This is my first post in a while as I have had a rough couple of days, emotionally speaking. At the church this morning, I thought again of something that has bothered me off and on throughout the trip and hit home most especially in Hancock County.

Primum non nocere means “First, do no harm.” Sociology involves the science of observing people and then analyzing how and why they behave the way they do. I am not a sociologist, but the techniques of observation and analysis are familiar to me from my doctoral work. What has bothered me is the risk we take in harming the people that we study through the very act of observation. I was uncomfortable at both the George Washington Carver homes and the Lower 9th Ward because it seemed we were close to the line, if not crossing it, of gawking at the residents of the neighborhood and causing them discomfort. A 45′ bus is not an easy thing to disguise and neither is a multicultural group of 23 people with cameras. A number of participants have already blogged guiltily about the hand-lettered sign on a falling-down house in the 9th ward reminding us that “1600 people died 4 u 2 take this picture.”

In Hancock County, students had the additional complication of carrying out a service project while at the same time being trained to observe social stratification issues around them. These blogs are wonderful tools for collaborative work but they are also a public display of research in progress. In the 72 hours we stayed in Hancock County, views of the community matured rapidly among many participants. Surface observations at the beginning of the trip often did not hold up to be valid. The consensus at the end was that this was a strong, closely knit community trying its best to recover from a storm of unnatural ferocity and restore the community to all its residents. We went to help, I only hope that we did no harm.

We’ve been busy over the weekend, so I’ll catch up with two days of reports in this posting.

Saturday, I saw a different New Orleans than my previous pre-Katrina visit. The first stop of the day was at ACORN (The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), the “nation’s largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, working together for social justice and stronger communities.” Beth spent an hour with our group discussing the myriad of problems that exist post-Katrina. This organization is a national one and has existed for 29 years. But with the magnitude of Katrina issues, it appears their main focus is on attacking the problems that have worsened since the flooding. It was interesting that she made a point of saying that everything that was bad pre-Katrina only has worsened since. Even though I’ve read regularly about all the issues that have been in the news concerning the recovery efforts, Beth gave it a much more personal picture of how poorly the recovery is coming along for the citizens of the Ninth Ward.

Our next stop was a bus and walking tour of the Lower Ninth Ward. All the photos and video that have saturated the media paled compared to seeing the area in person. It was desolate and had a very hopeless look to it. It was inspiring to see two new houses that have families who have returned to the area, but at the same time, they were sad because they were the only two after almost two years.

Saturday evening Lynn and I had another delicious dinner in the French Quarter at the Red Fish Grill. I walked off the double chocolate bread pudding before heading back to the hotel. We had a much earlier evening than did the students. I heard them around midnight, but understand they were heading out then, not coming in! Must be nice to be young and still have that much energy late at night.

This morning we attended another Baptist church service, this one at the Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church. This one was more elaborate than last week: more people (with a wider range of ages, young to old), bigger choir, full immersion baptism of 14 youths, a woman preacher plus screen projection that included what was happening up front, words to the songs and Bible passages, and what I would call advertisements. The collection process was much more elaborate with the tithers (is that a word?) lining up to walk their donation to the front. One collection request was made to buy the preacher a birthday present! Many people went up to be saved at the end of the service. I have a question about this part of the service that I should ask Marcus or one of the others who are familiar with this. Is the call to be saved a weekly occurrence, and if so, what happens if nobody goes up to be saved? Do they hang in there until someone finally goes forth, or do they have a standby person who is planted in the congregation just in case? My very favorite part of this ministry was the fact that they have coupled religion with technology: church members can receive inspirational text or voice message on their cell phones!

After the 2 hour 10 minute church service, we hit the road for Cleveland, MS. The five hour drive (with one stop for lunch, one to wash the bus and a dinner stop) turned in to over 6 I think. But we made it here to Cleveland safely and I think most of us are blogging or working on assignments. Tomorrow is a long day, according to Dr. Hattery, so look for the next update sometime Tuesday.

After a unique experience of Bourbon Street we woke up to visit the Acorn Agency that had done so much for the city of New Orleans. In my opinion and I am sure that many would agree, New Orleans can be considered “a Forgotten City”. I feel this way because, the slow responses by the structured government gave off the emotions that the officials in power put those in the city on the ‘back burner’. I understand that it takes a while for a city to overcome the hardships that New Orleans and Bay St. Louis and the government cannot just sprinkle magic dust to make everything better.

