Mental Health,Drainage in NOLA, Employee Wellness, TedX BR

Support for Louisiana, the state we're in is provided by.

Every day I go to work for Entergy.

I know customers are counting on me.

So Entergy is investing millions of dollars to keep the lights on and installing new technology to prevent outages before they happen.

Together, together, together.

We power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Zigler Foundation and the Zigler Art Museum located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

With support from viewers like you and Tedx gives these ideas a platform.

So to show an even much larger audience the cool things that are happening here an injection of homegrown ideas.

We work with, you know, all the different businesses there because it's not just that company.

You have to sort of give people the tools so that they can sustain this at home.

Meeting Health needs of workers.

Concrete doesn't drink water.

So it's like there's you have more ways in which flooding becomes impactful, putting city drainage in the hands of the people.

Hi, everyone.

I'm Kara St. Cyr.

And I'm Andre Moreau.

Tonight, we begin with hopeful news.

It's hard to view the Gulf South as a model for education improvement strategies, but that's what's happening.

Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi are seeing reading scores slowly improve following a national decline in literacy rates.

Both Alabama and Louisiana saw some gains in fourth grade reading, but Mississippi went from ranking 49th for reading in 2013 to 21 in 2020 to very impressive.

And now a look at some other headlines making news around our state.

U.S.

Congressman Garret Graves is one of a select group of negotiators chosen by the president and House speaker to help close a deal to keep the U.S. government solvent.

There's a June 1st deadline to help work out a deal to increase the nation's ability to borrow if a deal is not reached by June 1st.

That's when the Treasury Department says the government could begin defaulting on its debt.

For the first time in history.

A new study shows oil production in the Gulf of Mexico is 43% cleaner than the global average.

Outperforming other nations like Russia, China, Brazil, Iran, Iraq and Nigeria.

Senator Bill Cassidy says it's clear that the U.S., especially Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico, produces cleaner energy than anywhere.

Thanks to our investment in our companies and workers.

In the southwest Louisiana town of Elton.

There's a recall effort underway from a group seeking to remove first term mayor Keisha Skinner Lemoine It comes as allegations swirl about election irregularities and fraud.

Organizers filed paperwork this week with the secretary of state's office.

A KPLC-TV investigation found questionable voting credentials among nearly three dozen people.

Enough votes to impact election results.

And some good news.

A new festival is coming to New Orleans.

It's called Pickleball Fest.

And it was created by former Saints quarterback Drew Brees.

The festival will have 24 tournament Pickleball Courts, live music and a chance to watch Brees play.

Some of the proceeds will go to the Brees Dream Foundation.

The event will take place August 10th through the 13th at the Ernest Morial Convention Center.

The Louisiana company that invented a machine to process shrimp back in 1947 is leading the way in employee wellness and health care.

Laitram is headquartered in Hanrahan in metro New Orleans and has offices around the globe.

I talked with Dr. Tro Kalayjian of Dr. Tro’s weight loss about what Laitram provides its employees.

Tell me first about how you came on board with Laitram█s wellness plan and how it's worked.

So first of all, I have to give a big shout out to Laitram.

I have worked with several companies, so I was an addition to their already established wellness program.

They had dietitians, personal trainers, physical therapists, health clinics, and they came to me and they said, We want more.

We have patients with diabetes.

We have patients with obesity.

They're suffering and we want to help them.

And they said, we want to bring your services to the entire company.

And so that was exciting to me because I know in the literature it's been published that a metabolic health program focused on nutrition, focused on, you know, low carb eating, intermittent fasting.

It's been shown to save companies money.

It's been shown to reduce the costs for medications and patients.

Absolutely love it because they lose weight and they come off their diabetes medications.

So I was excited.

That's what's happened here.

You've seen patients average an amazing amount of weight loss and the entire company is healthier, happier, and the company itself seems to be fantastic to its employees.

Yeah.

So, you know, that's that was the ideal partnership, somebody who's actually invested in the health of their employees.

So we started with two years ago, we started talking about this and we started a pilot program with about 15 patients and we've published on the results of those 15 patients.

But now the program is expanded to the entire company, including their family members of employees.

