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As we approach the end of the year, I'm thinking about the next. Next year is the year I finally make my Spanish better than my 9 year olds. Rosetta Stone is the most trusted language learning program available on desktop or as an app, and it truly immerses you in the language that you want to learn. I can't wait to use Rosetta Stone and finally speak better than my 9 year old who's been learning Spanish in his own way. Rosetta Stone is the trusted expert for 30 years. With millions of users and 25 languages offered. Spok, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Korean, I could go on fast language acquisition. Rosetta Stone immerses you in many ways. There are no English translations, so you can really learn to speak, listen and think in that language. Start the new year off with a resolution you can reach today. The Moth listeners can take advantage of this Rosetta Stones lifetime membership for 50% off, visit rosettastone.com moth that's 50% off unlimited access to 25 language courses for the rest of your Life. Redeem your 50% off@RosettaStone.com moth today.
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Welcome to the Moth Podcast. I'm Dan Kennedy. This episode is brought to you by squarespace.com the fast, easy way to create and manage a high quality website or blog. Create a website that's uniquely you in the design and colors of your choice. Display your photos from Flickr. Start that blog you've been thinking about. Say it easily and with style with Squarespace and the iPhone app makes it easy to update your site on the go. Try it out today for free. Visit squarespace.com and sign up for their free trial. Then choose a design template to get started. No credit card is needed. Just give it a try and build your website and then if you decide to purchase and enter the code moth and receive 10% off for six months, that's squarespace.com offer code moth. Today's podcast is also brought to you by Carbonite Online Backup. Easy, automatic and unlimited backup for your computer files. Try it free for 15 days@carbonite.com and if you use the offer code Themoth, you'll get two bonus months if if you decide to buy the story you're about to Hear by Mac McLendon was recorded live in New Orleans as part of the Moth and USA Network's Characters Unite Tour. The theme of the night was a more perfect union. Stories of prejudice and power.
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Whoa. I was born and raised. Been in New Orleans since I was about four years old and living in the Lower Ninth Ward Practically all My life. My first apartment was in the Lower Knight Ward. I worked for the phones company straight out of high school. I wound up getting hurt after about four, I mean 11 and a half years. I fell off a ladder and I damaged two discs in my lower back. So I started getting disability and I was kind of bored. I needed something to do. I was always felt fascinated about antique cars. So I figured I got a perfect time to do that mess with antique cars so that I picked it up as a hobby. And it was really, really good because I could go to antique car shows and get little parts and tinker with them and put them together. And it was amazing to see something that looked like junk when you bought it. And then you make it look so good and everybody wanted. Just before Katrina hit, I found my a car just like the first one. My first car that I had. It was a 1962 Tempest Pontiac. I was crazy about that car. As a matter of fact, it was candy apple red and I rubbed all the paint off of it. So finding it again, you know, I was really excited. It was in great shape and I had been working on it maybe about two and a half months before Katrina hit. I had other cars. As a matter of fact, I had about 14 anti cars and most of them was convertibles. I love muscle car convertibles. But anyway, when Katrina hit, it took all of them. It took my cars, it took. It damaged my house. And we come up in a place where you say you are what you have. What happens when you lose everything overnight. I know what happened. I tell you. I was numb. Numb for five months. I was hoping it was a bad dream. I was hoping I wake up and I didn't lose everything. But every day I woke up, it just kept getting worse. Until one day I said, hey, you bigger than that, you got to get up. I've been going to this mechanic shop in my neighborhood. I was fascinated by the building. It was a huge airplane hangar looking warehouse. And I used to go over there and I really wanted this building, but I never could afford it. It was too expensive. After Katrina. One day I passed by and Katrina had knocked big holes in the roof and everything. I said, if I'm ever going to get that building. So what I did, I went to city hall and got the owner's name and his number and everything. And I called him and he said, I asked him, I would like to see the inside of the building. I want to. I would like to purchase a building. He said, okay. And we set up a date. And he came Out. And we went inside of the building, and the structure was still good. It had looked like everything could float, though, from Katrina was in there. But I said, that's good. I could get it cheaper. But anyway, he said he's going to go and do his paperwork and everything, and he'd get back with me. Well, he took too long. I kept passing by the building every day. So I. I went, Got my lawnmower and got my friends, and I just started cutting the grass, you know, because. And it just so happened, he called that day, and he said, what you doing? I said, I'm cutting the grass by the building, because if you don't cut the grass, they're going to make it a dumping ground and they're going to throw everything there. He said, look, when you finish, could you please come by my office? I said, okay. So I finished up, and I went by his office, and he said, I don't know how this is going to work out. It takes the time to buy a building and stuff like that, but I know I got to give you these keys. And he gave him the keys, and I was excited. I ran out of there trying to beat the daylight because it didn't have no lights. I wanted to go inside of the building by myself. So by the time I got back, it was just too dark. So I had a restless night. I got these keys in my hand. So I'm waiting on Daybreak.
