A call for Assistance (NOLA friend related)

Birdman9

I thought I would post this email about a good friend and mentor of mine, Dr. RaShon St. Marquette, who was living down in NOLA since 2001. It came from a Director at Duke, where Doc had just been to study documentary filmmaking:All:I just spoke with Dr. RaShon, who graduated from the Certificate in Documentary Studies this past spring. You may know that her certificate project was a video documentary about the FiYiYi Indians, who live in the Ninth District in New Orleans (a description of her project is below).The people of the Ninth Ward, predominantly African American and poor, were not given sufficient warning to leave New Orleans No buses were sent to the community, even as the city government was in meetings with the tourism industry to get travelers out of New Orleans. As Tulane University shipped their students to Georgia Tech, students at Xavier were still in Friday afternoon classes. From the media coverage alone, it is clear that class and race is playing as great a part in the wake of a disaster as it always has in New Orleans, though the stakes are now considerably higher.Rashon is fiercely committed to documenting the current situation in New Orleans. She is asking for help to purchase mini-dv tapes, audio recorders, a video camera, and plane tickets. She is heading to Houston next Thursday to look for the members of the community she has been documenting for several years ; one in which she now plays a significant part.I'm asking for pledges toward expenses for RaShon's project. I'll need to mail out the package to her right away, but if you would like to contribute, just let me know the amount, and I'll organize and collect the money in mid-September. Even five or ten dollars will pay for mini-dv tapes.Rashon also lost everything in the flooding, including all of her footage and images she's collected over many years on the Mardi Gras Indians.Thanks, all.DawnDr. RaShon's proposal:Dr. TT. RaShon-Ste. MarquetteFo Day: The Third Coming of the Spirit of FiYiYi Mardi Gras, March 2004, represented the twentieth year, the second anniversary, and the third coming of the spirit of The FiYiYi. According to urban legend, The FiYiYi took possession of Chief Victor Harris and first appeared wearing a black suit on Mardi Gras Day 1984. Every ten years (1994, 2004) the spirit renews itself, creates another black suit, and parades through the community honoring the spirit of the warriors past. This act renews the spirit and strengthens the soul of the Mandingo Warriors, a community of New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians, to continue on for another decade. Fo Day: The Third Coming of the Spirit of FiYiYi, uses photography and video to document the preparation and presentation of The FiYiYi on Mardi Gras morning. This short piece visually captures the contained chaos as the chief and his entourage are prepared for presentation. Dr. RaShon is a priest, scholar, and artist whose documentary work explores the rich complexity of African cultural realities with a focus on retentions and expressions of the ABIA clan.[/b]--Dawn K. DreyerLearning Outreach DirectorCenter for Documentary Studies at Duke University1317 W. Pettigrew St.Durham, NC 27705919.660.3680 (office)919.681.7600 (fax)http://cds.aas.duke.edu*********************************************************************If anyone wants to contribute to this effort, either contact the Director at the above numbers, or PM me and I will handle contact with Dawn. Thanks for your efforts, guys, I seriously appreciate everyone's support on this board thru this trying time.