International dignitaries recently gathered to celebrate New Orleans’ Tricentennial. Our then mayor, Mitch Landrieu, said, “There is nothing stoic about New Orleans. It’s all rhythm, all music, all the time.”
He added that our city has overcome countless hardships, like Hurricane Katrina, which shaped us. Our enduring spirit inspired the nation with Homer Plessy, Ruby Bridges and Martin Luther King. Our diversity is our strength, promise and purpose.
The many flags that have flown over us have never dictated our culture; we are “sui generis” – one of a kind in the cultural landscape of the world. Happy 300th, NOLA.
The City welcomed LaToya Cantrell as its first female mayor on May 7, New Orleans’ official birthday.
– Betsie Gambel, Gambel Communications