John Gray

New Orleans

News Fellow at Verite

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Articles

Santana headlines the start of weekend 2 of Jazz Fest

1 week ago | veritenews.org | John Gray

Maze, the soul and funk group that was beloved by New Orleans’ Black community, honored Frankie Beverly, who passed away in September 2024, as the second weekend of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival drew to a close on Sunday (May 4). The second weekend of the festival featured local, national and international musical acts from a myriad of genres, including Santana, Morris Day & The Time, Trombone Shorty, Patti Labelle, Tems and Kamasi Washington.
French Quarter Fest kicks off in historic neighborhood

1 month ago | veritenews.org | John Gray

French Quarter Fest concluded on Sunday (April 13) in New Orleans’ most well-known neighborhood with dozens of performers, vendors and community events. Big Freedia, Treme Brass Band and HaSizzle were among the artists who played various stages around the French Quarter on Sunday. Kermit Ruffins & The Barbecue Swingers, The Dirty Dozens Brass Band and Preservation Brass were some of the musical acts featured on the first day of the festival.
Hundreds gather for second line honoring Caleb Wilson

2 months ago | veritenews.org | John Gray

Hundreds of people gathered at Tuba Fats Square on Thursday (March 6) for a second line honoring Caleb Wilson, the 20-year-old Kenner native and Southern University’s Human Jukebox member who died during a fraternity hazing ritual at Southern University last Thursday. Caleb McCray, a 23-year-old Southern University graduate and member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. was arrested on Thursday (Mar. 6) and charged with one count of manslaughter and one count of hazing.
PHOTOS: See Ash Wednesday services

2 months ago | veritenews.org | John Gray

After the festivities of Carnival season came to an end, Catholic New Orleanians received blessings at churches across the city on Ash Wednesday (March 5), marking the beginning of Lent. St. Martin de Porres Parish, formed last year in the consolidation of three majority-Black Catholic churches in Gentilly, held its noon service at the University of New Orleans Newman Center this year. The Rev. Francis Offia led parishioners in a Mass.
Marching bands, floats shine at Muses parade

2 months ago | veritenews.org | John Gray

The peak of Carnival season kicked off as the Krewe of Muses parade rolled from Uptown to the Central Business District on Thursday (Feb. 27) evening. The krewe dedicated its procession to the victims of the Bourbon Street attack. It also honored some of New Orleans’ femme culture bearers as part of its “Return of SuperMuse – The Age of Sheroes” theme.
Bernadette Atuahene talks 'Plundered' at Baldwin & Co.

Jan 30, 2025 | veritenews.org | John Gray

Property law scholar and author Bernadette Atuahene is coming to New Orleans to promote her new book at an event hosted at Baldwin and Co. on Thursday, Jan. 30. Atuahene spoke with Verite News to explain the concepts she explores in the book “Plundered: How Racist Policies Undermine Black Homeownership in America.”In the interview, Atuahene explains how racist land use policies over time put an undue burden on Black homeowners, making them more vulnerable to overtaxation and foreclosure.
New Orleans activists host community organizing fair

Jan 23, 2025 | veritenews.org | John Gray

Five days after President Donald Trump began his second term with a flurry of discriminatory activity, New Orleans activists are hosting a Community Organizing Fair on Saturday, Jan. 25, from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Andre Cailloux Center on Bayou Road to raise awareness of the work being done locally to support marginalized groups in New Orleans.
New Orleans activists protest Donald Trump, honor MLK Jr.

Jan 21, 2025 | veritenews.org | John Gray

More than 100 people gathered at A.L. Davis Park in Central City on Monday (Jan. 20) to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump and celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.The event began at about noon — when Trump took the oath of office for the second time — with a rally. At 2p.m., attendees began marching through Central City, ending near the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial sculpture near the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard.
'Super Bowl' sweeps of unhoused population continue

Jan 16, 2025 | veritenews.org | John Gray

Traffic moved slowly on Earhart Boulevard Thursday morning (Jan. 16) as the Louisiana State Police and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development cleaned up what was once a state-sanctioned encampment for people who are unhoused near the Superdome. DOTD workers used construction equipment to push the remains of tents and belongings left behind by unhoused people into large piles that were then loaded into dump trucks.
State officials begin removing unhoused people from tourist areas ahead of Super Bowl, Mardi Gras

Jan 15, 2025 | veritenews.org | John Gray

State officials began relocating people who are homeless from busy tourist areas in downtown New Orleans to a new facility in Pontchartrain Park on Wednesday morning (Jan. 15). Rows of white pickup and U-Haul trucks gathered in the parking lot of the Home Depot on S. Claiborne Avenue as workers from Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) prepared to disassemble the state-sanctioned encampment located under the I-10 Expressway near the Superdome.