Signing Off

By Lolis Eric Elie

Now that Davis McAlary has returned, albeit briefly, unofficially, and on a one-time-only basis, to WWOZ to sign us off with Louis Armstrong's version of "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams," Season 2 of 'Treme' is officially over. The Rebirth Brass Band's rendition of "Do Whatcha Wanna," which played during the closing credits, marked the official, 'Treme'-sanctioned beginning of summer break – ours and yours. Enjoy it!

We'll resume our stories on the small screen sometime around next April. We want to see you back then. But, in the meantime, do whatcha wanna.

The Vietnamese Fishing Community in New Orleans

When Uncle Don (John Beasley) traded Sonny (Michiel Huisman) to the Vietnamese shrimp boat captain in Episode 11, it was cooperation of a sort between the black and Asian fishing communities. Cornell Williams speculated that the Vietnamese might have intended to leave Sonny to swim for his life in the Gulf of Mexico; after all, Sonny had been flirting with the captain's daughter. Such a turn of events would have been bad for Sonny. But should one man's theoretical misfortune be allowed to taint the warm relations between these two peoples? In the end, things turned out well for Sonny. As for the two groups of fisherman, our story of this small trade mirrors a much larger development taking place between fishers of various races. GO FISH, Gulf Organized Fisheries in Solidarity & Hope, has emerged as one of the most important organizations advocating on behalf of them.

"GO FISH is a coalition of member organizations of family fishermen and commercial fishermen," said May Nguyen, a social justice strategist working with GO FISH. "It was formed in response to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill."

When our locations manager, Virginia McCollam, was looking for an appropriate boat and Vietnamese crew for the shrimping scenes, she contacted May for assistance.

"More than 30 percent of Gulf Coast fishers are Vietnamese Americans. That's true for various reasons," Nguyen said. "Most of the Vietnamese Americans came to America as refugees after the end of the Vietnam War. Initially, the reason for them settling in the area was Bishop Dominic. He sent out an announcement saying he was going to build a church here. Most of the refugees left Vietnam because of religious persecution because they were Catholic."

"Then the other draw was the fishing industry," Nguyen said. "A lot of people were fishermen in Vietnam, which is why they were able to ferry to boats here. Thien Nguyen, who plays one of the fishermen on the show, ferried a boat here." 

The Vietnamese community is at once integrated into and separate from New Orleans. To get a sense of how self-reliant the community is, check out the documentary A Village Called Versailles. It's about the Vietnamese community in eastern New Orleans, and its struggle to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. To get a sense of how thoroughly the community has been integrated into the broader New Orleans community, consider the election of  Joseph Cao, the first Vietnamese-American member of Congress; or take a walk on the campus of Xavier University, a historically black, Catholic college, which has see the numbers of its Vietnamese consistently increase; or note how often New Orleanians suggest Vietnamese food when the subject of dining options comes up.

Playing Oliver Thomas

By Lolis Eric Elie

I got to know Oliver Thomas when he was a district councilman and I was a newspaper columnist. I had written a series of columns about a set of historic buildings on Canal Street that a developer wanted to destroy and replace with a new development. Councilman Thomas had expressed sympathy, if not support, for the plan. I blasted him and in response, his message on my voice mail reminded me that he had heard many such protests before.

After lunch at a Senegalese restaurant, we still disagreed about that issue and a host of other land use disputes. But I walked away from that lunch with an understanding of a truism of New Orleans politics: Nobody doesn’t like Oliver Thomas.

Even now, after his political career ended in the scandal that we portray this season, he is still quite popular here. People like him, not so much despite his corruption conviction as because of the fact that he has an expansive warmth and a concern for the average New Orleanian. Perhaps that’s why “Reflections,” the autobiographical play he wrote with Anthony Bean, was sold out virtually every night.

I asked him about playing himself on ‘Treme’ and rebuilding his life after spending time in prison for his corruption conviction.

Playing myself on ‘Treme’ has been quite an experience. I've gotten calls from people all over the country who have tracked me down to ask if it's really me.

I enjoy acting; it's a great release for me. I had to act and try to blend in with the other great actors and many professionals who do this everyday, so I was always aware of the fact that I had to do my best to make sure that my work was believable. I did my best and most people seem to enjoy it. Besides, I remember Jon Seda and I rehearsing for a scene, and him saying “I don't know why they asked me to rehearse this with you, because you're doing better than me.” Then he said ,"After all, politicians are some of the best actors in the world!” I thought that was funny. Jon and I really had a good time working together, and people tell me everyday that he and I have good chemistry.

So as an actor, and that's what I am, I have to feel good about that. It was harder for me to do the hit play “Reflections” that I co-wrote and starred in at Anthony Bean Theater. That was a lot more emotional and more real, because it was honest content. We just changed the names of many of the characters.

Most of the time ‘Treme’ didn't feel real for me because it's not real. It's acting. And that's the beauty of a great show like ‘Treme,’ how effective the writers and producers are. The time it was most emotional for me was when I counseled Sofia on the loss of her father when she was so upset that he committed suicide. Mentally, that brought me back to finding my brother in our hotel room after Hurricane Katrina. So that was very emotional to me.

Our nation seems to have a reputation for being corrupt, and forgive me for contributing to that, but Louisiana is a great place with the most colorful people in the world, with some of the worst social problems, and poverty amongst children, and African-Americans. But we're no worse than any other place, and it's unfair to all the good people who live here!

What have I been doing? Wow! A lot, mostly working with young people here at Covenant House; these kids are so special, but homeless. Every child and teenager should have their own bed. That's corruption too. But I like motivating them and telling their story and helping them heal in spite of their situation. Unfortunately, just like Katrina, ain't nobody riding in on a white horse to save them. So they have to accept responsibility for their own lives and work hard with the staff here to restructure and stabilize their lives. Covenant House is their safe haven, and we fight hard here every day to save God's children.

I also work with ex-cons who return home and motivate them to be part of the solution and atone their lives for the crimes committed against our society. And I especially like motivating black men to be more involved in our communities and our families, and especially be better parents, and fathers. And last but not least, I'm acting and writing, and producing. I’m also working on a book called,"Addicted To The Risk," with attorney Bill Abbott. I’m doing a lot of motivational speaking to different groups all over. One of the greatest gifts God gives us is the ability to be better each day in spite of what we go through as individuals or as a city!