J.D. Jackson

Mondays meant slopping hogs. Wednesdays brought baking bread. Saturdays required plucking hens. For enslaved people in nineteenth-century Louisiana, the week was filled with relentless toil under an unjust system. But every day, they counted down to Sunday. For one half-day each week, they were allowed to gather in New Orleans at Congo Square. Here, they built an open market, sang, danced, and played joyous music. In this vibrant space, they could momentarily forget their struggles and oppression, celebrating their culture and community. This powerful, poetic history captures the resilience of the human spirit. You will discover how a single afternoon in Congo Square became the true beating heart of freedom, offering hope and light amidst the darkest of circumstances.