Slave Rebellion Reenactment starts Friday in LaPlace
Published 12:05 am Thursday, November 7, 2019
LAPLACE — This Friday and Saturday, hundreds of re-enactors dressed in 19th Century clothing will lead a procession along the Mississippi River. Many will be on horseback, flags flying behind them as they sing about marching to New Orleans to obtain their freedom against the steady beat of African drumming.
The Slave Rebellion Reenactment has been in the works since 2013, according to visual artist Dread Scott. The large-scale performance is a reimagining of the 1811 German Coast Uprising that started at Woodland/Andry Plantation in LaPlace and became known as the largest slave revolt in United States history.
Scott envisioned and organized the piece, which will be documented by filmmaker John Akomfrah. New Orleans arts organization Antenna is producing the reenactment with support from community organizations.
“It’s a large-scale community engaged performance artwork,” Scott said. “I want people to reconsider some long held assumptions about slavery. People right now don’t think enslaved people had agency in obtaining their own freedom.”
Community outreach organizer Karen Kaia Livers has been a living history actor for more than 25 years. She first discovered the story of the 1811 Rebellion in the 1990s, and she shared the history with her drama students.
“It’s an important part of American history,” Livers said. “The story has been suppressed long enough, and we should honor those who took a stand for freedom. These people didn’t just run away. They were determined to change the system.”
Had the group of 200-500 enslaved people succeeded in creating an African Republic in New Orleans, today’s world might look much different.
The Slave Rebellion Reenactment begins at 9:30 a.m. Friday with a staged skirmish at Woodland Plantation, located on Highway 628 in LaPlace. The Reenactment will begin with approximately 40 to 50 enslaved people. This number will grow over the next two days, according to Livers.
She said the initial skirmish at Woodland and a second small skirmish in the Bonnet Carre Spillway Friday evening are not intended to show violent, bloody acts in great detail. Two white men were killed during the 1811 German Coast Uprising, including Gilbert Andry, son of plantation owner Manuel Andry.
A total of 95 black people were killed during confrontations with militia and executions after the trial that followed.
“The piece is about freedom, but we do need to show the beginning of the freedom,” Livers said. “The blood of this rebellion comes from the government and the system we were living underneath that slaughtered people who didn’t want to be owned anymore.”
After leaving Woodland, the re-enactors will walk through the neighborhood and onto River Road. A few miles down the road, the group will double in size. By the time the procession reaches St. Charles Parish, the goal is to have 150 to 200 people. The group will spend the night at Sacred Heart Church. On Saturday morning, the group will march to Kenner.
A bus will pick up the re-enactors in Kenner and transport them to New Orleans for a grand finale celebration in Congo Square featuring performances from multiple artists.
“These people were fighting for their freedom and to end slavery,” Livers said. “That’s something to be proud of.”
However, the work is not done. The scars and birthmarks of slavery are still very much present in modern society, according to Scott. He referenced incarceration statistics among black populations, and he hopes the Reenactment will inspire onlookers to be agents of change in society.
Livers has worked closely with Councilman Larry Sorapuru, Chief Administrative Officer Laverne Toombs, Pastor August with Rising Star Baptist Church and the Perrilloux family at Riverlands Christian Center in the planning of the project.
Parish President Natalie Robottom and Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser were in full support of the project from the start, according to Livers.
“This project is great, but this project is only going to happen once in a lifetime,” Livers said. “The community wants to come together and create an annual commemoration. We created the 1811 Slave Rebellion Commemoration Committee. The goal is to have the first event in January.”
For more information, visit slave-revolt.com.
(Update 11/7/19) Traffic Information from the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office:
Deputies will temporarily close roads in areas of the route. On November 8, about 8 a.m., a group is scheduled to leave Rising Star Baptist Church on Cardinal Street and walk along Dove Street, then Eagle Street, and back to Cardinal Street. Another group also will leave about 8 a.m. from Powerhouse Christian Church on Redwood Street walk along West Third Street. These groups will meet on Cardinal Street and then enter LA 628/West Fifth Street.
Groups are scheduled to arrive at Woodland/Andry Plantation near Sycamore Loop on LA 628/West Fifth Street about 9:30 a.m. More performers will join the event, and a procession is scheduled to leave Andry about 10:30 a.m. and travel to McReine Road, Louisiana Drive, Kathy Drive, Marcia Street, and back to McReine Road. The procession is then scheduled to travel at noon onto the levee path at McReine Road and arrive at 1 p.m. at LA 3217. Between 1 and 1:30 p.m., performers will walk the levee path from LA 3217 into St. Charles Parish where the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office will take over as escorts for the event.
The St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office has been closely working with production directors to ensure the event is safe for participants as well as residents, and that it does not cause major traffic delays for the public. Deputies will be escorting the group throughout the procession.
Citizens are asked to use alternate routes, if they are commuting through the above mentioned areas and observe the temporary road closures, and to please be patient. Deputies will re-open roads as soon as possible.