My last post was about the community activists and leaders I interviewed during a meeting of the Gulf Coast Sustainable Communities Network. As I listened to these interviews I was reminded of these comments by Lisa Jackson, U.S. EPA Administrator, at an Environmental Justice Town Hall Meeting in January. A cameraman for my documentary TURKEY CREEK videotaped the event .

I heard this week that EPA is sponsoring “Faces of the Grassroots: Environmental Justice Video Contest.” I hope the EPA is flooded with media from communities that too rarely have the opportunity to have their message heard.

Rev. Richard Earl Young of Moss Point, Miss.

This weekend in Moss Point, Mississippi, I videotaped interviews with sixteen community leaders and activists from coastal Alabama (Coden), Louisiana (Terrebonne and Lafourche Parish) and Mississippi (East Biloxi, Lucedale and Moss Point). Excerpts from these interviews will be posted on an interactive map of the Gulf Coast on The Bridge Project Website, which is in development.

The interviewees represent some of the rich diversity of the coast: African Americans, Native Americans, Cajuns and new immigrants. They are all members of the Gulf Coast Sustainable Communities Network (SCN) and they came together for a workshop about using video and visual storytelling in their work. It was an intense two days, full of stories about communities in jeopardy, but told by people who are determined to work for positive change.

While the interviews focused on the strides being made by community organizations to revitalize the Gulf Coast, a sad theme emerged in the multiple stories about the ongoing impact of Katrina: toxic industrial pollution churned up by the storm is an invisible menace that many suspect is causing illness; countless people are still living in temporary housing and have been unable to access insurance or government assistance; post-traumatic stress causes anxiety and panic attacks; and there have been too many funerals in the last five years, including funerals for leaders like Pam Dashiell, who so many depended on as a visionary and advocate.

Despite everything they’ve been through, this is an enthusiastic and inspiring group, and people were excited by the opportunity to learn and apply new skills. While I was doing interviews, members of New Orleans Video Voices and 2-Cent Entertainment were leading a workshop where SCN members got hands-on experience videotaping interviews, editing, creating blogs and uploading videos.

Stay tuned to see the projects that come out of this event.

Media trainers Lily Keber, Kevin Griffin and Michele Burton-Otis, from New Orleans Video Voices and 2-Cent Entertainment

ISC members in coastal Louisiana in 2009

THE BRIDGE PROJECT, a digital initiative that grew out of the TURKEY CREEK documentary, will be in Moss Point Feb. 26 & 27, 2010. Video interviews will be recorded with members of the Gulf Coast Sustainable Communities Network (SCN). The video footage will be provided to the interviewees, the network and The Bridge Project. Excerpts of the interviews will be posted on The Bridge Project interactive map along with photos and text provided by the storytellers. MORE…

Derrick Evans and Bishop James Black with the KatrinaRitaVille Express in Coden, Alabama.

It has been a busy time as the post-production of TURKEY CREEK has gone into high gear and the development of The Bridge Project has become a major focus.

I have been working with the Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health to lay the groundwork for The Bridge Project. In July I met with advisors and grantees of the Fund during a convening in Alabama. I joined representatives of more than 60 social and environmental justice community groups from Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas for two days of collaborative education and advocacy for gulf coast human rights and community renewal. These groups were convened by The Gulf Coast Fund, the Gulf States Human Rights Working Group and the Gulf Coast Fellowships for Community Transformation.

We visited organizations and projects supported by the Gulf Coast Fund in Mobile, Coden and Bayou La Batre. The tour was accompanied by the  KatrinaRitaVille Express FEMA Trailer, which has logged over 30,000 miles to carry diverse community voices and recovery lessons from the Gulf Coast to the American public.

We visited the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic just days after President Obama nominated its founder, Dr. Regina Benjamin, as U.S. Surgeon General.

“We know the problems in the Gulf Coast didn’t start or end with Hurricane Katrina – that those problems were highlighted and then came more into the national news after the hurricane … The Gulf Coast can be a catalyst for change in this country. We’re beginning to see that with people here in the Gulf Coast coming together, crisscrossing issues. You know, we’ve had a tendency in history and within our work to defend our issue. We defend environmental justice. We defend housing. We defend youth rights. We are building a movement of the Gulf Coast that brings all these different issues, brings different communities, brings different races together. Even brings different regions and states together to really fight for that change that we’re about.”

– Genaro Rendon, Gulf Coast Fund Advisory Group

With input from these networks of organizations, we are working to create a digital storytelling resource that will contribute to a just, sustainable future for the Gulf Coast.

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Derrick Evans and the KatrinaRitaVille Express at FEMA headquarters on June 1

Coast activists take demands to D.C.
Sun Herald Washington Bureau June 1, 2009

WASHINGTON — With a FEMA trailer strategically parked across the street, a coalition of Gulf Coast activists stood outside FEMA headquarters at the start of hurricane season Monday to demand Hurricane Katrina rebuilding and to protest the latest deadline for eviction of about 5,000 residents from FEMA trailers …

Read the full article

Katrina Victims Will Not Have to Vacate Trailers
New York Times June 3, 2009

Hurricane Katrina victims around the Gulf Coast who were told to vacate their temporary trailers by the end of May will instead be allowed to buy them for $5 or less, White House officials announced on Wednesday …

Read the full article

Turkey Creek rose

In March I learned that the W. K. Kellogg Foundation will be making a grant to support “Turkey Creek” and the launch of The Bridge Project. I’ll be posting something soon about what this will mean, but for now I’m running off to Louisiana to participate in a meeting of the Gulf Coast Sustainable Communities Network, where I’ll be showing work in a mini film festival and leading a workshop that will kick off The Bridge project. I’m including text from a press release below. I’ll be driving to Mississippi after the event and visiting Turkey Creek for the first time in a while. More when I return …

Gulf Coast Sustainable Communities Network to Convene in Plaquemines Parish May 13-15
Local groups to host community organizations from across the Gulf Coast for site visits, workshop on digital storytelling, reception and film fest.