And so we have roughly 200 employees that are, you know, our patients here in our clinic.

And the results have been spectacular.

The average person at six months loses roughly 34 pounds at one year.

The average person loses 52 pounds and they're lowering their blood pressure 17 points.

Their A1C, which is a marker of diabetes, is coming down 1%, which is stronger than some medications out there on the market.

And this is while they stopped medication.

So the average participant stopped two different medications that they did not need anymore.

We've had patients come off of insulin.

We've had patients come off of ozempic.

We've had patients come off of blood pressure meds.

They did not need anymore.

So the patients are happy because they're losing weight.

Their employer is happy because they're happier, healthier and don't need as many medications.

And we're happy because our team is focused on ending diabetes, obesity, hypertension and metabolic syndrome.

So it's a win win win, which is great.

Most of what people have heard in nutritional management from their dietitians and nutritionists and doctors historically has been things that haven't worked out count your calories, eat less, move more.

You know, we've been saying this for 50 years.

And so when all of a sudden a doctor comes on board, says, hey, look, we're going to check your labs, we're going to check your blood sugar in real time, We're reviewing their labs at three months, six months and 12 months.

If they're if they don't see progress there, you know, I'm accountable.

And focusing on metabolic health, it's been absolutely amazing for patients when you teach them what processed carbs and sugar can do to their health, the ill effects.

And when they see, for example, on a blood sugar meter in real time when they're eating something that they thought was healthy, but their blood sugar is going up 200, 200 to 250, they realize, hey, wait a second, it's time to change.

And that information is in an instant.

We have a low carb, almond flour based king cake made right in Metairie.

We have a low carb pizza, Made right there.

We work with, you know, all the different businesses there because it's not just that company.

You have to you have to sort of give people the tools so that they can sustain this at home.

And it's been an absolute awesome pleasure.

It's been we've learned so much about Louisiana cuisine and we're just we're just excited.

This is our mission.

Dr. Tro is so great to talk to you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

What if community members control policy around drainage systems?

The Water Collaborative in New Orleans is aiming to make that a reality.

The organization is starting the Water Justice fund in an effort to improve drainage systems and increase green space in the Crescent City.

I spoke with one of the organizers and here's what he had to say.

So can you tell me a little bit about democratizing drainage?

What does that mean?

Yeah, we decided to attach democratize drainage to the water justice fund because when we think about something in New Orleans that affects all of us, it's water, right?

In whatever way, whether that's coming up or coming down.

Democratizing that means putting the power or putting the responsibility back in the people's hands who it affects the most.

And over and over, the conversations about, like water trauma and dealing with water and problems that need to be fixed, that just never get fixed.

We said something had to be done to like unite our community on this issue.

Well, you mentioned water trauma.

I've never heard it referred to like that before.

Can you tell me what that means?

Yeah.

I mean, water trauma in New Orleans, we think of things that are so big like Katrina and you, like, have family members and community leaders.

Like just now we were talking about how they won't even go to, like the movie theater because they're in the dark for too long and they can't tell if it like if it's going to rain.

I need to see when it rains.

I don't leave the house because all of these things, the trauma of I lost so much I could lose again.

I could be affected by this.

I could get stuck.

And so this is like stories you hear over and over about, like how water has negatively impacted people's lives because it's powerful.

Right.

And so all the way from those big events like Katrina all the way down to as small as like I can't put the trash out because I don't want it to roll away.

And the flash flooding that's happening tonight.

So it's the question.

And basically take a deep breath that has nowhere to go for a lot of people.

They have a deep breath to prepare for something, but they never know when it's actually going to happen.

And so there's living with this resilience inside of them that has to be really exhausting.

Yeah.

To never know whenever it's going to rain or never know whenever the rain event could turn into a storm event or flash flood event or whatever else comes with that.

So whenever you mentioned democratizing, I mean, we talked about this word and that means basically putting the power to the people.

Why do you think that it's necessary to give them that power?

I mean, we've seen what happens when we don't For the longest time, the structure of water and politics and management in New Orleans has gotten so far removed from the, like, chaotic criminal state that it was in the beginning.

