The Alfred Lawless High School Alumni Association and Lower Ninth Ward Community have always been in support of our high school being rebuilt in the Lower Ninth Ward and on its original footprint in the community. Many of our former students and the community itself lobbied before the City of New Orleans and the then US Senator Mary Landrieu, among other local officials for this request to be fulfilled after our building was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. When the hope of our school being rebuilt became a reality in 2011, we were overjoyed and spread the news to all of our fellow alumni locally and nationally. However, in August 2015 without any tangible input from us or the surrounding community, a vote by the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) was made to change the name of the school to Dr. Martin Luther King Charter High School and it was told to the media and the OPSB that the Alfred Lawless High School Alumni and its community supported this. That is not true. We never supported this change.

Friends of King, are the administrators of a school in Dr. King’s name in the Lower Ninth Ward already, along with Joseph Craig Elementary in the Treme area. We have no issue with the administration of a high school by Friends of King. We do take issue with them removing the name and continual legacy of Alfred Lawless from its landmark at our alma mater. As stated, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. already has a school in his name in our city, along with schools throughout the nation, highways, streets, and more. We proudly support all of this. But, Alfred Lawless had this one school. He deserves his part in our history. He deserves this school. Rev. Alfred Lawless was a native of Thibodaux who later became principal of Fisk Colored School in New Orleans, which was the first public school in New Orleans to provide modern instructional equipment and adult education classes to African Americans. Rev. Lawless also became the Superintendent of Negro Congregational Churches in the South in 1917. Lawless Memorial Chapel on Dillard University's campus was also named in Rev. Lawless' honor. He was our own local civil rights hero. Why remove this civil rights giant’s memorial in our history from us? Since opening its doors on January 27, 1963, Alfred Lawless Junior and Senior High School graduated and matriculated students by the likes of NBA players, Eldridge Recasner (now on the board of NBA Retired Players) and Robert Pack (formerly a player and currently the assistant coach for the New Orleans Pelicans); the first African American president of the Southern Baptist Association and Senior Pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, Pastor Fred Luter and his wife Mrs. Leslie Luter, WBOK/WGSO Broadcaster and former Sports Anchor and Reporter at WDSU of 22 years, Ro Brown with a host of other success stories. We want to continue that legacy.

And so to this end, we humbly ask that the Orleans Parish School Board vote to rescind the name change of Alfred Lawless High School in the Lower Ninth Ward and place it back on its physical landmark and charter; to also recognize that the alum and vast majority of the community in the Lower Ninth Ward were not in support of this change; that any rule blocking this request also be taken up in a vote by the OPSB in favor of the Alfred Lawless High School Alumni, Lower Ninth Ward community, and constituents. We also humbly solicit the support of all former graduates of the high schools of the City of New Orleans who understand the significance of continuing the high school legacy in our great city; our pastoral leaders and congregations, fellow citizens of the City of New Orleans; the Mayor of the City of New Orleans, the City Council of New Orleans; our elected local and national Louisiana Legislators; the La. Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), the Louisiana Department of Education, and all those that understand and support our request. Your name and or signature on this petition will help facilitate this change. Thank you.