\nVillians of New Orleans, beware. There is a new protector of the city.
\nHe is The Black Ghost, and the night belongs to him.
\nSuperheros have become a part of American culture. People watch the movies and read the comic books and imagine what it would be like to be Spider-man, Batman or Superman, or to have these heroes in reality.
\nFor many, though, the superhero is more than just heroic powers and spandex costumes.
\nIt is a symbol of peace, hope, protection and the ability to change the world.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to make any kind of generalization about the meaning of the superhero,\u201d said Brannon Costello, department of English assistant professor. \u201cAn appealing element of the superhero is that it is densely packed with meaning and significance.\u201d
\nFor years this symbol was something you would find only in a comic book or movie, but recently hundreds of people have begun to take it to the streets.
\nA grassroots movement started in just the last few years and is termed the \u201cReal Life Superhero Community\u201d.
\nMen and women across the country are donning their very own costumes and heading out into their communities to serve and protect.
\nTheir website, www.reallifesuperheroes.org, has a full roster of men and women superheroes from across the country and the codes and ethics they live by: altruism, responsibility and virtue.
\nSome heroes, such as Master Legend of Orlando, Fla., go out and patrol their neighborhood streets in search of crime; others seek to change the world by actively showing that life can be different through hard work.
\nFor the Black Ghost of New Orleans, change comes about by not just beating up the villain but through social work and the education of youth to show that there is a better life.
\nThe man behind this black mask is Will Warner, a 42-year-old filmmaker, teacher and counselor at Delgado Community College in New Orleans.
\nIn 1998, while in the Navy, Warner created the Black Ghost as a way to pass the time by creating small film shorts and comic strips.
\nHe returned from his service in the Navy shortly before Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.
\n\u201cAround the time of Katrina, I saw the violence and hurt throughout the city, and I knew that I could create something to give to the people to give them hope,\u201d Warner said. \u201cGrowing up, I had heroes like the Lone Ranger, Green Hornet and the Shadow, and I knew that kids these days don\u2019t have the same type of heroes with the same type of values to look up to.\u201d
\nWarner developed his character into a real superhero the children of New Orleans could follow. He set out with a digital camera and an Apple laptop to create the first episodes of \u201cThe Black Ghost\u201d television series to air on public access.
\nSince those first days in 2005, The Black Ghost has grown into a full production with the help of 30 volunteers.
\nWarner now uses the character and his television show to help his community.
\nBy setting up film workshops for the teenagers in his community, Warner works toward teaching useful film-making skills to aspiring filmmakers as well as teaching cooperation and social skills to youths who might otherwise be exposed to a harsher life on the streets.
\nHis social work with children and teenagers has led to The Black Ghost has even been named the official New Orleans superhero and an Ambassador of Hope for the city.
\nDuring the past semester, Warner has produced several episodes of The Black Ghost TV show, including an episode that he allowed kids, ages 10-17, from his area to create and work in the different positions around the set.
\nWarner has also been busy organizing the annual \u201cMarch of the Superheroes\u201d planned for October. The march, in cooperation with the New Orleans Police Department, is to raise public safety awareness and will involve a parade of citizens, police and several superheroes from across the nation, through the streets of New Orleans.
\nWarner has already begun to see the positive effects of his work in several of the children he\u2019s worked with, but he says his work is far from finished.
\n\u201cA mother of one of the kids I worked with told me that her son has really been different since he worked on a Black Ghost episode in one of the workshops and now he can\u2019t stop talking about being a filmmaker,\u201d Warner said. \u201cIt\u2019s kids like this I made the Black Ghost for, and there are so many more out there that need help.\u201d
\n\u2014\u2014
\nContact Jake Clapp at
jclapp@lsureveille.com<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.lsureveille.com\/entertainment\/new-orleans-man-uses-alter-ego-to-reach-community-1.1743858<\/a>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Jake Clapp Villians of New Orleans, beware. There is a new protector of the city. He is The Black Ghost, and the night belongs to him. Superheros have become a part of American culture. People watch the movies and read the comic books and imagine what it would be like to be Spider-man, Batman […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[2650],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}