Their Nola, Their Story

Their Nola, Their Story

Video

This is a documentary on three New Orleans natives' life experiences while living in New Orleans.

This digital media project gives a perspective of different age groups' experiences while living in New Orleans. It shows how "TaKeisha Matthews, Gwen Coleman, and Jermier Washington all viewed New Orleans.

Lily Wright

My Nola, My Story via YouTube.

Mass Communications department at Xavier University of Louisiana

November 28, 2021

TaKeisha Matthews
Gwen Coleman
Jermier Washington

My Nola, My Story

My Nola, My Story 2021 Exhibit

English

iMovie, video

https://youtu.be/VIvGXpQKpaM

A Digital Humanities project by Xavier University of Louisiana's Mass Communication department students, led by Dr.Shearon Roberts

Lily Wright- hi thank you for being here what's your name
00:18
TaKeisha Matthews- my name is takeisha matthews people call me keisha
Lily Wright- okay what part of new orleans did you grow up?

TaKeisha Matthews- i grew up in algiers along sherwood drive i'm algiers baby
Lily Wright- okay how was that area while you were growing up
TaKeisha Matthews- um you
know every area had their fair
share of crime and poverty i'm going on
but you
know the era i grew up in um the
neighbors looked out for your children
um you had your friend everybody was
friends and family it wasn't too much violence going on but you
had your drugs and different things
going on but we all looked out for each
other they had respect for each other

Lily Wright- okay so growing up in new orleans was fairly okay for you, you enjoyed it
TaKeisha Matthews- I enjoyed it up until 2005 when i had to leave abruptly for hurricane katrina

Lily Wright- okay okay
what was your favorite dish growing up

TaKeisha Matthews- oh wow i had several of them um
i used to go to the trolley stop which
there isn't there anymore i used to love
to go there for your good soul foods and
um you know you can't forgive manchus
but
i'm gonna say my favorite dish is um the
spicy um yakima

Lily Wright- okay
who would cook that dish like who cooked
that dish the best
TaKeisha Matthews- yeah always well
grandma always cooked the best but
uh i say manchus gave a run for her
money

Lily Wright- okay what was your most
memorable memory while growing up

TaKeisha Matthews-uh second line second line on sundays
uptown nothing like it

Lily Wright- okay did you always go to that like
every time they had

TaKeisha Matthews- it was always um
on a sunday we're going to the bridge
to uh the saints football games but
uptown on sundays
second line nothing like it

Lily Wright- okay do you have any specific food
places or any corner store that you that
was your go-to

TaKeisha Matthews- they closed down my trolley stop as i
already said you had you had manchester
united store your go-to corner store
we had um the store that was called um
elvins um that was over um on the
claibornie side
but you're
more restaurant type you have felix
feelers just open up on the lakefront
where you can go there on sundays and
get you a nice meal and just relax
before your second line came but you
have desert bakers um houston's
it's so many um
wonderful restaurants i mean
i don't have the time to name them all

Lily Wright- okay last question are you looking forward to
mardi gras next year
TaKeisha Matthews- yes yes yeah we
just had bayou classic back baby we
coming back baby we coming back
yeah okay coming back baby okay
Lily Wright- thank you so much miss keisha for letting me
interview you you are a pleasure
TaKeisha Matthews- thank you thank you and NOLA baby we back


Lily Wright- okay what's your name

Jermier Washington- jermier

Lily Wright- okay what part of new orleans did you

Jermier Washington- i grew up in the ninth ward

Lily Wright- okay how was it growing up in new
orleans

Jermier Washington- yeah you know
you know i like getting out of place

Lily Wright- like could you elaborate
like was it a tough? Was it tough growing up there was it pretty chill?

Jermier Washington-i mean it's really up to you how you
want to live

Lily Wright- so how did you live?

Jermier Washington- i mean I'm still living

Lily Wright- okay so yeah you enjoyed living there was it a fun place?

