Community Spotlight: One Book, One New Orleans
Community Spotlight by Michael Allen Zell
One Book One New Orleans has been centering books and adult literacy for almost 20 years, to bring people together and make a difference for many who deal with limited possibilities due to ongoing city and state systemic issues. OBONO started simply to encourage all New Orleanians to read the same city-based book. Since then, OBONO has expanded its reach, range, and community relationships.
This year’s book selection is “The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You” by critically acclaimed author Maurice Carlos Ruffin. At the packed kick-off event hosted by stalwart Community Book Center, he recalled feeling low self-esteem at being 33 years old while going to grad school for writing at UNO.
“I was this Black kid from New Orleans East. I’d been reading a long time. Everyone else was in their mid-20’s. This is a city where we’re known for our food, our music, and some of our style & language. But there aren’t a lot of people who look like me getting published nationally. There are complicated reasons. From mass incarceration in the state to underfunded schools in the city. The public system compared to the private system. Why is that?”
Ruffin continued, “I want to write a book so that a young Black child reads it and has one of two responses. 1. This is great. I want to be like this in the future, or 2. This is alright, but I can do way better myself and write my own book. With this program (OBONO), which is providing books to many adults, it’s the exact same thing. I was an adult learner who became an adult writer. I wasn’t writing stories when I was 15 years old. It’s my belief that anybody who wants to learn the craft and has that spiritual voice to tell these stories and pass them forward, whether you’re 50, 60, 80, incarcerated, or have a mental illness, it’s out there for all of us. If my legacy is being a trailblazer in some small sense, that’s a big one. In the meantime, I’m grateful that my book will have a wider audience here in the city.”
Executive Director Dr. Megan Holt keeps OBONO churning and developing. She tends to shun the spotlight, but her ability to straddle different worlds, openness to what a book event & festival can be, and keen desire to reflect representation of historically marginalized communities have been transformative and beneficial.
“I originally started volunteering with OBONO back when it was a project of the Young Leadership Council, simply because I wanted to share my love of reading with others. I soon learned how adult literacy impacts the overall health of a community, and from there breaking down barriers that prevent people from accessing books became a passion.”
Advocacy of adult literacy is an important and necessary component of OBONO, who is a member of the Literary Alliance coalition. Low literacy is pervasive in New Orleans, and it impacts quality of life, job prospects, as well as basic understanding & interpreting throughout daily interactions. As Emily Schmidt noted in APM Research Lab, “Literacy is broadly defined as the ability to read and write, but it more accurately encompasses the comprehension, evaluation, and utilization of information.”
Books 2 Prisoners is the partner organization of OBONO that provides books to incarcerated people in Alabama, Arkansas, and Louisiana, judgment free. Like much of OBONO, it relies on the good grace of a steady number of volunteers.
Culture bearer Bruce Sunpie Barnes, author Brian Wagner, and Preservation Hall Foundation Programs Manager Pamela Blackmon host a panel discussion on the book “The Life and Legend of Bras Coupé” during the Words & Music Festival 2022 at the New Orleans Jazz Market.
The annual Words & Music Festival hosted by OBONO lives up to its name by bringing together literature, music, and activism. The festival has been longtime known for its writing competition in various categories, as well as featuring writers at different stages in their careers. In the same way that young musicians can learn on stage from veterans, the festival fosters the same sense of symbiotic mentorship.
As far as what’s next for OBONO, Holt said, “I honestly don't know, and I wouldn't have it any other way! Every single time we've taken a new step, it has been because someone in our community has expressed a need and asked us to help fulfill it. I don't want to create a vision of what's next for OBONO, because that vision shouldn't come from me. It should come from those we serve.”
The Preservation Hall Foundation was proud to support One Book, One New Orleans at the 2022 Words & Music Festival by sponsoring a fascinating book talk with Brian Wagner, author of “The Life and Legend of Bras Coupé” alongside culture bearer, historian and musician Bruce Sunpie Barnes. You can watch the full book talk on Bras Coupé here.
The Preservation Hall Foundation Community Spotlight series highlights outstanding organizations and individuals of the New Orleans cultural ecosystem, who uphold the ideals Preservation Hall stands for, working collaboratively to protect, preserve and perpetuate the musical and cultural traditions of New Orleans.
Community correspondents embed themselves into the work of these organizations and individuals, creating their own Community Spotlight with words, photos and video. Stay tuned for the next Community Spotlight and learn more about the 2023 PHF Community Engagement grant awardees here.