Walking the streets of New Orleans was an experience in itself. You can defiantly tell that the city is not the same after the storm. I recall being hungry and wanting to eat at the Popeye’s down the street. After walking a couple blocks I got to the front door only to see that the restaurant had not rebounded after Katrina. This was a reoccurring event as I searched for food on the once business populated corridor of Canal Street. I ended up eating at a Chinese restaurant that had debris still piled up in front of the door from the renovations made to the business.

One aspect of the city that seems to have recovered well is Bourbon Street. It was thriving throughout the night even though some vendors said that it was defiantly different than pre-Katrina Bourbon Street. I maybe could not tell, because it was my first visit to the city. Once walking up and down the street you tend to forget that such a disaster had occurred and that the very street we were walking was submerged in water. Folks working and residents partying on the street seemed to mask their heartaches by the loud music and flashing lights, while the city itself is still struggling to regain its identity

Today we visited the totally devastated Lower 9^th Ward of New Orleans as well. Riding through the streets reminded me of World War II cities that had been completely wiped out by bombs and warfare. It was almost an unbearable sight. Seeing no signs of prosperity or entrepreneurship compounded with homes remaining unpopulated was very moving. Knowing that the Lower 9^th Ward was one of the most poverty stricken parts of the city, I wouldn’t expect to see businesses being reconstructed in waves but wreckage left by Katrina and the presence of almost no industry was amazing. I cant even imagine how the section of town can rebound, given the socioeconomic status prior to Katrina compounded by the affects of post Katrina.

Today was our second Sunday together. This morning we attended church service at the Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church in New Orleans, LA. This church is a mega church with another branch in Atlanta, GA. The leaders of the church are Bishop Paul S. Morton, Senior Pastor and Elder Debra B. Morton, Co-Pastor. This church experience was very different from our last experience at 16^th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. This morning, there was definitely more of a vibe of contemporary worship style especially through song and the praise dance ministry. Even though the church has a very large congregation, it seemed like there was a great sense of community and a welcoming presence. The service was led by the Co-Pastor Elder Debra B. Morton. So, the fact that a woman was leading the sermon made it different from last week’s church experience. You could tell how much the community has been through because of some of the topics brought up in the sermon. The title of her sermon was “Like Mike”. It focused on the fact that many people wanted to be just like Michael Jordan when he first entered the scene. People wanted to look like him, dress like him, and more than anything be able to play basketball like him. This part of the sermon was the point when she was trying to captivate everyone, from all different age groups to become involved in the service. Co-Pastor focused on how people of God need to be like Daniel, a major character of the Old Testament. Daniel was led out of the lion’s den. The focus for me was realizing that everyone has gifts and that we should not idolize Earthly figures. I thought that the sermon was powerful and well delivered. After church when he had our reflection, we learned that a former professor at North Carolina A&T and a resident of New Orleans wrote a note dedicated to our class. The letter was heart felt and she gave us great advice. It was nice knowing that someone took the time to think about our group that was visiting.

After church and reflecting today, we had student reports and watched the film, The Trials of Darryl Hunt. This was my second time viewing the film and it really gives you a chance to think about the conditions of prison and the impact of 20 years living knowing that you are innocent. Darryl Hunt endured three trials before justice finally came. It took a lot of hard work on behalf on Hunt’s lawyers and other people in the community. Hunt’s story is one that definitely needs to be told across the country because this kind of case occurs way to often. There are issues brought up in Hunt’s trial that deal with racial tensions in the Winston-Salem community that continue to be strong. I think that this film is a good sedgeway into preparing for Parchman. I’m looking forward to an exciting day in Cleveland, MS and surrounding areas tomorrow.

It was hard to depart Bay St. Louis today for me. I felt that I had connected to the residents of the community and that they had left a permanent mark on me as well. Coming into Bay St. Louis I had perceptions about the situations revolving Hurricane Katrina and after my experiences in the great city of Bay St. Louis, my perceptions have done a complete 180 degrees. I thank the community for helping me change my views.

