WATCH | Love Letter to New Orleans - video Dailymotion

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Everyone knows that those blessed and highly favored enough to be born Black and raised in the 504 don’t suffer fools gladly when it comes to their beloved city.

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00:00New Orleans, girl, you are the sound, the sample, the reference, the recipe, the accent,

00:21the source and the soul, your influences in a little bit of everything, but ain't nowhere

00:26like you in the world. You showed them how to stunt, how to heal, resist, rebuild, how to yag,

00:38how to take needle and thread and ruin rice and create culture, how to scratch. You are free as

00:44day. You are yesterday and tomorrow, the example of what could be. You are celebration and sorrow,

00:53black New Orleans, something else. You are home and you are forever.

01:10First question is, I want you to describe your love for New Orleans. My love for New Orleans

01:17runs deep. It's the most unique place in the world. Being from New Orleans is definitely a

01:22superpower. No matter where you go out in the world, people are always inspired and impressed

01:27and intrigued by what being from New Orleans means. What does America lose if it loses New

01:40Orleans? America loses its soul. If America loses New Orleans, it loses a vital organ,

01:49and not that it wouldn't be able to still be alive, but the quality of life is extremely compromised.

02:11Boom. This is special. We have inherited something here in this city,

02:22and sometimes we forget about it because it happened a long, long time ago, and it happened

02:28just after the slavery. But our way of expressing ourselves came out, and we were free to do it,

02:35and we did it, and we still are. That's the special thing for me.

03:06What's special to you about the culture of New Orleans? Oh, my goodness.

03:10For me, I think there's a certain kind of freedom that we have here in New Orleans,

03:16and when I say that, I'm talking about what you see when we're dancing,

03:21you know, and what you see when we're just standing still.

03:27I think what makes us so unique and special here in New Orleans is that we are the most

03:32resilient people on this planet. No matter what's going on in our city, in this world, we still.

03:46It's like we still continue on with our everyday lives. We still continue on with culture,

03:51our traditions, and that's what keeps us grounded here in the city.

04:04So much of who I am is directly tied to this city. New Orleans has played such a crucial role,

04:11you know, historically, spiritually, culturally. It's so important, you know, to emphasize just

04:18what this city really is and what it can and will be. You know, they say that New Orleans is the

04:24northernmost Caribbean island or the most African city in America, and I think that is part of what

04:32makes us unique. We have managed to retain, right, so much of our diasporic connections,

04:43and not just to Africa, but around the world.

04:49This place would not lift off the page if the ancestors were not alive and well.

04:53New Orleans stands on the backs of the ancestors. They have nothing to sell if it wasn't for the

05:01ancestors. The number one export out this sucker is culture, culture, culture, culture.

06:12So

06:42you

WATCH | Love Letter to New Orleans

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