Moving on up…
About 10 days ago, I was helping a good friend of mine (who just so happens to be a LatiNOLA volunteer) move some furniture into his new apartment in the Mid City area. I won’t say who nor where because the ladies might pounce on him. Well, the move opened my eyes to see a whole new New Orleans. A New Orleans filled with new people and new possibilities.
We filled the U-haul with sofas, endtables, bookshelves, and bedroom furniture and left the cesspool that is Metairie and made our way into his new apartment in the historic City Park area. After taking a tour of the residence, we began to move things from the truck into the apartment. While we pulled one piece of furniture out of the truck, I noticed a man who appeared to be Hispanic walking down the street passing us up and I greeted him with a head nod, as most men do, and said, “Buenas”. He proceeded with a head nod and replied, “hola”. I found it interesting that while I was helping a Hispanic friend of mine move into the historic Mid City area, another Hispanic male passed by and greeted us in Spanish. Its not like I’ve never seen a Hispanic in the New Orleans metro area, but the impact of what I was doing suddenly struck me.
The afternoon continued and we unloaded all of the furniture in the truck. Two other friends that had been helping out with the move, left as they had other business to tend to, but I remained and helped to accomodate some of the stuff in the apartment. We finished up and decided that we were going to take a walk and grab a drink at Juan’s Flying Burrito. So, we made the trek down Carrolton and stepped into the spot where we ran into, yet, another good friend of mine (who just so happens to be a LatiNOLA Volunteer and a hell of a DJ). We got really drunk…no…not really. Just thought it would be for fun reading.
We had a couple brews each and left Juan’s on our way back to the apartment. This time we walked down Canal and cut through another street that ran perpendicular to Canal. As we were walking and talking, I heard something that took me by suprise. That something was the sound of Norteno, a genre of Mexican music. I finally figured out where it was coming from and pointed it out to my friend. The music was coming from a porch where a few Mexican men were drinking some beers. We continued walking and I, finally made it home sometime in the afternoon, but the experiences of that day stuck with me.
Myself and three other Hispanic friends were helping a Hispanic friend of ours move into the Mid City area. While unloading, a random Hispanic man walked past us and we greeted each other in Spanish. We had drinks at Juan’s Flying Burrito, a popular New Orleans taqueria located in the heart of MidCity that served Mexican inspired plates. On our way home, we walked past a house where several Mexicans where blaring music from their country loud enough to hear it down the block.
All of these events had something to do with Latinos or the Latino culture. The reason I decided to write about it is because it all happened in one of the historic neighborhoods of New Orleans. The work we are doing with LatiNOLA correlates directly with the events of that Sunday afternoon. We represent these people. But that day, the integration of Latinos and Latino culture into New Orleans became more apparent to me. That day I realized how important our work is and will be. It seems to me that everyone in New Orleans is beginning to see Latinos throughout the city and the impact we are making, and they might just be appreciating it. Maybe…but it could just be wishful thinking.
Nevertheless, the experiences of that Sunday afternoon helped me to understand our place in the city. It has helped me understand why this LatiNOLA movement is necessary. It has helped me understand that, given time, our people will continue to move up and make things of themselves. Maybe not everyone, but at least some of the new Latinos that have made their way into our wonderful city may produce Latinos that can continue to change the face of the Latino community in New Orleans. In other words (and just as the song popularized as the theme of the Jeffersons states), we’ll be moving on up…
Tags: hispanic community, hispanic louisiana, hispanic new orleans, latino, latino community new orleans, latino louisiana, latino new orleans, latinola