A life of telling the untold.

“My goal as a writer is to preserve and promote the untold and under-told stories of the African American experience. This endeavor reflects my passion for history and is focused in literature for children as well as adults. My multidisciplinary artistic background infuses my work — illustrated by my years of research and numerous presentations on Congo Square.”

“Themes that resonate in my writing include community, family and courage. For young readers, I strive to craft stories that inform as well as ignite a curious desire supporting a lifelong passion for reading. Throughout my diverse writing and professional endeavors, there exists a common thread of intention: to engage, enlighten and inspire.”

A native of Madison, Mississippi, Freddi holds degrees in music and psychology from Tougaloo College and a graduate degree in creative arts therapy (music) from Hahnemann University (now Drexel University) in Philadelphia.

Her book, Congo Square: African Roots in New Orleans, the first comprehensive study of the location, received the 2012 Louisiana Humanities Book of the Year Award. Her research and advocacy influenced the New Orleans City Council ordinance that, in 2011, restored the name Congo Square — replacing Beauregard Square, named after Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard in 1893.

With the French edition of her book, she made presentations in Paris in 2012 and in Dakar and St. Louis, Senegal in 2014, sponsored by American embassies in both countries. Other international engagements include a Masterclass on New Orleans Culture, University of Groningen, Netherlands (2025), the 100 Years of Beat Festival at Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin (2018), and the Bordeaux Congo Square Festival in Bordeaux, France (2013).

Along with numerous essays, she has published award-winning books for young readers including Passing It On: The Art of John T. Scott, Come Sunday: A Young Reader’s History of Congo Square, Hush Harbor: Praying in Secret, The Battle of New Orleans: The Drummer’s Story, and A Bus of Our Own.

As a community activist, she co-chaired the New Orleans Committee to Erect Historic Markers on the Slave Trade to Louisiana (2015–2018) and helped erect the UNESCO Site of Memory Middle Passage Marker (2019). As an arts educator, she administered programs in the Jefferson Parish Public School System, the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center, and the Ashé Cultural Arts Center for over 30 years combined.

In 2024, she received the Lifetime Contributions to the Humanities Award from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities for the importance of her work on Congo Square and other contributions to New Orleans history and culture. Her additional community involvement includes:

• Member, Cultural Repatriation Committee for the Return of 19 Human Crania from Leipzig, Germany to New Orleans, 2025
• Founder and Curator, congosquareconnection.org, New Orleans, LA, 2023
• Member, New Orleans Legacy Project Historical Marker Committee, New Orleans, 2017
• Member, New Orleans Tricentennial Subcommittee to Erect Domestic Slave Trade Markers, 2016–2018
• Editorial Board Member, New Orleans and the World: The Tricentennial Anthology, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, 2016
• Director, “Sundays in Congo Square,” children’s performances at N.O. Jazz Festival, 2013–2016
• Board Member, Congo Square Preservation Society, 2011–present
• Curator, Congo Square Exhibition, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, 2012
• Initiator, New Orleans City Council Ordinance, Calendar No. 28, 411, that made “Congo Square” the official name of the historic landmark, 2011
• Co-writer, Text for the historic marker at Congo Square, New Orleans, LA, 1997
• Founding Member, “Kids to Africa,” a study/travel program to Africa for New Orleans middle school students, 1995