NEW ORLEANS — Longtime New Orleans political consultant William Rouselle Jr. has died at age 77.
“For 40 years, Rouselle and his company provided public relations, marketing, and advertising services to a long list of clients including enduring clients like Liberty Bank, Total Community Action, The City of New Orleans, Entergy, New Orleans Public Schools, and New Orleans East Hospital. One of the City’s leading political strategists, he managed successful campaigns for Public School and City millage elections, as well as numerous political candidates such as Dorothy Mae Taylor, the first Black woman legislator in Louisiana, U. S. Senator – Mary Landrieu, Mayors Ray Nagin, Mitch Landrieu, and the first female African American Mayor of New Orleans, LaToya Cantrell to name a few,” a statement said released Sunday.
Rouselle graduated from Xavier University with honors in 1967 and went to work at a New Orleans television news station as the city’s first Black television reporter before moving on to to community organizer then on to politics.
The statement continues:
In the early 1980s, Rouselle put his publishing skills to work at the Black Collegian Magazine, a Black owned and operated national publication based in New Orleans. Then in 1984, he and former Black Collegian editor, Kalamu ya Salaam opened the doors of Bright Moments Public Relations firm.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, while managing the day-to-day operations of Bright Moments, Bill hosted Sunday Journal radio show every Sunday from 7 to 9 AM on WYLD FM Radio. He simultaneously hosted a weekly TV show on the Cox Cable Access Channel called The Liberty Network – sponsored by Liberty Bank. Both shows featured news analysis, feature interviews and hard hitting, honest dialogue between the host and the viewing and listening audience.
Since Katrina, local, state, and national organizations alike have sought his expertise, knowledge, and ability to reach into the community. Bright Moments has been instrumental in ensuring citizen participation in the rebuilding of New Orleans Public Schools, site preparation for new hospitals, creating a Master Plan for Land Use and a new Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance; as well as numerous redevelopment efforts.
In 2007, Rouselle was honored with the local advertising industry’s highest honor, the Silver Medal, presented by the New Orleans Ad Club and in 2021, Rouselle received the Public Relations Society’s Lifetime Achievement award. He served on many boards, including Black Education for New Orleans (BENOLA), the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and the New Orleans Citizens Committee.
A member of the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, where he served on the Usher Board, he is survived by his wife, Ethel Davis Rouselle; 6 children and 7 grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are pending.
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