Plaquemines Parish, LA May 8, 2009—  More than 4 dozen community leaders from some of the most vulnerable coastal communities from Alabama to Texas will convene May 13-15  in Plaquemines Parish, LA for discussions, tours and presentations focused on creating healthier, more sustainable communities.  The meeting is being convened by the Institute for Sustainable Communities, and hosted in partnership with the Committee for Plaquemines Recovery, Grand Bayou Families United, Woodlands Trail and Parks, and Zion Travelers Cooperative Center.
The participants in the Network are leaders from community-based organizations who are coming together to learn from one another, develop new strategies, and access ideas, information and resources to make their communities stronger and more resilient.  Participating organizations are from Coden, AL; East Biloxi, Lucedale, Moss Point and North Gulfport, MS; Iberville, Lafourche, Plaquemines, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne Parishes and the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, LA; and Port Arthur, TX.
The Sustainable Communities Network, which was launched at a kick-off meeting in North Gulfport, MS in February 2009, is addressing issues of community and environmental stewardship by engaging people in a way that is practical and relevant to their daily concerns about health, affordability and economic security – and to give them the tools to make a difference.  The Network convenes quarterly.  Meetings rotate among the different network communities and will incorporate tours and site visits to local projects, speakers and training workshops.

The May 13-15 meeting will include site visits to several communities in Plaquemines Parish (Grand Bayou, Port Sulphur, Phoenix-Bohemia, and Belle Chasse) and a workshop with documentary filmmaker Leah Mahan on digital storytelling as a tool for community development.  A reception and documentary film mini-festival will feature welcome remarks by Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser.  Leah Mahan will screen her documentary “Holding Ground” and two works-in-progress: “Turkey Creek” and a sequel to “Holding Ground” and discuss her new digital initiative aimed at helping Gulf Coast communities tell their own stories.  Reverend Tyronne Edwards will show scenes from the documentary produced by his organization the Zion Travelers Cooperative Center in Plaquemines Parish “The Forgotten People:  Restoring the Missing Segment of Plaquemines Parish History.”
The following have generously provided donations for the Plaquemines Parish meeting:  Dominoes Belle Chasse, Grand Bayou Families United, Holiday Inn New Orleans West Bank, Home Depot Marrero, Lowes of Harvey, Ocean Chef Catering LLC, Save a Lot #367, Plaquemines Starbucks, Starbucks Westbank, Starbucks Harvey, Wal-Mart #1163 of Algiers, and Zion Travelers Cooperative Center.

Founded in 1991 by former Vermont governor Madeleine M. Kunin, the Institute for Sustainable Communities has managed 70 projects in 19 countries.  ISC forged a close partnership with Moss Point, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina – helping local leaders rebuild a stronger, healthier city and working with community organizations and citizens to provide the critical civic leadership that will reduce the vulnerability of their communities to future crises.  The Sustainable Communities Network is made possible with funding from the Nathan Cummings Foundation,  from NRG Systems in Vermont, and from an anonymous donor.

Contact:  Betty Weiss (202) 441-4931
bweiss@iscvt.org or
Nicole Hewitt (917) 364-7827
nhewitt@iscvt.org

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Howard died July 30, 2003, one year after the 2002 “P.O.V.” broadcast of SWEET OLD SONG. During that year he and Barbara performed at several screenings and Howard was able to return to his home state of Tennessee to receive the Governor’s Award in the Arts.

Here are some of the screenings of SWEET OLD SONG and events celebrating Howard’s legacy this year. Watch this site for updates.

International Film Festival on Aging in San Francisco

Feb. 20 - SAN FRANCISCO, CA SWEET OLD SONG screened at the Castro Theatre, during the First International Film Festival on Aging.

March 2 to May 2 PBS “P.O.V.” Web site will stream SWEET OLD SONG and post appreciations on the blog

March 4 - WASHINGTON, DC A flag will be flown over the U.S. Capitol in honor of Howard’s birthday. This was arranged through the office of U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander.

March 6 - LA FOLLETTE, TN A birthday party for Howard, including a special screening of SWEET OLD SONG, with never before seen outtakes of the film, will be followed by birthday cake at the First Baptist Church in La Follette, TN. Local residents will share stories about life in the factory town where Howard lived with his parents and eight siblings.

Terry Wells at Howard's Birthday Party in La Follette

March 13 - LA FOLLETTE, TN A performance of Between a Ballad and a Blues will be presented at 7pm at La Follette Middle School. This work by the Carpetbag Theatre Ensemble celebrates Howard’s life, music and stories.

March 22 - NASHVILLE, TN A screening of SWEET OLD SONG at the Country Music Hall of Fame at 2pm. Made possible in part by “P.O.V.,” in partnership with Nashville Public Television. Howard performed here in 2002 when the film was released.

At the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2002

Country Music Hall of Fame, 2009

April 18-26 - SEATTLE, WA SWEET OLD SONG will be shown during the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival.

June 13 - CARYVILLE, TN Screening of SWEET OLD SONG at the 3rd annual Louie Bluie Music and Arts Festival at Cove Lake State Park. Featuring musicians who knew and performed with Howard including guitarist Bruce Millard (with the band Hokum’s Heroes) bluesman Guy Davis and folklorist and musician Sparky Rucker. There will also be a performance of Between a Ballad and a Blues.

Click here for John Cephas’ obituary and here for the Cephas and Wiggins Web site and keep the music alive.