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Violence In New Orleans

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The effects of violence and racial oppression in New Orleans New Orleans is one of the most multi-faceted cities in the United States. It is unmanageable to seize all of its physiognomies in literature or film, let alone a specific piece of literature or film. The African influence of jazz funerals, the birthplace of musicians such as Louis Armstrong and bands like Hot 8 have all culminated in a single city, creating one of the most dynamic cities in this country. However, along with the originality and vivacity of New Orleans, there is violence and chaos. This essay is therefore going to focus on Sakakeeny and how he explains this reality of violence in the artistic and buoyant New Orleans through detailed examples from his book, Roll with …show more content…

Sakakeeny said, “Guns and musical instruments both are tools, and in this specific case their functionality is reducible essentially to two options: destructive or productive. The are all deployed in public spectacles- a shooting and a musical funeral procession- that take place in the very same streets but differ radically in the way one stops and silences while the other mobilizes and voices.” (154) They wanted to manifest a lifetime of frustration with the criminal justice system. The music of Hot 8 condenses the skills of musicians and audiences to give them a channel for their frustrations, faiths, and ambitions. (158) This is very well visible through the lyrics of songs such as you bang, we bang. The lyrics are, “You bang, we bang, why they had to kill Lil’ Joe? They gone and killed Joe.”(158) However it also expresses emotions. Musicians and other participants voiced sentiments through sonic, visual and textual and embodied realms. …show more content…

Sakakeeny does an extraordinary job following up on the lives of the bands as they endure and intertwine through the diverse influences of the city, redesigning customs as the city re-creates itself. By tailing behind the production of music in the form of brass bands and the ever so popular jazz funerals, the author, Sakakeeny, gives an essential sight into larger contestations and discussions around New Orleans 's possible future along with its past and present. However, Roll With It also leaves the readers wondering and questioning the economic safety of these musicians. The only downfall to his approach is the fact that he is successful in talking about violence in New Orleans but doesn’t seem to motivate the people reading his book to stand up to take action and fight racial

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