RE-SEGREGATION in schools is happening all over again. In an episode of Chris Hayes's "Why Is This Happening" Podcast (2018), Nikole Hannah-Jones explains why we continue to see segregation in schools and how, if at all, the education system can truly desegregate.

 

My mission in creating the The New Orleans Legacy Project was created to tell the WHOLE TRUTH about school segregation and why one of the most integral and pivotal moments in American History Civil Rights History in the Deep South was what some scholars have called the 2nd battle of New Orleans.....The New Orleans School Desegregation Crisis. I wanted to remind and educate Americans about this historical moment and how my generation and younger can learn DIRECTLY from the elders of The New Orleans Resistance Movement.  I wanted to educate via producing this  3 - part docuseries to raise awareness, honor and celebrate America's Little Soldier Girls - The New Orleans Four (Ruby Bridges, Gail Etienne, Tessie Prevost and Leona Tate) and the powerful freedom fighters of the New Orleans Resistance Movement who moved before them and with them. The series is a combination of historical news stories, commentary from the elders of the movement and musical performances from New Orleans' own culture keepers, musicians and performers. Millions don't know anything about New Orleans being the cradle of the Civil Rights Movement and how the FOUR  6-year-old girls became the legacy of a resistance movement that dates back to 1811 when the largest enslaved people revolt took place in Orleans Parish.

For such a time as this when our Black History is under attack, I felt that it is crucial to educate everyone via Oral History first hand accounts from the living legends themselves. I created and launched The New Orleans Legacy Project because I wanted to do my part to PRESERVE BLACK HISTORY through the elders of the movement. I also wanted to address the illegitimate revision of the pivotal moment in American Civil Rights history that took place in New Orleans and Louisiana. As a black woman, I feel its my duty to take control of and CORRECT the illegitimate popular narrative about the school integration that omits integral facts about the FULL history of the school desegregation crisis in the Deep South; especially as it took place in New Orleans.
"The New Orleans Four were emissaries of justice and freedom. Turning the tide of hate in this nation and calling us towards the liberties enshrined in the United States Constitution." -- Alanah Odoms Executive Director ACLU Louisiana

Under my production company Sunstar Gate Productions LTD in partnership with the Historic New Orleans Collection museum (THNOC) and Fish Pot Studios, I stepped out on faith to do the work to ensure that my elders would also get their just due recognition for their courage, persistence and sacrifice. I am in the 3rd and final phase of producing and directing this film project that delves deep into the history of the New Orleans Resistance Movement. This project is not only a 3-part docuseries, IT'S A NEW FREEDOM FIGHTER MOVEMENT to ensure that this history is not left to be repeated! Our goal has been to simultaneously advocate and activate to make a significant impact for SOCIAL JUSTICE and create the CHANGE we want to see. As we complete part 3 of this docuseries, we are simultaneously moving forward with the nationwide Petition to make NEW ORLEANS FOUR DAY a nationally recognized holiday. We planned this launch so the petition can ignite the movement while we work to complete this film. It's time to DO THE RIGHT THING and right a wrong that has gone on for too long.

In 2020 for the 60th Anniversary of desegregation, I worked in partnership with the city of New Orleans to produce the New Orleans Four Proclamation Ceremony at Gallier Hall on November 14, 2020. On that beautiful morning, the City Council of New Orleans proclaimed NOVEMBER 14TH NEW ORLEANS FOUR DAY.  Our black history is sacred and undoing HISTORICAL NEGATION, and lifting up these FOUR little soldier girls and the powerful legacy of the elders of the New Orleans Resistance Movement is crucial NOW more than ever. Self serving Historical Revisionists have been on the move to illegitimately revise our black history and I say NOT ON MY WATCH!