anything but bland. - poet, activist and radio host, chuck perkins is new orlean's man-about-town. after joining the marines to pay his way through university, chuck returned to his hometown to spread the gospel on local culture - from poetry to music. this is one of the only american cities that has a very distinct culture, like tradition here is very important. and you know, when people come here for the first time, they feel like they're in a place that's different from any place they've been in this country for sure. it's happy and it's fun, and it's about celebrating life. you can hear the sounds of africa, you can taste the food of africa, you can taste the food of france, of haiti. it's all in there. yeah. but what are the struggles that new orleans faces? one of the biggest problems, it does have to do with gentrification. what's happening is that the tastes of the typical americans are changing, you see. i mean, in the 1960's and 1970's, you had white flight, and black middle-class flight as well. and so people's idea of success was going someplace out, an hour outside of