Hundreds of Reenactors Trace the Path of the 1811 Slave Rebellion in Louisiana

November 8, 2019 | revcom.us

 

On November 8 and 9, hundreds of people are taking part in a “community-engaged artist performance and film production” that reenacts the 1811 slave rebellion in the area known as German Coast along the Mississippi River in Louisiana. This artwork involves people marching for two days over 26 miles—retracing the steps that the slave rebels took. The 1811 rebellion was the largest slave revolt in U.S. history (see the article in the revcom.us American Crime series for more on the rebellion and its bloody suppression). According to the website for the project, “Envisioned and organized by artist Dread Scott and documented by filmmaker John Akomfrah, Slave Rebellion Reenactment (SRR) will animate a suppressed history of people with an audacious plan to organize and seize Orleans Territory, to fight not just for their own emancipation, but to end slavery. It is a project about freedom.” Among the reenactors in the pictures here are members of the Revolution Club who traveled from Chicago to take part in the reenactment.