Growing up in rural South Georgia, my only exposure to New Orleans was Greasing of the Poles on the national news, on Mardi Gras day. It was so scandalous, these revelers sliding their bodies and props on poles in the…
From Israel to Morocco to an HBCU in New Orleans, these Jewish artists are searching for home
The class does not begin with a lecture. Instead, Neta Elkayam stands at the front of the room and sings. Usually in the Moroccan Arabic of her ancestors, rather than her native Hebrew.
New Orleans clergy organize interfaith opposition to ICE raids
Faith groups in Louisiana are mobilizing along multiple fronts in response to an ongoing surge in federal immigration actions targeting New Orleans. Clergy and congregations from across the religious spectrum are organizing protests and know-your-rights training for citizens as more…
What you need to know about Trump’s Secret Police Force
Democratic-led cities across America are being assaulted by masked men. These federal agents under the purview of the Department of Homeland Security — some Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and some Customs and Border Protection agents — are carrying out…
What we learned from Hurricane Katrina
“We weren’t refugees. We were Americans. But to the world, we were treated like we didn’t belong.” — Ricky Fountain, Katrina survivor now living in Arkansas Twenty years ago today, Hurricane Katrina did more than flood a city; it…
Catholic school fires teacher after his husband’s obituary reveals their marriage
Alongtime music teacher at a Catholic school in the New Orleans area recently lost his job when it was revealed to an evidently “disgruntled” parent that he was another man’s widower, igniting a scandal within an archdiocese that has otherwise…
Pope Leo XIV confirmed to have African American ancestry
In a development reshaping global conversations around race, religion and representation, newly elected Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago in 1955, has been confirmed to have African American ancestry through his maternal Louisiana Creole roots. This groundbreaking…
In New Orleans, Christians form a second line to counter Sean Feucht
On the eve of Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, the “anti-vaccine, pro-Trump, guitar-strumming preacher” Sean Feucht staged a so-called Jesus March in the French Quarter of New Orleans. In addition to Feucht’s rise to fame for defying safety orders…
New Orleans attacker’s apparent loyalty to Islamic State group highlights persistent threat of lone wolf terrorism
The deadly Jan. 1, 2025, attack in New Orleans serves as a reminder of the persistent threat to the U.S. from individuals inspired by extremist Islamist groups.
Amid New Orleans tragedy, Fox News and MAGA figures tell lies
When Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, plowed his truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on New Year’s Eve — killing at least 15 people — Fox News and leading MAGA politicians immediately unleashed a targeted lie: “An illegal…
In light of New Orleans, Christians have a better message to fight radicalization
The recent terrorist attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day has shaken the nation. As details emerge, the tragedy underscores the urgent need to confront the forces that fuel radicalization and extremism. In the face of such senseless violence,…
The saints will come marching in for New Orleans church’s 30th jazz worship this Sunday
In a way, St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans has two congregations, the one that shows up most weeks for worship and the one that attends its annual jazz worship service held the Sunday before Mardi Gras. The…