Part of what is so important about being here in New Orleans is "bearing witness". Part of it is being here, but another critical part of processing what we've seen/felt/tasted/heard/felt in such a way that it connects the people who did not come, you, to the experience.

One of the most powerful messages I take from here is the sweet elderly woman (whom I've befriended as my grandmother) and her neighborhood. These are people of color who, for the most part, have not been treated by whites in very honoring ways. They distrust them because of this. From the beginning we had a goal of bonding with grandmother and her family/neighbors and rise above the racism of our times. I wanted to connect with them but how to do this when we had such little time? I spoke to her from my heart, "I want to let you know that we are not out of pity, but rather because of love! We are here because you are OUR people. We are all Americans and when we saw what happened to you at each stage of the horror that this whole experience has been our hearts were breaking because although we did not know you we felt a bond to you! At the time I had a sick child and could not come. We are now to do our part to help rebuild your home. More importantly than that is to let you know that your people, Americans, care about you no matter what the color of your skin."

Grandmother and her family have watched over us and shared their experience with us. We all opened up our hearts and minds to each other. You could see things shifting before your eyes. We all learned a lot.

It was very emotional hearing their experience, how they were treated, what they saw. Some of it still hurts my heart like knowing they saw people in wheelchairs and the bodies of babies floating by.

They said, "You are the nicest white people we ever met." When asked about how she felt about racism and if grandmother was bothered that there were white people in her house she said, "Honey, I don't care if you were green with polka dots. I'm just thankful you are here."

Mariaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
:)