The State of New Orleans Culture: 20 Years After Katrina on August 28

On Thursday, August 28, The Ella Project presents The State of New Orleans Culture: 20 Years After Katrina, a public panel discussion from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the New Orleans Jazz Museum, moderated by journalist and documentarian Lolis Eric Elie.

“Hurricane Katrina changed New Orleans and the nation in profound ways,” says moderator Lolis Eric Elie. “Still many of the potential lessons of our historic levee failures have not been learned. We hope that this panel discussion will provide an opportunity both to reflect on our Katrina experience and chart a path forward through the disasters and opportunities to come.”

This panel discussion will explore how artists and culture bearers have helped carry the city forward through disaster, recovery, and a rapidly changing landscape - while facing mounting challenges such as gentrification, affordable housing, the insurance crisis, the pandemic, and more.

“This conversation is critical to identifying ways in which both the public and private sectors can align resources towards the very people who comprise what makes our beloved City so authentically only-in-New Orleans,”  says Ashlye Keaton, co-founder of The Ella Project.”

The evening begins with a reception from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m., followed by the panel discussion from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the museum’s third-floor performance space. The event is free and open to the public, and will be livestreamed in partnership with the New Orleans Jazz Museum.

Moderator

Lolis Eric Elie – Journalist and documentarian

Panelists

●       Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes – Musician; Big Chief of the Northside Skull and Bone Gang; former park ranger, biology teacher, and NFL player

●       Edward Jackson – Founding member and bandleader, To Be Continued Brass Band

●       Tamara Jackson – President, Social Aid & Pleasure Club Task Force and the VIP Ladies & Kids; Executive Director, Silence is Violence

●       Fred Johnson – Director, Neighborhood Development Foundation; founding member, Black Men of Labor; former spy boy, Yellow Pocahontas Mardi Gras Indians

●       Jordan Hirsch – Writer and researcher focused on New Orleans music and cultural history; editor of ACloserWalkNola.com; founding director of Sweet Home New Orleans

●       Delfeayo Marsalis – Grammy-winning producer, trombonist, NEA Jazz Master; founder, Uptown Jazz Orchestra and Uptown Music Theatre

●       Big Chief Howard Miller – Chief of Creole Wild West; President, Mardi Gras Indian Council; veteran carpenter

TO RSVP, please click here.