The Soul Patrol- interview with Mama Dee and Merc
by Christian Roselund Wednesday, Sep. 28, 2005 at 9:13 AM

The following is an interview with Mama Dee, a community leader in the seventh ward/ mid-city neighborhood, and Manuel Mercator ("Merc") of the Soul Patrol. They speak about the formation of the Soul Patrol, a group that began with rescue efforts and is now engaged in restoring the neighborhood and the return of evacuees.

audio: MP3 at 2.7 mebibytes

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Saturday, September 24 we spent the afternoon at Mama Dee's house in the mid-city neighborhood, seventh ward of New Orleans. The neighborhood was heavily flooded during Katrina and still had large piles of branches lying in the streets, blocking most traffic. A police patrol in a black SUV, m-16 in tow, that we encountered on the way in warned us about the neighborhood and was disparaging of Pacifica press credentials "Is that some college radio station?" We were asked why we hadn't "checked in with them." After four days in post-Katrina New Orleans, we were used to this sort of attitude from the police.

Mama Dee's house is in on Dorgenois by Broad and St. Bernard. A small crew that was a mixture of Food Not Bombs volunteers and locals was working cleaning out her basement, attempting to get rid of mold-damaged items and sanitizing the building. Mama Dee cordially met us on the porch and shortly produced red beans and rice for all present. She was sitting with Manuel Mercator, or Merc, and Ronnie ("her boys"). Merc, a carpenter and handyman, is coordinating restoration work.

Before we were able to get this interview, a dozen or so troops from the army 82nd airborne arrived at the house in two personnel carriers. Mama Dee made sure that everyone had red beans, and charmed the group until they were eating out of her hand, referring to her as "Mama". The 82 airborne, unlike the police, regularly arrive to check up on her and make sure that everything is OK.

The following is the interview with Mama Dee and Merc about the formation of the Soul Patrol. For those of you not from the south, "boo" is a term of endearment, like baby or dear.

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