We collectively create a website/blog which promotes our agenda....the exact number we expect to show progress. 120...whatever...that is our logo....maybe a graphic of a N.O. style mausoleum with the number 120 on it.
Then we list every single person who's been murdered, on the site, in a continous count. We interview people who knew them and we tell their back stories and how they were killed. WE HUMANIZE the numbers....as TM and I have been advocating. I will even go get video interivews with family members to help the process. Regardless if it's a tourist in the quarter or a drug related killing in Hollygrove....we get the story from family and freinds and we post it. If nothing else we will start to better understand what is really going on in our city.
We create a living, breathing account of this city's madness, while holding our city official's feet to the fire.
And if the number tops 120....we march again en masse and we carry posters listing every single person killed and how they were killed. Bart or someone can stand in front of city hall and read every single victim's bio.
This would take the efforts of all us to pull off.....we would have to divide labor responsibilities ie. If we have 30 people working on this...each one of us agrees to take on a homicide in the order they occur. So when number 57 happens...you are responsible for contacting the family members, acquiring the story, and posting it.....with picture, video etc. I'm not expecting that we can get interviews on everyone...but we can try. This would mean you may have to do research on no more than 3 to 4 people over the year. That's not a lot. The more bloggers we get involved the easier it will be.
We also need web design...somebody has to step up to the plate there. We need spokespeople for the project. We need someone to write press releases. And most importantly we need someone to organize this whole damn thing, cause I don't have the skillset to organize my thoughts much less something of this magnitude.
What say you, NolaBloggers????
12 comments:
Sent you an email. I've been working on this very idea but it hasn't seen the light of day yet.
I'm not, strictly speaking, a NOLA blogger, but here's my initial thought: it's morbid, and it ends the message that there is an acceptable number of murders. What happens if 119 people are killed? No protests? Is that a good thing?
I like the idea of a count, maybe compare it to last year's numbers, and the idea of giving faces and stories to the names is great, but don't make it a countdown. 120 would seem like a goal.
greg...it is morbid, but that's my nature being a zombie and all.
The fact that the count is morbid is exactly why it should be done. It will attract attention and invoke emotion. That is what we need to do to draw attention to this issue.
And 120 is a goal. It's pathetic, I agree. But our crime rate is desperate and pathetic as well. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
It might be easier or more efficient to do a month by month log geared towards the youth, like on YouTube. A song like Lavender Dreams' "You Broke My Heart" or P.o.D.'s "Youth Of The Nation" along with photos of the victims and a running tally, a three to four minute audio-visual easily distributed via the 'net.
I've thought about doing this, but I have to teach myself how to put a YouTube video together, so if anyone already knows how they can do January, someone can pick up February, I can teach myself by March, etc.
The main thing is not to glorify the victims but to humanize them. While a website with running bios *sounds* great, in gangland it could end up being another badge. So you don't want 'angels going to heaven' types of songs. You want 'apply the pressure to the politicians' types of songs. Kinda like Bart's "shame on you" speech...
I don't view it as morbid at all.
It's putting a face, a family, a LIFE to a murder victim. People respond to human suffering. They think "it could be me or my loved one". Especially when the victim is comparable to the reader. That's just the way it is - right or wrong. And there has to be a "goal"....unless we march every week which is impossible for working people.
This is pro-active - how can it be wrong?????
This seems reactionary and lags behind the proactive position we all need to take. For once, New Orleans has to be out in front of an idea, not behind it. This idea doesn't seem that impactful until after 120 people are killed and even then, not all that impactful, regardless of how amazing the design and logo can be. We need to take more directed action, not just continue to be New Orleanians and complain/mark what has already happened. This may work as a single memorial page on nolaagainstcrime.com, but as a site itself, it seems to just further fragment and be reactionary.
Honorable Dambala...(you deserve that title unlike some of your elected city officials)
Even though I reside in Dallas, I am down for the mission. I am outraged by what is going on in New Orleans. It is about time someone stands up and get to the real business which is exposing those who are the "problem" and to promote a better, healthier and safer Nola so that I and countless others can come back and put our dollars into rebuilding the city.
The general concept is great and I'd heartily support this.
Regarding the number idea, that might have to be tweaked-- perhaps we could do "1960" (for the murder rate then) or "Cut it in Half" or "National Average" or something else-- I'm just brainstorming there-- but some absolute metric for accountability is necessary and important, and should be included in the title of the project.
Harry Connick Jr. has a new CD that just came out called "Oh My Nola" and the first track "All These People" is deep. Actually, you can hear it on his website.
Also, on KERA/PBS on Monday, there will be a special on New Orleans. It comes on at 9pm Central. Now this is what I call MUST SEE TV.
I've mentioned this on a few other blogs and am ready to move forward wit it if anyone else is. I bought the domain a while back called careforgot.org. My neighbor and I were going to do something similar to what is being talked about here. I started the Chicory and it never materialized.
The original plan was to feature not just crime, but political corruption and levee protection as well.
But I own the domain and I have web space. We could have this thing up in a few days if we wanted to.
www.careforgot.org
So Varg....Ray is working on same thing too...we need to consolidate and execute.
As for political corruption....I'm gonna run that gamut anway on AZ as I love it.
Varg, let me know what I can do. We live close so we can collaborate easily.
Post a Comment