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I-Witness: Central City

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The Idea:

What will change in the world because this Project happens?

The impression most New Orleanians have of Central City is that of a war zone inhabited by degenerates looking to prey upon innocent victims and each other. I-Witness Central City is a storymapping project that aids residents in reclaiming their history and their neighborhood through personal stories accessible online and via a cell-phone walking tour.

I-Witness Central City grew out of an earlier oral history program known as the I-10 Witness Project (www.i10witness.org). I-10 Witness emerged immediately following Hurricane Katrina as a means of giving those affected the opportunity to record their experiences and give their perspectives a place in the larger conversation about what happened here and how to move forward.

The stories that make up I-Witness Central City are organized not by topic but rather by location. There are two ways for listeners to access these stories. They can find them via video markers on a Google map or they can walk around Central City and look for our signs indicating that a story happened where they’re standing. A person can call up the number and hear the storyteller’s own voice setting the scene.

Some of the stories we’ve collected happened recently; some happened long ago. Kids growing up in Central City today might never know about the jazz funeral that the Free Southern Theatre held for itself in 1980 or who painted the murals of civil rights workers under the overpass. Others might hear a more personal tale of a resident finding love for the first time or a child confronting the neighborhood bully. Our project helps the neighborhood learn about itself and offers outsiders a whole new way of perceiving this much-maligned area of New Orleans.

What information will people interact with to make this change?

People will be listening to stories of personal and historical significance as well as maps (digital and physical) of an area that they wouldn't otherwise think about. The video versions of the stories are designed as short films to provide internet viewers a greater sense of where the story takes place. Conversely, the same stories are told in such a way that they direct the listener who calls in to visually follow the narrative as it happened.

What else have you done in this Cause Area?

In addition to projects such as I-Witness: Central City, the members of Mondo Bizarro have a background in theater, film, and ethnographic journalism. Our most recent production was an investigation into the life and work of New Orleans poet Everette Maddox. Everette lived the majority of his days in our city (until he died in 1989) as a teacher, poet and performer who is most fondly remembered as the Poet Laureate of The Maple Leaf Bar. He contributed several books of poetry in his lifetime and helped start the Sunday Poetry Readings at The Maple Leaf Bar; considered the longest running, weekly poetry reading series in the South. We created this work to reinvigorate interest in the amazing poetry of this New Orleans artist. Incidentally this piece, entitled Catching Him in Pieces, premiered at the ASHE Cultural Arts Center in the heart of Central City.

Cause Area:
- Public & Social Benefit
Cause Area Tags:
Previous Prize Tags:
- n2y3mashupchallenge
Project URL:
http://storymapping.org/i10witness.html
Supporting Organization:
The Center for Digital Storytelling
Supporting Organization URL:
http://www.storycenter.org/
Financial support?:
No
City:
New Orleans
State/Region:
LA
Country:
United States

The Assessment

What kind of help or resources do you need to turn your project idea into a completed mashup?

We are looking for computer programmers who could help us with back end programming. As this method is new to us, we imagine that we will need some help with setting up our phone bank system and website so that it works effectively and is easy to use. What you'll find at www.storymapping.org is just a prototype for the project.

We are also interested in gaining the support of our City Council and Tourism Department to help spread the word about our project. We would be interested in learning the best methods for making this connection.