YouTube video by Dan Hicks and The Hot Licks - Topic

Students at Holland Public Schools cheered on their unified basketball team Friday in a special assembly marking the end of the district’s inclusion week.

YouTube video by Sally Baby's Silver Dollars

<div class="wp-remixd-voice-wrapper"><script async="" charset="utf-8" id="remixd-audio-player-script" src="https://tags.remixd.com/player/v5/index.js?cb=%%CACHEBUSTER%%" type="text/javascript"></script></div> <div class="newspack-popup-container newspack-lightbox newspack-popup hidden newspack-lightbox-placement-bottom newspack-lightbox-size-medium newspack-lightbox-no-overlay" data-frequency="0,0,1,day" data-scroll="30" data-segments="1789" id="id_18902" role="button" tabindex="0"> <div class="newspack-popup-wrapper" data-popup-status="publish" style="background-color:#004d71;color:#fff"> <div class="newspack-popup__content-wrapper" style=""> <div class="newspack-popup__content"> <div class="wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-1 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex"> <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow"> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-everyone-deserves-access-to-quality-information-sign-up-for-our-free-newsletters" style="font-size:32px"><mark class="has-inline-color has-verite-white-color" style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)"><strong>Everyone</strong> deserves access to quality information. 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W. Kemble, from 1885, depicts a typical musician of New Orleans’s Congo Square in the pre-Civil War period. <span class="image-credit"><span class="credit-label-wrapper">Credit:</span> Historic New Orleans Collection, 1974.25.23.55</span></figcaption></figure> <p>In 1998, Congress recognized Bristol, Tenn., as the birthplace of country music.</p> <p>“Their resolution cites the historic recording sessions that took place in the city in 1927,” <a href="https://victrola.com/blogs/articles/the-history-of-country-music">Vitrola</a> states, “even if they weren’t technically the first country music recordings to occur.”</p> <p>Based on research from the <a href="https://www.hnoc.org/publications/first-draft/not-their-first-rodeo-black-musicians-and-birth-country-music?utm_source=wordfly&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=FirstDraft2024-12-27&amp;utm_content=version_A&amp;promo=3883">Historic New Orleans Collection</a>, country music could be heard emanating from New Orleans’ Congo Square during the colonial era.  </p> <aside> <div class="newspack-popup-container newspack-popup hidden newspack-inline-popup newspack-lightbox-no-border" data-frequency="0,0,0,month" data-segments="1789" id="id_16679" role="button" style="background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#000" tabindex="0"> <div class="wp-block-group is-style-default has-verite-primary-gradient-background has-background is-vertical is-content-justification-left is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-1 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex"> <h4 class="wp-block-heading has-verite-gold-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-d4360880ca8c9c07933472da4c52f81b" id="h-what-was-new-orleans-like-back-in-the-day">What was New Orleans like Back in the Day? </h4> <div class="wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-center" style="grid-template-columns:15% auto"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img alt="" class="wp-image-11713 size-full perfmatters-lazy" data-sizes="(max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px" data-src="https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9-834x1024.jpg" data-srcset="https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9-834x1024.jpg 834w, https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9-244x300.jpg 244w, https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9-768x943.jpg 768w, https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9-1251x1536.jpg 1251w, https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9-1668x2048.jpg 1668w, https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9-1200x1473.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9-1568x1925.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9-400x491.jpg 400w, https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9.jpg 1802w" decoding="async" height="1024" src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20width='834'%20height='1024'%20viewBox='0%200%20834%201024'%3E%3C/svg%3E" width="834"/><noscript><img alt="" class="wp-image-11713 size-full" decoding="async" height="1024" sizes="(max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px" src="https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9-834x1024.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9-834x1024.jpg 834w, https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9-244x300.jpg 244w, https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9-768x943.jpg 768w, https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9-1251x1536.jpg 1251w, https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9-1668x2048.jpg 1668w, https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9-1200x1473.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9-1568x1925.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9-400x491.jpg 400w, https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11104553/Tammy-9.jpg 1802w" width="834"/></noscript></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content"> <p class="has-verite-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-1e1fcb8db3c6026f3f25e1f271e5be7f">Sign up for In the N.O., Verite's weekly newsletter, and get Tammy C. Barney's column on New Orleans history on Saturday mornings.</p> <div class="wp-block-newspack-newsletters-subscribe newspack-newsletters-subscribe" data-success-message="Thank you for signing up!"