The Soul of New Orleans

It's pretty much the best place on earth.  Everyone says, “hey, how you doing?” to you when you walk by.  There’s a second line for any occasion, happy, sad, good or bad.  Drinking at noon is perfectly acceptable, if not encouraged.  Randomly, the water is cut off because it's deemed undrinkable, so no one goes to work, and everyone just drinks beer instead.  It's almost never cold.  Almost.  But when it's hot, it's damn hot.  But it's okay because you're the weird one only if you're not sweating.  And no one really cares that you’re sweaty, anyway.  Laissez les bon temps rouler pretty much rules the day.  Everyone loves life, some love life a little too much.  Dressing up like a ninja turtle just because it's Tuesday is fine.  I've done it.

New Orleans has soul. Living here is to never want to leave.  But, while the city brings so much joy, she’ll break your heart if you let her.  She’ll bring you to your knees.  Homelessness, joblessness, substance abuse and a broken public school system are blanket terms that don’t even begin to describe this city’s scars.  

The United States incarcerates a greater amount of its citizens than any other country in the world.  Of all fifty states, Louisiana is the Queen of lock-up.  The city with the highest percentage of its population behind bars in this great state, now that’s New Orleans.  

And yet, you can’t help but love it here.  Despite the pain, the corruption, the gut-wrenching sadness, there is hope.  The people of New Orleans are filled with the stuff.  That’s what will keep you here; defending children, defending the poor, defending New Orleans.  

Stephanie Poucher