This Saturday, the East Baton Rouge Parish Library will hold a day-long symposium examining the efforts of genealogists to uncover the untold stories of families enslaved in Louisiana. Much of the symposium will be based on research by Rachel Swarns, a professor at New York University, a contributing writer for The New York Times and the author of The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church.
Swarns, who will deliver Saturday’s keynote address, joins us to discuss how she uncovered stories many thought were lost to history. She is joined by David Laatsch, genealogy librarian in the special collections department at the East Baton Rouge Parish Library.
This weekend, the Manship Theatre in Baton Rouge will present a dance performance that explores mothering while Black. The storytelling takes the lens of mothers of youth who have been victims of violence, and addresses the social issues of racial violence and discrimination.
Roxi Victorian, artistic director with Nyama Contemporary Dance Company, and choreographer for this performance joins us for more.
But first, last week, we spoke to Greg Rigamer who conducted a poll published by the conservative group, Citizens for a New Louisiana, that showed state voters have an especially negative view of the legislature. Today, poll analyst Bernie Pinsonat tells us what the poll revealed about Louisianans’ opinions in the upcoming governor’s race.
Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Adam Vos. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber and our digital editor is Katelyn Umholtz. Our engineers are Garrett Pittman and Aubry Procell.
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