Riding along the I-10 interstate connecting the two devastated cities of Bay St. Louis and seeing all the destruction was a rude awakening. The images depicted by the media were disturbing, but to actually ride up and down the highways that served as evacuation routes was a whole new experience. It was hard for me to fathom how the city of New Orleans was flooded so bad until I learned of the faulty levy system and how it protected a city that was literally situated in a ‘bowl’. Riding over the bridges that were suspended over the bodies of water that caused so much harm to innocent people was amazing. I never fully understood how water could be so forceful until I saw the magnitude in size of the neighboring lakes and gulf waterways.

Entering the city was interesting, because this was my first visit. I am kind of happy that I had not seen New Orleans prior to Katrina, because it would have hurt me more to see how beautiful the city was compared to the hindered city that remains. It was still very hard for me to see windows still boarded up and business shut down even 2 years after the storm. I can hardly believe that the destruction is still so evident so long after the waters have receded.

After two eventful nights in New Orleans, we got up very early to attend Sunday service at Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church. The church is located in a pretty rundown neighborhood and the make-up of the church members was very different than the 16^th Street Baptist Church we went to last Sunday. The people ranged drastically and this was shown by their attire. There were some women dressed in fancy dresses with hats and then others wearing jeans and tank-tops. I even saw a woman with a gold grill in her mouth! The service was exactly what I expected when I learned we were going to a “mega church.” The dancers at the front and the video advertising daily voicemails that you can sign up to receive from the pastor fit into my stereotyped perception of what a church like that would be like. I also completely agree with how Dr. Hattery described the woman standing closest to us while waiting for people to go to the front to be saved because I was staring at her the entire time. She was almost staring people down to get them to stand up and I couldn’t decide if it was nice that the other people holding their arms out were welcoming or also being overly persuasive. The sermon was engaging as she opened with Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods metaphors that allowed all of the members to relate. She was also really funny, open, and honest with what she was saying and you could tell that she was truly genuine in her beliefs.

During our incredibly long bus ride to Cleveland, Mississippi, we had several reports and the topic that we spent the most time on was the treatment of prisoners and we also watched the HBO documentary The Trials of Darryl Hunt. We discussed at length the idea of prisoners getting paid for the labor they are forced to do and after hearing the statistics and injustices that happen within the system, everyone who spoke was in favor. There were valid arguments and it is a hard topic to decide one way or the other but I feel for the families of victims they could never be able to accept the guilty person being paid. Although the instances like Darryl Hunt are heartbreaking and knowing that now he is out of jail and still will not be able to find employment even though his innocence was proven, I still think that the majority of prisoners are in jail for a reason and paying prisoners will not fix the corruptions that are prevalent in the system or ease the pain for those affected by the crime.

Today was very similar to last Sunday in structure, but very different in experience. The day consisted of attending a Baptist church in the morning, and then spending the rest of the day on the bus traveling to our next destination. The church we attended this morning was Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church. This was now my second experience in a primarily African American Baptist Church, but it was very different from the 16^th Street Baptist Church. First of all, the congregation was much larger, as was the building itself. The music at church today was performed by a large gospel choir, and was pretty jubilant with clapping and some dancing. This pretty much fulfilled my expectations about what a gospel choir would be like; the music was lively and contemporary, but more traditional than last Sunday’s. Today’s pastor was a woman, which is something that I am not used to at all, but I thought she was great. She talked about a variety of things, but her main message was about being like Daniel from the Bible. Her message related to the crowd very well, which was pretty diverse in age and much younger than 16^th Street. This church was also very contemporary compared to what I am used to, passing out very colorful handouts and cd’s to all of us, and projecting the service and Bible passages on large screens around the church. You can even sign up to receive inspirational messages on your phone everyday! Another very interesting part of the service was right at the end when people were “saved.” There were about 8 people who were saved in front of the congregation, and it was different to see them be touched on the head by the pastor, and then fall back into somebody’s arms. I am not used long services, and this was very long to me because it was over two hours. I think all the singing and the long sermon are what particularly contributed to the length.

