by Sam Winston

The event to take place in New Orleans this weekend has gotten the most attention recently because of the tiff between host Tavis Smiley and Barack Obama over whether or not Obama should attend. The backlash on Smiley’s rejection of Obama’s offer to send his wife Michelle in his place while he campaigns in Ohio and Texas reflects another one of the inner-tensions in the black community and among its leaders over Obama’s bid for the presidency.

Smiley’s problems started early this month after he invited Obama to speak at the State of the Black Union, an event Smiley founded nine years ago. Held annually during Black History Month and broadcast by C-Span, the event gathers a Who’s Who of black intellectuals, pundits, activists, entertainers and politicians to discuss and brainstorm about where black America is and where it is headed. This year’s topic is “Reclaiming Our Democracy, Deciding Our Future.”

Below the fold are a list of people that will be speaking at the event, including several Louisiana and New Orleans figures. Read the rest of this entry »

These past four years, I’ve taught a class where elementary-aged public school kids learn to program beats on drum machines and pen original lyrics, plus write hilariously mean reviews of albums by New Orleans artists, which Gambit Weekly has been kind enough to publish. This teaching job’s part time nature has allowed me to, in my abundant spare time, chase my dream of becoming a professional author and freelance journalist. But this week I dumped both vocations; after seven years as a New Orleans bohemian, I finally caved and took a full-time job as assistant editor of a Metairie-based trade magazine that details the coin-operated game industry: pinball machines, video poker, crane games, etc. Read the rest of this entry »

This year, Ash Wednesday happened to fall on my 34^th birthday, which was the only reason I agreed to play at Balcony Music Club (ex-El Matador) on what is traditionally and officially the most un-fun day of the year. The other three Bywater/Marigny bands and the scruffy 60-person crowd they conjured (miraculous for Ash Wednesday) are often called “Circus People,” though I’ve yet to see most of them do any tricks, outside of playing open chords on acoustic guitars. Others call this genre of person, “hobohemians”. If they begged for money (which they don’t; they play music for free drinks and beer money) they’d be called “gutterpunks”. A hilarious friend of mine refers to this clique Read the rest of this entry »

by Sam Winston

A few quick points after watching Barack Obama’s speech yesterday in New Orleans on the web…

- Whoever said that Obama was not policy specific or vague was wrong when it came to his New Orleans speech. From deadline numbers on the Road Home program, to teachers to student ratios to hospital rebuilding policies to FEMA directors, his speech was laced with specifics. Read the rest of this entry »

by Sam Winston

The question of the day; Is the New Orleans media seriously out of touch with the people or have New Orleanians officially entered into denial?

From the front page of the Times Picayune to National Public Radio violence and Mardi Gras stories are intertwined. “Marred” was the actually the word of choice but citizens quoted aren’t buying it.

“It’s a family party in this area,” said John Wilson, 47, who was cooking burgers along the uptown parade route. “We come every year and have never had a problem.”-AP

There was also the not-so-subtle suggestions of the NOPD Read the rest of this entry »

To hear original rap songs by my young ‘Music Writing’ students, watch videos of their live performances, and to read their hilariously mean album reviews of local artists (as published in Gambit Weekly) visit myspace.com/mrmichaelsclass.

This week, my brilliant 2^nd graders at Behrman Elementary on the West Bank completed their second song of the semester (the first being their Christmas rap, which you can read about HERE). Or, almost finished it… My fault, definitely. As I’ve stated before, these kids are the best, most with-it I’ve yet taught. Many New Orleans kids I’ve worked with, even if the activity is fun, they initially project skepticism, doubt and stubbornness. I have to fight them, drag them kicking and whining toward the fun. But these Behrman kids, when we’re sitting in the cafeteria before class completing homework, they ask me “what we doin in rap class today?” and by the time we line up to walk to my room, their new verses are already half written. So different. Truly amazing.

This new song is called “Our New Year”. Because the Christmas song went so well, every time I’ve since asked them to choose a new song topic, they’ve listed the next holiday: “A Mardi Gras song!” they cheer now. Read the rest of this entry »

 by Sam Winston

With Barack Obama’s latest victory in South Carolina the theme of what role his race played in his success is getting tossed around once more. That includes what role it will play in Louisiana.

Is it too naive to ask again why he is considered only black when he has a white mother?

While New Orleans and Louisiana often seem stuck in the same types of traditional formations of race, Bobby Jindal did overcome Louisiana’s own reservations about his “brown skin”. It’s true that Jindal’s easy victory stemmed primarily from a lack of a viable opponent rather than some sort racial healing in the state. Still, I think Obama has the ability to do the same in Louisiana (comparisons ending there considering among other things their opposite political stances).

Wondering previously if any of this would matter by the time Louisiana goes to the polls, its seems likelier than ever that it will.

“Still, with each of the top Democrats having won two primaries, it appeared increasingly likely that the party’s presidential nominating fight could extend well beyond Feb. 5, perhaps even to the national convention in late summer.” -IHT.com

Indeed the rumor mill/smear campaign against Obama found its way today into a central Louisiana paper.

Below are some of the highlighted comments (and commentary) on the Obama race issue as things head into Super Tuesday and Louisiana. Read the rest of this entry »

To any Southerner, last Krewe De Vieux Saturday felt insanely cold. Inhuman. 60-degrees at least. Later someone told me 29-degrees. My god, where am I?

I felt cold on the inside as well, this being the first Mardi Gras event I’d ever attended solo, without Mizzy, my girlfriend of six-and-a-half years. We broke up finally, this New Year’s Eve. I’m unready for Mardi Gras like this. But assuming I would live, I forced myself onto my bike. Everything would be OK, I hoped. I would surely crash into some friends to distract from my woes. Pedaling past Marky Park from Bywater down to Mimi’s in the Marigny, I definitely noticed I’d forgotten my gloves, but a pint of $7.92 whiskey from Schiro’s would help combat the air, and everything else. Read the rest of this entry »

Each semester, after my students and I have written some rap songs (myspace.com/mrmichaelsclass), the second half of my ‘Music Writing’ class entails teaching them to write album reviews. Their writing is generally hilarious and mean — the kids mostly dismiss anything not fed to them via Clear Channel — but the reviews also boast some perfect snappy, laconic insights, descriptions and assertions that only kids could conjure. In a batch of reviews published by Gambit magazine in September of 2006, the kids critiqued a demo album by The BadOff, a modern yet almost imperceptibly retro, heavy guitar-rock band from New Orleans:

“They sound a hot mess to me. Their instrumentation sounds like biker boys driving down the road. I like the beat. Why? Because you can use it to make other songs. I don’t like that the beat is louder than the singer. Why? Because I would like to hear the singer’s words. The singer sounds like someone in a graveyard singing about a dead loved one. He sings like he knows how to sing, and he sings songs that you can dance to a lot. He sings like he’s been a singer for a while.”

Only now have The Bad Off finished the recordings my students mildly dogged. Their album Lady Day will be available for the first time this Sunday night, at One Eyed Jacks. Read the rest of this entry »

by Sam Winston

The latest New Orleans Index report is out.

“With unemployment at a three-year low, New Orleans continues to make economic strides. However, the first notable slowdown in population recovery in nearly two years threatens these gains, particularly due to a dearth of skilled workers for recovery-related jobs.”

Click here to see the full report (pdf).