's noticed and unfortunately there are so many studies that support that that children simply just instability to have healthy lives and to even have a chance and you know you may not you can't control what their parents do or where their parents are going to end up going to or if they're going to be living with their have this place to come back. You know you're going to get a meal; you're going to get like a hot healthy meal, you're going to have someone who's going to help you with your homework, you're going to have someone who listens and you're going to have someone who's invested in your future. It's not to say that all of these kids have parents who are not invested in their future; that all of them don't have parents who can provide them. Not to say that; it's just that we are ensuring consistency. My job is ensuring that we get the funding to maintain that. I don't work as much with the youth one-on-one, but my job is still development director to ensure we have the funding to keep this program going and that's also where gentrification comes into play - because as a crisis went up and there's far more wealthy people living in this neighborhood. There are more people who have the capacity to give to this program. A lot of people are not from here they don't necessarily know we exist they don't know these kids they moved here for whatever reason they're not as invested and there's some people who aren't there are a lot of people who are invested.


16 minutes, 22 seconds
Thu, 14 Apr 2022 00:38:36 -0400
<![CDATA[The Art of the Streets]]> https://xulamasscomm.omeka.net/items/show/71


The Art of the Streets




The Art of the Streets of New Orleans, Louisiana.


New Orleans is not called the Hollywood of the south for no reason! The streets are littered with artists, from drummers to feminist painters, to tap dancers, to hair braiders. I interviewed these artists to catch a glimpse into their worlds.


Darby Farr


My Nola My Story via YouTube


Mass Communications department at Xavier University of Louisiana.


November 27, 2018


Cameron Price


My Nola, My Story.


My Nola, My Story 2018 Exhibit.




iMovie, video





Original Format


5:32 (five minutes and thirty-two seconds)


Darby Camille Farr


Dr. Shearon Roberts
Screen Shot 2018-11-19 at 00.47.21.png
Thu, 15 Nov 2018 11:15:04 -0500
<![CDATA[The Heart of Xavier]]> https://xulamasscomm.omeka.net/items/show/80


The Heart of Xavier




Mr. Smith is a lifelong Xavier custodian who motivates, inspires, and encourages Xavier students daily.




Desmond Goodwin


My Nola, My Story via Youtube


Mass Communication department at Xavier University of Louisiana


December 11, 2018


Mr. Smith (Xavier Longtime Custodian)


My Nola, My Story


My Nola, My Story 2018 exhibit.




Adobe Premiere, Video





Original Format


Mr. Smith: I’ve been working at the university 11 years 10 years and a half well going on 11 and I love working with the students around here. They give me energy and motivation just like I motivate the students, and mostly just like making sure the students stay focused and I would like to keep the buildings clean, so the student can have a clean environment and come in and sit in and have lunch. I keep the restrooms clean and make sure the faculty and staff members have that too.

Desmond: Can you tell me little bit how it was growing up in New Orleans
Mr. Smith; When I was growing up in New Orleans, it was ruff, because I grew up in Irish Channel Gordon District area and it was predominately white. An African-American didn’t have a chance back in them days. So, we had to struggle to survive, but as the years went the culture changes and more African-Americans moved into the neighborhood and everything. I grew up in Saint Thomas projects and that was one of the worst projects in the city, but we all survived and in high school it was 11 of us. Nine of us finished high school out df my family and we had support to finish school. I had an older brother named Clearance Smith Sr. He inspired me and gave me my first opportunity to get a job after high school and was my role model. My father died at the early age of 55 of a massive heart attack and my older brother just made sure we stayed inline and fished school and everything. So, I rubbed that off and I coached little league baseball. basketball to try to give back into our community just like here. I try to be successful in what I do. I take pride in my job. When I first started here should have said. I was working in the administration building and if it wasn't for Dr. Francis, he had faith in me. He gave me the encouragement and knowledge and everything .so that’s why I really pass it on to students. I took me a while to get it studied over the years. The more I communicate with students, Things just got better and better and better with students. I can say it was a 90% turn around and the students appreciated the work and it still does.

Desmond: So, what was of your most interesting stories you've experienced here at Xavier?

Mr., Smith: Well a year and half a go the students had nominated for being the most honorable appreciative in the university of Xavier. They had given me an award for it. That was as a thrill to me you know I didn't figure that since I was not a faculty or staff member of the university I'm working for a private contractor, but they said it was well worth it for me to get that award and I appreciate that very much and I will always appreciate it.

