Because Katrina made me


Stephen DeBerry | fixer | East Palo Alto, CA |
Burning Man Polaroids

I took my wife down to New Orleans last spring so she could experience Jazzfest and get a sense of some of my Creole family heritage. I hadn't been to New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. A friend of mine took me to the Lafitte Housing Project in the Treme neighborhood and I was shocked that after seeing hundreds of private residences that were crushed, torn, twisted or completely missing the Lafitte buildings were standing tall and strong, yet the doors and windows were blocked with steel barricades and the residents who had been displaced by the storm had been evicted by the city and federal governments. I stood on one door step and read the illegal eviction notice posted by the Housing Authority of New Orleans and in that moment I realized that I had nobody to run to; that I had to be part of the solution rather than relying on someone else to fix the problem. Since then I've joined the board of a nonprofit called www.friendsofneworleans.org and I've also been working on a housing project to build new homes for New Orleans — see the NYTimes article. What's (not) going on in New Orleans and the gulf region after this natural disaster simply isn't right. If you're interested in contributing skills, time, funding or any other form of support, please contact me at: stephen at deberry dot net

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So others will experience the amazing things you are capable of creating and sharing


Melissa Alexander | Executive Director, Black Rock Arts Foundation | San Francisco, CA | Burning Man staff Polaroids

wdydwyd?

I believe there is room for everyone to experience the phenomenon of the world, and one of these is the very human one of creating and experiencing art. I also believe that we live in a world we make up, and I'm working hard to make up a world that's good to live in and at every scale.

What Melissa does to help make Burning Man work:

I work for the Black Rock Arts Foundation to inspire community and civic engagement through the creation and exhibition of interactive art.

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To help you put the pieces back together again


Hannah Engel | student | UNC-Chapel Hill

I am taking a class about disaster relief help, and the content of that class really inspired me to create this image. Being left in a situation where you have absolutely nothing can be stressful, confusing, and even lonely. Disaster relief workers are the people who are there to help the displaced survivors and...help them put the pieces back together again.

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Because... (I love the word because)


Leila Davenport Ross | Charleston, SC | META

I have always loved words- big ones, little ones, interesting ones, simple ones, words that are fun to say, etc. I especially love to hear a six year old read them slowly and steadily from a page in a book or write them down on a piece of paper with the concentration and care of a tight rope walker. That's why I taught first grade in a public school for five years. Some children are lucky enough to learn literacy from a family member; this process begins at infancy under ideal circumstances. But the sad reality is that many of our children learn in an old, moldy classrooms under florescent lights with the help of kind, passionate, patient teachers. When the right pathways connect in their little brains, the magic of literacy happens... it is amazing to witness firsthand. Smiles wash over their faces (usually a tooth or two is missing) and to feel their true happiness and pride. Unfortunately, I fall directly into the U.S. statistic of a young teacher who quits after a five year burn out due to bureaucratic red tape, the emotional toil of some abused or neglected students, the ridiculous demands of standardized testing, being overworked and underpaid, blah, blah. So now, I am in limbo about what to do with my crazy life- still trying to figure out what to be when I grow up. I also must believe that my teaching a few great kids how to read and write and instilling the love of learning in them in some way, has paid off. My love of words however, remains steadfast.

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I feel so luck because everything, I have managed to keep...


By Eric "Vavoom" | Middle-of-nowhere, MO

Never give up hope because sometimes,
it's all you have left.

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Eric is a wdydwyd Collaborating Artist.

Become one yourself.

Because I see


Dave Gilbert | graphics / photography / promotion | Rocky Hill, CT

BECAUSE I SEE, I take pictures.

More specifically: Because since birth I have seen everything in two dimensions (using only one eye), I love photography and all forms of art that involve a flat surface. Or at least that's the explanation that makes the most sense to me! I have never minded having no depth perception -- it's just the way it's always been, and I believe it has defined me and given me certain advantages.

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Graffiti book | Burning Man

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