As we head into the last day of this week's Hurricane Katrina anniversary remembrances in New Orleans, our roving reporter NOLASon is on his way to what promises to be the most spectacular in a whirlwind of events and actions somber and inspirational, angering and reflective, uplifting and mournful.
THE BLACK COLLEGIAN encourages everyone in the area to head on down to the "HANDS AROUND THE DOME CEREMONY" this afternoon, with a full schedule of civic and cultural events programming starting at 12:30 PM, culminating in the Circling of the Dome at 3:30 PM.
Organized by the African American Leadership Project, the HADC intends to symbolize "healing from the suffering and losses, and affirmation of the future." The program consists of rituals, prayers, brief speeches, cultural events, reflections, music and song, and reading a partial roll of the deceased. To close the program, participants form a powerful and dramatic hand to hand human circle around the Dome as each person calls out and names their loss."When that circle is formed reflecting a diversity of human hands, and the Dome is surrounded and encircled, there is a dramatic feeling that we are together, and that we will prevail no matter what has happened," said Gail Glapion, AALP Chairperson.
The AALP Project Manager, Mtangulizi Sanyika, continued, "We try to overcome the pain and suffering that occurred in this building which along with the Convention Center has become symbolic of the general pain and suffering caused by human error and neglect during Katrina."For the AALP this year's Ceremony as the closing and "crowning event" of the 2nd Katrina Anniversary Observance and commemoration.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1st
LOUISIANA SUPERDOME PLAZA LEVEL (click for map)
Read the AALP release from NewOrleansAgenda.com
ABOUT THE IMAGES HERE
Top - Louisiana Superdome from AALP/NewOrleansAgenda.com release; Middle and Bottom - Two extraordinary views of the damaged Superdome immediately after the hurricane, from a photo essay by a then-student journalist Nikki Bannister called "Welcome to New Orleans". The photo essay was part of a special collaborative project by Black College Wire, THE BLACK COLLEGIAN, and IMDiversity.com, Hurricane Katrina - Views from America's HBCUs. It appeared as an extended online/offline feature in the First Semester 2005 Super Issue of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine. For larger, uncropped versions of the images, see the essay.
