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Oh When CODEPINK Came Marching In (To New Orleans On Eve's V-Day)

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Gandalf Grey

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Apr 21, 2008, 1:12:13 PM4/21/08
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Oh When CODEPINK Came Marching In (To New Orleans On Eve's V-Day)

By Linda Milazzo

Created Apr 19 2008 - 4:39am


For my entire life - years before Hurricane Katrina - I fantasized about New
Orleans. I dreamed of being decadent in the French Quarter in clubs where my
music heroes played. I dreamed of tasting the food, studying the
architecture, hearing the accents, and being cradled in the arms of the
city - in the cream, black, brown and white blended arms of the city. I
wanted to earn my beads at Mardi Gras, search the bayous for magic, and be
transformed beyond the boundaries of my physical world. But the rigors of my
life quashed my momentum and I didn't visit the one American city I'd always
longed to see -- until just last weekend -- nearly three years AFTER the
hurricane.

Thanks to the brilliant Eve Ensler, and our intrepid CODEPINK cofounder,
Jodie Evans, my dream of seeing New Orleans finally came true. On April 11th
& 12th, Eve Ensler created "V To The Tenth" -- the tenth anniversary
celebration of V-Day (Ensler's global movement to end violence against women
and girls). Not surprisingly, Jodie Evans, a longtime friend of Eve, and
proponent of women's rights, was a sponsor of the V-Day event. As a result,
an international call went out to CODEPINKers to travel to NOLA to celebrate
V-Day. Over one hundred men and women signed on. This time I HAD TO GO!!

What I experienced in New Orleans (mainly in New Orleans city proper),
surpassed my expectations. The music is really that great. The cuisine is
really that great. The people are really that great. And the architecture is
that picturesque -- WHERE IT STILL STANDS! Because in areas like the Lower
Ninth Ward, where no cab driver wanted to take me, very few houses still
stand. The devastation is surreal. There is much much work to be done!

There have been many heroes since Hurricane Katrina who've battled to
rebuild New Orleans. Harry Shearer, Harry Connick, Jr., Wynton Marsalis and
Brad Pitt come to mind. But now, another hero has submersed herself within
the folds of New Orleans - the brilliantly talented Eve Ensler. What better
match than Eve Ensler and New Orleans? Each is inspired. Each is inimitable.
Each avant-garde. Each one pushes the limits.

Come to think of it, CODEPINK's just like that, too! It's a trifecta!!

For the past year, in preparation for her "V-Day" anniversary, Ensler, the
Obie Award winning playwright and performer of the "Vagina Monologues," laid
the groundwork for a NOLA event like no other - a two day love fest
transforming the once infamous Superdome into the mega-pink "Love Dome."
Ensler succeeded on all counts. Her herculian effort, with co-producer,
Carol Bebelle, provided activism training, health education, and specialized
services to the residents of NOLA, for whom she also premiered "Swimming
Upstream" (The Katrina Monologues) - a powerful and beautifully performed
amalgam of music and monologues which portray the intimacy and emotion of
Hurricane Katrina, much as the Vagina Monologues (performed the following
evening), portray the intimacy and emotion of womanhood. The V-Day
anniversary, in its mission to nurture, educate, empower, protect and
transform, was tailor-made for New Orleans, and tailor-made for CODEPINK.
Thank you, Jodie, for signing us on.

Like Eve Ensler, CODEPINK has been deeply immersed in New Orleans. Shortly
after Hurricane Katrina, CODEPINK members traveled to New Orleans and
aligned with the grassroots collective, Common Ground, to provide food and
supplies to hurricane survivors. Because of this V-Day call to action,
several CODEPINKers returned to the city. Others, like myself, visited for
the very first time. By Thursday, around sixty CODEPINKers had trekked to
New Orleans. By Sunday, HUNDREDS of new CODEPINKers were trekking back home.
It's an ever growing movement -- a vital movement that nurtures
interconnectedness and deepens its roots wherever it goes. So it was
fitting, with CODEPINK's commitment to sow the seeds that grow community,
that it plant a garden in NOLA. Fortunately, Sarah Rath, a core CODEPINKer
who moved to NOLA two years ago, was up to the task. She coordinated with
Common Ground and laid the groundwork for a beautiful garden in the Lower
Ninth Ward. CODEPINKers who arrived in NOLA on Thursday were immediately put
to work. By the end of the day a beautiful garden was planted and a New
Orleans-style barbeque was held. Giant drums of incredible food were
prepared like I'd never seen before. There's just no way to adequately
describe it.

On Saturday morning we marched through the streets to the "Love Dome,"
accompanied by a raucous brass band. CODEPINK carried its giant pink slip,
reading "Lead Us Out Of Iraq." Unlike marches in other cities, there wasn't
a single antagonist on the route. Not a war-monger in sight. There wasn't
one single person who didn't understand. There was no one who believed we
were wrong and war was right. They all got the message. Their experience
with poverty, victimization and fragility has taught them lessons other
Americans haven't learned. In NOLA they understand that if there's no war,
there could be rebuilding. They understand that if there's no war, there
could be better healthcare and operational hospitals - not just in NOLA -
but EVERYWHERE.

In New Orleans, where the great Eve Ensler brought "Swimming Upstream" to
life, the pain has been deep for nearly three years - even longer for
Katrina's more impoverished victims. As the broken economy caused by greedy
corporations and Bush's illegal war claim the homes of good people as
Katrina did in New Orleans, more converts will realize that the marchers
they once jeered should have really been cheered. It's not too late to join
in.

In New Orleans and the rest of America there is much much work to be done.
Eve Ensler has raised 60 million dollars to help women across the world.
CODEPINK has nearly singlehandedly carried the people's message to Congress.
Still New Orleans is not rebuilt, America remains at war, and Congress
defies the will of the people. Please do something. Pick an issue and do
something.

Thank you Eve Ensler, for being the force that you are. Thank you for your
work in New Orleans, in Africa, and throughout the world, and for using
art - the universal language - to benefit our planet. And thank you, Jodie,
for shining CODEPINK's light back on New Orleans.

To view photos from the V-Day Anniversary in New Orleans, please visit:
http://www.codepink4peace.org/article.php?id=4120 [1]


--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107

"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson

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