As a Louisianian with ties to Chicago, I was deeply saddened to read the Kristen McQueary piece. My family has lived in and around New Orleans for several hundred years, and I currently serve Louisianians as a Unitarian Universalist minister. I was also fortunate to attend Lombard theological school in downtown Chicago and loved my time there.
I would never, ever, wish the trauma and heartbreak of Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing flood on your city.
Some of the people I serve are so traumatized by Katrina that they still can’t or won’t talk about it. Some of the people I serve had family members die in the flood. Although I didn’t experience that level of suffering personally, Katrina’s aftermath remains the defining disaster of my life.
I understand McQueary was using hyperbole to prove a point about the malaise she feels about her city. It’s true that parts of New Orleans have been revitalized. But it didn’t occur in New Orleans due to the preventable deaths by drowning and medical neglect of more than 1,800 of my people and the scattering of hundreds of thousands of our poorest residents. A similar tragedy in your wonderful city will not revitalize Chicago.
New Orleans was revitalized because we demanded it. New Orleans was revitalized because our culture is deeply steeped in traditions of celebration in the face of adversity. New Orleans was revitalized because the resilient people of Louisiana love being alive. New Orleans was revitalized because our people were committed to getting back home.
If you want Chicago to experience a similar rebirth, do what New Orleans has always done: Throw parades, embrace your past, find an excuse to celebrate every weekend of the year, give your poorest children trumpets and saxophones, make each meal a celebration, savor each day as a blessing and a gift.
— Rev. Nathan Ryan, assistant minister, Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge
