National

Woman’s Death Still Haunts New Orleans Neighborhood

Published

11 years ago

August 19, 2015

In this Sept. 4, 2005, file photo, a makeshift tomb at a New Orleans street corner conceals a body that had been lying on the sidewalk for days in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The message reads, “Here lies Vera. God help us.” Smiths cremated remains were later reburied in Texas, yet she remains part of her old community. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)

JAY REEVES, Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Amid the chaos after Hurricane Katrina swamped New Orleans, Vera Smith’s body decayed for four days on a sidewalk until her horrified neighbors covered her with dirt, a makeshift plastic shroud and a bleak epitaph: “Here lies Vera. God help us.”

Broadcast to the world, the stark image came to stand for what seemed like the complete breakdown of a great American city.

Although her cremated remains were later buried on a family plot in Texas and the place where she died of unknown causes has sprung back since Katrina, Vera Smith remains part of her neighborhood.

A colorful memorial by local artist Simon Hardeveld stands beside an upscale restaurant built near the site of her death, and her all-too-public demise was recounted in a book written by a man who helped erect her temporary sidewalk tomb.

Ten years later, friends — as well as neighbors who never even met Elvia Briones Smith, her full name — sense that she could have been any of them, a tragic victim of a natural disaster compounded by human mistakes.

“Vera is still being remembered every day. Even those of us who didn’t know her think of her as a symbol of the quiet suffering people endured,” said Yvette Rutledge, whose shop, Mystic Blue Signs, is around the corner from where Smith died.

Artist Maggie McEleney, who assisted with Smith’s roadside burial, had a flashback recently after the death of a kitten.

Burying the little creature overwhelmed her senses.

“It was because of that thing that happened back then,” said McEleney, referring to Smith’s demise and gruesome public display obliquely, in the most distant of terms.

Wealth and poverty live side by side in New Orleans, and Smith lived somewhere in between. Her old neighborhood has undergone a rebirth since the storm, with trendy new businesses, residential renovations and new housing, but back then it was rundown and plagued by crime.

Born in Mexico, Smith grew up in Texas and moved to New Orleans as a young woman decades before Katrina. Four marriages produced two daughters, now grown. For her final 15 or so years, Smith shared a small duplex with common-law husband C.N. Keene and their dogs. Their home was on Philip Street, just a few blocks from the columned mansions of St. Charles Avenue and a rough housing project that was demolished after the hurricane.

For years, her two daughters said, Smith helped operate a restaurant and bars even as she struggled with alcohol. A true New Orleans character, she loved fancy clothes and costume jewelry and had a wig for each day of the week.

“She never had the same hair color two days in a row,” said daughter Cindy Briones, 57. “You always knew when she was coming.”

Neighbors knew Smith as a quirky, boisterous woman who could be jolly and friendly. She also could be obnoxiously loud if she had been drinking, which they say happened often.

“She wasn’t living a pristine life and she didn’t care if you knew it,” said Jewel Carbone, who was once married to Smith’s second husband.

While thousands evacuated New Orleans as Katrina bore down on the city, Smith and Keene stayed. Sometime after the hurricane made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, Smith walked outside and headed around the corner toward a store where she often bought food, cigarettes and beer.

Keene never saw Vera alive again; he was told she had been killed by a vehicle that struck her in the aftermath of the storm and sped away. Neighbors still believe she was struck by a car, but an autopsy report obtained by The Associated Press last week showed she had no injuries to indicate any sort of accident. The report doesn’t list a cause of death, and the manner was undetermined. Her death remains a mystery.

In an interview with the AP shortly after her death, Keene — who died himself in 2007 — said he put a bedspread over his companion’s body on the sidewalk and left it, feeling there was nothing else he could do.

A few days later, he was sitting on his porch when a man came up to him with news.

“Some guy I didn’t even know named John came by and said, ‘I’ve just buried Elvira in the park,'” Keene said.

That man was John R. Lee, who lived nearby. Riding his bike four days after Katrina, Lee was sickened to see her decaying remains lying on the curb in 90-degree heat.

“I couldn’t believe it. Aside from being a health hazard, it was just such an indignity to the body,” he said.

Much of the city was underwater because of levee failures, but Smith’s resting place on the sidewalk was dry. So Lee grabbed a shovel the next morning and began covering her remains with dirt from a small, nearby park. A handful of others saw what he was doing and joined in, he said.

Lee and others draped the mound of dirt with thick white plastic and outlined the makeshift grave with bricks. It was Maggie McEleney, Lee said, who painted the words on the shroud that touched the world.

Images of the forlorn shrine were published worldwide.

Only then did Smith’s relatives learn of her fate.

Daughter Jeannette Diver of Flint, Michigan, recalls her mom having parties during some previous hurricanes, and she suspects Smith thought she and Keene could survive Katrina, too. Diver said she tried calling her mother the day after the storm made landfall. When she couldn’t reach her, she knew something was wrong.

“I haven’t stopped mourning,” she said. “It’s like it happened yesterday.”

The hurt was compounded by the fact that some people assumed Smith was homeless and unloved because her remains stayed in the street so long, when nothing could be further from the truth, Diver said.

“She was loved by many. She owned restaurants and bars and she raised me,” Diver said. “She’s not haunting that corner. Her spirit is here with me.”

Briones, Smith’s other daughter, said losing Miss Vera sent Keene into a depression from which he never recovered. After he died, Smith’s close friend and landlord, Leona Gray, soon passed away as well.

“Mama used to cook for her, clean for her, just do everything. She really took care of both of them,” Briones said. “(Her death) just took them both.”

John Lee remained troubled by nightmares and insomnia. In 2006, to help exorcise his own demons, he wrote and self-published a book called “Our Sleepless Nights: Surviving Katrina and Burying Miss Vera.”

“It was a cathartic release to chase away the nightmares,” he said.

Lee, who has an educational software business, said writing the book helped “a lot,” yet he still gets emotional recounting his Katrina experiences and the decision to leave nine days after the storm. As he described the hell of the hurricane during a recent interview, he burst into tears.

McEleney processed her trauma through her art. In the months after Katrina, her paintings depicted the vicious winds that ripped apart homes and the floodwaters that swamped her town.

She now lives across the Mississippi River from her old neighborhood, and she doesn’t think about Katrina or Miss Vera as much as she once did. Yet she still wonders how a major American city let a decaying body remain on a sidewalk for so long.

“It was just inexplicable how that could happen,” she said.

___

Associated Press news researcher Barbara Sambriski in New York City contributed to this report.

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Latinas Deserve Equal Pay. Unions Help Make It Happen.

Published

3 days ago

October 8, 2026

Fred Redmond

By Fred Redmond

Everywhere you look, everything costs too much. Families are stretching every paycheck to cover soaring grocery bills. Too many are struggling to make rent. Child care, health care and gas bills continue to strain household budgets. Working people are doing everything right, yet too many are still falling behind.

For Latina workers, this crisis is compounded by a persistent and unjust pay gap. That’s why we observe Latina Equal Pay Day on Oct. 8 this year. It brings attention to the fact that among full-time, year-round workers, Latinas earned just 60 cents in 2025 for every dollar earned by white men. That wage gap isn’t just a statistic—it means smaller paychecks, fewer opportunities to build wealth, less financial security and harder choices about how to provide for their families.

Latinas deserve equal pay for equal work. Full stop. Anything less hurts working families and weakens our economy. A union contract can help level the playing field.

The evidence is clear. Hispanic workers overall receive a large wage boost from union membership, with a 16.4% wage premium compared with nonunion Latino workers. Latinas in a union earn about $15,288 more per year than Latinas who are not in a union. Most importantly, union contracts also help narrow the gender pay gap: Women working full time in union jobs earn 86.2 cents for every dollar earned by men who are union members—a significantly smaller gap than among nonunion workers.

Negotiated contracts replace arbitrary decisions with clear wage scales, transparent pay systems and enforceable workplace standards. Instead of leaving pay to bias or favoritism, union contracts establish fair standards that workers can enforce.

A report from the Economic Policy Institute finds that strengthening workers’ rights to organize and increasing union density would significantly reduce racial wage gaps while strengthening our economy and our democracy. Communities with higher union membership invest more in public education, are more likely to expand access to health care and provide stronger unemployment protections when people lose their jobs.

Our labor movement has always understood that civil rights and workers’ rights are inseparable. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. recognized that truth when he stood with striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. Today, we carry that legacy forward by fighting for workplaces where every worker is respected, protected and paid fairly.

Latina Equal Pay Day should not simply remind us how far we still have to go. It should remind us that we already know how to make progress. Progress happens when workers organize. It happens when we bargain together. And it happens when we stand in solidarity with one another. That’s why we must elect leaders who will fight to protect workers’ rights, strengthen unions and defend our democracy.

We must recommit ourselves to building an economy where every worker is valued, every paycheck reflects the dignity of work and every Latina receives the equal pay she has long deserved. Because when Latinas are paid fairly, every family can afford to build a better future.

Fred Redmond, the highest-ranking African American labor official in history, is the secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation representing 65 unions and nearly 15 million workers.

