The Miracle of Christmas

I was sitting on this couch at about 4 p.m. on Christmas Day, preparing to go to dinner. About an hour later, it looked like this.

And the rest of the room looked like this. What a difference an hour makes! Tornadoes swept through Mobile, AL and fortunately no fatalities were reported. They came through as people began their Christmas dinners, making the event even more remarkable. While the house suffered damage, no people did. And that was a miracle.

 

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Bleu Priding Rising... FAST

The last week has been a busy one! On Saturday I was with the Dallas area alums to share the message of Bleu Pride Rising. I stayed in Dallas a few days to attend the accreditation meeting. I am having to relearn SACS since it has changed since I left the region in 2004.

Last night I was in Detroit with our alumni there, including incoming Alpha Phi Alpha president Mark Tillman '88. I feel our alumni base being galvanized and I am sure we'll see results soon.

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Anuual Christmas Concert

Last night I attended my first Dillard University Christmas concert. I arrived on campus about an hour before the event started, and there was already a significant crowd. As soon as the concert started, I knew why.

Simply outstanding! The entire concert was a treat. Not only did the choir perform well, but did guest soloists, the orchestral group, our dancers, and the female octet.

The audience was very appreciative as well, often feeling the spirit from the voices of the singers. This was definitely not over-hyped, because all of the advanced praise was well deserved.

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Ortique Lecture on Law and Society

Michelle Alexander with Mrs. Miriam Ortique (next to me) and members of the Ortique family

 

In 2010, Dillard University honored graduate Justice Revius Ortique, first Black Louisiana Supreme Court Justice, with a mock court room, named scholarships, and an annual lecture. The first lecturer was Attorney General Eric Holder. I was excited about this program but wanted to really get the community involved. So I sought out Michelle Alexander, author of the phenomenal book, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness."

I had her speak at Philander last November, so I knew she was a home run hitter. And New Orleans responded. In a room that seats 400, we probably had 500 with people sitting on the floor, standing in the back, on the side, and out the door. Incredible audience to hear tough truths about Louisiana, the incarceration capital of the world.

I encourage EVERYONE to read the book. But more than that, as Michelle Alexander stated, I hope we start a revolution here to end mass incarceration.

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Thanksgiving tradition

After our youngest was born in November of 2008, we knew we wouln't be traveling to visit parents that year. So we stayed put while people came to see us. The next year, we said we'd stay as well, but realized that there were students with no place to go for Thanksgiving. So a few came to eat with us.

In 2010 we had a nice sized group, and also had a local TV station do a story on what out of state (and country) students do for Thanksgiving. By then it had become our tradition.

So moving to New Orleans we knew we would continue the tradition. I sent out an e-mail to students indicating that if they needed a place to eat, we would have seats. I am sure this caught many of them off guard, and some probably didn't know what to think.

But today, 14 students came to have dinner with us. We also had one of my students from Philande Smith College drive down, making this her third year in a row having Thanksgiving dinner with us (but she had to help cook this time!)

I had a chance to meet some students I had not met, including one from Zimbabwe who celebrated his first Thanksgiving. I was glad we were able to provide that for him.

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2012 Ortique Lecture

Practice LSAT

My wife has really been working with Dillard students who have an interest in law. She has been forging partnerships with local attorneys and judges, reaching out to law schools, and advising students. Once we put it out that she is a member of the bar in 4 states, students jumped at the opportunity.

So she spent the last 2 weekends finding time to proctor a practice LSAT so that students would not walk in cold. This has definiely been an asset for our students.

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