Since I first wrote this post, there was a
terrible shooting at a second line on Mother's Day in which many people were
injured but, so far, there were no fatalities. I am pleased to hear that the
organizers are planning to reschedule the event. They will do it, both in honor
of all mother's, as their second line has been on Mother's Day, and to honor
the victims of the shooting. They will also dedicate it as a march against gun
violence. There is no reason the act of an individual coward should stop these
important cultural events in New Orleans any more that other acts of violence
should stop what was occurring at the time, whether it be a politician meeting
her constants or a marathon. I missed the second line on Mother's Day but plan
to join the rescheduled event.
I am also pleased to read that since
the shooting, the New Orleans mayor and the police chief have repeatedly and
emphatically divorced the shooting from the occasion that it ruined. They have
called the parades a crucial part of the city’s culture and even a bulwark against
its violence, an argument marchers have been making for
years.
New Orleans is a city where parades are often a participatory event. Second lines are the prime example. The "main line" or "first line" is the main section of the parade that includes members of the club with the parading permit as well as the brass band. The club dancers are separated from the crowd by walkers holding ropes. Those who follow the band just to enjoy the music and dance or walk along are called the "second line." There are more formal second lines held by social aid and pleasure clubs. On many Sunday afternoons, there is a social aid and pleasure club second line parade. In addition, many music events will have an informal second line.
As a child in New Orleans in the 1950s I expereinced another form of second line, the post-burial celebration honoring a person's life. About once or twice a month in the late afternoon, a black jazz funeral procession solemnly passed on foot down the middle of Lowerline Street passed our house, with a small brass band playing hymns on its way to the Carrolton Cemetery. On the way back, the mourners would celebrate the passed person’s life and the expectation they were off to a better place. The band played more lively numbers and neighbors would join in to dance or walk along. At the time, I did not know how special this was and just accepted this participation as part of our city life.
We have gone to three of the social aid and pleasure club second lines this year and hope to do more. Here are photos from these three. They are a great part of the city’s culture and a good way to see its neighborhoods. These parades generally last four hours or more with stops along the way. Vendors offer food and drinks at the stops. Others drag wagons with drinks to sell along the route.
The first second line we went to was led by The Perfect Gentlemen Social & Pleasure Club along with Men of Unity & The Original Steppers on a sunny January 19. It was downtown, starting at Canal and Rampart Street. Then it went up Rampart to Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Along the way a group with maroon suits joined in. It took a right on MLK to Simon Bolivar and turned right on Simon Bolivar. The first stop was at the Hot Spot Barber Shop where a group with orange feathers joined it. We only took part in the beginning of this one but we did the complete route of the next two. You can click on any image to make it larger.
The next second line was led by the Cross the Canal Steppers (CTC) on February 24. It started on Elysian Fields Ave and went down St. Claude Avenue stopping at HiHo lounge. We picked it up just before it went across the St. Claude Ave. Bridge over Industrial Canal into the Lower Ninth Ward. The condition of Lower Ninth was improved over what I saw in '06 and '07 but there was still much work to be done. Most of the wreckage was cleared out. There were now many empty lots but some new construction of raised houses. These new houses are surrounded by empty lots, so they also seemed in the country in an area that was more densely lived in before. The CTC ended at 5119 St. Claude Ave. Mickey B's Bar. This was still in the Lower Ninth. We walked across the bridge back to our car.
The third second line was in our neighborhood and started on Oak Street. It was led by the Pigeon Town Steppers and supported by the Stooges Brass Band on Easter, March 31. This is their traditional day. It started at the Maple Leaf Bar, a few blocks from where I live. Then it went away from the river through the Pigeon Town neighborhood, stopping at Walter's Lounge, then on to Holly Grove, and beyond to return to Pigeon Town, ending at Sista Sista Lounge. Other stops along with way included the Broadway Lounge and the E&C Lounge. Along the way they went by Carrolton Cemetery and very near where I lived in the 1950s. The cemetery served as our primary playground and was also the destination point for the funerals I wrote about above.