Art

Houston’s ‘call Me Mother’ Exhibit Opens Today, Spotlighting Black Maternal Health

AFRICAN-AMERICAN NEWS AND ISSUES – DALLAS — The Health Museum in Houston today opens “The Call Me Mother Experience,” an exhibition spotlighting Black maternal health through art and personal storytelling. Curated by Houston’s first Black poet laureate, Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, the project originated from her own poem written during a miscarriage.

Published

4 days ago

October 7, 2026

BlackPressUSA Newswire

Image Credit: African American News & Issues

HOUSTON — A new exhibition opening Sunday, Oct. 4, at The Health Museum is bringing Black maternal health into public view through art and personal storytelling.

The Call Me Mother Experience will be on display through Feb. 28, 2027. The museum lists a preview reception today from 3 to 5 p.m. at 1515 Hermann Drive, with tickets priced at $5 for members and $15 for nonmembers.

A personal story becomes a community conversation

According to the museum, founder, curator and lead artist Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton developed the project from a poem she wrote during a miscarriage. The installation combines films, recorded interviews, visual artwork and contributions created with community members.

Mouton, Houston’s first Black poet laureate, discussed the exhibition and her connection to its subject in an Oct. 1 appearance on KPRC’s Houston Life. The station described the project as addressing the unequal burden of pregnancy-related illness and death faced by Black women in Harris County.

An announcement distributed by the Call Me Mother Experience says the initiative will also reach community locations and faith-based organizations across Greater Houston. Those additional settings are intended to extend the conversation beyond a museum visit.

What visitors can expect

The museum says reception guests can explore the exhibit, hear the curator and meet participating artists. Reception admission includes general museum entry; refreshments are available while supplies last.

The featured image accompanying this article is an original illustrative concept, not a photograph of the exhibition or its artwork.

Sources and visitor information:The Health Museum exhibition listing; preview reception details and tickets; KPRC Houston Life; organizer announcement.

The post Houston’s ‘Call Me Mother’ Exhibit Opens Today, Spotlighting Black Maternal Health appeared first on African American News and Issues.

Based on reporting by African-American News and Issues – Dallas.

Black Press

Should You Have to Pay to Hear the Gospel?

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN — Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell of Atlanta’s 2819 CHURCH and Tim Timberlake of Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida, are at the center of a social media debate. The controversy stems from ticket prices for their “Street Preachers” podcast tour, with general admission tickets reportedly costing around $60 and VIP options up to $200.

Published

4 days ago

October 7, 2026

BlackPressUSA Newswire

A sold-out podcast tour featuring Pastors Philip Anthony Mitchell, left, and Tim Timberlake has sparked debate over the boundary between spreading the Gospel and selling an experience. Critics question whether ministers should charge admission to hear the Gospel, with tickets including a $200 VIP package. — Photo courtesy of Street Preachers Podcast

For generations, the Black church has passed the offering plate to keep the lights on, pay the preacher, help the poor and carry the Gospel beyond its walls. But what happens when the preacher leaves the sanctuary, takes a popular Christian podcast on tour — and charges admission?

That question has placed Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell, founder and lead pastor of Atlanta’s fast-growing 2819 CHURCH, at the center of a heated social media debate.

Mitchell and Tim Timberlake, senior pastor of Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida, host “Street Preachers,” which its official website describes as a “raw, unfiltered podcast” committed to spreading the Gospel.

‘A brood of vipers’

The controversy began after ticket prices for the podcast’s 2026 tour circulated online. General admission tickets reportedly cost about $60 before fees, with premium options, including a VIP meet-and-greet package, priced at $200. Critics questioned whether ministers should charge people to hear the Gospel.

Others defended the pastors, arguing that Christian events require venues, transportation, security, equipment and staff.

Mitchell answered critics from the pulpit last month, calling them “a brood of vipers.” He said the podcast is a separate, personal project and that neither his church nor Timberlake’s is bankrolling it.

“Now we have decided to go on a tour to take the gospel to cities, and because that’s not funded by 2819, and it’s not funded by Celebration Church, Tim and I gotta do that with our own pockets,” Mitchell said. “It’s why there is tickets. We have to pay for venues and security and productions and staff from our own pockets.”

Mitchell called some critics “ignorant” and said they did not know that a child was healed through faith during one of the events.

“And you want to complain about a 60 ticket?” he said. “So hate on!”

Worship service vs. media event

Mitchell maintains that “Street Preachers” is an independently produced podcast tour, not a worship service, and that ticket revenue helps cover production costs.

Yet the presence of pastors, Scripture and Gospel language makes the distinction less clear to some believers.

