Host: Sarah Austin Jenness
Sarah: [00:00:01] Welcome to The Moth Podcast. I'm your host this week, Sarah Austin Jenness.
We know times are rough right now, and we hope that you find some comfort in these Moth stories. So, this week, we have a story of hope. We produce Moth Mainstages all around the world, and we always have one or two local storytellers in each show. Last year, when we were in New Orleans, we reached out to Burnell Cotlon to tell his story. He was born and raised in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. You'll hear more from Burnell after his story, but here's a little introduction.
Burnell: [00:00:32] I had a beautiful childhood. The Lower Ninth Ward had everything in here before Katrina. It was fun. We had swimming pools, parks, one big happy family. Everybody knew everybody. I had a ball.
Sarah: [00:00:48] The Lower Ninth Ward was hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. And so many years later, they're still rebuilding. Here's Burnell Cotlon, live at The Moth in New Orleans.
[cheers and applause]
Burnell: [00:01:05] I had a wonderful childhood growing up here in New Orleans in the Lower Ninth Ward, maybe about 15 minutes from where we're standing. I know everybody think they had the best parents in the world. So did I. [audience chuckle] I learned a lot from my mother as well as from my father.
My father was an entrepreneur. He had a barbershop in the Trinity area not too far from here. It's a community hub. Everybody hung out at my dad's barbershop. He supported everybody. One day, my dad was cutting this drug dealer's head, and another drug dealer came into the shop, a rival dope dealer. He shot the guy that was in my dad's chair and he told my dad, "You didn't see nothing, you don't know nothing and you better not say anything," then he walked out. Now, my dad could easily look the other way and say, "I didn't see nothing" when the police came. But my dad made a sacrifice. He decided to do the right thing and he wanted to testify. They offered my dad protective custody. He told them no.
So, fast forward. My dad was supposed to go and testify at court. He stepped out the front of his house. They did a drive-by and they killed my dad, the day he was supposed to testify. That devastated me and my family and my entire community. It changed my whole life. I ended up joining the military, and I became a military police soldier. I did the whole time in Germany, of all places. sprechen Sie Deutsch. [audience laughter] I was over there long enough to learn the language.
I did everything that a police officer was supposed to do and not supposed to do. I’ve seen a lot of bad things, but it wasn't all bad. I even helped deliver a baby. So, that was fun. It was fun. But something inside of me was still missing. I ended up coming back home. I went straight back to the Lower Ninth Ward. And it was fun. I found a great job. I was a manager at McDonald's. I bought my first house. I used my VA home loan to buy the house in the Lower Ninth Ward. Since about 2001, I thought I was going to live happily ever after. I had 48 wonderful neighbors. Like I said, it's about 2001 and 2005, everybody knows what was coming in 2005.
I saw it on the news. I didn't pay no attention to it. The day before Katrina hit New Orleans, I was at work. I gave away all of the food at McDonald's. I gave away everything. I actually went home and went to sleep. My mom kept calling my phone. She called me a good 12-13 times. I ignored all the phone calls, but I finally picked it up. I've never heard my mom sound like this. I remember exactly what she said. She said, "Son, you was not born for a Hurricane Betsy. So, you don't know nothing about a hurricane. You spent your entire adult life in the military in Germany." She said, "Please, please come and evacuate with me."
I remember grabbing two pairs of pants and a shirt, and I went to grab my mom's. What would normally would take six hours to go from here to Fort Polk, it took us 18 hours because the whole city was evacuating. We ended up going to a shelter in Fort Polk. Once we got there, something I never thought I would see again. They gave me another army cot. [chuckles] So, we all went to sleep and we woke up the next morning. It was like about maybe a good 65 or 70 of us around this one little bitty small TV in the shelter. We watched the city of New Orleans go underwater. Everybody cried.
stepped away. I went outside and tried to maintain my composure as best I could. FEMA came in and they sent everybody everywhere. I ended up going to New York and then they sent me to San Antonio, Texas. I still was missing New Orleans. I knew a lot of police officers, so I was able to go back to New Orleans, because they weren't letting anybody in the Lower Ninth Ward. But I was able to go back in there and they snuck me in there. I went where my house used to be, and Katrina took it completely off its foundation and set it in the middle of the streets.
