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New Orleans: A Labor of Love

Written by Source: Katina Parker

Sunday, 15 July 2007

nol By: Katina Parker

It?s less than two months before the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

For most of us, Katrina is a distant memory. Some of us believe the U.S. government has fixed the damage in this short time. Not so. Or that the scope of the disaster is simply too big to fix. Also not true. There is something each of us can do: support the volunteer effort.

Earlier this year I filmed New Orleans: A Labor of Love, a documentary that follows a group of college students who spent their spring break building homes for those displaced by Katrina. The film project has since evolved into a web-based, public awareness campaign with the goal of getting 5,000 volunteers to rebuild New Orleans during 2008.

Volunteers will assist people like Mr. Dilbert, a 64-year old man living in a FEMA trailer, supporting his dependent wife on $600 per month while he tries to find someone to help him gut and rebuild his duplex. And Mr. Perkins, a proud homeowner of 35 years, who recently lost his life savings to crooked contractors.

In support of this work, I?m asking you to make a tax-deductible donation so that we can turn New Orleans: A Labor of Love into a full-scale public awareness campaign, to launch on August 28, 2007.

The New Orleans: A Labor of Love site will:

- Contribute to the rebuilding of homes and lives of New Orleanians.
- Educate high school and college students about disaster relief and gentrification.
- Assist professors/community leaders with organizing student groups to volunteer.
- Keep the general public informed about the true state of reconstruction work through updated blogs and videocasts.

To read more about the project please visit: www.nolaboroflove.com.

Katina Parker works as a visual artist in Los Angeles, where her body of work encompasses television and film writing/directing/producing; graphic/web design; photography; and mixed media installations. Previous clients include Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Saul Williams and Cody ChesnuTT.

Currently, Katina is in post production for New Orleans: A Labor of Love, a public awareness campaign to get 5,000 student volunteers to rebuild the city during 2008: www.nolaboroflove.com.

About Katina Parker

Katina Parker, Director

This summer, Katina?s documentary Peace Process won Best Documentary, Honorable Mention at the 11th Annual Urbanworld VIBE Film Festival. The anti-gang violence project follows 17-year old poet Jabril Muhammad while he interviews people who have been affected by gang violence to decide whether he really wants to join a gang. Interviews include Stan Tookie Williams, Saul Williams, Aceyalone, Medusa and Sugafree. To view the trailer visit: www.myspace.com/peaceprocess.

Earlier this year, Katina?s short Radimi: Who Stole the Dream debuted on BETJ. The film features Mehcad Brooks, formerly of Desperate Housewives, and tells the story of a college-bound teenage couple?s fight to stay together for the sake of their 2-year old daughter.

Other projects include a coffee table photo essay book on homelessnesss and another on the Million Man/Woman/Youth/ Family Marches.

Katina received her M.F.A. from the University of Southern California and her B.A. from Wake Forest University. She is a native of Oklahoma City and grew up in Wilmington, Delaware.