The official tour website lists all eight 2026 stops as sold out. Promotional material announcing additional dates promised, “Better ticket options. Same Gospel. Same move of God.”

Corporate prayer gathering

The language gets to the heart of the dispute. Some Christians argue that no one should be kept outside because they cannot afford a ticket. Others say the Gospel remains free even when people pay for the venue and experience surrounding its presentation.

The paid podcast tour, however, is not Mitchell’s only large-scale gathering. On Oct. 10, 2819 CHURCH will host “ACCESS — That Powerful Hour of Prayer” at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Admission is free.

2819 CHURCH has said 80,000 free tickets were claimed before registration reopened.

The contrast raises another question: What makes one Gospel-centered event a ministry supported by donors and another a production supported by customers?

Unfiltered preaching, youth appeal

Mitchell’s congregation, composed largely of young Black adults, grew from fewer than 200 weekly worshippers in 2023 to about 6,000, according to the church. Some worshippers arrive before sunrise to secure a place inside.

His appeal rests partly in an intense, vulnerable and raw preaching style.

“I’m preaching without watering that down, without filtering out things that we think might be too controversial,” Mitchell told The Associated Press.

That visibility has also brought scrutiny of his theology, associations, travel, security and the businesses surrounding his ministry.

But the controversy reaches beyond Mitchell and Timberlake. Christian music concerts charge admission. Seminaries charge tuition. Religious publishers sell Bibles, books and devotionals. Churches pay musicians, media teams and guest preachers. Money becomes particularly uncomfortable, however, when an event is presented simultaneously as ministry and entertainment.

Ministry vs. entertainment

Supporters should not assume every dollar collected becomes personal profit. Critics, however, question whether lower-cost seats, sponsored tickets or free admission for people who cannot pay should be part of a Gospel-centered event.

The Black church always has required resources for ministry. It also has carried a sacred responsibility to make room for people with little or nothing to give.

The sold-out “Street Preachers” tour shows people are willing to pay to attend. The free ACCESS gathering offers a different model. The challenge is preserving that open door as Christian ministry increasingly adopts the machinery — and economics — of popular entertainment.

The post Should you have to pay to hear the Gospel? appeared first on St. Louis American.

Based on reporting by St. Louis American.

Black Press

NCCU Ramping up for the 89th Ultimate Homecoming Experience

NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY – CAMPUS ECHO — N.C. Central University is preparing for its 89th Ultimate Homecoming Experience, a week-long celebration. Thousands of students, family, friends, and alumni are expected to gather on campus for festivities including the Homecoming Countdown, parade, Miss and Mister NCCU Coronation, concerts, and the football game.

Published

4 days ago

October 7, 2026

BlackPressUSA Newswire

NCCU's gospel choir, WPI performs at the 2025 Ultimate Homecoming gospel concert. — Photo by Morgan McNeil.

This Saturday N.C. Central University will kick off its 89th Ultimate Homecoming Experience — a week-long celebration bringing thousands of students, family, friends and alumni to campus.

This year’s festivities include the Homecoming Countdown, parade, Miss and Mister NCCU Coronation, concerts and the football game.

The number of visitors to the football game on Saturday, Oct. 10 is expected to reach at least 10,000 — O’Kelly Riddick Stadium’s capacity, with NCCU’s recent enrollment increase of more than 10,000 students.

The Eagles will face William & Mary after playing against the Campbell University’s Fighting Camels on Oct 3.

Students are already expressing excitement for the upcoming festivities.

“I’m excited for homecoming because I can meet alumni and go outside and party with my fellow eagles,” Digital Filmmaking junior Rhese Gardner said. “I’m also really looking forward to the Greek Bowl because there’s a lot going on.”

He added that even though he’s disappointed this semester’s Oil Spill was canceled, he’s still excited for the other events like the parade and concerts.

Here is a list of the week’s on-campus events:

Oct. 3 – Homecoming Countdown

Oct. 4 – Gospel Concert

Oct. 5 – Coronation of Miss and Mister NCCU

Oct. 6 – 10:40 Break

Oct. 6 – Homecoming Experience Showcase

Oct. 7 – Fried Chicken Wednesday

Oct. 7 – Festival Block Party

Oct. 7 – Late Night Breakfast

Oct. 8 – Back to the Nest Young Alumni Mixer

Oct. 8 – Old School Greek Stroll Off

Oct. 8 – Hip-Hop Concert

Oct. 9 – Step Show

Oct. 10 – Football Game

The post NCCU ramping up for the 89th Ultimate Homecoming Experience first appeared on Campus Echo Online.

