We take two steps forward, They take one step backward. We take each step to lift us up Higher. Two steps forward They take one step backward We take each step cause We. Have. The. Power.”
Shreveport, I will always love you.
While home to support and walk in Run With Ron to support Veronica Brown‘s campaign for the Brain Anuerysm Foundation, I also found time to finally see a local favorite perform. The Red River Revel is an annual art festival in Shreveport, Louisiana. This year, in its 44th iteration, local band, Seratones, headlined the main stage on Saturday night. After leading a second line parade with New Breed Brass Band, the five piece collective of A.J. Haynes (vocals, guitar), Jesse Gabriel (drums), Adam Davis (bass guitar), and new members, Tyran Coker (keyboard), and Travis Stewart (guitar) took the stage in front of their hometown crowd and did not waste a second of the crowd’s energy or their own.
The first single from their second album entitled “Gotta Get To Know Ya” is a fun jam, but the band has some messages they want to deliver on their second album, including the title track, “Power.“ The director, Danielle Calodney, describes the video as “a tribute to the uplifting power of music, dance, and community in the face of extremely disturbing political times.” The visual highlights the world through the perspective of a young Black girl. She travels through downtown Shreveport to see the Confederate statue living in front of the courthouse where there is supposed to be justice for all. She passes by The Hope Medical Group for Women, facing closure thanks to proposed abortion bans, (Georgia temporarily blocked the six-week abortion ban) before finally reaching her destination into open arms of a smiling congregation.
We are nearly a week from the verdict and sentencing of Amber Guyger for the murder of Botham Jean. While I am pleased with the verdict being guilty and I am not a happy camper thanks to the ten year sentence (Possible parole after five years) and the treatment of the convicted murderer. On Saturday morning, it was reported that Joshua Brown, Jean’s neighbor across the hall and key witness in Guyger’s murder trial, was found shot to death Friday evening. The investigation is ongoing, but no suspects have been reported as this time.
The final song on The Seratones’ setlist was also the final track on their sophomore release. Before “Crossfire” was performed, Ms. Haynes told us that the song was about the disease that America has: gun violence and police brutality. I hope and pray that we see remorse and forgiveness from people behind the badge as we have seen Brandt Jean embrace his brother’s murderer. We shall not ignore Botham’s mother, Alison Jean speaking on forgiveness, but also advocating for a change with Dallas PD and their corruption in the investigation of her son’s murder and the trial of Amber Guyger. Bless us all in this fight. Happy Monday!
R.I.P. Joshua Brown & R.I.P. Botham Jean.
