Black History

Black history tour focuses on history, wellness and walking

LOUISIANA WEEKLY — On March 14, in honor of Black History Month, health benefits company Aetna sponsored a historic walking tour for older adults. The tour started at the Treme Recreation Center and progressed to Congo Square. Aetna arranged the tour in order to not only educate residents about the history of the city and its vibrant Black music culture, but to also provide older adults with an activity that keeps them physically active.

Published

6 years ago

March 23, 2019

Oakland Post

By Victoria Clark

Black history was on full display as New Orleans residents set out on a historic walking tour to learn more about the city, its history and culture, last week.

On March 14, in honor of Black History Month, health benefits company Aetna sponsored a historic walking tour for older adults. The tour started at the Treme Recreation Center and progressed to Congo Square. Aetna arranged the tour in order to not only educate residents about the history of the city and its vibrant Black music culture, but to also provide older adults with an activity that keeps them physically active.

The tour was originally scheduled for Feb. 28 but had to be rescheduled due to weather concerns.

Aetna wanted the opportunity to be a chance for individuals to learn about their ancestors’ unique history in a celebratory, dignified way while providing a healing cathartic experience.

The culture of New Orleans is strongly impacted by Congo Square because of the history of music, dance, and the overall arts of the enslaved Africans brought to America. Congo Square was a safe space for those enslaved to practice their rituals, religions, traditions and ways of life from their homelands on Sundays. Participants said that learning about Congo Square would allow them to be educated on less popular parts of New Orleans.

“Being that I’m from New Orleans, learning about the actual historical background of Congo Square would be getting complete knowledge of the New Orleans culture,” Klervae Stinson, a NORD commission cultural programs assistant said.

From being enslaved to eventually gaining their freedom, Black people transformed the sounds from their ancestors into negro spirituals, jazz, blues and rock and roll throughout the years. As Congo Square became the birthplace for these genres, New Orleans became known as a city that allows you to express yourself freely with the art of music. Statues of musical giants like Louis Armstrong, Mahalia Jackson and Buddy Bolden are in Congo Square to honor the musical legends.

Throughout the tour, tour guides Sakura Konē, and Mikhala Iverson, explained that Congo Square was not only a place of music, but a place that helped shape the history of New Orleans and branded the city as a whole.

During the Jim Crow era, Black musicians had very few ways to enjoy their music as their own. Iverson explained that famous musicians like Buddy Bolden, a cornetist, would guard his hand while playing his instrument and never recorded his music. He did this because of the possibility of his music being stolen. Music was considered sacred. Iverson who is a jazz singer as well as a tour guide, explained that the same tradition is still practiced in New Orleans because it is a part of the culture.

“I was taught if we write it down, then the white man will take it and make it his,” she said.

The park does more than just honor the music of the New Orleans area. It also gives insight to the traditions of New Orleans like the Black Indians, Super Sunday and second lines. It includes statues of famous Black Indians like Allison “Tootie” Montana to show how the history of Africans has transformed and molded New Orleans from the past until now. Konē explained that Native Americans and Africans became allies during times when slavery was prominent, which would eventually form a relationship that created the modern-day Black Indians.

“In honor of their unity of the Black people and the Red people, the indigenous and the African, Black Indians would hand sew elaborate and colorful suits for 365 days,” Konē explained.

Iverson explained that Mardi Gras as a celebration was started by a group called the Anglo Saxon. They wanted to celebrate Mardi Gras to show wealth.

“The reason they started Mardi Gras in New Orleans was to mock the royalty of Europe here,” Iverson said.

Congo Square is a space to remember those that made New Orleans what it is known for today. It celebrates not only the negative side of Black history, but it also shows how Africans experienced positivity in history which eventually branded an entire city.

“Everyone should always know their past to be able handle their present and future,” said Stinson.

Konē explained that Congo Square’s history continues to be added to today by active citizens celebrating through music every Sunday.

“On Sunday’s they still celebrate the culture till this day. Just follow the drums,” he said.

This article originally appeared in the Louisiana Weekly.

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Oakland Post: Week of March 28 – April 1, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 28 – April 1, 2025

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1 day ago

March 28, 2025

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Report Offers Policies, Ideas to Improve the Workplace Experiences of Black Women in California

The “Invisible Labor, Visible Struggles: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Workplace Equity for Black Women in California” report by the California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute (CBWCEI), unveiled the findings of a December 2024 survey of 452 employed Black women across the Golden State. Three-fifths of the participants said they experienced racism or discrimination last year and 57% of the unfair treatment was related to incidents at work.

Published

6 days ago

March 24, 2025

Oakland Post

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By McKenzie Jackson, California Black Media

Backed by data, a report released last month details the numerous hurdles Black women in the Golden State must overcome to effectively contribute and succeed in the workplace.

The “Invisible Labor, Visible Struggles: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Workplace Equity for Black Women in California” report by the California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute (CBWCEI), unveiled the findings of a December 2024 survey of 452 employed Black women across the Golden State. Three-fifths of the participants said they experienced racism or discrimination last year and 57% of the unfair treatment was related to incidents at work.

