Nasty News and the Tennessee Williams Festival

Melinda Palacio

Nasty Women Poets at the Tennessee Williams Festival

Earlier this week, evacuation orders were issued for Santa Barbara County due to the Pineapple Express, a monumental rain storm originating in Hawaii. Storm chasers sure love cute names. If you've been under a rock or don't have a pulse on recent California disasters, such as the big fires and the mudslides in California, Santa Barbara in particular, read my post on Disaster Fatigue from January's La Bloga. Nasty weather was again predicted for this week with 5-10 inches of rain. That's more rain than California has seen in years. I left ahead of Tuesday's evacuation orders. I had already missed one reading of Nasty Women Poets at Beyond Baroque due to illness and wasn't about to miss the event at the Tennessee Williams Festival. The reading last November at Louisiana's State Capital was one worth repeating. What is the Tennessee Williams Festival? A festival that offers something for everyone, especially if you enjoy Southern literature, food, plays, and music. There's even a Stella shout contest. I'm on the road, stopping in Texas for the night in order to make the Nasty Women Poets panel on Saturday. Here's a short video about the festival. Check out the schedule. If you are in New Orleans this weekend, say hello.

This reading by contributors to Nasty Women Poets: An Unapologetic Anthology of Subversive Verse is by and about women defying limitations and lady-like expectations; women refusing to be “nice girls;” women being formidable and funny; women speaking to power and singing for the good of their souls; women being strong, sexy, strident, super-smart, and stupendous; and women encouraging little girls to keep dreaming. These poets speak not just to the current political climate and the man who is responsible for its title, but to the stereotypes and trials women have faced dating back to Eve, and to the long history of women resisting those limitations. Co-editor Julie Kane, former Louisiana state poet laureate, moderates the reading of 15 incredibly talented women writers and performers.

  SAT 3/24 1:00 PM

  Individual tickets to this event are available for $10 

  Access included in these ticket packages:  VIP

  Hotel Monteleone Vieux Carre Room 

Tragedy Doesn't Stop a Community from Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Melinda Palacio

 

Sojourner Kincaid Rolle Preps the Contest Winners

What would have been the welcome sound of rain falling on trees, rooftops, and pavements turned into an unprecedented disaster. Half an inch of rain in five minutes fell on Montecito. The death toll has reached 20 and there are still two missing.

While mud emptied out an entire city and turned the 101 freeway into an impassable river, those who lived west of Milpas in Santa Barbara were spared the horrors of having their community swept away. Santa Barbara was sparsely populated for the duration of the 101's shutdown and the isolation of both Montecito and Carpinteria. On the Santa Barbara side schools and businesses went on as usual as people felt an eerie sense of survivor's guilt. Many who didn't heed voluntary or mandatory evacuation orders were able to ride out the fires and storm from the comfort of their homes. This was not the case for people who lived and worked in Montecito. What was it like to wake up in Montecito to find no neighbors on your street? Read T.C.Boyle's account in the New Yorker.

What should have been an all-inclusive celebration in honor of Martin Luther King, turned into a much smaller celebration because people from Montecito, Carpinteria, Summerland and beyond could not get into Santa Barbara due to the total shutdown of the highway.

Every year, I have had the pleasure of assisting Sojourner Kincaid Rolle with Santa Barbara's annual Dr. King celebration. One of the highlights of the program, held at the Arlington Theater, is the Essay & Poetry Contest. Local youth and teens, ages 6-18, participate. This year, the missing participants, parents, and audience made it clear that a disaster had befallen the community. The march from De La Guerra Plaza to the Arlington Theater was also cancelled due to lack of available police.

The program at the Arlington began with a moment of silence in honor of the mudslide victims. The MLK celebration continued and names of the winners of the poetry and essay contests were announced. Many of the students also had difficulty turning in their contest entries because the Thomas Fire had upended their lives. The deadline was extended until just days before the celebration due to the many school closures from the fire preceding the mud slides. One student from Carpinteria High School, Max Coppel, lost all of his poems in the fire, but managed to rewrite his entry for the contest and took 3rd place for his poem, "Life in America Has Changed," along with Jeanette Fantone and her poem, "For the Opressed," also from Carpinteria High. The winner was Kundai Chikowero from Dos Pueblos High School for her poem, "Follow the Legacy."  

