Local Heroes and Parting Thoughts

After two months, a dozen video reports and over 40 stories on the blog, it’s time to end the little red tar balls project and get back to a real job. But there’s a story I call “Local Heroes” that needs to be told. They have done nothing as spectacular as walking on the moon but to life on the Gulf Coast it’s every bit as important. All they are doing is working every day to preserve their coast. Their home.

I’ve recorded some of these people on camera. I’ve talked with many more with the camera safely in its case. These are the people get up every morning and live their personal and professional lives. In that way, they keep the Gulf moving forward.

I spoke with a woman on a lunch van who sets up every day only a few hundred yards from a major mustering point for the oil spill response team in Slidell, Louisiana. The spill workers have their lunches shipped in so her business is in the bin compared to other years, but she still sets up shop every day.

I spoke to several shrimpers who are having their nets torn up by the anchors that were used to secure the oil booms. When removing the booms, the workers didn’t winch up the anchors. They just cut the mooring lines leaving the anchors on the bottom all sharp and pointy. But the shrimpers still cast their nets and try to figure out how to deal with that sharp debris.

I’ve talked to entrepreneurs whose businesses are hurting because the summer tourist season simply didn’t happen this year. Some businesses have failed and others still may. The rest soldier on.

These are some of my local heroes.

Each of the local folks I interviewed on camera are most certainly local heroes. In the order they appeared in the video vignettes, they are…

Kenny DiNero, because the spill has put him up against the wall in so many ways. More than most, probably. Last week I asked him what was happening with his claim. BP came back with a payment offer of only 5% of his losses for this year. Five percent? Are they serious? He also went to a meeting with Ken Feinberg, the head of the government agency that’s taken over the claims process and didn’t feel any more confident about a realistic outcome. Through his frustration, he keeps on fighting for his business and his personal financial survival.

Finley Hughes and Dustin Renaud, because they facilitate a massive effort that will help scientists understand the effects of the spilled oil and the dispersants on the wildlife. They work cheerfully and, it appears, tirelessly. Finley drags himself all across the coast to work with different Audubon groups and external entities increasing their effectiveness. Dustin works with an ever-changing cast of volunteers to comb the coast for precious data points to feed to scientists. Plus, being a local, he is passionate about how the oil has hurt his coast and his beaches.

Darlene Carter, because she loves her home town and her community and refuses to sit idly by when there’s trouble. In the five years since Katrina and the birth of the Moss Point Visionary Circle, Darlene and members of her community have developed numerous programs to instill values in the youth and teach the power of personal empowerment to everyone. As I think I said here when I first posted her video, what MPVC does is in the best American tradition. Find a problem and mobilize community resources to solve it. There’s no waiting for the government or some outside group to come in and fix it for them. It’s see and do. Right now.

Barbara Ruddiman, because she makes sure that people get fed that otherwise might not have a good meal and she does it week in and week out. She works the logistics to make it all work and figures how to make it work for more people because there are others who really need a good meal. Did I mention that “The Lord Is My Help” was started by Kenny DeNiro’s mother and that the lady with white hair behind the counter is 100 years old and is Kenny’s grandmother? They are my heroes too.

Mark LaSalle, because he seeks the truth in the science in his studies on the Gulf. He has no agenda or ax to grind. He simply wants to know what’s happening as a result of the oil and the dispersant. The fact that he’s passionate, self effacing and has a wicked but subtle sense of humor make him a lot of fun to spend time with.

Bill Stallworth, Debi Thomas and all the people at Hope CDA, because they care. But more than that, they’ve taken that concern for their neighbors and their community and converted it into a powerful force, supported by tireless energy and amazing good cheer. I don’t think I’ve ever met so many good hearted and committed people all in one place. Did I mention they are also very, very bright? What I’ve seen them do, with my own eyes is amazing.

Each of these people and so many people I never got to meet are all local heroes to me.

I will admit here, in this final post of the Little Red Tar Balls Project, that I have some very strong political views. I have done my best to keep them out of the stories told here. Only you can judge if I’ve been successful. What I do like about all of the people I’ve talked with is their spirit of self reliance. It appeals to the libertarian streak in me. Even the Steps Coalition with a left leaning approach to things, have the same spirit. They watch over their neighborhoods and communities and take action when they think it’s needed.

How many of us have seen bad things going on around them and done nothing to change it… to help. I have and I’ve never been proud of that. It took me 57 years on this planet to get involved. All I could do was help these people tell their stories and to try to shed some light on what’s really happening down here. Had I been from this area and had roots in a town or city I could have connected to some group to be more hands-on. But I wasn’t. So I came down here to tell stories.

If my opinion is worth anything, this sort of self reliance and involvement needs to be exported from the Gulf coast to the big cities and suburbs all over this country. Transplant this spirit to St. Louis, Missouri, Long Beach, California, Fredrick, Maryland or anyplace where issues need tending. Keep the political agendas out of it and big things can happen. You can see it up in Harlem where a lot of people are improving public education with their charter school initiatives.

The improvements might not be as big as we’d like, but each step in the right direction is one step farther from the wrong direction. We must add our light to the sum of light because as Bill Stallworth recounted in his interview, “Evil thrives when good men and good women do nothing.”

Richard Lucas
September 9, 2010
Biloxi, Mississippi

Phenomenal People

One would have to have been living under a rock not to know that it was five years ago last Sunday that Katrina roared ashore onto the Gulf Coast. The network and local media coverage showed the recovery work done over the years and stated that there still was more work to do. That's true, but they also have to deal with the BP oil spill. So one crisis has been largely handled but there's another one simmering under the Gulf waters and the fat part of the hurricane season is upon them.

What's become clear to me over the last months is that these people are fighters. They have to be because life down here isn't that easy. It isn't easy anywhere but places are few where entire communities can have their houses ripped apart in a single day. Beginning August 30, 2005 Moss Point started rebuilding. So did Waveland and Pascagoula. Biloxi, Ocean Springs, Bay St. Louis and all the coastal towns and cities started the long march back to their new normal. They had help from individuals and groups of people who came down from around the country to help them rebuild. They are Phenomenal People, and there was a week-long celebration of that recovery that lead up to the anniversary. Although at first glance it doesn't seem like there's a connection, but there is. You see these people came back from an epic nightmare. Now they face another one with the oil spill and what they all really want is a break to catch their breath.

I'm including a video piece here because it shows the kind of people that live here and that they are going to fight through the oil spill and come out the other side whole. It's a different kind of fight than Katrina, and it will take different skills and talents to do it, but the brains and the talent are here. There's another thing here too... grit. Most of these people don't know anything about giving up.

They'll need that ability now because this spill will take years to play out.

View on ExposureRoom

Follow the link to ExposureRoom to watch in HD.

Heroes, Five Years After

Photo: NOAA

Five years ago, hurricane Katrina slammed the Mississippi shores and this week its residents are celebrating their recovery and resurgence. It's plain to see that they have come a long way but there is still much to do. That ongoing recovery has and is being done by real heroes.

They are heroes because they refuse to give up or give in. Where are these heroes? Walk down any street and they will be all around you. Sit down in any restaurant or go into any shop, they will be there. The work they did and continue to do is being done quietly, outside of the news spotlight but well within view of their friends and neighbors. Coastal Mississippi communities came together to recover and continue in their causes. Groups like the Moss Point Visionary Circle, The Lord is My Hope, Hope CDA and others were born from Katrina's devastation but they all continue to serve.

The celebration of the Mississippi recovery was called "Phenomenal People" and based upon my experiences here, they most certainly are. These are my heroes.