
“I stumbled on this photograph,
it kind of made me laugh
It took me way back,
back down memory lane”
— Memory Lane, Minnie Ripperton

Twenty years on from Hurricane Katrina, the betrayal of our most vulnerable continues today
“So, bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And them good ol’ boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”
— American Pie (Don McLean)

As the newly freed became more comfortable with their newfound religious freedoms, they took ownership of how they worshiped. Ministers and preachers began a new form of religious oration that included the familiar call and response that was often found in spirituals and songs and the ‘Ring Shouts,’ which originated in West Africa