Having sourced out this small theatre in the artsy Marigny neighbourhood of New Orleans, we felt honoured to be supporting Standing Rock while being entertained by some incredibly talented musicians as they paid tribute to Leonard Cohen. The Sanctuary is a small theatre with a dozen or so wooden pews and some medieval style tables and stone objects scattered around to sit on. A very warm and moving event that included the words of a local Choctaw tribal leader.

We started connected the dots to so much we have seen and heard, both current and historical, during our travels towards The South.

 

We took the opportunity to learn more about the Civil Rights movement, mainly in museums in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee, and tried to reconcile our new insights with the recent election campaign and its aftermath, the media around us, and conversations with people (and those overheard). We are both reading antebellum and civil rights literature and developing a deeper understanding of this “melting pot” full of lumps called the United States of America. During our learning journey, we find ourselves repeatedly shaking our heads as we think of the old adage:  “those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” 

When people could own people…

Separate but equal?

The North-South Divide then (and continues today)…

The role of God…

Racial violence…

Protests, marches, sit-ins…

President Barak Obama…

…and yet…even the Civil Rights Museum can be protested…

Meanwhile, in current events…

There are billboards such as these:

[www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-11-22/billboard-outside-pearl-mississippi-spurs-conversation-over-controversial-message]

There are people elected and appointed who want to reverse the tide of the Civil Rights movement:

Trump’s Worst Positions Aren’t ‘Un-American.’ They’re Flashbacks To Our Ugly History. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-unamerican-civil-rights_us_58079a3ee4b0180a36e7ef28?utm_hp_ref=civil-rights%5D

Congressman: Trump’s Attorney General Pick Jeff Sessions Will ‘Erase 50 Years Of Progress’[www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/luis-gutiérrez-trump-pick-jeff-sessions_us_582f3191e4b099512f82772a?utm_hp_ref=civil-rights]

And parents still need to explain to their children:

“Dear Child” is a heartbreaking video that shows black parents giving “the talk” [https://mic.com/articles/158418/dear-child-is-a-heartbreaking-video-that-shows-black-parents-giving-the-talk#.2yKyFbPQ2]

With one of the best attempts at explaining the persistence of the north-south problem:

[www.alternet.org/election-2016/rural-america-understanding-isnt-problem]

 

With the core idea that everything is connected, we pay tribute to the people at Standing Rock, and all those who continue to struggle to achieve and maintain all forms of equality as Civil Rights…everywhere!

It is possible…[www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38203131]