1/04/2008 Community Gumbo

Listen | Democracy Now (1/04/08)

• Obama, Huckabee Score Victories in Iowa Caucus
• After Iowa: A Roundtable Discussion on the Democratic Race with Danny Glover, Wayne Ford and Ellen Chesler
• Peace Activists Take Action to Keep Focus on War During Presidential Campaign

Listen | Democracy Now (12/26/07)

• "Today’s Decision Would Make George Orwell Proud" -- FCC Commissioner Michael Copps on the FCC's Vote to Rewrite the Nation's Media Ownership Rules

Remembering Dinerral Shavers and Helen Hill
Listen | Kevin George, former Rabouin High School principal
Listen | Mo Lappen, creator of The Opposite Machine

This week, the new District Attorney Keva Landrum-Johnson and Police Superintendent Warren Riley announced that their cooperation has reduced the number of defendants automatically released from jail because prosecutors failed to file charges against them within 60 days.

"701" releases were reduced to just 6 in December 2007 from a high of 580 in January 2007 -- a month which began with the tragic murders of two beloved members of the New Orleans community, Dinerral Shavers and Helen Hill. Those murders spurred some 5000 people to march against violence, and to register their discontent with the city's ineffectual leadership on the steps of City Hall.

At the one year anniversary of their slayings, and with Carnival season commencing tomorrow on King's Day, today Community Gumbo remembers Dinerral Shavers and Helen Hill with excerpted re-broadcasts of previous programs with Kevin George, the former Rabouin High School principal who facilitated Dinerral Shavers desire to start a new marching band which premiered during last year's carnival season, and Mo Lappen, whose Opposite Machine in memory of Helen Hill rolled on Mardi Gras last year.

Related:

WYES TV, Channel 12, Saturday 1/04/08, 11:00 p.m. Celebrating a Life in Film. A profile of filmmaker Helen Hill. Included: clips from her animated films and comments from friends and family members.

Dave Walker, "A documentary examines murder victim Helen Hill as a filmmaker," The Times-Picayune, 1/05/08.

Laura Maggi, "Cooperation pares down prisoner releases," The Times-Picayune, 1/04/08.

Music Played:

Fred Weaver, "The Light at the Corner," Apocalypse the Apocalypse, 2006.