NEW ORLEANS — On Tuesday night, hundreds of people came out for a second line to celebrate Eric Paulsen's life. The parade was led by the Roots of Music marching band, who put on a special performance as the procession passed by the WWL Studios.
Through the streets of Treme — all the way to the WWL Louisiana news station, Tuesday was an outpouring of love for Paulsen.
A second line was organized by the 6 Ward Steppers and was the perfect New Orleans way to celebrate the man who loved this city. Through crowds of people were glimpses of Eric. T-shirts and handkerchiefs adorned with his face.
"The only thing I had to work off for Mr. Paulsen was pictures and I went and made the layers and tried to make a picture of his life," said Cedrick Sweetwyne.
Many of those were made by Sweetwyne. He has been printing what he calls 'happy shirts' for over 15 years.
"Anyone can print a t-shirt but not everyone doesn't put love into what they do and we put love into every design and every shirt we make," he said.
It's a way for Sweetwyne to help people celebrate, grieve and express love.
"The experience has humbled me to be placed in a position I think god intrinsically placed me at this moment at this time to do what I do I'm called to do," Sweetwyne said. "This and being able to celebrate it in our rich culture means everything."
And for Eric, it was no different.
"We knew we had to do something and I stayed up very late the other night to make sure we represent Eric the best we could," he said.
And Tuesday Eric was represented in more ways than one as the community danced their way to the front door of the building Eric called home for four decades.
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