February 11, 2016

Did you know? Celebrating Black History Month with interesting facts

In honor of Black History Month, members of the Black Law Student Association gathered interesting facts about the people, events, and places that influenced history. This week’s fact was gathered by 1L student Garry Brown.

In honor of Black History Month, members of the Black Law Student Association gathered interesting facts about the people, events, and places that influenced history. This week’s fact was gathered by 1L student Garry Brown.

“Congo Square is an historic public space located within Louis Armstrong Park in the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans. Congo Square has been an informal meeting place since the city’s establishment in the early 18th century, but it didn’t become significant until 1817 when the mayor of New Orleans designated it as the only acceptable place for slaves to congregate on Sundays, which was generally a day that they were given off from work. Initially, Congo Square was the only place that slaves and free blacks could assemble and celebrate their heritage through music and dance.

Because African heritage, including music and spirituality, was prohibited in most of the colonies, Congo Square is something of an anomaly. Given how badly slaves and free blacks were treated in their daily lives, Congo Square served as an escape from that mistreatment and an opportunity to celebrate their own cultures. For those reasons, it was and still is an important element of not only New Orleans culture, but of African American culture.”

Citations:

White, David. “Congo Square in New Orleans: History, Theatre & Rhythms Festival.” Study.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.

Photo: Kimble, Edward Windsor. “The Bamboula”. Digital image. Music Rising at Tulane. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2016.