In addition to prominent local politicians and cultural figures such as mayor Ray Nagin, Governor Kathleen Blanco, and Archbishop Alfred Hughes, supporters from outside the area came to the city to participate in events and show their support for efforts to rebuild in the Gulf.Organized by a coalition of national and local groups calling for a Katrina Bill of Rights, a rally/presentation at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center was the centerpiece of "A Day of Presence," a campaign to promote a 5-point "call to action" urging increased government assistance in region's recovery and restoration.
For a detailed overview of the tone and breadth of some of the day's events, see the Times-Picayune's Communities gather for prayers, protests under national spotlight.Anniversary events will continue throughout the rest of the week and into the weekend, culminating in is planned to be a spectacular rally promoted by the African-American Leadership Project, with participants gathering hand-in-hand to encircle the SuperDome.
THE BLACK COLLEGIAN dispatched our own NOLASon (aka TBC contributor and former Black College Wire writer Shawn Chollete) to scour the town this week, observing the memorials and talking with area students about their feelings and plans for commemorating the anniversary.
Shawn's a freelance journalist working and living in New Orleans, whose previous articles for us include "Black Students’ Political Clout in ’06 and Beyond," “New Orleans’ HBCUs Fight to Recover," "Today's Black Collegians," and features and photographs in the special section, "After Katrina: Starting over in New Orleans”.He'll be posting his observations and images from About Town here on the blog throughout the week (including the photos here of an afternoon performance and of Mayor Nagin speaking at the Day of Presence Rally at the Convention Center), and we invite others to do the same.
