The videos and pictures that I took in New Orleans using my Nokia N80 can be viewed on the link listed below.I will be uploading more videos and images over the next few days.
SweetSoul.org
Here are the pictures that I took during my trip to Xavier University in New Orleans, hope you enjoy.
• Yonatan’s Flickr Photos
I spent the day working on Ruth’s Story Booth Project with Jeff. I also helped a few students understand how to create a Wordpress website, purchase a domain name and set up a web-hosting account with any web-hosting company. I then did some sightseeing in Xavier University and the surrounding neighborhood with Jeff and Patricia before going out for a wonderful dinner with the rest of team to celebrate our week at Xavier University.
I truly look forward to being an active participant in any future collaboration between Xavier University and NYU. I enjoyed every second I was there and this entire trip helped ignite a passion for teaching in me. I thank for Marianne and Sean for allowing me to be part of this truly wonderful experience as well Trish, Michelle, Ron and all my wonderful students at Xavier University.
I spent the day teaching the following classes from noon to five o’clock:
Compressing & Uploading Audio and Video (Megan MacMurry & myself)
Compressing & Uploading Audio and Video (Steven Jackson & Caleb Clark and myself)
I then spent the rest of the day working on Ruth’s Story Booth Project with Jeff and Roy.
I spent Wednesday morning at the Porch Project. The Porch Project is located at 1653 North Robinson in the Lower 7th Ward. I was there with a few classmates and we spent the entire morning clearing out a community garden in the rain. It was so amazing to finally get my hands dirty after spending a day teaching in the media lab. Even in the rain, it felt good to be doing something with so many other volunteers from all parts of the US. We helped build a small community garden, which the organizers are hoping will be used to not only grow produce, but also to provide the community with an alternative income source.
I then went back to Xavier University, in my muddy shoes, to teach my Video Editing Class with Paris from 1:00 to 2:40. After the class, I went with Caleb, Megan and Cat to the Nena Community Center, which is located in the Lower 9th Ward. There I had the pleasure of meeting with Linda Jackson, the volunteer Coordinator, as well as Dr. Robinson of the Stern School who was helping the organization research grant applications. I introduced Dr. Robinson to everyone, and I look forward to having him come to Xavier University to not only see what we are doing, but also find out if there can be any cross-collaboration between our team and his.
After the meeting, I, along with the rest of the NYU team, went to the Xavier University Center hall to attend a panel discussion about the Mardi Gras Indians. I had the chance to learn more about the history about the Mardi Gras Indians and even saw a few of them perform.
The most interesting part was when one man stood up and put everyone in check about the fact that they were not addressing one of the most critical issues facing them and the city: the fact that the displaced people are not coming back to New Orleans.
The man, whose name I was not able to find out, spoke from his heart about how it pains him to not see any children playing around his neighborhood anymore. He asked a question that so many were unable to answer: “Where are the black children of this city?”
The audience sat in silence as he told everyone that without these children to pass on the Mardi Gras tradition and culture, in a few years they, the Mardi Gras Indians, will be nothing more than a memory. I sat there in awe of this man who was able to call-out everyone on stage, and in the audience, for not addressing this critical issue that his city faces: where are all the displaced people who made this city what it is … with his words still stinging in everyone’s hearts, he walked out into the hallway and I followed him out.
Class schedule:
Basic Audio Recording & Editing 12:15-1:15 (Roy Vanegas and myself)
Basic Video Recording & Editing (Paris Marashi & myself)
I spent the better part of Monday night prepping for my classes. I was a bit nervous, but once I meet my students, and we started to talk about NYU and life in the big city, I felt very comfortable and had a great first class. I was quite impressed with the students. They were asking me questions and were very interested in how they could incorporate what I taught them into projects they were currently working on.
For the Audio class, Roy and I taught the students using Audacity, an open source audio editor. I loaded a few songs into each machine so that they had some audio to work with. We spoke about the various forms of audio formats, and how they can be used. We then spent the rest of the class showing the students how to import and edit the files.
For the Video Recording class, I loaded the machines with some video and audio files that I created because I was not sure that they would have any footage to work on. I taught them how to record video files, import them into an editing platform, and then compress them so that they can be exported. The students were a joy to work with, and I was able to share more information with them than I expected because they were very quick learners.
After class I taught a few students about Wordpress and other video related issues. It was quite an amazing first day, maybe I was meant to be a teacher after all.
We landed in New Orleans. After a few hours of rest at the hotel, we went over to Dillard University to meet with the various community organizations we would be working with. We were also able to meet with students from both Dillard and Xavier. These students had been volunteering for the past semester so they knew exactly what needed to be done, and it was our job to help them. We gave a presentation about how our ideas could possibly be incorporated into some of the community groups’ ongoing projects. We also spoke for some time with the students as well as the professors, and I was truly excited about accomplishing as much as possible within the next week.
I will be volunteering my time at the Lower 9th Ward Homeowners Association, The Porch as well as the Storybooth project. I will also be teaching six classes with my fellow classmates and am sure it will go well. I’m a bit nervous because this will be my first time teaching undergraduates, and I just want to make sure I am as prepared as possible.
The classes will last at least two hours each, and thankfully they will be taught in teams of two, so if I ever stumble, I can depend on my fellow classmate to help bail me out. I am truly impressed with the enthusiasm of the students and it seems that even with all the adversity these students and the administration have faced, they will do whatever it takes to rebuild their school and communities, and all I want to do is help in anyway possible.
We had our first group meeting with Marianne and Shawn. It was very productive. Marianne and Shawn gave us a list of all the possible community organizations that we could work with, and possible ideas of what we may be able to accomplish within the week in New Orleans.
We will have two objectives: the first is to teach undergraduates at the Art Center at Xavier University, the second is to help community organizations build their online presences using Wordpress blogs. We will also be teaching the organizations on how they can update and modify the sites.
We discussed possible subjects to teach in the classes and I informed everyone that I would like to teach video editing, audio stuff, and basically anything that they think is needed. I just want to help in anyway shape or form. I truly am excited to help in my own way because of the guilt that lingers in my heart from not having done anything, besides donating money, when the levees broke.
I remember watching the news when the levees broke. I remember watching families, who shared my skin tone, on the rooftops of their homes, begging for the helicopters to come and rescue them. I remember how powerless I felt not being to help. Here I was thousands of miles away, and all I could do was donate money, and yet that didn’t ease away the guilt I felt from not being able to do anything to help.
I felt so much anger and hate for a government that would just wait idly as its own citizens suffered. I felt anger in ways words could never describe, because I knew that the government — or perhaps better yet, this current administration — really didn’t care about these poor black citizens. They didn’t care if these citizens were the elderly, who were dying of exhaustion. They didn’t care if they were babies, who had just entered this world only to suffer the ultimate betrayal by a government that states, in its constitution, that all of its citizens are created equal. This was the day that I realized that, as a man of color, I could never (and will never) depend on this government for anything. I know that in those fateful days America — or better yet, the Republican administration under Bush — showed its true colors to its citizens and to the world.
Great news! I’ve been selected to participate in the ITP / Xavier University Digital Story Telling Collaboration project in New Orleans during the week of spring break. I truly am excited about this opportunity and can’t wait to help out in anyway I can.
Marianne and Shawn selected a great group of students, who bring an assortment of skill sets so this trip should be interesting, and hopefully memorable.