After Five Hard Years, A Celebration In The Lower 9th: “This is our home!” (VIDEO)

Second line, fifth anniversary, ninth ward: This Sunday, August 29th, on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, in the hard-hit Lower 9th Ward there was a second-line parade commemorating the event — and celebrating the fact that, through so much hardship, the community was rebuilding, and was still here. Hundreds of people came out to join the Sons of Jazz brass band, dancing, bouncing babies, waving umbrellas, some wearing commemorative T-shirts and holding signs (some with anti-BP messages), some wearing the garb of Mardi Gras chiefs, and all of it against the backdrop of a neighborhood coming back, with new homes being rebuilt, even amidst a patchwork of vacant lots and abandoned homes.

“Our neighborhood was devastated, but now we have life back in it again,” said a man perched on a ladder against a tree before one of the new Make It Right homes on Tennessee Street. Beside him on the tree was a wreath, inside which was a drawing of a man on the roof of his home, waving an American flag, as inches below there was water, rising. He spoke of his mother and grandmother who had died that day, in their homes – and how they had come together as a community through their losses to rebuild. “That’s the most important thing — and what we want to do this celebration for — is to bring life back to the Lower 9th Ward, and let people know no matter what happens, we ain’t going nowhere. This is our home!” Then the music struck back up again, and the parade began anew. Five years ago, the flood waters would have been at least 10 feet over all of our heads. At least.

You’ll notice that there were about a zillion TV cameras there. If you look closely at this other report, you can espy both me and Bloomberg’s Lizzie O’Leary in the crowd. Forgive the parts where I run up a bit to get a better shot, and forgive the parts where I zoom in excessively on super-cute babies; watch for the part where the TV reporter walks by, doing a stand-up as he walks along with the band. My favorite is the little guy in the orange Mardi Gras chief outfit.

Second Line – Tennessee Street, Lower 9th, Aug. 29, 2010 from Rachel Sklar on Vimeo.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.