Mr. Smith: Because they’re our future you know because so much going on, they say that the black man the black woman can't do this, but the student over they have the capability and I know they will succeed in life and that why I make sure they stay focused and I try to stay on them every day. The good lord gave me the strength to get up out that bed. he blessing me so when I come over here, I try to bring my blessing to the students over to make sure they succeed in life.

Desmond: What's one thing you want to be remembered for here at Xavier university.

Mr: Smith: Keeping the students to make sure they stay focused and that they finish their education that's the most important thing the student’s education at the university of Xavier.

Desmond: One piece of advice you would leave with the students?
Mr. Smith: Stay focused. That's the main word stay focused
Desmond: Mr. smith on behalf of the Xavier community we want to thank you for your hard and kinds words that you give us each day to remain focused. You always help us see that all heroes don’t wear capes.


4:35 (four minutes, thirty-five seconds)


Desmond Goodwin


Dr. Shearon Roberts
Tue, 11 Dec 2018 13:05:50 -0500
<![CDATA[The History of Lincoln Beach]]> https://xulamasscomm.omeka.net/items/show/100


The History of Lincoln Beach


Moving Image


History of Lincoln Beach in New Orleans East.


Describes history of Lincoln Beach, the racial history behind it, and what it looks like 54 years after its closing.


Maiya Muhammad


My Nola My Story via YouTube


Mass Communications Department at Xavier University of Louisiana.


December 5, 2019


My Nola, My Story


My Nola, My Story 2019 Exhibit




Premiere Pro, Video




A Digital Humanities project led by Xavier University of Louisiana's Mass Communication department students, led by Dr. Shearon Roberts.

Original Format


New Orleans, Louisiana, one of America’s greatest cities is known for its rich diverse culture, food, music, and annual celebrations such as Mardi Gras and the Essence Festival. Millions of people visit New Orleans every year to participate in the city’s festivities. This great city has a deep history that is shared with millions around the world, however there are many subjects that are hidden from visitors and natives alike that mask the bittersweet history that lies at the heart of this amazing city.
Lincoln Beach, an area on the Lakefront in New Orleans East, is one of the many unique stories of the city that tends to be forgotten about.
Lincoln Beach served as a beach and amusement park from 1939 to 1965. It was created for African American residents of New Orleans during the Jim-Crow era to keep Blacks out of its sister location, Pontchartrain Beach. Unlike Pontchartrain beach, which was directly in the city closer to black neighborhoods, Lincoln Beach was located 14 miles from the center of the city and inaccessible to public transportation. The beach was separated from Hayne Boulevard by railroad tracks, which required visitors to dodge oncoming trains to make it safely onto the beach. Originally Lincoln beach was not an ideal place for swimming and recreation. It was declared unsafe because of all the raw sewage that was being emptied in the waters surrounding the beach. The city’s sanitations board confirmed these conditions were unsanitary and called for immediate closure of the area.
By 1951 the potential closing of Lincoln Beach caused an uproar in the community, which let to the Mayor and the levee board to announce a $500,000 plan to refurbish the area and make it similar to Pontchartrain beach. Initiatives were taken such as expanding the shore line, adding more swimming pools, amusement attractions, restaurants and building a completely new bath house. On May 8th, 1954, Lincoln Beach was finally complete and despite its far commute from the city, it became a very popular recreational area for African Americans and their families.
Between 1954 to 1964 Lincoln Beach was at its prime. It also became the main attraction for musical performers such as Nat King Cole, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Little Richard and local artists like Fats Domino, Louis Armstrong, Irma Thomas, and Papa Celestin.
During the Civil Rights act of 1964, Federal courts ordered to end discrimination on public lands and amusement parks. This resulted in Pontchartrain Beach becoming integrated and Lincoln Beach being shut down immediately. Today Lincoln Beach is desolate and abandoned. The area is neglected and has become a thing of the past. Although the area is not the same as it once was, the memories that were created there will forever have an impact on the great city of New Orleans.


3:24 ( three minutes, twenty-four seconds)




Maiya Muhammad


Maiya Muhammad
Tue, 12 Nov 2019 10:46:31 -0500