At various locations along Bourbon Street, people left flowers, candles, stuffed animals and things like tamales wrapped in foil. The outside walls of the Walgreens on the busy corner of Bourbon and Canal Streets were covered in handwritten messages.
“We will never forget.”
“We couldn't defeat terrorism.”
Once again, Bourbon Street attracted residents, visitors, and those stumbling through the physical and emotional pain unleashed by the stunning violence.
“I was there, I was there, I was there,” said Jovon Bell, 45. He lifted up his T-shirt to show the glue marks from his trip to the hospital.
The attack only highlighted how contradictory Bourbon Street is.
Lyne Hancock, a disc jockey for New Orleans radio station WTUL, is a native of New Orleans and previously worked at a nearby restaurant. The area is a garbage dump, he said. (“I can say that,” he added. “You can’t say that.”)
“I hate Bourbon Street,” he said under his breath.
“It represents joy,” he said in other words.
For the past few days, he had been struggling with everything he felt after the attack. He wanted to be surrounded by community. He wanted to leave a message for the victims.
So he was standing on Bourbon Street.
campbell robertson Contributed to the report.
