14 July 2025
By Ivanna Washington
Contributing Writer
The intersection of African-American and Indigenous life is an important part of the New Orleans story. On July 7, 2025, Ashé Cultural Arts Center and the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority unveiled a mural in tribute to Afro-Indigenous heritage and hosted a walk at the Canal Street Ferry Terminal to celebrate 25 years of “intentional remembrance” of the oppression and resilience that brought the two communities together.
The unveiling of the mural, titled the “River Rhythms Mural,” coincided with the remembrance of Maafa, a Kiswahili word meaning “great tragedy,” according to Ashé Cultural Arts Center. The term references the TransAtlantic slave trade and was coined as a term for the mass killing of Black people through enslavement.
“We live in an unbalanced society where Euro-centric, colonizing contribution[s] have been loudly drowning out all the contributions,” said contributing artist, Baba Marcus Ṣàngódoyin Akinlana, widely known as Marcus Akinlana. “We need to bring back balance to the conversation so we can be mentally well and not mentally sick,” he added.
The River Rhythms Mural
Photos by Ivanna Washington
The MAAFA procession led by Ashé marked the loss of roughly between 10 and 12 million enslaved Africans who were taken across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. It was initially a part of the triangular trade where, at first, labor was given up in exchange for goods from Europe. Eventually, that came to an end and Europeans began forcibly taking people from Africa.
For Ashé Cultural Arts Center, MAAFA became a tradition in the year 2000 when its founders, Carol Bebelle and Douglas Redd, joined the celebration. Leia Lewis, the coordinator of the first MAAFA, promoted the idea to the two.
“The walk represents the strength, the struggle, the love of what our ancestors went through,” said Erica Henderson, a worker from the Ashé Cultural Arts Center’s operations department, and a New Orleans East native.
For many, the MAAFA helps bring a sense of community when many feel as though they do not have one, Henderson explained. With times changing, many indigenous people have lost their land or their sense of ancestral home over centuries. The mural invites the community to redefine reconnection with ancestral homelands. The walk gave participants time to reflect on that period of enslavement and forcible removal from native lands, and to continue the work of empowerment in both communities.
“We need places to gather. We need places to come together, to celebrate one another for all the ways that we’ve become and be who we are, that includes thinking about the past, thinking about the present and, of course, praying about the future,” said Paris Cian, a public art manager and speaker.
During the MAAFA walk, participants wore all white as they marched through downtown accompanied by performers and musicians. The event started at Congo Square and made its way through downtown where it ended at New Orleans’ Riverfront where RTA officials presented the mural. Here, the participants had access to water, watermelon and other refreshments to prepare for the unveiling of what is now known as the “River Rhythms” mural.
“MAAFA is just a [staple in the] community,” said New Orleans Ninth Ward native and artist Falola Akinlana, widely known as, Ojo Akinlana. “They do it every single year and not only is it a blessing to the community but it’s also a moment for the community to get together. This event is taking it a step further because it gives artists an opportunity to show their work but also gives an opportunity for us to leave our mark for generations to come,” he added.
RTA officials said the mural’s location near the Canal Street Ferry Terminal near the Mississippi River is symbolic to mark the arrival of people of African descent and the beginning of the colonial period that marked a major change in the way of life for indigenous peoples.
The Mississippi River has been an important landmark not only for the city but the country. The body of water has remained throughout the changes of civilizations often being a centerpiece and backbone to many communities, officials said.
“This mural honors Black and Indigenous peoples of New Orleans so to be at the River is also acknowledging those who did not always make it or also acknowledging how much meaning water holds for us as black people and as indigenous folks. That it is a safe place that also holds memory in our bodies,” said Cian.
This article originally published in the July 14, 2025 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.