> <form data-newspack-recaptcha="newspack_newsletter_signup" id="newspack-subscribe-2"> <input name="newspack_newsletters_subscribe" type="hidden" value="1"/> <input name="newspack_popup_id" type="hidden" value="16679"/> <input name="lists[]" type="hidden" value="group-f5826242e1-176a604414"/> <div class="newspack-newsletters-email-input"> <input autocomplete="email" id="newspack-newsletters-subscribe-block-input-43353-email" name="npe" placeholder="Email Address" type="email" value=""/> <button class="submit-button has-background-color" style="background-color: #ce581d;" type="submit"> <span class="submit">Sign up for free</span> </button> </div> </form> <div class="newspack-newsletters-subscribe__response"> <div class="newspack-newsletters-subscribe__icon"></div> <div class="newspack-newsletters-subscribe__message"> </div> </div> </div> </div></div> </div> <p></p> </div> </aside> <p>Creole composer Louis Morreau Gottschalk often incorporated in his works the music he heard “from enslaved and free Black people’s weekly Sunday gatherings, where drumming and dancing went on for hours,” Terri Simon wrote in a 2022 Historic New Orleans Collection article. </p> <p>Gottschalk’s “The Banjo: Grotesque Fantasie, an American Sketch” was “a piece for the piano that premiered in New Orleans in 1855,” the HNOC story states. “‘The Banjo’ contains early evidence of African banjo techniques found nowhere else.”</p> <aside class="scaip scaip-1"><aside class="widget_block clearfix" id="block-55"><div class="ad-slot" id="dstn-instream1-desktop-btf"></div></aside></aside> <p>The fiddle – or violin – also was adopted by enslaved Africans “by at least the 1690s,” the HNOC story states. “New Orleans emerged as a center for training enslaved Africans in the art of European dance music. There are reports of Black musicians … playing for audiences of both Black and white dancers from colonial times straight through the 19th century.”</p> <p>When studios began to use “white stand-ins” in promotions to hide integrated recording sessions, Black country artists “were largely forgotten by the public,” the HNOC story states. Still, Black artists, such as Charley Pride and New Orleans Jazz Fest favorite Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, broke through.</p> <p>Today, numerous Black artists, such as Mickey Guyton, Kane Brown and Beyoncé, have stepped into the country limelight. “Black musicians proved much more than a footnote in the history of country music,” the HNOC story states. “Modern innovators … continue to show that they will remain so for a long time.”</p> <p><em>For more tales from New Orleans history, visit the <a href="https://veritenews.org/category/back-in-the-day/">Back in the Day archives</a></em>.</p> <aside> <div class="newspack-popup-container newspack-popup hidden newspack-inline-popup newspack-lightbox-no-border widget" data-frequency="0,0,0,month" data-segments="" id="id_682" role="button" style="background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#000" tabindex="0"> <div class="wp-block-group has-verite-sheerblue-background-color has-background is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-2 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained"> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-text-color has-verite-orange-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-verite-orange-background-color has-background is-style-wide"/> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-this-article-was-made-possible-by-you">This article was made possible by <mark class="has-inline-color has-verite-orange-color" style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)">you</mark>.</h2> <p>Our mission is to empower New Orleans by providing access to news, especially amplifying marginalized voices. As a Black-led nonprofit newsroom, your generous donation is vital in ensuring equitable truth, facts, and fairness for everyone in our community.</p> <p>Truth belongs to everyone. At Verite News, it's always <strong><em>free</em></strong>.</p> <div class="wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-1 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex"> <div class="wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-100"><a class="wp-block-button__link has-verite-orange-background-color has-background wp-element-button" href="https://verite-news.fundjournalism.org/donate/?campaign=701Pa000004gwrsIAA">DONATE NOW &gt;&gt;</a></div> </div> </div> <p></p> </div> </aside> <div class="jp-relatedposts" id="jp-relatedposts"> <h3 class="jp-relatedposts-headline"><em>Related</em></h3> </div><section class="below-content widget widget_block" id="block-53"><nav aria-label="Related Stories" class="jp-relatedposts-i2 wp-block-jetpack-related-posts" data-layout="grid"><h2 class="wp-block-heading">Related Stories</h2><ul class="jp-related-posts-i2__list" data-post-count="4" role="list"><li class="jp-related-posts-i2__post" 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If you’re not able to add the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: “This story was originally published by Verite News” and include our website, <strong><a href="https://veritenews.org/">veritenews.org</a></strong>.</li> <li>You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.</li> <li>You cannot republish our photographs, illustrations or graphics without specific permission (contact our managing editor <span style="font-weight: bolder"><a href="https://veritenews.org/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#cabea7a5b8b8a3b98abcafb8a3beafa4afbdb9e4a5b8ad" style="background-color: transparent;color: #4078bd">Tim Morris</a> </span>for more information).</li> <li>Our stories may appear on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories.</li> <li>You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.</li> <li>You can only publish select stories individually — not as a collection.</li> <li>Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.