Based on reporting by North Carolina Central University – Campus Echo.

Black Press

Botham Jean’s Killer Granted Parole 7 Years After His Murder

MICHIGAN CHRONICLE — Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger has been granted parole, seven years after her conviction for murdering Botham Jean inside his Dallas apartment. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles approved her release on October 1, seven years to the day after her murder conviction. Guyger was convicted in 2019 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for Jean’s 2018 death.

Published

4 days ago

October 7, 2026

BlackPressUSA Newswire

Botham Jean’s Killer Granted Parole 7 Years After His Murder

Former Dallas police officerAmber Guyger has been granted parole seven years after she was convicted of murdering her neighbor,Botham Jean, inside his Dallas apartment.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles approved Guyger’s release Thursday (October 1), seven years to the day after Guyger was convicted of Jean’s murder, according to NBC News.

In 2019, a jury convicted Guyger of murder and she was sentenced to 10 years in prison for Jean’s 2018 death. Her conviction and 10-year sentence were upheld on appeal in 2022.

Geyger’s first parole request was denied in 2024, NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reported.

The Dallas Police Department fired her after the shooting. During her trial, Guyger testified that she mistakenly entered Jean’s apartment after returning home from work, believing it was her own apartment one floor below.

She said she saw Jean inside and fired her weapon because she believed he was an intruder, according to NBC News.

Jean was a 26-year-old Black man from St. Lucia who worked as an accountant. He was inside his home eating ice cream when Guyger entered and shot him, NBC DFW reported.

The parole board cited Guyger’s prison record in approving her release. According to NBC DFW, officials said she did not have a documented pattern of violent or assaultive arrests or convictions, maintained a satisfactory adjustment while incarcerated, and completed programs intended to help her obtain and maintain employment.

Jean’s family opposed the parole decision and had asked that Guyger serve her full 10-year sentence, according to NBC DFW.

Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who represents the family, told NBC DFW that the decision was deeply disappointing.

“They stood up again and again to ask that the full sentence be served,” Merritt said.

The Dallas Police Department told NBC DFW that the parole decision was outside its authority and that the department had no role in determining whether Guyger would be released. The department said its thoughts remained with Jean’s family and others affected by his death.

Guyger’s conviction and 10-year sentence were upheld on appeal in 2022.

A civil jury ordered Guyger to pay Jean’s family $98.6 million in damages in 2024, according to NBC DFW.

Guyger’s release date has not been announced. NBC News reported that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice will determine when she is released.

The Black Information Network is your source for Black News! Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HEREto tune in live.

Based on reporting by Michigan Chronicle.

Black History

Morehouse School of Medicine Fall Convocation Has Strong Ties to Nashville

TENNESSEE TRIBUNE — Morehouse School of Medicine recently held its 42nd Fall Convocation and White Coat and Pinning Ceremony, which highlighted strong connections to Nashville. Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, in her 12th year as president and CEO, leads the institution, which welcomed 355 new students.

Published

4 days ago

October 7, 2026

BlackPressUSA Newswire

Morehouse School of Medicine held its 42nd Fall Convocation and White Coat and Pinning Ceremony on September 18, and it featured strong ties to Nashville. Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice is completing her 12th year as president and CEO of Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM). The school boasts 355 students seeking degrees and certificates in the medical field.

“This entering class represents the future of medicine, science, public health and health care leadership,” said Valerie Montgomery Rice, MD, and FACOG. “As these students begin their journeys at Morehouse School of Medicine, they join a community grounded in excellence, service and our shared commitment to advancing health equity. We look forward to supporting their development as leaders who will transform the health and well-being of the communities they serve.”

Infectious diseases physician and scientist Dr. Barney S. Graham, MD, and PhD, served as the keynote speaker. He serves as the director of the David Satcher Global Health Equity Institute, professor of Medicine and Microbiology, Biochemistry and Immunology at Morehouse School of Medicine. He is an inventor of vaccines and monoclonal antibodies approved for human use to prevent or treat RSV, COVID-19 and Ebola. He joined MSM in 2022. He served in various positions at Vanderbilt University for 21 years.

Dr. Graham told the audience to “Embrace the Unseen” and focused on three points: Do the Best You can with what’s in front of you, Do what makes you come alive and Do the right thing even when no one is looking. He added, “Anything you do to improve mental and physical wellness and promote disease prevention will reduce health disparity by reducing the resources needed for treatment.”

His remarks commanded a roaring applause from the audience, which included his wife, Dr. Cynthia Turner Graham, and the former First Lady of Tennessee State University, Mrs. Edwina Hefner, a close friend to the family.

Based on reporting by Tennessee Tribune.