Praise for the Book

“Congo Square was the only public place in Antebellum America where enslaved Africans gathered by the hundreds and sang, danced and performed their own music into the mid 1800s. It was a marketplace and a beacon of freedom for those who were shackled in the land of freedom. The bloodlines of all important modern American music can be traced to Congo Square. Congo Square: African Roots in New Orleans written by Freddi Evans is a defining history of this national landmark.”

“A truly outstanding, original book. It is well conceived, impressively interpreted, exhaustively researched, beautifully and clearly written. It is by far the best work on this fascinating subject.”

“Freddi Evans' work is a masterpiece. Her tireless research has finally answered a lot of questions and addressed many issues regarding Congo Square and New Orleans history. This book should be of great value to researchers, writers, historians, musicians, dancers, artists, and anyone interested in the unique culture and traditions of the Crescent City. Personally, she has brought me miles closer to an historical and spiritual connection with the musical heritage of my ancestors. It allows me to view all of jazz history, social club parades, jazz funerals and every jazz performance in another light.”

“Congo Square is iconic in African American cultural history. The music and dance of the gathering place transformed the art forms of this country while the commerce evidenced entrepreneurial skills that are still untapped. In Congo Square, her exhaustive study of the square, scholar Freddi Williams Evans deftly presents the fascinating history and development of the hallowed New Orleans gathering place.”

“Congo Square: African Roots in New Orleans is rich and wonderful. The author sheds light on the important site of Africanizing happening in North America. Want to witness strong precedents for hand-clapping circles surrounding poets of the street—early Brooklyn rap—this is your book. For Freddi Evans establishes that Congo Square is not only a place but a state of mind where defiant African descendants kept dignity and spirit alive. There are insights galore but I ain't telling you more. You have to buy this book. Find out.”

“It is always good for us, as Africans, to see what we call 'survivals,' for lack of a better word, because they are indications of African culture as it was—its distinct characteristics. When you have that reinforced after many years of exodus, it means that there is something in the culture that can survive in spite of the changes taking place and it brings into our consciousness the importance of making sure that what we have continues and forms the basis of the new culture. Congo Square is evidence of what happened.”

“Freddi Evans has researched and written a formidable account of Congo Square - one of the New World's most sacred sites of African American memory and community. Written in a language accessible to the general public and students at the undergraduate as well as secondary school levels. Congo Square: African Roots in New Orleans comprises a richly documented volume which provides the factual foundations to understand and explore the living sense of place that Congo Square represents in the collective culture, mind, and mythology of the New World African presence in New Orleans, Louisiana. Freddi Evans has breathed new life into the ever-evolving legacy that continues to be Congo Square - a black heritage site for the ages, rooted in our ancestors’ ongoing struggle for the retention of distant memories and practices reconstituted in the human geography of place.”