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So.
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So Daybreak hit. I'm in that building, and I tell you what happened. I went through the back gate and opened up these big, huge doors, and I stepped in there about four. No, about 12ft and like a ton of bricks. I tell you, I started thinking about this community center that I. That I considered my sanctuary. And it had everything that you wanted in there. I mean, if you wanted to sing in the choir, if you wanted to play basketball, if you wanted to learn how to cook, all these things was in there. But I'm trying to figure out, why am I even thinking about this? It's 40 years ago. I just want to tinker with my antique cars. So I couldn't shake the feeling and wrestle with it a couple of days. I said, okay, I'm gonna go to the town hall meeting, and I'm gonna ask them, do they want to turn this into a community center, Hoping they say no. And that's what I wound up doing. I said, look, let me tell you guys. Well, let me tell you this first. I knew only 10% of the people were back, and I know they were so busy trying to get their lives in order, they're not going to have time to come out for this. I figured. Anyway, I went there and I told them, I'm going to give you two weeks, you know, to come out. We're going to do groundbreaking and if you want a community center, that's what we're going to do. If you don't, I'm going to do my antique cars. Well, two weeks came. Almost the whole community showed up. I said, I'm in trouble, but I'm hard headed. I didn't give up. I made out some little four by four cards and basically it said, if you wanted to, not like Uncle Sam, if you wanted to become a community center, what can you do? Put them right on the spot. I figured they wouldn't fill out a card and that was a nice way of telling me they didn't want it, which was, fine, I do my empty cards. Well, I said okay. After all of them filled out a card, I said okay. I started really, really thinking about it. I said, this many people want to make this happen. Who am I to stop it? So that moment I made the decision to do it. We're going to do this community center. I got to tell you guys now, that's the best decision I ever made. Because I learned so much about what's important in life. I thought it was my things and my cars in my house. What's important in life is people. I didn't lose. I lost material things. I didn't lose my life. I didn't lose no immediate family members. So I had a lot to be thankful for. 75% of my community is still displaced. I created this mural. It's called where's your neighbor? And I want to do everything in my power and try and bring them home. But I found out I couldn't do it alone. I found out that if you allow people to know what your problems are, they could really help. I thought people didn't care. I thought my government didn't care. I found out that they do. People care so much, they never stopped coming. My government had never faced a disaster as big as Katrina. They panicked, but people never stopped coming. So I know if we pull together and start caring about each other and help when we could help, it'll be a much better world for it. So now it's not about me. It's about we. Thank you.
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Mac is a New Orleans native, proud grandfather and former telephone technician. The Lower ninth Ward village, the only center of its now offers literacy, job training and apprenticeship programs and it serves as a focal point for residents returning to the Lower 9th Ward neighborhood. Support them at Lower 9th WardVillage.org we found and directed Mac for the Characters Unite tour. Produced in collaboration with USA Network. The tour is dedicated to combating prejudice and discrimination and it continues this year with with stops in Seattle, Denver and Chicago. Visit themoth.org events for ticket information. We're really excited that this Moth tour also includes week long Moth Shop High School storytelling workshops in each city that it stops in. You can watch a behind the scenes video of the work we were doing with students in New Orleans on our brand new YouTube channel which is@YouTube.com the Moth is a non profit organization. Consider supporting our free podcast by going to our podcast contribution page or by becoming a moth member@themost.org this episode of the Moth is brought to you by Carbonite Online Backup. Carbonite automatically backs up files on PCs and Macs before hard drive crashes, viruses, theft or other computer problems occur. In the event of a computer disaster, Carbonite helps restore photos, music, financial records and other important files. Carbonite comes with anytime, anywhere access to your files from any computer or via a free smartphone app. Unlimited backup for your PC or Mac is only $55 a year and that is just 15 cents a day. Try it for free for 15 days at carbonite.com use the offer code the moth and get two bonus months if you decide to buy. That's carbonite.com code the moth. This episode of the Moth is also brought to you by squarespace.com the fast and easy way to publish a high quality website or blog. For a free trial and 10% off your new account, go to squarespace.com and use the code Moth.
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Our podcast host, Dan Kennedy is the author of the book Rock on An Office Power Ballad. Learn more@rockonthebook.com thanks to all of you.
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For listening and we hope you have a story worthy week. Podcast audio production by Paul Ruest at the Argo Studios in New York Podcast hosting by PRX Public Radio Exchange helping make public radio more public@prx.org it.