Jermier Washington- okay be strong be your own man

Lily Wright- okay what was your favorite dish growing up
that your mom or any relative would cook

Jermier Washington- a seafood pasta

Lily Wright- seafood pasta okay who cooked that dish the best

Jermier Washington- my grandma yeah grandma oh yeah

Lily Wright- okay what was your most memorable memory while growing up in the ninth ward

Jermier Washington- uh playing my like
cousins you know yeah

Lily Wright- do you still play with them today

Jermier Washington- some of them in jail some dead so everybody really doing thing they own thing

Lily Wright- okay okay what did you have a specific place or any food place that reminded you of home

Jermier Washington- uh no not really ain't nothing like home you know yeah ain't nothing like oh no

Lily Wright- okay what was your favorite place to go to growing up

Jermier Washington- yeah you know in the same place everybody else love to go to bourbon street or canal you know yeah

Lily Wright - what'd you do there?

Jermier Washington- you know walk

Lily Wright- okay did you ever experience any mardi gras

Jermier Washington-uh you already know yeah

Lily Wright - okay how was that?

Jermier Washington- you know how it was

Lily Wright- no i don't that's why I'm asking

Lily Wright- so it was enjoyable

Jermier Washington- yeah

Lily Wright- okay thank you so much for this interview Mr. jermier

Lily Wright- hello what's your name or what do people
call you

Gwen Coleman- everyone calls me mimi my name is gwen but i like to be called mimi by my
grandkids and great nieces and nephews

Lily Wright- okay what part of new orleans did you grow up in


Gwen Coleman- on fourth street right off of claiborne my aunt lucinda penny lived there for over 40 years and i went there to live with her okay

Lily Wright- how was it growing up
in that area

Gwen Coleman - oh you know if you go back to the 70s it wasn't bad you know
even though kids would hang out and be
quite a few
the violence wasn't as bad as it got say
around the 80s
around the 80s it became popular with
the jordan shoes and people would rob
you for your tennis shoes you know yeah
so but before that
and even today people most of them have
died but the old lady who lived most
people homes like ours was a duplex you
know you lived on one side and they were
on the other side and you're basically
like family and most of the houses on
fourth street were made like that okay
thank you

Lily Wright- what was your favorite dish growing up that one of your relatives would cook ?


Gwen Coleman- oh my goodness now you know i had to say
gumbo i love to make it even now
gumbo and
then uh
there was a dish at
google and chase you have to wait in
line almost to get in there it is famous
movie stars and everything used to
come visit google and chase
and i would love their fried catfish oh
my goodness it would melt in your mouth

Lily Wright- okay that sounds yummy what was your
mostmemorable memory growing up in new
orleans?

Gwen Coleman- my most memorable memory
was when
when they first started to buy a new
class of friends would come by you know
just to see us
but then as time went on they actually
came to stay at our home say around when
they first started in
74 you know they stayed in hotels but
then as years went on several news and i
mean five one time eight of them stayed
there in that little duplex to come to
the bayou classes because they want to
see you know the night before
performances so my most memorable one
was uh i don't remember quite to hear it
may have been
maybe 80 81
when um
my nephew who hadn't been to the bayou
classic was in the navy came home
and he could not believe you know
how the excitement because he grew up
knowing about you know i went to
southern my brother went to grambling and
then you know the robbery but to come to
the game that year oh my nephew lanier
was so excited you know because he's
never been to the bayou clasic so i
think the joy that he had that year in
81 i think it was
is very memorable

Lily Wright- okay did you have any specific place any or specific like restaurant or corner store that was your go-to when you lived there

Gwen Coleman- i want to say alexandra's i can't
remember the name of the store but it
was right off of
claiborne claiborne was a business area
but there was a corner store right
before you got there where you know you
can get your little milk and your eggs
because i just said you know large chain
stores were farther off
but uh
i want to say that there was alexander
it's not there anymore and they've done
a lot of changes in that area
but uh
yeah the corner store
or alexander

Lily Wright- okay thank you so much miss gwen for this interview

Gwen Coleman- for interviewing me is an
honor thank you thank you

[Music]

9:43 ( nine minutes and forty three seconds)

Lily Wright

Dr. Shearon Roberts