A Look Back

A Look Back: One Book ’08

Our 2008 reading selection was City of Refuge by Tom Piazza.  For those of you who have not read it, City of Refuge is the fictional story of two New Orleans families set in the days of Katrina and the months following. The book was selected based on our belief that the struggles, recovery, and resilience of its characters reflect the deep human understanding that we share now as New Orleanians.

As was done in every other One Book One New Orleans program, we donated over one thousand books to the community. Courtesy of Shell, copies of City of Refuge were donated to Delgado Community College – GED program; Hispanic Apostolate ESL Program; Hope House Adult Learning Center; YMCA Educational Services; Youth Empowerment Project; St. Vincent de Paul Adult Learning Center; Jefferson Parish Adult Education; Even Start Family Learning Center; St. Bernard Adult Education; St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church; New Orleans Job Corps; Urban League of Greater New Orleans; the Neighborhood Story Project; YMCA River Parishes; Ozanam Inn; Dillard University First Year Experience; University of New Orleans Classic Upward Bound; University of New Orleans (graduate class in Curriculum and Instruction); New Orleans Public Library; Jefferson, St. Bernard, St. Charles, and St. Tammany Parish Libraries; and the volunteers and Americorps coordinators at our Habitat for Humanity event.

Our events were planned with the characters of City of Refuge in mind. There was “Wesley’s Coming of Age,” in which Retired Chief Criminal District Court Judge Calvin Johnson, George Johnson of Dillard University, and Philip and Keith Frazier of the Rebirth Brass Band discussed the topic of growing up as a black male in New Orleans. Laura Klein, a teacher with Literacy*AmeriCorps New Orleans (LACNOLA), wrote about her experience at the event in LACNOLA’s AmeriWord newsletter: “The afternoon started off with the panelists sharing their personal stories and soon transformed into a large-group discussion on the topic of African American youth in New Orleans. The participants included folks of varying races, genders, ethnicities, and ages, and everyone seemed to have something to bring to the table, whether it was a simple question or a lengthy theory about what we need to do for our youth.” This is what I took home with me from an afternoon of discussion on gender, race, and other issues in the city: Change happens slowly and through one-on-one relationships. If we all work towards equality on a one-to-one basis instead of becoming discouraged by a seemingly insurmountable task, so much can be accomplished, both in the worlds of literacy and in society as a whole.” 

“SJ’s Hammer” was a day of volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. Tom Piazza joined One Book volunteers to pick up where City of Refuge leaves off. About eight hours later, the ceiling of a porch in the Musicians’ Village was put in place, the overhang around the house was ready to be enclosed, fresh paint was on the walls, the foundations of two houses were topped off with sand, and new friends were made.

At the Southern Food & Beverage Museum, Ralph Brennan and author Sara Roahen gave their take on the role of food and beverage in the identities of residents of Greater New Orleans. Sara Roahen also treated us to reading from her must-read book, Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table.

“Annie’s Home” was a children’s community art project inspired by Annie Donaldson, the little girl in City of Refuge who is about 7 years old and who has a knack for the arts and a love of New Orleans. Children from around Greater New Orleans helped build an 8-foot fleur de lis neighborhood by decorating milk cartons. It was our play on rebuilding New Orleans.

We held “Annie’s Home” events at the Main Branch of the New Orleans Public Library, Jefferson Parish East and West Bank Regional Libraries, the Big Top’s Friday Night Music Camp, Blue Cypress Books, the Arts Market of New Orleans–where the New Orleans Hornets donated children’s books by the case, and last but not least Even Start Family Literacy Center.

Even Start serves both parents and their young children by integrating four components into their program: early childhood education, adult literacy education, parenting education, and parent and child interactive literacy activities. Literacy* AmeriCorps member Caroline Warburton wrote in AmeriWord: “One afternoon, during Parent and Child Time, we dug into our bin of milk carton houses, glitter glue, sequins, and astro turf and began creating an Even Start version of Annie’s Home. Though our moms were a little hesitant at first, they ended up really jumping in and creating a true New Orleans neighborhood. It was full of shotguns, camelback houses, and ‘cozy’ spaces between each home. A church and a school popped up immediately as soon as the houses were down, followed quickly by two playgrounds. As someone who is still learning about New Orleans and the areas that surround it, this project was a neat way for me to see my students’ impressions of what a New Orleans neighborhood is and what they would most like it to be.” Even Start’s contribution forms the center of the fleur de lis.

In light of Tom Piazza’s post-Katrina work, Why New Orleans Matters, we visited the St. Bernard Community Center in Arabi to hear from St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro, St. Bernard Parish Historian Dr. William Hyland, and author Michelle Buuck about “Why St. Bernard Matters.” Michelle Buuck also read some moving passages from her book, The St. Bernard Fire Department in Hurricane Katrina, which captures the experiences of St. Bernard’s first responders during the hurricane, to illustrate her answer about why St. Bernard matters most: its people.

Finally, Tom Piazza closed out our 2008 program at Loyola University with a reading from City of Refuge. From the brave reading of Piazza’s introduction by an adult literacy student, to the cross-section of New Orleanians in the audience, to Piazza’s lively reading and thoughtful book-signing, it was a special way to end our program. Tom has since visited a number of the Literacy Alliance’s adult learning programs. His absolute and gracious support was a tremendous benefit for our 2008 project; thanks Tom!