Right.

The people who started in New Orleans were sent here because they, you know, degenerates from France or indigenous people.

And then black people were forced here.

And they're the reason that it survived or the reason that industrialism and things like that came.

But there's so much like respect for the land and green spaces and parks and all of these things, it felt like the people had the power.

And then slowly over the years, you see all of the ways in which more people in power have taken more and more from the communities and left it vulnerable to the like.

Yeah, to the elements.

So even outside of our office here, the Claiborne overpasses, that was like a black hustling and bustling like shopping center.

And it went right to the middle, took out parks, historic houses, all that.

And what you're left with is a key island effect.

You're left with more pavement, which concrete doesn't drink water.

So it's like there's you have more ways in which flooding becomes impactful.

And so if we ask like why we need to democratize drainage is because the people in power and politics as usual is so detrimental not only to the people that it serves, but now it's coming into like it's going to clash with the elements.

It's going to clash with New Orleans being underwater if we don't address this.

So what type of policy are you hoping to implement alongside the people?

Yeah, I mean, so it's the way that it's built.

It's kind of it is a community led policy.

So we're flipping it on its head and we're doing it from the ground up.

We're doing it from the community up.

And that's one thing I'll never do, is be an expert on somebody else's community.

And that's why this is so stress relieving in a sense, because it's it's it's a big topic, but it's stress thing because I can't fix it all.

And so we want this to be a policy that is interactive and dynamic and always growing and changing to what we think as New Orleanians is best.

And so inviting all those voices, this policy would be one that is equitable.

It is one that would be transparent.

We would know what the money is going to.

It would be one that is created specifically for drainage.

So even if it turns out that we want to create a office of drainage, then that would look like that's where the money goes.

The way that the structure is built.

We just start using the things that are good for New Orleans, like it's people the way that they're supposed to.

And so making it a policy that's built upon need and the hope of New Orleans rather than the commodification of the things that make this place good.

So Water Justice New Orleans is the name of the entire project.

How can people support it?

How can they find out more?

Yeah, if you go to waterjusticeneworleans.org there's a chance to sign up for maybe a couple of the last workshops to kind of be a part of that building process.

This project is born out of a lot of hope for our city, I think, and I'm happy to be a part of that.

And then it's also built on just this idea that, like, we're so used to being resilient, but maybe we're tired of being resilient as well.

Don't have to be strong all the time.

Yeah, we want to we want to remind the city that we're resilient city, but it doesn't mean that we keep having to be.

We don't have to be strong all the time.

If you want to support the Water Justice fund, you can head to the Water collaborative website.

Thats nolawater.org TEDx Baton Rouge is coming this September to the capital city, the capital region.

And two of the organizers of the event are here to discuss it with me right now.

Morgan Almeida and also Melissa Thompson.

And tell us what the event hopes to achieve.

Sure.

So TEDx Baton Rouge is a is a licensed event through the TED platform, which a lot of people are familiar with.

So this event is independently organized by the two of us and a team of volunteers.

And we are hoping to bring this event to fruition to spur ideas worth spreading.

Yes.

And to talk about all of the great homegrown ideas and people that are doing really cool things in our own backyard in south Louisiana.

This would be to propel Baton Rouge into the future and quickly, right?

Yeah, absolutely.

So we want our local residents to learn more about their own community and great ideas that are happening here already that they might not know about.

But then also, Ted X gives these ideas a platform to be on the national stage, too, right?

So to show an even much larger audience the cool things that are happening here.

So ideas, dreams, brainpower and all coming from the local community.

Yes, absolutely.

And a lot of the stories that we're hoping to give a platform to are untold stories in Baton Rouge.

These are people and ideas that might not typically get the large platform or have a large following on social media.

So by having this event and not only the live event in our community, but also the YouTube videos that will be posted later, it's giving a spotlight to our community and there's really fantastic idea.

Is there an example of something like that that you can think of?

Sure.

Yeah.

We're not ready to share.

The speakers will actually debut the speakers in July, but do you want to share an idea?

So Ted actually stands for technology, Entertainment and Design.