2018 Contest Winners

Essay

Ages 13-18

1st Michelle Qin "The Human Right" Dos Pueblos High School

2nd Gabriel Ohedo "Martin Luther King, Jr." Carpinteria High School

Ages 6-12

1st Olivia Battles "Speak Up" Roosevelt School

2nd Noah Zakrzewski "MLK" Monte Vista School

3rd Noah Slotnick-Lastrico "MLK" Washington School

        Connor MacPherson "MLK" Montessori Center School

Poetry

Ages 13-18

1st Kundai Chikowero "Follow the Legacy" Dos Pueblos High School

2nd Hali Schwasnick "Colors" Carpinteria High School

3rd Jeanette Fantone "For the Oppressed" Carpinteria High School

      Max Coppel "Life in American Has Changed" Carpinteria High School

Ages 6-12

1st Zachary Horne "My Dream for Our World" Roosevelt School

2nd Aspen Newhouse "Democracy" Montessori Center School

3rd Tessa de Albergaria "Living a Nightmare" Roosevelt School

         Tali McPeters "Democracy" Roosevelt School

            Quinn Davis Roosevelt Elementary

When Disaster Fatigue Is the New Normal

Melinda Palacio

Over in Montecito the Casa de Maria Retreat Center filled with mud

            On Tuesday, what was supposed to be an easy trip from New Orleans to Santa Barbara turned into an obstacle course. Things didn't bode well when a thick layer of fog forced the first leg of the trip to almost be diverted to Austin. The fog cleared enough for the plane to continue onto Dallas and land. We made our connection and arrived in Burbank, California to an unusual spell of flash rains, which caused tragic mudslides that swallowed entire neighborhoods and turned the 101 into a river of mud. Amtrak was no longer a possible route to Santa Barbara, so we rented a car. Since the 101 was closed, Google advised taking the back roads; only the fabled back roads were all blocked once we reached Ojai, where we spent the night.

Aerial view of the entire retreat center of La Casa de Maria in Montecito
(most of the neighborhoods in Montecito are buried under mud)

            A second take on operation Santa Barbara or Bust took us South through Santa Paula, past Magic Mountain, up through the grapevine on the 5 and over to 166 and 33 to Santa Maria and the northern end of 101, which was not blocked, but required a six-hour detour. We could have made it to San Francisco in the amount of time it took to drive from Burbank to Santa Barbara using the one available circuitous route.

            During the long drive, I kept checking on the status of the mudslides and things kept getting worse. As if the worst fire in California's history and a recent earthquake wasn't enough to quell the gods, Santa Barbara county had to experience epic mudslides in Montecito, leaving many trapped by flash mud floods in both Montecito and Romero Canyon. My friend who lives in Carpinteria said her town was completely cut off from the world. As of yesterday, Amtrak resumed service to Carpinteria, no longer leaving the city an island. 

          When we finally arrived in Santa Barbara, we found our home and neighborhood intact, such a stark contrast to the nightmare of the mudslides of Montecito and beyond.

Santa Barbara side of the 101

            While there were heartwarming stories, such as a two-year old baby being found alive under four feet of mud, there were the heart wrenching stories, such as the fact that no one has claimed this baby and her parents have probably perished in the mud. The number of missing people and the death toll continues to rise and helicopters continue to make round-the-clock-rescues.

            And then there is the greater disaster that all of us have been experiencing since 45 took office, causing the more fatigue and distractions. Yet, we must persist and help each other since the President of the United States will not help Puerto Rico or California. Prayers and condolences to the families and friends of the 19 plus people who have died in the mudslides. The current list  of names and their ages includes: Jonathan Benitez (10), Kailly Benitez (3), Martin Cabrera-Munoz (48), David Cantin (49), Sawyer Corey (12), Peter Fleurat (73), Josephine Gower (69), John McManigal (61), Alice Mitchell (78), James Mitchell (89), Mark Montgomery (54), Caroline Montgomery (22), Marilyn Ramos (27), Rebecca Riskin (61), Roy Rohter (84) Peerawat Sutthithepn (6), Richard Taylor (67).

            Prayers to all, especially those who remain missing. Let's hope they are safe and awaiting rescue. Anyone in need of assistance or information can call 805-681-5542 or text 805 699-0165,