</li> <li>If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Verite-News-107461912052722">@VeriteNewsNola</a> on Facebook and <a href="https://twitter.com/veritenewsnola">@VeriteNewsNola</a> on Twitter.</li> </ul> <p>If you have any other questions, contact managing editor <a href="https://veritenews.org/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#46322b2934342f35063023342f32232823313568293421"><strong>Tim Morris</strong></a>.</p></div><div class="article-info"><h1>Did country music get its start in Congo Square?</h1> <p class="byline">by Tammy C. Barney, Verite News <br/>January 13, 2025</p> </div> <textarea id="republication-tracker-tool-shareable-content" readonly="" rows="5"> &lt;h1&gt;Did country music get its start in Congo Square?&lt;/h1&gt; &lt;p class="byline"&gt;by Tammy C. Barney, Verite News &lt;br /&gt;January 13, 2025&lt;/p&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-full"&gt;&lt;img src="https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/10152349/Fiddler.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-20134" /&gt;&lt;figcaption class="wp-element-caption"&gt;“The Fiddler” by E. W. Kemble, from 1885, depicts a typical musician of New Orleans’s Congo Square in the pre-Civil War period. &lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt; &lt;p&gt;In 1998, Congress recognized Bristol, Tenn., as the birthplace of country music.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;“Their resolution cites the historic recording sessions that took place in the city in 1927,” &lt;a href="https://victrola.com/blogs/articles/the-history-of-country-music"&gt;Vitrola&lt;/a&gt; states, “even if they weren’t technically the first country music recordings to occur.”&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Based on research from the &lt;a href="https://www.hnoc.org/publications/first-draft/not-their-first-rodeo-black-musicians-and-birth-country-music?utm_source=wordfly&amp;amp;utm_medium=email&amp;amp;utm_campaign=FirstDraft2024-12-27&amp;amp;utm_content=version_A&amp;amp;promo=3883"&gt;Historic New Orleans Collection&lt;/a&gt;, country music could be heard emanating from New Orleans’ Congo Square during the colonial era.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Creole composer Louis Morreau Gottschalk often incorporated in his works the music he heard “from enslaved and free Black people’s weekly Sunday gatherings, where drumming and dancing went on for hours,” Terri Simon wrote in a 2022 Historic New Orleans Collection article.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Gottschalk’s “The Banjo: Grotesque Fantasie, an American Sketch” was “a piece for the piano that premiered in New Orleans in 1855,” the HNOC story states. “‘The Banjo’ contains early evidence of African banjo techniques found nowhere else.”&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The fiddle – or violin – also was adopted by enslaved Africans “by at least the 1690s,” the HNOC story states. “New Orleans emerged as a center for training enslaved Africans in the art of European dance music. There are reports of Black musicians … playing for audiences of both Black and white dancers from colonial times straight through the 19th century.”&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;When studios began to use “white stand-ins” in promotions to hide integrated recording sessions, Black country artists “were largely forgotten by the public,” the HNOC story states. Still, Black artists, such as Charley Pride and New Orleans Jazz Fest favorite Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, broke through.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Today, numerous Black artists, such as Mickey Guyton, Kane Brown and Beyoncé, have stepped into the country limelight. “Black musicians proved much more than a footnote in the history of country music,” the HNOC story states. “Modern innovators … continue to show that they will remain so for a long time.”&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;For more tales from New Orleans history, visit the &lt;a href="https://veritenews.org/category/back-in-the-day/"&gt;Back in the Day archives&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;This &amp;lt;a target=&amp;quot;_blank&amp;quot; href=&amp;quot;https://veritenews.org/2025/01/13/country-music-congo-square/&amp;quot;&amp;gt;article&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; first appeared on &amp;lt;a target=&amp;quot;_blank&amp;quot; href=&amp;quot;https://veritenews.org&amp;quot;&amp;gt;Verite News&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.&amp;lt;img src=&amp;quot;https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png&amp;quot; style=&amp;quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&amp;quot;&amp;gt;&amp;lt;img id=&amp;quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&amp;quot; src=&amp;quot;https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;amp;post=20133&amp;amp;amp;ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR&amp;quot; style=&amp;quot;width:1px;height:1px;&amp;quot;&amp;gt;&amp;lt;script&amp;gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &amp;quot;https://veritenews.org/2025/01/13/country-music-congo-square/&amp;quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &amp;lt;/script&amp;gt; &amp;lt;script id=&amp;quot;parsely-cfg&amp;quot; src=&amp;quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/veritenews.org/p.js&amp;quot;&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/script&amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt; </textarea> <button onclick="copyToClipboard('#republication-tracker-tool-shareable-content', this)">Copy to Clipboard</button> </div>1 </div>

President Trump and his appointees are now solely in charge of the Kennedy Center. Performers protested by dancing.

YouTube video by TheGreenScorcher

The historic predominantly-Black, all-boys Catholic high school in New Orleans helped kick off the weeklong celebration ahead of Super Bowl 59.