e
would like to acknowledge an icon
Mrs. Leah Chase who passed away
on June 1st, 2019. We are taking
this time to honor her in a special
memorial because she and her restaurant
was featured in the .NET Black Professional
Women Magazine for June - August
issue. I met Mrs Chase once. I was
studying art at Southern University
at New Orleans & my Art Professor
Dr. Jack Jordan used to talk about
this restaurant “Dooky Chase”
that exhibited African American
art. I didn’t think much of
it at the time, after all I was
in my early 20’s & was
not thinking about or would I be
able to afford to go there.
It was a Sunday night my Pastor
G.R. Washington Sr. asked if I needed
a ride home of course I said, “sure”
he & First Lady Washington was
going to get something to eat, I’m
thinking about McDonalds, Burger
King, Popeyes, any place with a
drive-thru. When he meant eat, he
meant eat. He went to Dooky Chase
restaurant & it didn’t
dawn on me where I was until we
sat down. I looked around &
art was everywhere. It stopped worrying
about how much it was going to cost
because I was in a trance-state.
Pastor Washington ordered gumbo
for everyone but the works of art
made my mind drift back to Dr. Jordan
& some of the pieces he’d
seen, then Mrs. Leah Chase walked
to our table & asked if everything
was okay. She spoke with Pastor
& First Lady Wasington for a
while before addressing other customers.
I feel that New Orleans was fortunate
to have a person like Mrs. Chase
because black people don’t
visit museums enough to know more
about that side of their culture.
Dooky Chase offers that experience
… it's not often you can literally
sit in the midst of history. Speaking
of history Mrs. Chase was host many
people who changed history &
her passing came as a surprise since
the days before the .NET BPW Magazine
had launched.
Our prayers goes out to the Chase
family & friend & we thank
you for sharing such a professional
caring person in Mrs. Leah Chase
with us.