And so that's the crux of what we look for.

But then it expands past that, too.

So we're looking at science topics.

We're looking at health topics.

We want to get very research, data backed ideas to share with the community.

And that's something that any community would want to be having great things happening in that realm with.

Right?

Yeah, especially with the universities that we have in town.

There's so much research that's being done with Pennington.

There's people that are entrepreneurs and have really fantastic ideas.

It's already happening.

Yeah, we just want to provide a platform for those ideas to be spread.

What are some of the things that might come from this, for example, that would be like the building of an attraction or something to draw a spotlight to the downtown area maybe?

Yeah, you don't know in each year is completely different.

But what's exciting about it, we were both a part of TEDx LSU, which was the first TED event in town.

We now have three total.

But TEDx LSU.

There were times where speakers would talk about a really fantastic idea that they had maybe for a nonprofit, and there happened to be somebody in the audience that agreed with them that that was a great idea and funded them on the spot to create that organization and have really some good community awareness, but also community involvement.

Right.

So we've all seen what a TEDx Talk looks like.

A TED Talk looks like this will take place where and the date.

All right.

So it is going to be in downtown Baton Rouge at Manship Theater on September 14th.

All right.

It is a night event, so we're going to get that energy flowing after our work day and hopefully get the conversations going.

And from the speakers on the stage, will they be talking directly with the audience at that time?

Yes.

So it's it's kind of like a stage performance, but it's a highly produced event.

So if you're there and you're a part of it, you get to be a part of the live audience.

But then they also are going to be recorded and put on YouTube later for, of course, consumption for anybody in the world.

And that's where a lot of the feedback really comes because people are drawn to YouTube, they see these and something clicks, then there's great excitement about it.

I know that John Spain from Baton Rouge Area Foundation is forever looking for attractions and things and is working on several things right now that we've discussed.

And so some of that could be maybe a byproduct of this or some of those things could be discussed.

And let's talk you guys working on the LSU event you said.

What was the point of that?

One of the main purpose of that one?

Yeah.

So I think the purpose is similar but different.

So it's similar in that the concept is ideas were spreading and to have a platform where a community can gather and talk about good ideas that are bubbling up from your own backyard.

But that event, because it was on LSU campus, it had an LSU lens, right?

So many of the speakers were LSU professors.

Most of the volunteers were LSU staff and students.

And so it happened within that community.

But we did our best to also highlight the great things that were happening in Baton Rouge.

But this one is capital.

This is capital region.

So yes, we we both care so much about this community.

We chose to live here and we've chose to plant our roots here and be a part of this.

And we want to be here for the long haul.

Yes.

And so this is our way to give back to Baton Rouge and to spur that dialog is tremendous.

It's one of the big things that is constantly sort of a thorn when people say, well, the brain is leaving, people going to school here, they leave to go to Houston or Atlanta or Austin.

We're saying, who's going to stay?

Stay here.

Exactly.

We have our own personal motives of talent retention for the region, too, so we're excited about it.

We'll put a graphic up and can't wait to see it.

So it's a big thank you to.

The Bridge Builders Collective offers an intimate look at trailblazing leaders across the United States, including New Orleans, as they work to build better futures for their communities.

LPB along with Indie Lens pop up.

Hosted a screening of five short films that explore the important work of five individuals and organizations that bridge critical gaps in their community as they relate to legal system reform.

That's right.

We have a clip of one of those films.

Take a look.

Where harshness rules.

You show compassion, then you sit out like a sore thumb.

It's like a rose growing out of concrete.

The day I step out the prison, I decided that we just can't let it go on and on.

Somebody's got to stand and break the cycle.

Where are you at?

I'm on Esplanade and Dauphine Come back line and come up on Esplanade If you are in a hole and you're looking out for help, a guy may pass by with a rope and drop a rope down.

But if the rope not long enough, it's not reaching you.

I don't know what's going on with you.

Okay, so it came out to be some bad turn to something positive.

And if they can't own up to their mistakes and change for the better, so ya’ll both can go, you got to go.

You gotta go FIT Clinic is the place that provide transitional healthcare care for people recently coming out of prison.

