The Ashé Cultural Arts Center held a gathering at Congo Square and led a procession through Tremé Saturday morning (July 5) on the 25th anniversary of their MAAFA Commemoration, paying homage to enslaved ancestors.
The event is a yearly rememberance of the losses endured by Black people during the trans-Atlantic slave trade, aimed to promote healing.
It kicked off with speeches, prayers and offerings to community ancestors near an altar set up in the square. Organizers arranged fruit, flowers, candles and water near the altar, and members of the Congo Square Drum Circle drummed rhythms for the event’s speakers and dancers.
“We are celebrating, we are commemorating, we are honoring the steps, the oh-so-many steps that twelve generations of our ancestors took to get us here,” said Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes, the chief equity and executive officer of Ashé.
“Maafa” is a Swahili word that can be translated to mean disaster or tragedy. In the context of the commemoration, Ashé is referring to a “great tragedy” — the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The slave trade displaced roughly 12.5 million Africans, resulting in the loss of family, language and traditions, all of which the procession sought to highlight and honor.
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A table is arranged around an altar with flowers, fruit, water and candles. The altar was set up at Congo Square to honor people’s ancestors as part of the MAAFA commemoration on Saturday, July 5, 2025.
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A man reaches to touch one of the flowers placed in a glass of water at the foot of the altar set up for the commemoration at Congo Square on Saturday, July 5, 2025.
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Lioness-Sia, originally from Sierra Leone said she drove from California to Atlanta to celebrate Juneteenth, but wanted to check out MAAFA and honor her ancestors.
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Ausettua AmorAmenkum, Naimah Zulu, and Mariama Curry dance and sing at Congo Square before the procession begins on Saturday, July 5, 2025.
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Members of the New Orleans-based African drum and dance company, Watotos of Kumbuka lead the procession through the French Quarter on July 5, 2025.
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A procession marches through Tremé during the Ashé Cultural Arts Center’s 25th MAAFA Commemoration on Saturday July 5, 2025.
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Shaddai Livingston, chief creative officer at the Ashé Cultural Arts Center welcomes participants and the public to the MAAFA commemoration at Congo Square on Saturday, July 5, 2025.
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Attendees sit under a tent at Congo Square listening to speakers reflect on issues like the preservation of culture on Saturday, July 5, 2025.
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Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes, the chief equity and executive officer of the Ashé Cultural Arts Center, speaks to the crowd before the procession begins at Congo Square on Saturday, July 5, 2025.
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An “egungun” dances across the square. According to Shaddai Livingston, chief creative officer at the Ashé Cultural Arts Center, the “egungun” is a symbolic representation of the ancestors, and it was at Congo Square to bestow blessings on Saturday, July 5, 2025.
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Jahmilah Sekhmet of Lafayette, Louisiana said she loves attending MAAFA and she is documenting the procession and the speeches on July 5, 2025.
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Spectators cheer on and watch the procession as it moves along Decatur Street toward Jackson Square on July 5, 2025.
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Titos Sompa of the Republic of the Congo plays a metal percussion instrument as the crowd gathers on Governor Nichols Street on July 5, 2025.
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Daniele Simpson of Gulfport, Mississippi who played the djembe throughout the processions wears a shirt that says “pou nô zansèt” which means “for our ancestors” in Louisiana Creole.
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From Congo Square, a procession of more than 100 people marched through Tremé, stopping at historic cultural sites including Saint Augustine Catholic Church, the Tomb of the Unknown Slave. The route continued on to Jackson Square and the Bienville Monument. At locations of particular pain to the community along the way, speakers stopped and condemned atrocities such as the torment of enslaved persons at the Lalaurie Mansion. Delphine MacCarthy Lalaurie lived in the mansion, and after a fire there, rescuers discovered tortured, chained and mutilated slaves inside.
The procession took roughly two hours from Congo Square to the Bienville Monument. From there, participants were driven to the Canal Street Ferry terminal for the official unveiling of the “Rivers Rhythms Mural,”created in partnership with the Regional Transit Authority, Arts New Orleans and GNO, Inc. That was followed by further speeches, music, dancing and a river offering.
