Group issues aCall to Action to ‘rise and fight for freedom’
19th August 2024 · 0 Comments
By C.C. Campbell-Rock
Contributing Writer
There was standing room only at the Andre Cailloux Center for Performing Arts and Cultural Justice (ACC) as adults and children gathered to honor and commemorate the heroism and bravery of Union Captain André Cailloux. The freedman died in 1863 while leading a battalion of freed and enslaved men during the American Civil War’s Siege of Port Hudson, a Confederate stronghold near East Baton Rouge, so enslaved Louisianans could be freed.
According to Southern University, Cailloux was one of the early organizers of the Louisiana Native Guards, the first all-Black Union regiment of any North American Military unit. Cailloux was born enslaved in Plaquemines Parish in 1825, gained freedom in 1847 and was a self-employed cigar maker before the war.
Cailloux founded Friends of Order, a Black fraternal organization. Along with other members of the Friends of Order and the Louisiana Native Guards, he helped increase opportunities for people of color to fight in the war.
Cailloux’s exploits were so legendary that The New York Times and Harper’s Magazine eulogized him in their publications. His funeral was said to be the beginning of jazz funeral history. Cailloux’s poignant funeral procession was organized by abolitionist Father Claude Maistre of St. Rose de Lima Church, who was later ex-communicated by the Catholic Church for reading the Emancipation Proclamation on the church’s steps.
“It’s a disservice to his legacy that we don’t know Captain Andre Cailloux,” said ACC Founder and Executive Director Lauren Turner Hines. “The ACC planned the event to honor Cailloux and embrace his idea of fighting for freedom.
“In 2024, art and culture have a role in pushing us forward in the fight for freedom. One of the most important parts of our mission is to serve as a site for reclamation, reclaiming space, narrative and history, and using the space for the ongoing pursuit of justice and freedom,” she explained.
Hines rang the church bells at the former St. Rose De Lima Catholic Church – home to the ACC – at 11 a.m. on July 29 in honor of the 161st anniversary of Captain Cailloux’s funeral.
Following the bells, Nia Weeks, founder of Citizen SHE United and Impact, spoke during the ACC’s Voter Education Lunch Break. She passionately stressed the urgent need for everyone to fight for voting rights and to exercise their right to vote. Her words ignited a sense of commitment and responsibility in the audience, empowering them to take action.
During Weeks’ lecture, two young ladies, whose visit had a ripple effect on the event, came into the ACC. They heard Hines speak about the Cailloux Tribute with host Jeff Thomas on WBOK 1230 AM radio. They were in town visiting Puerto Rico.
Weeks, an award-winning attorney and coalition-builder, listened intently as the young women, who are entering college in the fall, expressed frustration at being unable to vote in the U.S. presidential election and asked for help in getting the right to vote.
According to the Office of the Historian of the U.S. Department of State, Puerto Rico has not become an independent nation or a state of the Union. It remains a territory of the United States.
Hines’s interview with Dillard University archivist and historian Malik Bartholomew preceded the screening of “Cailloux” by documentary filmmaker Dane Moreton. Bartholomew, featured in the film, told the audience that Cailloux “walked around town saying, ‘I’m the blackest man in New Orleans’.”
“There’s no better person to be held up as a freedom fighter than Cailloux,” Bartholomew added, also acknowledging P.B.S. Pinchback and Oscar Dunn for their service in the Louisiana Native Guards.
The historian says Black freedom fighters continued fighting for freedom after the American Civil War. He mentioned the Mechanics Institute Massacre of 1866 when a posse of ex-confederates attacked and killed citizens gathered for a constitutional convention to give freedmen the right to vote.
Pinchback and Dunn subsequently became governor and lieutenant governor of Louisiana, respectively, for brief periods.
When the Louisiana Purchase was being negotiated, Blacks petitioned the U.S. for the vote.
Louisiana’s renowned freedom fighter, retired Lt. General Russell Honoré and ACC guest lecturer, spoke about the history of Cailloux’s and African-Americans’ military service.
Louisianans still express gratitude and pride in General Honoré’s handling of the National Guard during Hurricane Katrina, turning what could have been a combative force into caring and rescuing troops. Honoré is a decorated 37-year army veteran, a global authority on leadership, and an expert on climate change and disaster preparedness.
The general led the security review of the U.S. Capitol’s security infrastructure following the attacks on January 6, 2021. As the Joint Task Force Katrina commander, he became known as the “Category 5 General” for coordinating military relief efforts in post-hurricane New Orleans.
An American hero and sought-after media commentator, General Honoré shares his experience and his candid and sometimes colorful views with the public, from Congress to cable news to the private sector.
“There is no better person to be held up as a freedom fighter than Cailloux,” Honoré tells those present at the ceremony, acknowledging that many Black military heroes have been forgotten. “The contributions of Black veterans are too many to count and too important to forget,” he added.
“Governor John Bel Edwards tried to fix that part of the history of the service,” Honoré said of Edwards and legislators, including state Senator Royce Duplessis, who assisted in getting Xavier University of Louisiana Art & Sculpture Professor Sheleen Jones to create the Louisiana Heritage Monument, cast in bronze, which honors Black veterans and stands in Veterans Memorial Park adjacent to the state capitol in Baton Rouge.
The sculpture depicts Black men and women veterans, including Captain André Cailloux; Buffalo Soldiers; Tuskegee Airmen; Lt. General Russell L. Honoré; Brigadier General Sherian Cadoria; Secretary Lloyd James Austin III; Colonel Margaret E. Bailey; Secretary Colin Luther Powell; Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Revius Ortique Jr.; Corporal Albert Porche; General Michael E. Langley; and U.S. Marine Corps, among others.
