(C) Verite News New Orleans This story was originally published by Verite News New Orleans and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Poet Mona Lisa Saloy on Black Creole culture [1] ['Tammy C. Barney', 'More Tammy C. Barney', 'Verite News', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width'] Date: 2024-03-19 If you have ever wondered who Black Creoles are, Mona Lisa Saloy has the answer. Through her poems collected in the book, “Black Creole Chronicles,” Savoy paints a vivid picture with her rhythmic verses. “We are blessed in New Orleans to have centuries-old cultures from all over, certainly in terms of Black Creoles here who are descendents of mixed and enslaved Africans,” she said. “We kept our Africanness. The dancing, the rhythms, the masking, the food ways – we have great food – jazz is home here. Our traditions not only feed our neighborhoods and our communities, these are spirits in our souls. Our culture made our community and sustains it.” Saloy, along with K. Ibura, Khadiyha Queen and moderator Megan Holt, participated in the panel discussion, “Culture, Memory and Storytelling,” Saturday (March 16) during the New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University. The 2021-2023 Louisiana Poet Laureate, Saloy writes about contemporary Creole culture in poems about Black New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina. She uses everyday speech to describe everyday experiences. For example, in her poem “Black Creole Chronicle,” Saloy writes: Our crime was being Black Our salvation faith and African Ancestry replete with exuberant Arts Adaptable like lizards We weren’t supposed to survive whole Black Creoles say: Now you got the picture With the right pair of drawers on. Born in New Orleans, Saloy is the Conrad N. Hilton Endowed Professor of English at Dillard University. She has a masters of Fine Arts and a doctorate in English from Louisiana State University. She also earned a bachelor’s in English from the University of Washington and a masters in creative writing and English from San Francisco State University. Saloy grew up in the 7th Ward hearing stories from her “Pappa” who was born enslaved and walked from Alabama to New Orleans to be free. According to Saloy, he was a Baptist preacher who “shepherded people in many ways – faithfully and just as a brother in the neighborhood.” Her book pays homage to the stories she heard him tell when she was a child. “That’s where I get my storytelling from,” Saloy said. “He lived to be over 110 and held court on his front porch. He lived through so much. He knew families and generations. As one of the youngest – me and two boy cousins – we were in his care. He would kick me out when the conversation would get raunchy, but I would sneak and listen.” While she was an undergrad studying African literature, Saloy learned that her Pappa’s stories were actually “West African tales passed on by word of mouth, face to face, generation to generation. It moved me so deeply. That grounded me in a way that gave me continuity,” she said. “I lost him when I was a tween, but he impressed so much on me and my family, and guided us and the whole neighborhood. It has always been such an inspiration to me and something that grounds me.” In her poem, “Aphra Africana,” Saloy describes her Black Creole ancestry: Black Creoles both: Daddy could pass & did Mother deep chocolate Creole: a culture NOT a color, but Some LA colonials claim Creole since New World born Blacks raped wholesale; no choice in the sinful matter Reason for some light some dark No brown paper bag needed Black descendants of mixed-enslaved Africans are Creole. The panel discussion also focused on the connection between culture and language. “How we speak is how we see each other, how we feel one another, how we understand one another, how we pass on the knowledge,” Saloy said. “And in the transatlantic enslavement era that was the first thing taken from our ancestors. Language stripped from family, community.” Saloy preserves the Black Creole language by including what she remembers in her poetry. A glossy in her book defines such terms as “padna (short for partner, a good buddy),” “plariness (pralines),” “capoo (bad luck),” “galait (pan-fried shortening bread)” and “gallery (front porch).” “Our parents didn’t want us to know what they were talking about so they spoke in Creole and they wouldn’t teach us because they wanted us to speak correct English and to intonate,” Saloy said. “I wanted to share what I remembered. We still use those terms, but unfortunately, that’s all we have – a few terms – because we didn’t know the whole language.” When asked how writing “Black Creole Chronicles” changed her, Saloy said the book “reinforced what I suspected. We all have stories. We also have to embrace those we’ve heard, lived, experienced, witnessed. “Culture is the icing on the cake,” she added. “We have to share that so that we know more about one another. Each time I learn about a culture or tradition, I’m enriched. I can never get enough.” Related Republish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. [END] --- [1] Url: https://veritenews.org/2024/03/19/poet-mona-lisa-saloy-on-black-creole-culture/ Published and (C) by Verite News New Orleans Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/veritenews/