Three years ago, filmmaker Spike Lee and CNN reporter Soledad O’Brien gave video cameras to several New Orleans teens to document their lives in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Brandon Franklin, saxophonist for To Be Continued Brass Band, was one of those children. (2:38 mark) He survived the floodwaters and went on to become a young father and a beloved and widely respected musician and teacher. He was gunned down on Mother’s Day this year at the age of 22.

Although TBC has been one of my favorite brass bands for years, I didn’t know Brandon very well and had only hung out with him a few times in the weeks just prior to his death. Yet writing an article about the loss of this young man has been one of the most difficult assignments I’ve ever faced, harder in some ways even than reporting from Ground Zero after Hurricane Katrina. Before the levee breaches, folks in New Orleans joked after every storm, somewhat morbidly, about how we dodged a bullet, ‘The Big One’ that would surely one day hit and fill our bowl-shaped city with water. Five years after surviving a near fatal wound we, the ‘resilient’ ones, have finally turned a corner in the recovery of our city. But we’re also still dodging bullets that threaten to take out what we’ve fought so vigilantly these last five years to save - a future for New Orleans. We all must commit ourselves to addressing this threat if we’re truly going to redeem this city. Brandon’s story serves as a testimony to what’s worth saving in New Orleans and a portending of darker days should we fail to heed its warning.

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8:30-11:30am: ‘Bravery, Strength, Resilience’
Memorial Celebration Will begin at The Lower Nine Monument, Tennessee St. at N. Claiborne.  United States Congresswoman Maxine Waters to serve as keynote speaker.

10:00am-6:00pm: 5th Annual Katrina Commemoration March
Healing Ceremony located at Jourdan Road and North Galvez at the levee breach in the Lower 9th Ward. March starts immediately after reading of names, going down Claiborne Ave ending at Hunter’s Field (St. Bernard Ave. at Claiborne Ave).

* video courtesy of Lisa Palumbo

This Saturday, Aug. 28 brings the 5th annual Rising Tide, the lively day-long discussion put together after the storm by New Orleans bloggers at home and away …

After the flood that followed Hurricane Katrina’s landfall, the internet became a vital connection among dispersed New Orleanians, former New Orleanians, friends of the city and of the Gulf Coast region. A surge of new blogs erupted and, combined with those that were already online, a community of bloggers with a shared interest in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast developed. In the summer of 2006, after the success of the first Geek Dinner, and to mark the anniversary of the flood, the newly formed NOLA Bloggers organized the first Rising Tide Conference, taking their shared interest in technology, the internet and social media and turning advocacy for the city into action.

This year’s event (held at the Howlin’ Wolf) has a great lineup of speakers, starting with the keynoter: Mac McClelland of Mother Jones, who has been doing a spectacular, skeptical kickass job reporting on the oil disaster. Other panelists include NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas; Gambit’s Clancy DuBos (if you want your chance to hear Clancy use his full vocabulary, this is it); The Times-Picayune’s excellent columnist Stephanie Grace and equally excellent TV Ranger Dave Walker; Tulane criminologist Peter Scharf; and many more. Topics include public safety, politics, the environment, HBO’s Treme and “Why Can’t We Get Some Dam Safety in New Orleans?”.

Gambit is pleased to sponsor the event. Tickets are only $25 and can be purchased in advance here.

The Valley Of Silent Men kick off second line season tomorrow. Small club, discreet… just what you need to ease you back into the groove.

VALLEY OF SILENT MEN S&P CLUB 25TH ANNIVERSARY PARADE
SUNDAY, AUGUST 22, 2010 1-5pm

Start: Club S&S, 2600 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Down MLK to S. Liberty. Left on S. Liberty.

Stop: Dorothy’s Lounge, 1739 S. Liberty. Up S. Liberty to Felicity. Left on Felicity to Simon Bolivar. Right on Simon Bolivar to Jackson Ave. Left on Jackson Ave. to S. Saratoga.

Pause: Tribute to the late Ja’Shawn Powell. Don Jackson Ave. to Danneel.

Stop: Single Ladies S&PC. Up Jackson Ave. to Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. Left on OCH to St. Andrew. Right on St. Andrew.

Stop: Uncle P’s Barbeque., 1718 St. Andrew (20 minutes). Right on Brainard to Philip St. Right on Philip St. to Baronne St. Up Baronne St. to Second St. Right on Second St.

Stop: Sportsman’s Lounge, 2433 Dryades St. Back on Second Street to Danneel St. Left on Danneel St.

Stop: Bean Bros Lounge, 2601 Danneel St. Up Danneel St. to Washington Ave. Back on Washington Ave. to S. Rocheblave St.

Stop: Tapp’s Lounge, 2800 S. Rocheblave St. (20 minutes). Back on Washington Ave. to S. Dorgenois St. Right on S. Dorgenois St. to Martin Luther King Blvd. Right on MLK to S. Galvez St.

Stop: Ladies of Perseverance Social & Pleasure Club. Out MLK.

Disband: Club S&S, 2600 Martin Luther King Blvd.

Dirty Linen Night is on Saturday, and the second Saturday of the month also brings art gallery openings in the St. Claude Avenue corridor. Barrister’s Gallery opens a photography show titled “Los Invisibles: Latino Immigrants Who Rebuilt New Orleans.” It includes the Craig Morse photo (right), “Carousel of Democracy.” Other downtown galleries opening new shows include Good Children and The Front. In the French Quarter, galleries and stores on Royal Street open from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. for Dirty Linen Night.