I remember going back to where my bed was. I remember where I had pictures. I remember where I had a TV. I don't have any pictures of my grandparents. I know what they look like up here, but having it physically, it was all gone. It was just the smells. It was horrible. To be honest with you, I cried. I cried, because just losing everything and having to start all over, I don't wish that on anybody. But FEMA gave me a FEMA trailer and I was able to rebuild my personal house. I went from having 48 wonderful neighbors. Even still, today, I have three neighbors. That's even today, I only have three neighbors in the Lower Ninth Ward, about 15 minutes from here.
After I got my personal house together, I drove up and down the Lower Ninth Ward. I noticed we didn't have anything. The closest grocery store that we have in the Lower Ninth Ward, it's Walmart in the next city. I called up all the big box stores. I called Walmart, I called Winn-Dixie, I called Rouses and I begged them to come, to bring a supermarket to the Lower Ninth Ward. I'm embarrassed, because it's the first time I ever heard this. They all told me that they're not coming back, because the Lower Ninth Ward is a food desert.
I didn't know what the hell a food desert was. So, I called up the US Department of Agriculture and they said, “That's a lack of a grocery store within a three to five mile radius of a certain area.” So, I said, “Well, since they're not going to do anything about it, I am.” I drove up and down the Lower Ninth Ward and I came across this building on Caffin, N. Galvez. It was horrible. They didn't have a roof up there, didn't have no walls. It was bad. Katrina debris was up to this high. It was horrible. So, I'm walking all through this here. And to everybody else, it was just a raggedy building. To me, I saw people shopping, I saw a grocery store.
I immediately ran to my house. I grabbed Keisha, my other half, that's my wife, and I brought her back to the store and I said, "Keisha, I want to open up a grocery store. We don't have any. I want to do something about it." She looked around and she said, "Yes." I was extremely happy.” So, I ran, grabbed my moms. I brought my moms over, and I told her the exact same thing I just told my wife. My mama said, "Hell no." [audience laughter] But a couple of my friends over there all told me no. But to me, when someone tells me no, that's not a limitation on me. That's a limitation on them. I decided to do it anyway.
So, Keisha and I, we worked every day, scrubbing the walls. We got rid of all the Katrina debris, all the mold, the mildew, put up windows. We just kept going at it. We worked for about two years straight. Then one day, we showed up and had this big ol' orange note on the side of the building, and I grabbed it and it was a code enforcement fine from the city of New Orleans saying they're going to give me a $17,000 fine, because the building wasn't in compliance. Needless to say, I was angry. To be honest, I was totally livid. I was pissed off, because I'm trying my best to open up a grocery store. Everywhere else in the city, everybody's partying. Everybody's partying, Bourbon Street, I mean, everybody's good to go, but not us in the Lower Ninth Ward. So, I decided to fight.
I went to court. It took us a whole year. They constantly told us, "No, if you don't pay the fine, we're going to take your building. If you don't pay the fine, we're going to take your building." I didn't know what to do. At that time, Mitch Landrieu was the mayor. He had an open forum for anybody to come and talk to him. So, we used to stay in this long, long line. I was in the back of the line, and they had people up there complaining about all kinds of stupid things. One lady was complaining they had too many Katrina mosquitoes in the air and all kinds of. [audience laughter] I was angry. I said, “I got a real problem.” [chuckles]
So, by the time I got up to the microphone, because I didn't know what the mayor was going to tell me. I didn't know if he was going to tell me to shut up or go home or get out or whatever. But I told the mayor, "Sir, my name is Burnell Cotlon. I want to open up the first and only grocery store in the Lower Ninth Ward." The whole crowd went rowdy. They cheered me on. Everybody was happy. But I said, "But wait, there's more." I went in my front pocket and I pulled out the fine. I said, "Sir, I can't go any further, because you slapped me with a $17,000 fine. How can I finish out my dream of opening up the first grocery store if I have to pay this fine?" They booed him bad. [audience laughter] I felt bad for him. [audience laughter]
So, the mayor called me up to him and he said, "Burnell, look, give me a chance. I promise you, I promise you I will take care of you." So, he held his hand out, I held my hand out, said, "Sir, please don't let this be a political promise. Please mean this here." He said, "Trust me, I will." So, I went back to work. I checked that same spot every day for two weeks. Nothing. But it finally came in the mail. Mayor Mitch Landrieu honored his promise. When I opened up that letter and it read, all the fines was forgiven, it was like Mardi Gras, my birthday and Christmas all at the same time. [audience laughter] I was so happy. [laughs] [audience cheers and applause]
So, we fast forward, I'd say about three, maybe another four years before we finally was able to open up. I had invited them over. We had the ribbon cutting ceremony. It was a beautiful day. We had birds chirping. The sun was out, rainbows. It was a picture-perfect day. Everybody showed up. I was blown away. It just touched my heart. They had this one particular lady though at my grand opening that really blew my mind. The elderly lady, Ms. Williamson. She came in. She had a chair. She sat down right by my front counter. She was there for about three hours.
