Birthplace of Jazz, City of Festivals , Mardi Gras City, Paris of the South, The Queen of the Mississippi

 

They tell me that you are entertaining and I agree, for I want to experience the different floats painted in all the purple, yellow and green that circle down your streets in joyful harmony.

 

And they tell me that you cook some very fine cuisine, and I can attest that you do serve the very best jumbo shrimp and soft and lightly sugared beignets.

 

And they tell me that to hear some of the best jazz in the world just come here and all I have to do just stop and plop down on the streets to hear performers sing tunes as beautiful as the scenery.

 

And having to defend this well-preserved city of history, I turn to the name-callers and I scorn them and say: Come and show me another city with traditions so deep there is not a place besides here that is big enough to fit it.

 

Vibrant as a marching band inside a small gymnasium, playing tunes as sweet as the African blues,

 

Demanding

 

Fierce

 

Uplifting

 

Larger than life and your Super Bowl Stadium

 

Under the swirls of streamers and floats, is a city devastated by a hurricane that shook and upturned many of the natives and their communities.

 

Behind the fancy cakes and southern classiness, lies people huddled under newspapers and benches to escape the harshness of the weather.

 

For every music performer, there is a homeless street urchin struggling in the ghettos of the city, singing for a couple of bucks to buy a beer and a burger.

 

It’s harder than you think to be the Birthplace of Jazz,City of Festivals, Mardi Gras City, Paris of the South, and The Queen of the Mississippi