Deborah Dione Cotton

CELEBRATION OF LIFE A memorial for Deborah Cotton will be held Saturday, June 10th, 11:00 AM-1:00 PM, at The Carver Theatre, 2101 Orleans Ave. A second line in her honor will pass through the heart of Treme and end at the Candlelight Lounge where a block party will be held in Fat’s Tuba Square. Guests are asked to wear something red. OBITUARY Deborah Dione Cotton (a.k.a. Debbie, Yehnana, Deb, Big Red Cotton) was born to Hayes Cotton, Jr. (deceased) and Carolee Loewy Reed on January 23rd 1965 at Queen of Angels Hospital in Los Angeles, California. At the age of 3, she moved to Texas, then Oklahoma where she was raised by her father and grandmother Edwin Etta Cotton of Mexia, TX. She graduated from John Marshall High School in Oklahoma City in 1983. At age 19, Debbie moved to Los Angeles, reconnecting with her maternal family, discovering her Jewish roots, holding a variety of jobs in and around the entertainment industry—including working for Don Cornelius—and growing into the fabulous, vivacious woman so many knew and adored. In her 20s, she moved to Northern California, attended college and graduated from San Francisco State University with a major in African American Studies and a minor in Journalism. Some time after earning her Bachelor’s degree, she began to study the African Brazilian martial art Capoeira Angola with Mestre Themba in Oakland, quickly being recognized as a fierce, playful, and passionate angoleira. Always adventurous, Yehnana, as she had renamed herself, realized her dream of living abroad when she moved to Brazil to study capoeira. Upon her return to the U.S., she established a Los Angeles chapter of Fundação Internacional de Capoeira de Angola (FICA). One of the few women leaders in FICA, she opened the door for future angoleiras. It was during these last years in LA that she worked as a union organizer, championing the rights of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) workers. After loving it from afar for decades, in 2005 she finally decided to enroll in cooking school and move to New Orleans, just a few months before Hurricane Katrina hit and the floodwaters drowned the city. Evacuating by taxi to Houston, there was no question about whether or not she would return. She had found her home and was not leaving. Being among so few people back in the city weeks after the storm, Deb chronicled the aftermath of the catastrophe, publishing her pieces online through EURWeb.com and AOL Black Voices. These articles became the connection to what was really happening in the city that so many displaced New Orleanians relied upon. This marked a turning point in her career as a writer, journalist, and activist. In 2007 she published a compilation of these pieces in a book she called Notes From New Orleans: Spicy colorful tales of politics, people, food, drink, men, music and life in post-breeches New Orleans and soon after began contributing to local papers such as the Gambit. A champion of justice, lover of good food, music, dance, and fashion, Deb recognized the importance and value of New Orleans Social Aid and Pleasure clubs and began chronicling New Orleans Second Line culture. As Big Red Cotton, she created her own YouTube channel of incredible footage from the parades, blogged about the clubs and brass bands, and became a respected member of that community. Indeed, one of the many qualities that made her so very special was her ability to connect with and bridge different communities. Whether she was in church or in synagogue; on the mat of an Ifa priest or the middle of a roda di capoeira; at the Candelight or at Galatoires; at the Zulu Ball or a City Council meeting, Deborah Yehnana Big Red Cotton came with her whole heart. Perhaps this was never more evident than when she not only forgave and visited in jail the young man who shot her during the 2013 Mother’s Day parade, but also became a vocal advocate for criminal justice reform until she departed this earth on May 2nd 2017. Deb was preceded in death by her father, Hayes Cotton, Jr., and her grandparents Edwin Etta Cotton, Hayes Cotton, Sr., and Bert Loewy. She is survived by her mother Carolee Loewy Reed of Pasadena, CA; grandmother June “Bubbe” Loewy of Pasadena, CA; sisters Lisa Loewy of Berkeley, CA and Cathy Wallace Miles (Edward) of Sherman, TX; sister-cousins Joselyn “Le’Trese” Anglin of Pearland, TX, Sherry Burns Martin (Anthony) of Houston, TX, and Christie Burns Green of Round Rock, TX; uncles Michael “Iggy” Loewy of San Francisco, CA, and Mardy Loewy of Los Angeles, CA; five nieces and nephews; four great-nieces and nephews; a host of cousins; a collection of dear friends and admirers across the country and the world; and her beloved cat Bubbala. She will be forever missed.