“More than 79 regiments of African Americans served in the Civil War,” Honore continued. “During WWII, General Pershing was told don’t let Negroes fight. He gave them to the French, who were happy to have them.”
Honoré tells attendees about the Harlem Hell Fighters, the 369th Infantry Regiment, a highly decorated African American New York Army National Guard combat unit that served in World War I and II.
The regiment was initially nicknamed the “Black Rattlers” for the rattlesnake insignia that adorned their uniforms, and they were called “Men of Bronze” by the French. Their German foes were believed to be the first to dub them “Hellfighters” for their courage and ferocity.
During the war, the Harlem Hellfighters spent more time in continuous combat than any other American unit of its size, with 191 days in the front-line trenches. They also suffered more losses than any other American regiment, with more than 1,400 total casualties.
Honoré adds that some “New Orleans musicians served in the Harlem Hell Fighters Band and played jazz all over France. That’s how jazz became popular in France. Many (band members) didn’t come home. They were treated better there.”
Other local freedom fighters, military heroes and historians attended the event to hear about the national Civil War hero.
National Association of Black Military Women – New Orleans Chapter members attended. Retired MS Belinda Hill, president of the New Orleans chapter, served 20 years of active duty in the military and 10 years in the Army Reserves.
“I joined to make a better life for my family,” Hill says. The veteran faced racism and color barriers when she served. Hill rose to a leadership position in the armed forces despite being unable to participate in combat. Today, besides helping other veterans, the NABMW focuses on telling “her story.”
However, the NABMW’s local chapter Vice President, retired SFC Kimberly Cureaux was an NCO in the Army’s transportation sector.
Cureaux served 24 years and was responsible for shipping and receiving equipment, computers, meals, medication, etc. “Our motto was ‘Nothing happens until things move.’”
“We would send the goods and then fly out to receive them during the Gulf War in Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan.
Cureaux was exposed to burn pits in Afghanistan, like President Biden’s son Joseph Robinette “Beau” Biden III. The army vet. is undergoing long-term treatments. She has problems breathing, but her looks belie her illness. “I don’t let my disabilities overcome the job I have to do.”
Like Hill, Cureaux volunteers at the VA Hospital, helping veterans file compensation for their claims from Monday through Thursday. Cureaux also made history when she became the first Black female commander of the DAV, Chapter 23, in Westwego, Louisiana.
Speaking of the event, Cureaux says it makes you appreciate history. “I didn’t know much, but it fulfilled me and made me hungry to research our Black ancestors who fought. You know it’s not in our history books, the heroes we need to remember and honor.
“I told my nephews, whoever wrote the best essays about Captain André Cailloux, I would give them $100. That got them talking about history. It motivated them. You should see the research they came up with.”
Some audience members shared info on other forgotten freedom fighters.
Attorney Kenneth M. Jones Jr. spoke about the importance of Blacks in the Battle of New Orleans.
“We often think of the Battle of New Orleans as fought by Andrew Jackson. A little-known fact is that Captain Joseph Savary, a Black U.S. Army officer who fought for France in the Haitian revolution before coming to New Orleans, was selected by General Andrew Jackson to lead a 250-man Battalion composed of free men of color assembled as the Second Battalion of the Louisiana Militia,” Jones said.
“Captain Savary and his men charged the British against orders and cleared the field. After the battle, Savary and his men cleared the remaining snipers at a greater cost than the battle. The battle was won with the bravery of these forgotten men.”
Photographer Richard V. Keller Sr. has carried on his father’s Buffalo Soldier legacy. Buffalo Soldiers were African-American soldiers who served in the United States Army from 1866 to World War I. Keller commemorates the Buffalo Soldiers every July 28. With the help of the late Jacqueline Clarkson, Keller got the city to designate July 28 as Buffalo Soldier Day in New Orleans in 2008.
Lawrence F. Keller Sr. was the late vice president of the 9th Calvary and 25th Infantry Buffalo Soldiers of Louisiana. “When my dad served in WWII, he went in under the auspices of the Buffalo Soldiers.”
“The first five men to enlist as Buffalo Soldiers in New Orleans did that on August 5, 1868. They were all members of the St. James AME Church and came from Greenville, Louisiana, which is now Audubon Park,” Keller added. His dad was a member of the church; his great-great grandfather was a minister at St. James A.M.E. “The Buffalo Soldiers took over the Jackson Barracks,” Keller explained.
Keller says that current members of the 9th Calvary and 25th Infantry Buffalo Soldiers have taught the Boy Scout troop at St. James A.M.E. and have taken the name Buffalo Soldiers.
The group also tries to share the freedom fighters’ history with youth at the Juvenile Justice Center and students at Booker T. Washington, G.W. Carver, McDonogh 35, and Walter L. Cohen.
The group is also trying to get Andre Cailloux a Congressional Medal of Honor for his sacrifice in pursuing emancipation.
Attendees pledged to work with the ACC to fight for Blacks’ constitutional rights and the various freedoms at risk. Hines says the ACC will host weekly Voter Education Lunch Breaks in September 2024.
To learn more about Captain Cailloux, visit the Andre Cailloux Center for the Performing Arts and Cultural Justice (2541 Bayou Road) in New Orleans, or check out the ACC online at www.accneworleans.com.
To learn more about the Heritage Monument and the Black men and women veterans honored on the sculpture, visit www.sus.edu/landing-page/heritage-heritage.
This article originally published in the August 19, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
