New Orleans By David Ramsey Summary

Bob Dylan's song, "The Hurricane" is a story communicated through song. It is a tribute

Have you faced racial persecution due to the color of your skin? The time was 1900’s and this was the nightmare that Ida B. Wells-Barnett wrote of in Mob Rule in New Orleans. This is the true account of Robert Charles as he fights for his life to escape the hands of a lynching mob. This impassion story collaborates with the witness of this terrifying event that Wells describes. Wells uses her literary skills to shed light on racial discrimination, media bias, and her personal crusade for justice to portray this heart wrenching reality of the violent lynching during the 19th century.

In the poem “America,” by Tony Hoagland, the idea of Americans being consumed with their money is shown using symbolism and metaphors. The speaker in this poem is a teacher whose name is never mentioned. One thing revealed in the poem is that the speaker has a father who is presumably very wealthy and successful. One of the teacher’s students compares America to a maximum security prison. A recurring theme throughout “America” is Hoagland showing examples of America’s greedy society using a teacher, student, and a father’s experiences. Using metaphors of money and symbols of rivers filled with merchandise, Tony Hoagland captures how the teacher begins to think after he hears his student compare America to a maximum security prison.

The story “Sonny’s Blues” By James Baldwin is about a jazz musician and his brother in 1950’s Harlem. The story centers on Sonny who uses jazz music as an escape from his depression. James Baldwin captures the art of jazz during this time period. The themes in this short story are perhaps varied, but all of them revolve around some form of suffering. One theme shows how music can promote change and understanding within relationships. A second theme reveals suffering caused by guilt. Yet another theme references the results of suffering brought about by searching for ones’ identity and how that leads to misunderstanding. There are also subthemes concerning racism and poverty.

Perhaps one of the strongest demonstrations of the power of music in “Sonny’s Blues” is the street revival. Everyone has seen these types of revivals before. Every song has been heard by the crowd, but when the music starts everyone stops, watches, and listens. “As the singing filled the air the watching, listening faces underwent a change, the eyes focusing on something within; the music seemed to soothe a poison out of them; and time seemed, nearly, to fall away from the sullen, belligerent, battered faces” (57). The music from the street revival helps lifts the hopelessness from the crowd and provides a sense of relief. Music is able to bring people from all walks of life together. It gives them a sense of calm and ease, an assurance that something is there to help. Music listens.

The narrator, a teacher in Harlem, has escaped the ghetto, creating a stable and secure life for himself despite the destructive pressures that he sees destroying so many young blacks. He sees African American adolescents discovering the limits placed on them by a racist society at the very moment when they are discovering their abilities. He tells the story of his relationship with his younger brother, Sonny. That relationship has moved through phases of separation and return. After their parents’ deaths, he tried and failed to be a father to Sonny. For a while, he believed that Sonny had succumbed to the destructive influences of Harlem life. Finally, however, they achieved a reconciliation in which the narrator came to understand the value and the importance of Sonny’s need to be a jazz pianist.

In the memoir A Long Way Gone, author Ishmael Beah describes his survival journey as a lost child in his country, because of the civil war in Sierra Leone, then becoming a child soldier facing war daily, afterward the process that Beah went through during rehabilitation and finally in fear escaping the civil war. Ishmael Beah emotional journey has three stages of development in which Beah utilized music. In the first stage, Beah uses music as a survival mechanism to keep sane and safe. In the second stage, begins when he loses his brother and friends, Beah reaches the lowest point with the loss of his entire family again, some friends, music, and being forced to join the war. In the final stage, is the process of rehabilitation where Beah connects with music once again. Ishmael Beah exposure to music at a young age stayed with him throughout his life. (Beah, 2007, p. 5-218)

The War of 1812 is probably our most obscure conflict. Although a great deal has been written about the war, the average American is only vaguely aware of why we fought or who the enemy was. Even those who know something about the contest are likely to remember only a few dramatic moments, such as the writing of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the burning of the nation’s capital, or the Battle of New Orleans.

On August 29, 2005, the third strongest storm ever documented in America, Hurricane Katrina, hit the coast of Louisiana at 125 miles per hour. However, the real horror came when the levees breached, causing New Orleans to fill up like a bathtub. Gary Rivlin discusses the racial, political, and geographical change of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in Katrina: After the Flood. Gary Rivlin is a journalist and author of five books His many works have appeared in a multitude of places, such as The New York Times Magazine, Mother Jones, GQ, and Wired. Rivlin was born in New Woodmere, New York, therefore he had no connection to New Orleans. Most of his

Growing up in a city known as the big melting pot, or big gumbo; New Orleans, La has many different cultures and is a very diverse city. Personally, I love the mixed culture of people from different background, beliefs, and way of living. At the same time, this intangible mixture can cause a lot of trouble and disagreements. From inside school grounds, to outside, cultures clash. During this month of August everyone is reminded of Hurricane Katrina and I cannot help, but to think about how during that experience so much trouble was going on between the different cultures in the city. Through that experience I also saw the entire city bind together and unify during the historic New Orleans and Atlanta Monday night football game. During that

Hey, Baby! Welcome to the city of New Orleans, Louisiana! New Orleans is one of the most popular cities in the boot. This wonderful, distinctive place is the home of plenty of unknown "special" activities instead of what most know which is Mardi Gras. Believe it or not, New Orleans, is a go-to city for most events that many, if not most Northern Louisianan may not existence. In other states, people can come to a conclusion that all Louisiana natives are the same, but we vary around the state. New Orleans is different from all other cities in Louisiana for the exquisite taste of food and music, the collection of festivals, and the unfamiliar, out of space language.

In Zeitoun and When the Levees Broke, it was evident that Hurricane Katrina caused catastrophic damage to the Gulf Coast, especially to New Orleans. Many lives were lost, and the people were both physically and mentally distraught. However, after just six months the people of New Orleans gathered their spirits to celebrate Mardi Gras. This celebration proved that the city’s identity had not been forgotten. New Orleans’ identity was also evident during the hurricane, which highlighted the ways in which people cared for each other. Although New Orleans went through an environmental crisis, the city was resilient enough for the people to remember their history, jazz music, and their connection to their tight-knit community.

Mardi Gras City. Crescent City. The Big Easy. Jazz City. The Party City. The only city that can be identify by its history and people still know the name, New Orleans. New Orleans is the kind of city that can be toured 100 times and learn something new. New Orleans is not a tourist area because of entertainment it bring to people, but the rich history. New Orleans is a city that was own by the French and the Spanish. The various culture that can from immigrants brought New Orleans to where it is today.

While some of Lil Wayne's music represents pain and loss, some make it so the students could bond with each other and Ramsey. This mainly comes from the end of the article when Ramsey discussed how he and his students reacted when it was their last day of school. It started when they ended their last test and they ran outside singing “La La La” and then they encouraged Ramsey to join in. This showed that even though he was a teacher and they were students, they could go out on the last day singing, clapping, and dancing.

On August 27, 2005 only 4 days after hurricane Katrina struck in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Deamonte Love, a six year old boy, takes care of 6 young toddlers and shows the world his courageous acts. He took care of each one during Hurricane Katrina and helped them while still separated from their parents after being rescued. Even though they were all separated, he stayed positive and did the best he could for each one. He was only 6 years old and took care of each of them instead of not caring and just leaving them behind. Instead of losing sight of them, he made sure each is safe. His acts were very selfless and what he did was very brave and heroic. Soon the kids and their parents reunited