So, I went over to her, I said, "Ma'am, you okay?" She had tears in her eyes. She said, "I've been here, a young man, since right after Katrina." She said she never thought that we'd have a grocery store in the Lower Ninth Ward. She asked me if I was going to kick her out. I said, "No, no, you're fine." So, she stayed there. She was extremely happy. She was extremely happy.
We used to do this here four days a week. The demand is so high. I'm at my store seven days a week, because there's nothing else back there but what we're doing. We also opened up several other businesses in that same strip. Believe it or not, I now have a barbershop. So, I'm hoping-- [chuckles] [cheers and applause]
Thank you. I have a grocery store, a snowball stand, the barbershop and a laundromat all in this one building. So, now, people don't have to catch three, I’m going to say that again, three city buses. They can walk to my building just to get some fresh fruits and vegetables. This taught me a lot of very, very important lessons, to don't take nothing for granted, appreciate and value everything that you have, because having to lose everything, I don't wish that on anybody. I also found out what my purpose is. My purpose is service, and that's why I was able to easily go from serving our country to serving my community. I want to tell everybody, thank you all for giving me a chance to tell my story, and thank you for listening.
[cheers and applause]
Sarah: [00:13:01] That was Burnell Cotlon. After Burnell told this story in New Orleans, the audience gave him a standing ovation. Burnell is a father and a US Veteran. When I asked him how long he's been married to his wife Keisha, he said, "Not long enough."
A few months ago, at the time of this Mainstage, I visited Burnell at his market, and we talked about his father and the challenges that he and his neighbors still face today.
So, Burnell, where are we right now?
Burnell: [00:13:30] We're in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans at My Store, 2036 Caffin Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Sarah: [00:13:39] And how long ago did you open this place up?
Burnell: [00:13:41] Ooh. Back in 2011.
Sarah: [00:13:47] It's a Monday morning, so how busy are you?
Burnell: [00:13:51] Monday mornings are great. I love Monday mornings. The school kids come early in the morning before they go to school to get their little snacks and things. A lot of people come in to get their breakfast before they roll into work. Yesterday, we had a pretty large second line here in the Lower Ninth Ward. So, we had quite a few people come into the store to get their drinks and what happened to go back partying.
Sarah: [00:14:13] Can you tell me a little more about your father? What was he like?
Burnell: [00:14:18] Oh, wow. He was a funny guy, but he taught me a lot of life lessons to always do the right thing. That was very, very important to him, to always do the right thing, no matter what. He also taught me how to stand on your own two feet and face all your fears, because on the other side of fear is total bliss.
Sarah: [00:14:43] Do you think about your dad these days? Do you feel his spirit around?
Burnell: [00:14:49] Oh, definitely. I definitely do feel my father's spirit, especially every time I walk into that barbershop. I mean, not sometimes. Every time. When I see that barber chair and the razors, I think about him. So, I know he's here. He said life is one big circle. I never thought in a thousand years I would own a barbershop, of all things to own. [chuckles] But it was something that was needed here in the Lower Ninth Ward. Just like right now, we need everything. This is the only business and it's been like this since 2005.
