Sanctuary

Under Democratic control, with sugar and cotton no longer kings and limited public investment, a new generation of economically diminished but politically powerful planters and smallholders implemented Jim Crow in this majority Black region. Angola Penitentiary and convict leasing schemes, segregated public accommodations, minstrel shows, and lynchings recreated white supremacy. Sexual violence inflicted lasting harm and, when it resulted in childbirth, literally remade Black families. Virgil Harrell’s second wife, my great- great-grandmother Martha, experienced this kind of violation, one that led to the birth of my great-grandmother Ruth. African Americans had good reason to leave, but many chose to stay. They created families and communities that, while not always harmonious, offered sustenance and healing. People like Martha and Virge Harrell sought sanctuary in their families, communities, and institutions. Some accumulated property and joined regional and national networks. They reclaimed their vulnerable bodies in ecstatic worship in their own churches, in athletic competitions at the parish fair, and in the raunchy, jook-joint blues.