Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, let me paint a picture. It is the east side of New Orleans in 1959. A Black man at a swimming pool jumps off the high dive, arched in the sky. Fellow swimmers and passersby watch him from the shade of a palm tree. A Ferris wheel turns at the amusement park, and families picnic on the sandy shore of Lake Pontchartrain. That is what Lincoln Beach was like in its heyday: a beach, amusement park, performance area, and pool for the Black community of New Orleans who were not allowed at the all-White swimming pools in the area. Growing up, my community had fond memories of Lincoln Beach, as it was in the process of shutting down after courts decreed a racial nondiscrimination policy for private facilities on public lands, desegregating the all-White pools. Since its closure in the sixties, Lincoln Beach has fallen into decline. It was a site for picnics and outings. Without any maintenance, and over the decades, mountains of debris have piled up. This historic site, where so many Black kids and families built communities in New Orleans East, was fenced off and forgotten to many, but not to everyone. During COVID-19, some inspiring local activists and community members including Sage, Reggie, and Bliss, took it upon themselves to take the first steps toward reopening historic Lincoln Beach. They got into some good trouble and cleaned up the beach all by themselves, spending their own resources, time, energy, and money.…”