Galatas, Herman J., Sr.: - Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, I lived in the Upper and Lower Ninth Wards most of my life. I also lived in the Seventh and Fifteenth Wards for a brief period. Growing up in the Desire Community of the Ninth Ward during the sixties, and being a person of a lighter skin complexion, sometimes presented its challenges. Most of those challenges were literally trying to prove to kids in our community, especially when we lived in the Desire Housing Projects, that I was Negro. The racial designations Black and African American were not politically correct terms during the early sixties. I hated and continually rejected being called "White boy" and was disturbed every time someone called me that. I hated it to the point that I would get into physical brawls as a small child just because someone called me "White boy." One thing I knew, and I knew for sure-I was not White, and I did not want to be characterized as a White person.I attended several different Catholic grammar schools. For kindergarten through second grade, I attended Saint Philip the Apostle, on Clouet Street in the Desire Community of the Ninth Ward. For third grade through the first half of fifth grade, I attended Epiphany Catholic School in the Seventh Ward. I finished the second half of fifth grade back at Saint Philip the Apostle. I then, in the fall of '69, attended Our Lady Star of the Sea, on Saint Roch Street in the Eighth Ward, for sixth, seventh, and half of eighth grades. I was one of the first six Black students to attend Our Lady of the Sea. Then I attended my first public school for the first half of eighth grade-Colton Junior High on Saint Claude Avenue in the Eighth Ward. I finished the second half of eighth grade back at Our Lady Star of the Sea, where I was one of the first three Black students to graduate from that school.I attended three different high schools. My freshman year, 1972-1973, I attended Redemptorist Catholic High School in the Irish Channel. That school had over four hundred students. I was one of the first twelve Black students to attend Redemptorist. Because of the ongoing racial harassment by students at Redemptorist, I transferred to Alcee Fortier High School my sophomore year, 1973-1974.Eleanor McMain Magnet, a new high school, was founded in the fall of '74, so I enrolled there for my junior and senior years before graduating in 1976.Post high school, I attended Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge for three unin