New Orleans deserves higher. Much higher.
While we’re a satirical entity that goals to make people laugh and think, we’re also locals who, like a lot of you, have been struggling to get through these previous couple of days since New Year’s Eve attack in New Orleans. The weight of this tragedy has consumed us, making it difficult to deal with anything. We felt we had to handle this since it is in our minds and hearts identical to it’s in yours.
This is just not a tirade, but an honest confession of residents who care very much about this city and need it to develop.
We cannot stop enthusiastic about the names, faces and stories of those whose lives were so tragically cut short on this senseless attack. During these unbearably long days, we saw their photos and heard their stories. They had dreams, families and a future.
We hold them, their families and friends in our hearts and prayers. But our sadness is just not just grief, it’s a posh, seething mixture of sadness, anger and frustration. We are heartbroken by the lack of life and broken families, but we’re also offended by the systemic failures.
Unanswered questions remain about why guardrail bollards and other safety measures are being repaired at a critical time of 12 months collecting dust in warehouses is one other glaring example of the systemic failures that continually plague our city. This raises an issue we all know all too well: Why accomplish that many critical systems and the leaders chargeable for them fail us when we’d like them most?
While we’ve celebrated many successful events and milestones prior to now and are extremely grateful that they’ve largely gone off with out a hitch, we also must face the warnings issued by authorities a few years ago. The French Quarter was considered a terrorism risk and was an issue that city officials “needed to address.”
This led to the creation of original barriers throughout the broader framework $40 million public safety package unveiled in 2016 by Mayor Landrieu following similar vehicle attacks the identical 12 months, namely an armed man who drove a truck right into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day within the French city of Nice, killing 86 people and injuring many others in a claimed terrorist attack Islamic State. Then similar automobile attacks in Berlin, London, New York and Barcelona.
Turbines that break down before storms and months. Pumps that weaken even in light rain. Traffic lights flicker or stop working, some still broken since Hurricane Ida. Miles of interstate lights remained dark until the “Super Bowl afterglow.” An electrical grid seemingly allergic to reliability. Roads and sidewalks have been “under construction” for therefore long that they’re overgrown with jungle. Water systems that continuously display boiling messages. Buildings collapse by surprise.
Schools are failing. An abandoned skyscraper that continually dumps debris onto the road below and closes arteries. Garbage collection service is paid but rarely collected. And politicians who excel at creating opinions or touting climate expertise but are unable to deliver real solutions to enhance the on a regular basis lives of their constituents.
It’s an countless list of dysfunctions which have develop into all too familiar, so familiar, in reality, that a lot of us greet each latest failure with a resigned shrug and a bitter laugh. “Oh, New Orleans 😜” – we are saying as if it were normal, as if it was simply the value of living in one of the culturally wealthy and unique cities on the planet.
Because despite all its faults, this city is undeniably beautiful and its individuals are like no other.
But this is just not normal. This is just not okay. And that is actually unacceptable.
We have develop into numb to the incompetence, corruption, and neglect that outline “the New Orleans way.” We’ve allowed ourselves to consider that broken systems are only a part of a city’s charm, and that potholes, power outages, and bureaucratic gridlock are oddities we must always need to contend with.
These aren’t weird things. These are failures.
We deserve a city where infrastructure works because it should, where security measures actually protect us, and where leadership is proactive, not reactive. We deserve a city that values its people enough to repair what’s broken, not only patch things up for the subsequent big event.
Is this pie within the sky the vision everyone wants for his or her hometowns? Maybe so, but we’ve to start out somewhere by demanding higher.
And regardless that we hear on a regular basis about our “amazing resilience,” and yes, we’re greater than rattling resilient, we’re bored with hearing it. Resilience should not be what defines us. This is just not a badge of honor we wish to wear anymore. We love New Orleans an excessive amount of to proceed to just accept “resilience” as a consolation prize for neglect and failure.
For those that say the attack would have happened even when Bourbon Street had been secured, that is not the purpose. The fact stays: it must have been secured. Let’s face it, this city has long been reactive relatively than proactive, and Bourbon Street is a glaring example of that.
If essentially the most internationally recognizable street in our “tourist town” is just not fully protected during a significant event, what likelihood does the remainder of the town have? Yes, the attacker could have turned down a distinct street or found one other way, but when we do not even use the tools we’ve, tools designed specifically to maintain us protected for which we pay tens of millions of dollars, and as an alternative we allow them collect dust within the landfill where leaders aren’t even fully aware of them, what the hell are we doing?
We deserve a city where people can live without constant fighting. Where security systems actually work. Where the infrastructure works as promised. And where leadership delivers real results, not only excuses.
We cannot shrug it off with one other “Oh, New Orleans 😜.” This is not ok. This is just not okay. We must demand more, not just for ourselves, but additionally for individuals who were taken from us far too soon.
We owe it to them. We owe it to their families. We owe it to one and all who loved and fought for this city, despite all its faults.
Because “Oh, New Orleans 😜” is not cute anymore. This is a cry for help. It’s time for us to reply this. We all love this city an excessive amount of to not do it.
We know that the issues could seem overwhelming, but we will take the primary steps together. Contact yours local representatives demand real solutions and motion, join us social organizations Advocate for change and make your voice heard in local elections while putting pressure on candidates by asking the difficult questions you’re feeling uncomfortable talking about. Volunteer. Give. Donate blood. We must expect more, but we will all also do more.
Step by step, let’s move towards the New Orleans all of us deserve.
🕯Martin Bech, 27, New York, New York
🕯Terrence Kennedy, 63, New Orleans, LA
🕯Elliot Wilkinson, 40, Slidell, LA
🕯William Dimaio, 25, Holmdel, New Jersey
🕯Edward Pettifer, 31, London, England
🕯Unknown (bf), location unspecified
🕯Andrew Dauphin, 26, Montgomery, AL
🕯Kareem Badawi, 23, from Baton Rouge, LA
🕯Brandon Taylor, 43, Harvey, Los Angeles
🕯Hubert Gauthreaux, 21, Gretna, LA
🕯Matthew Tenedorio, 25, Picayune, MS
🕯Ni’kyra Dedeaux, 18, Gulfport, MS
🕯Nicole Perez, 27, Metairie, LA
🕯Reggie Hunter, 37, Prairieville, LA
These are the 14 individuals who died within the tragic New Year’s Eve terrorist attack. Hold them, and all those still battling the aftermath, near your heart. Let us honor their lives, cherish their stories and remember the dreams that were so senselessly interrupted.
💔⚜️❤️🩹
#NewOrleans #NeutralNews #Neuws #NewOrleansStrong #LoveYouNew Orleans