After church we got on the bus and spent the rest of the day traveling to the delta region of Mississippi. Cleveland to be exact. The drive was long, and we had a lot of class time with discussion, presentations, and documentaries. It was also interesting to watch the scenery change as we progressed through Mississippi and seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Half the class, myself included, do not have cell phone service here, which is bizarre because of how dependent we have all become on technology. This also demonstrates how we are now in a completely different world from all of our previous stops. Now its time to watch a documentary about a woman who lives in the county we are staying in, and shows the terrible poverty around here. This should be a nice, relaxing way to end the night after a long day and a crazy weekend.

Before our departure from New Orleans, we attended what has been explained to us as a “Mega Church”. While this was a much different experience than what we had at the 16^th Street Baptist Church last week in Birmingham, I was too distracted from the commercialization of the church to really involve myself in the service (that, and for those of us on the trip, the insane amount of Benadryl in my system did not help my attention span).

Emphasis was continually put on the programs offered by the church and training of new members to be able to go out into the community and attend multiple trips to Atlanta to convene with other members of the church. The commercialization of the Bishop and Co-Pastor’s pictures on everything in the church–from the CD/DVD that was handed out to the visitors to envelopes that were passed out to give money for the Co-Pastor’s birthday—was very disconcerting. I really felt like I was in a business instead of a church because of the over emphasis that was placed on the process of monetary giving during the service. This may just be a personal issue that I have, but I feel that my monetary contributions to a church are my own business, and not something I should feel that I have to flaunt in front of a massive congregation as if I was being judged for not walking to the front of the sanctuary to place a tithe in the plate. I know that I’m probably reading entirely to far into this, but this is definitely something that has been bothering me, as well as every person in power in this particular church having the same last name.

Our brief introductions to what we’re going to be looking at during our VERY long day tomorrow really have me pumped up and ready to discuss our visit to Parchman on Tuesday (Katie, PLEASE call me tomorrow evening so I can talk to you before I go in there on Tuesday). I’ve taken several IDS classes at ASU pertaining to prisons with my dear friend and professor Katie Adams and when I found out that we were going to be going into Parchman, I called her almost immediately to talk to her about it and she was totally ecstatic for me. Katie has worked with many people such as Spoon Jackson and Elmo, and has also spent countless hours working in arts programs in prisons working to rehabilitate inmates instead of institutionalize them. Due to this interest she has sparked in me through these classes (as well as my liberal-ness), I’m really interested for our next discussion of the status of the inmates at Parchman.

A day in the historic city of New Orleans. Today was my first time ever in the city of New Orleans and even though it’s been about two years since hurricane Katrina, the city of New Orleans night life is the same as you see it on television. After walking the strip of bourbon street and seeing the band playing and all the people walking around with beads on their necks, it seems as if nothing ever happen to this place. But as we rode through the town of New Orleans and seen other places, it all came back to light that this place went through a lot after hurricane Katrina hit. Looking out from the outside and just watching the news, we would think that this devastating thing happen during the hurricane, but hearing from the people here they fill like it was more a government thing. The people in New Orleans feel like if the government would have build the levies better than this beautiful city of New Orleans would have never experience such a disaster. To me this place is still live and beautiful, just listening to the band in the streets made me think of home. I really enjoyed my first day in New Orleans.

These are the powerful words inscribed on a t-shirt in a gift shop in the French Quarter of New Orleans on Bourbon Street. The breach of the levees (yes, plural) in New Orleans led to mounds of destruction and death. Water rushed in from multiple canals and the Miss. River through the streets and into houses taking the lives of many who did not expect such a surge, literally moving houses down the streets on top of other houses (and you can still see that image here , I stood right in front of such a scenario today). I walked through the Lower 9th Ward and it is a veritable ghost town. There are some houses standing, but most are nowhere near liveable. They all have spray-painting on them relaying if a certain structure is toxic, how many people died in it, and how many pets died in it.

Walking down the street I tried to envision how this neighborhood was before Katrina. How many brothers, mothers, uncles, cousins, nieces lived in a close-knit community blocks away from one another? How many senior citizens lived in these houses and sat out on the front stoop telling younger people stories of the past? How many kids rode their bikes through the area and played basketball in the streets? These are of New Orleans may have been poor before the storm, but one thing I am sure was there before the storm was life. A life that was lived day by day unaware of the weak levee system “protecting” their neighborhood. Water rushed in from 3 angles into this community and one thing that is barely present 2 years later is life.