CBWCEI President and CEO Kellie Todd Griffin said Black women have been the backbone of communities, industries, and movements but are still overlooked, underpaid, and undervalued at work.

“The data is clear,” she explained. “Systemic racism and sexism are not just historical injustices. They are active forces shaping the workplace experiences of Black women today. This report is a call to action. it demands intentional polices, corporate accountability, and systemic changes.”

The 16-page study, conducted by the public opinion research and strategic consulting firm EVITARUS, showcases the lived workplace experiences of Black women, many who say they are stuck in the crosshairs of discrimination based on gender and race which hinders their work opportunities, advancements, and aspirations, according to the report’s authors, Todd Griffin and CBWCEI researcher Dr. Sharon Uche.

“We wanted to look at how Black women are experiencing the workplace where there are systematic barriers,” Todd Griffin told the media during a press conference co-hosted by Ethnic Media Services and California Black Media. “This report is focused on the invisible labor struggles of Black women throughout California.”

The aspects of the workplace most important to Black women, according to those surveyed, are salary or wage, benefits, and job security.

However, only 21% of the survey’s respondents felt they had strong chances for career advancement into the executive or senior leadership ranks in California’s job market; 49% felt passed over, excluded from, or marginalized at work; and 48% felt their accomplishments at work were undervalued. Thirty-eight percent said they had been thought of as the stereotypical “angry Black woman” at work, and 42% said workplace racism or discrimination effected their physical or mental health.

“These sentiments play a factor in contributing to a workplace that is unsafe and not equitable for Black women in California,” the report reads.

Most Black women said providing for their families and personal fulfillment motivated them to show up to work daily, while 38% said they were dissatisfied in their current job with salary, supervisors, and work environment being the top sources of their discontent.

When asked if they agree or disagree with a statement about their workplace 58% of Black women said they feel supported at work, while 52% said their contributions are acknowledged. Forty-nine percent said they felt empowered.

Uche said Black women are paid $54,000 annually on average — including Black single mothers, who averaged $50,000 — while White men earn an average of $90,000 each year.

“More than half of Black families in California are led by single Black women,” said Uche, who added that the pay gap between Black women and White men isn’t forecasted to close until 2121.

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Trump Order Slashes Federal Agencies Supporting Minority Business and Neighborhood Development

The latest executive order targeted several federal agencies, including the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, ordering that their programs and staff be reduced “to the minimum presence and function required by law.” The executive order targeted more agencies that Trump “has determined are unnecessary,” the order stated.

Published

6 days ago

March 24, 2025

Oakland Post

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By Brandon Patterson

On March 14, President Trump signed an executive order slashing the operations of two federal agencies supporting growth in minority business and neighborhoods as he continued his attacks on programs supporting people of color and on the size of the federal bureaucracy.

The MBDA’s mission is to “promote the growth and global competitiveness” of minority business enterprises, or MBEs. In 2023, according to its website, the agency helped MBEs access $1.5 billion in capital and facilitated nearly $3.8 billion in contracts awarded to minority business enterprises. It also helped MBEs create or sustain more than 19,000 jobs nationwide. Similarly, the CDFI Fund supports economic growth in under-invested communities by providing funding and technical assistance to local CDFIs, including banks, loan funds, and credit unions, that support community development projects in cities across the country. In 2023, the fund supported more than 1,400 local CDFIs across the country, including more than 80 in California — among the highest number for any state in the country.

The MBDA has local satellite business centers operated by organizations that support minority clients with services such as business consulting, contract bid preparation, loan packaging, and accessing capital funding. The San Francisco Bay Area business center is San Jose, operated by San Francisco-based organization Asian, Inc. Meanwhile, local Oakland CDFIs supported by the federal CDFI fund since 2021 include Habitat Community Capital, TMC Community Capital, Gateway Bank Federal Savings Bank, Beneficial State Bancorp, Inc., and Main Street Launch.

“It is clear that the hollowing out of the CDFI Fund and MBDA is not being ordered because those programs have failed in their mission,” the CEO of Small Business Majority John Arensmeyer, a national organization that advocates for small businesses, said in a statement on Saturday. “Instead, it is yet another case of President Trump using DEI as a club to eviscerate programs that seek to level our economic playing field.”

Congresswoman Lateefah Simon also slammed the decision in a statement to the Oakland Post. “As a member of the House Small Business Committee who represents multiple CDFIs in CA-12, I believe Trump’s gutting of operations at the Minority Business Development Agency and at the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund is a direct attack on small businesses, communities of color and other underserved communities,” Rep. Simon said. “Both the MBDA and the CDFI Fund were created with bipartisan support to help historically underserved communities and small businesses — and both programs have helped to dramatically change the material realities of people and bolster entrepreneurship in the U.S. There is no logic to this decision. The point is discrimination and cruelty.”