News and Updates

June 10, 2015

Spotlight on Deputy Mayor Judy Reese Morse and the Welcome Table

by Laura A. Mellem, Neighborhood Liaison
Filed under: neighborhood spotlight

News across the country in the past year continues to remind us of the issues of race and racism that we face as a nation.  In this month’s neighborhood spotlight, we hear from Deputy Mayor Judy Reese Morse about what some New Orleanians are doing to tackle the issue of race and to promote racial reconciliation in our community. 

It’s a difficult issue to discuss, explains Morse on the topic of race.  In conversation with one another, she says, “we tend to get stuck.”  That’s why the Mayor’s Office, with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, has developed the Welcome Table New Orleans, an inter-group dialogue initiative that challenges participants to share experiences, learn from one another, and ultimately work together to create change through racial reconciliation projects.  Morse explains, “Mayor Landrieu has long had a vision for bringing people together to find common ground, and the Welcome Table New Orleans is part of that vision.”

Based in the practices developed by the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, the Welcome Table New Orleans has, in its first year, created several circles—groups of residents who come together regularly to address race and racism.  Some of the circles are “general,” meaning they’re made up of everyday residents from diverse backgrounds.  Another circle recently brought together a diverse group of business and civic leaders.  Another circle is the most unique of all—it’s made up of mothers who have lost a child to gun violence. 

Overall, over 100 participants have been engaged by the Welcome Table program.  They began meeting once monthly in circles to focus on relationship building based in the issue of race.  After several months, participants left the city for weekend retreats to begin to think about solutions.  Upon identifying potential areas of focus, circles began the planning and implementation of specific, public-facing projects that will be accessible to all New Orleans residents and that will help facilitate racial reconciliation.

It’s the announcement and launch of three of these projects that we will be celebrating the morning of Wednesday, June 24th at 10:00 at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre.  Morse extends an invitation to everyone in the city to attend to hear more about the experiences of Welcome Table participants and to witness the unveiling of the racial reconciliation projects that will soon be implemented in the city. 

New circles are set to launch in September, Morse explains, so she is also expecting that this event will spark an interest in attendees who might make up a new class of Welcome Table participants.  With pride and emotion, Morse states, “I have been so moved by the courage, openness, and honesty that the current Welcome Table participants have demonstrated.  They are true trailblazers.”

Stay tuned later this summer for the premiere of a mini documentary on the Welcome Table New Orleans, along with information about how to get involved in the next round of Welcome Table circles.