Ownership Is the New Rebellion – And New Orleans Needs It.

By Jak Harris

In a city where culture flows from the streets and community is everything, the most radical act we can commit in 2025 is simple: ownership.

Ownership of property. Ownership of business. Ownership of voice.

For too long, New Orleanians—especially in Black, working-class, and historically disinvested neighborhoods—have been told to wait: wait for better jobs, for better housing, for outside investment to “lift up” our communities. But if the past two decades have taught us anything, it’s that salvation is not coming from outside. The cavalry isn’t on the way. And the systems we’ve been told to trust often do more to extract from us than empower us.

That’s why ownership is the new rebellion. Not performative resistance. Not lip service. Actual, tangible ownership of the things that shape our lives.

When You Own, You Decide

Ownership isn’t just about wealth—it’s about control. The landlord decides the rent. The boss decides your hours. The developer decides what stays and what gets torn down. In New Orleans, too many decisions about our communities are made by people who don’t live in them, answer to them, or understand them.

But when you own your home, your business, your block, or your platform—you have a say. And we need more people with skin in the game, not just politically, but economically.

We need more local landlords, not more corporate property managers. We need more neighborhood storefronts run by residents, not just chains looking to cash in on the culture. We need more artists, workers, and everyday people who aren’t just participating in the economy—but shaping it.

Why It Matters Now

In 2025, the stakes are high. Housing costs are rising. Wages are stagnant. Outsiders continue to buy up swaths of the city, while many locals struggle to stay in the neighborhoods they grew up in. Meanwhile, the informal economy—hustlers, vendors, creatives—is growing without much support or recognition.

Ownership is the lever that can change that. But it requires more than motivation. It requires access: to land, to capital, to training, to fair policies. Right now, those pathways are too narrow, too complicated, or too far out of reach for the very people who keep this city running.

We can’t afford to keep treating working-class ambition like a liability. We need to treat it like the engine it is—and fuel it accordingly.

A Blueprint for Change

We need a citywide shift—one that sees ownership not as a privilege, but as a policy priority. That means:

• Investing in pathways to homeownership for renters, not just out-of-state buyers.

• Supporting local business creation and informal entrepreneurs with flexible tools, not red tape.

• Creating community land trusts and co-ops that lock in affordability and keep control local.

• Expanding access to credit, capital, and training so residents can build wealth on their own terms.

• Protecting cultural workers and street-based creatives who monetize their gifts and carry the city’s identity.

  
  

This isn’t about handouts. It’s about fairness. It’s about saying: if you’ve been showing up, building, investing in your block or your business or your people—this city should have your back.

Own the Future

Ownership is not just an economic issue. It’s a civic one. A city where more people own means a city where more people stay, build, vote, and lead. That’s not just good policy—that’s good governance.

New Orleans doesn’t need more slogans. It needs a real plan to make sure that the people who are the culture also own a stake in its future. Because when we own, we don’t just survive—we shape the story.

Ownership is the new rebellion. Let’s make it the norm.