Return to New Orleans: Executive Summary  9/06/05
 By way of prelude 

by Jerry Ward

You can go home again.  It would be my first trip into New Orleans since I evacuated myself on August 28.  I did know what to expect.  A colleague from Dillard University, then in Houston, was almost certain that my house had water damage. Television had supplied a surplus of dreadful pictures of the Big Easy as the American Venice and of those citizens who did not leave as well to do and defiant or as poor and stress-stricken.  Newspapers, magazines, and online journals force-fed me what I should believe.  Chakula cha Jua was thoughtful: he sent an interactive site that allowed me to see aerial views of my house and neighborhood. Dave Brinks, a brave, purposeful poet,  made a site visit to my house, confirming that I had little damage that he could see.  Come home,  he said, as soon as you can.  It is crucial that we begin rebuilding immediately.  Raymond Breaux, in a deadpan voice, stirred all my anxieties when he said New Orleans as we knew it does not exist.  He echoed what Tyrone and Tina Albert said after their visit a week earlier.  I was well prepared to be unprepared. 

The Findings for 1928 Gentilly Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70119

1) The roof suffered little damage and the ceilings have no water stains

2)  3-5 inches of water flooded the house.  The carpets were soaked. The wooded flooring buckled. These must be removed and replaced. The marble tile must be cleaned and  treated.  The detached garage and workshop was flooded; any books in those areas were destroyed.

3)  The 24 windows suffered no damage.

4)  All rooms in the house must be treated to eradicate as much mold as possible. Removing mold must take place immediately to prevent further damage, especially to books.

5)  The refrigerator, hot water heater,  washer and dryer must be replaced.

6)  Paneling in the kitchen and den areas, the interior and exterior doors and some furnishings (dressers, beds in the master bedroom and guest room) must be replaced

7) To ensure that there are no electrical accidents when the house is inhabited again, it should be completely rewired; the attic, where most of the wiring is located was not inspected.

8) The room used as an office-sustained losses that will cause Mr. Ward to be in agony for months. He will grieve over the loss of his two-volume Oxford English Dictionary. Many reference books, autographed books, papers pertaining to the Richard Wright Encyclopedia and the Cambridge History of African American Literature, Ward's manuscripts for Reading Race Reading America, Hollis Watkins: An Oral Autobiography, and To Shatter the Iris of Innocence (poetry) are beyond recovery.

The same is true for some videotapes.  The PC and hard drive, 35mm camera, tape recorder, vacuum cleaner, some photographs and the rare Black Box tapes are ruined. Manuscript materials from Tom Dent and Lance Jeffers and Chakula cha Jua were not damaged.

9)  Most of Ward's clothing and shoes have to be replaced; the mold damage is severe.

10) Ward is luckier by far than 89% of the residents whose homes suffered wind and water damage.

 Tentative conclusion: Yes, Margaret, a race of men shall rise and take control 

I am far luckier, thank God, than 89% of my fellow New Orleanians. I have been blessed by the prayers of my relatives and friends.  My fortunate circumstances strengthen my resolve to return permanently, to restore my house, to help to restore Dillard University and other educational institutions, to join Dave Brinks and others in grassroots efforts to prevent the NEW New Orleans from becoming a corporate colony with a minimal non-white population that is controlled by wealthy and extreme neo-conservatives. I must encourage more people to return. The natural disasters that are now elements of a national tragedy persuade me to fight a repetition of the Reconstruction era and the nadir of African American experiences, to speak loudly against a replay of the Great Migration. Commitments must gradually erase the depression and periods of near-insanity that have afflicted me since August 29 2005.  I must devote myself to the practice of civic virtue

in New Orleans