Native naivety

Callie Joseph works with students and expands her native knowledge. Photo belongs to Joseph.

I am the only one in the class who is a native of New Orleans, which puts me in an interesting position to reflect on what this video project has taught me about the city. How can I be taught something new about my city which I’ve lived in my whole life, and nowhere else? But of course that’s a very narrow view of things. I frequently learn new things about this city. New Orleans is very neighborhood-oriented, much like New York. I’ve learned things about Tremé and the Ninth Ward simply because I rarely venture in those areas. Sometimes I think it really isn’t that unusual for fellow college students – who inhabit this weird space of not-quite-local-but- almost – to teach me about new happenings in the city. As a local, I feel like I get into a routine of things. After all, living here is just daily life for me. But for the newly placed college student, they are more inclined to explore the city and discover everything it has to offer. Plus there are always new things, events, and festivals cropping up around the city.

More than anything though, as a local looking internally, I think I’ve really realized the fierce pride and protection natives have for this city, more so than other places. Maybe it’s because of all the misconceptions, misunderstandings, and even hatred that the rest of the country has shown towards New Orleans. Just on Facebook the other day, a friend’s status mentioned how he is so glad he wasn’t born anywhere else. But he was moving away, which was a good thing. Despite this defining sense of identity we have as a New Orleanian, many leave. With the good comes the bad and with this sense of pride comes a sense of weariness. I have heard many locals speak of the city with a sense of resentment. They are tired of it, it’s small, there’s nothing left here for them. At first, I didn’t think anything of these sentiments. Then I took this class, and I grew angry that locals would feel this way about their own city that so desperately needs them, that they wanted to abandon it. And now I realize that they are completely entitled to feel that way, and not without a reason. I grow weary of the city too. But Chris Rose says it best: New Orleans girls may leave, but they always come back.

[Editor’s Note: This reflection was captured as part of an English class taught by Luisa Dantas to explore place-based storytelling.]