Salt and Peppa!!

I had been pretty depressed about the prejudice that became so obvious in Katrina's aftermath. I am one of those stubborn liberals that refuse to believe anyone could be so stupid, afraid and heartless as to ignore or deny someone help based on their background. When I read some of the accounts I ended up feeling guilty as if these were my brothers and sisters (i.e. Barbara Bush's comments) reflecting me and my beliefs.

Well, shortly after that we went to a free jazz concert that was part of our community's revitalization efforts and also a last minute support for the Katrina revitalization.

There were some wonderful jazz groups such as Marcus Johnson who kept me moving. The headliner was Winton Marsalas. The night was perfect, warm and sexy, the moon was almost full and smile-beaming to the beat in the sky. We ended up standing on the third floor of the parking garage as we could see the stage better, had a wonderful breeze, excellent sound and could people-watch the audience on the space below us.

I noticed that it was a very diverse audience of thousands of people. The majority of our community is black, some poor, but not as poor as New Orlean's citizens. I saw black and white faces in about equal numbers, young and old, children and grandparents and dogs. Everyone was in a gentle and friendly mood. A 50-something black man adopted my husband and proceeded to spend a good part of the time befriending him. Yes, he was three sheets to the wind (the black man), but he wasn't obnoxious. My husband who is a non-drinker was the perfect gentlemen to this.

Even the people who were visiting from Israel and standing behind us talking about how they really didn't like jazz finally drifted away and we enjoyed a langourous enjoyment of "Down by the Riverside."

I left that concert thinking that this is what America is supposed to be about. Accepting our differences and finding that common ground, in this case jazz, baby, jazz, and sharing our love of it.