[00:15:25] But that barbershop, I'm hoping that my dad is proud of me. I wanted to be a community hub like my dad's shop was, where everybody used to come there and just hang out and chill. It was a good spot. It was a good spot and I want to do the exact same thing he did.
Sarah: [00:15:44] So for people who don't know, can you just describe a little about what the Lower Ninth Ward is like now and then what you're hoping for in the future? Like, what is possible here?
Burnell: [00:15:57] When you're at the bottom, there's no place to go but up. Right now, the Lower Ninth Ward is still at the bottom. I know why people are still afraid not to build. The people say they're not coming, because there's no businesses. In business, they're not coming because there's no people. So, what came first, the chicken or the egg? But we do have people here. But the ones that are here are suffering, because they have to catch buses just to get to any other business here in the Lower Ninth Ward.
It's home. It's still home even though there's nothing here. I have three neighbors. And before Katrina, I had 48. It feels like a third world country even though this is the United States of America. That's why I have to keep on going. I'm just an average guy, but I got above average dreams. What my dream is now is to see the Lower Ninth Ward catch up with the rest of the city, because some parts of the city, you wouldn't know Katrina even hit. You come to the Lower Ninth Ward, Katrina is still alive all these years later.
Even people here in New Orleans don't know the Lower Ninth Ward looks like this, because the news media don't talk about it. So, the only way you're going to know that the Lower Ninth Ward still is affected by Katrina is by doing one of two things, coming down here to volunteer or you just so happen to stumble across somebody like me. I tell you that no, we have nothing in the Lower Ninth Ward. We have no stores, anything. This is the only laundromat. This is the only grocery store. This is it. This is only 10 minutes from the French Quarter. But the news media stopped talking about it, and people just automatically assumed because it's so many years later, everybody's good. And it's not.
Sarah: [00:17:53] Do you have help in this or are you rebuilding the Lower Ninth Ward by yourself?
Burnell: [00:17:59] It's just me on a daily basis. I know the volunteers that do come here have their lives and their jobs. I wish and pray that they could come here every day. I could get a lot more done. But all the funding and everything came from out of my pocket. I bought a Katrina-damaged building and I put my entire life savings in here, so I don't have to worry about that overhead of paying mortgage or rent. But we have a long, long way to go. The Lower Ninth Ward is still suffering. We're suffering bad here. We're hurting. We're hurting.
So, I'm going to keep on going. I'm not going to stop. That's like this internet café, the building I'm working on next door, we had some of the computers, we still have some more work to do, but I'd be hired at least another six to seven people easily once I get that building up and running. Every problem always, always has an answer. This is another rule I live my life by. We don't have any houses. That's a problem. So, can I concentrate on a problem or do I fix it? No, you fix it. I'm going to start building houses and more businesses. Everything in life, you have to look at the answer to the problem, no matter how big or small.
Sarah: [00:19:12] That was Burnell Cotlon. COVID-19 has hit the Lower Ninth Ward and other communities of color, especially hard, and many are turning to their neighbors for support. Burnell is still welcoming the community with kindness and generosity, even at his personal expense. Burnell believes, as we do, that everyone can make a difference. He's struggling to keep his market open and he needs support. If you're in New Orleans, consider visiting Burnell's Market for a snowball and a po' boy and to say hello. And if you're not in New Orleans, go to themoth.org/radio-extras to find out how you can help to keep him in business.
If you're craving more Moth stories, be sure to check us out on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, where we're posting tons of videos, story prompts and more every day. That's all from us this week. Until next time, from all of us here at The Moth, have a story-worthy week.
Julia: [00:20:10] Sarah Austin Jenness is The Moth's executive producer, and one of the hosts of the Moth Radio Hour. Over the years, she's worked with hundreds of people to craft personal stories. She also launched The Moth's Global Community Program, which elevates stories from South Asia and Africa to highlight world issues, including gender equality and public health.
Sarah: [00:20:30] Podcast production by Julia Purcell. The Moth Podcast is presented by PRX, the Public Radio Exchange, helping make public radio more public at prx.org.