10,000 Bones: Local to Global

Today I want to highlight the work that is being done in New Orleans by the NOLA chapter of One Million Bones and their many community partners.

Last year when I went to New Orleans, I was amazed at how the community responded with such generosity and enthusiasm for both our mission and our approach for raising awareness about genocide and conflicts happening around the world.  While there, I met and worked with so many incredible people in the city —many of whom have continued the work of One Million Bones. Truly this blog is to honor these individuals for all they do, and how they inspire us.

One of the reasons the project had such a deep impact in this community is because New Orleans, like the south side of Chicago, like parts of Baltimore and many other places in our country, is riddled with violence.  That violence is so entrenched that it tears apart communities, families and the fabric of the societies living in them.

Last night the One Million Bones NOLA chapter and St. Anna’s Episcopal Church laid out 10,000 bones to honor victims lost to conflicts happening around the world as well as to honor victims lost to violence in the New Orleans streets.  The bones were made by students in 30 local schools, and were crafted in the context of discussions about how the local violence has affected these students.  These conversations created a space for dialogue to happen about the scale and scope of violence happening in places like Sudan, and Congo. 

Since 2007, St Anna’s Church has been compiling a list of local murder victims; to date they have over 200 names.  Each of these names was honored in the installation in a large banner exhibited behind an alter of candles. Tonight there will be a candlelight vigil during which the names will be spoken.  Tomorrow’s events will include a preview showing of Shell Shocked, a documentary on the NOLA murder rate; and a speaker line-up which includes Elane, a mother whose son was murdered, a Sudanese relief worker, and Claude Gatebuke, a Rwandan genocide survivor; and performances by the Treme choir.

As our State Coordinator in Louisiana best put it “If we strip down to our bare bones, we are exactly the same. We all have the exact same right to live and the responsibility to protect the right of others to live. Especially in New Orleans.”

Our hearts are filled with gratitude to Dana Nguyen, Emily Gatehouse, Stacy Lee and so many others working tirelessly in New Orleans, and around the country to continue this work and to their passion for healing their communities and those living far away.

You can read more about the work happening in New Orleans in this article from The Advocate.