They trying to get back into society.

First thing we want to do is find out what type of healthcare do they need, coming out of prison.

Most guys are not just enough of doctors.

You're not seen as a human being.

You are number.

If they didn't like you made, you never get seen by a doctor Better dig in you.

I try to just beg for as many that could reach I got big arms.

To watch all the films and learn more about the Bridge Builders Collective and hear the conversation hosted by LPB.

Please visit lpb.org/bridgebuilders.

Also this week, a new episode of our digital series Ritual is available.

The show's host and New Orleans singer Tank Ball explores the origins of the southern spiritual practice of Hoodoo.

Tracing its lineage back to the era of slavery.

Let's take a look.

For most of us, mentioning a conversation you just had with a deceased family member would be guaranteed to raise some concerns.

But in West Africa, talking to the dead is nothing unusual.

Known as ancestor worship, the practice is woven into the fabric of daily life.

But when the transatlantic slave trade ripped people away from their families and way of life, it place their ancestral chain in terrible danger.

To protect it, they turn to religions like hoodoo, which restored their access to the spirits despite being so far away from home.

Today, I'm going to find out how Africans held on to these ties with ancestors against all odds, and how descendants use memories of the past to bring about healing in the present.

I'm Teriana Tank Ball and this is a ritual for Africans on the plantation.

Maintaining the religion of their birth in the Americas simply was not the option.

It was for the Puritans of Plymouth Rock.

Most spiritual practices among enslaved people were feared and forbidden by plantation owners who look to eradicate any sign of strength.

So in secrecy, often under the cover of night.

Enslaved Africans use different spiritual tools from home that they adapted in order to survive in otherwise impossible situation.

The religions they created had much in common, like spirit communication, which was practiced by all of them.

But they were also unique to the places where they were created.

Voodoo, they called it in Haiti, Candooblay in Brazil and Santeria, in Cuba, in North America, it was known as Hoodoo hoodoo.

Doctors gathered medicinal plants to make the traditional remedies.

That's the cure to communities physical survival.

While other rituals attended their spiritual walls and reminded them of a time before slavery.

To understand this fascinating tradition, I've come to Dr. Kameelah Martin, a scholar who specializes in the history of black spiritual practices in North America.

Dr. Kameelah I am so excited to be here with you today.

You are a brilliant scholar, and if I may, I would love to ask you what is ancestor worship?

So simply put, ancestor worship is the reverence in celebration of our literal ancestors, those who came before us in our family lineage.

More broadly, it's a part of a collection of spiritual and healing traditions that have come to the United States by way of the transatlantic slave trade.

So ancestor worship is part of a larger collection of spiritual traditions of the United States, popularly known as Conjure or Hoodoo.

We want to be sure to keep the memory of our ancestors alive.

watch all the ritual episodes you missed on PBS's Voices YouTube channel or by searching PBS ritual on YouTube.

Next week will be my last, at least presenting weekly news here at LPB.

I'm retiring after 39 years after next Friday's broadcast, of SWI Louisiana, the state we're in.

And I'm definitely emotional about this.

It's been a privilege to learn from you, Andre, and it's been a big year for Andre.

He won the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters a lifetime achievement award for 2023.

And yeah, I really appreciative of that.

It's been so much fun to learn from you and the opportunity to work with you.

I don't know.

I've been watching you for a really long time.

That was one of the reasons why I took this job was to work alongside.

You said will definitely be missed.

We've got one more week, though.

One more week.

So don't cry yet, everyone.

That's our show for this week.

Remember, you could watch anything LPB anytime, wherever you are with our LPB PBS app, you can catch LPB news and public affairs shows as well as other Louisiana programs you've come to enjoy over the years.

And please like us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for every one.

Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

I'm Andre Moreau and I'm Kara St. Cyr.

Until next time.

That's The State We’re In.

Every day I go to work for Entergy, I know customers are counting on me.

So Entergy is investing millions of dollars to keep the lights on and installing new technology to prevent outages before they happen.

Together, together.

Together.

We power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Zigler Foundation and the Zigler Art Museum located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

With support from viewers like you.