CLEVELAND, Ohio — Jarvis DeBerry, a New Orleans Times-Picayune columnist who contributed to its Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of Hurricane Katrina, will join cleveland.com, bringing his sharp commentary to Northeast Ohio.
DeBerry demanded aid for the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged city in a 2005 editorial directly addressed to then-President George W. Bush. He documented the city’s recovery afterward, calling out the bureaucratic red tape hindering New Orleanians from rebuilding their lives.
As a powerhouse voice for NOLA.com, DeBerry led the charge to remove racially-tinged Confederate monuments across New Orleans. Amid the debate over nostalgia and history, DeBerry drove home how it felt for black residents to be surrounded by statues of white men who fought for their enslavement.
“Jarvis DeBerry seems to specialize in giving voice to people who often have no voice in decisions that affect their lives. He puts human faces on the challenges faced by many in the community, and his writing is beautiful,” cleveland.com editor Chris Quinn said. “He arrives in Cleveland at an opportune moment -- what appears to be the eve of some groundbreaking decisions that could determine the region's fate for the next half century, and I am beyond excited his perspective will now inform those decisions.”
DeBerry said he tries to focus on people whose stories are not being told. “I do my best to ask myself, ‘If I don’t stand up for this particular issue, if I don’t stand up for this particular person, then who will?’” he said in a phone interview.
DeBerry is a native of Holly Springs, Mississippi and a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis. He has worked at the Times-Picayune since 1997, and joined the opinion section in 1999.
DeBerry’s colleagues describe him as a fearless voice who sparks uncomfortable but necessary conversations.
“Jarvis loves to call out the elephants in the room. He finds the uncomfortable truth at the heart of an issue and says: ‘We need to talk about this.’ That is especially true of issues that revolve around race, a subject that Jarvis confronts head-on,” Times-Picayune and NOLA.com editor Mark Lorando said.
DeBerry said when he writes about race, his goal is not just to express anger. He aims to help readers understand how strangers are living their lives.
In addition to writing columns, DeBerry will join cleveland.com’s editorial board.
He wanted to come to Cleveland because he sees parallels between city issues and issues he has tackled in New Orleans, including police brutality, problems at the jail and gentrification.
“It’s a top-notch journalism organization and as seems to always be the case, the places that have the top-notch journalism organizations also seem to be just brimming over with stories to tell,” DeBerry said.
DeBerry’s wife is a Cleveland native, and he’s excited that his daughter will be closer to her grandparents. DeBerry has also frequented Cleveland to visit family friends for joint family reunions, and always enjoyed his time here.
“I’m really looking forward to meeting the people of the city and to writing about the place and to learn the place,” DeBerry said. “I hope that people will be a little bit patient with me as I learn the city, but I do hope to provide commentary that’s both insightful and entertaining.”
Advance Local, cleveland.com’s parent company, sold NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune to The Advocate, a Louisiana news organization, earlier this year.