“We’re here to celebrate black people today,” said Boston artist Ife Franklin, as she was joined by more than 100 people for the presentation of her fourth ancestor slave cabin/praise house. It was part of her long-running “Indigo Project,” presented at Boston’s Franklin Park on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. “We’re here to celebrate the souls … and the gifts of our enslaved ancestors, the Africans who became African-Americans, who built this country. Who gave so much to us so we could be free.”
The event began with an improvisational dance and prayers and song. “There are some who want to infringe on our freedom,” Franklin told the crowd. “We will fight for what we need. … We must come together or we’re not going to make it.”
Franklin thanked many in attendance, then she led a traditional ring shout dance. “It is a ritual that was brought with our enslaved ancestors,” Franklin said in introduction. “Its was one of the things that they were allowed to keep on some plantations, not all of them.” She said it’s still practiced in the Caribbean and in parts of South Carolina.
A picnic concluded the event.
(Photos copyright 2017 Greg Cook)
