'This is what love looks like': Congo Square musicians honor Portia Pollock
By Harrison Golden
WDSU 6 News
June 13, 2021
NEW ORLEANS — Portia Pollock could turn a washing machine into a drum. After Hurricane Katrina, she turned a house without floors and running water into a home. And on Sunday afternoon, the people she loved turned heartache into music.
Pollock's fellow drummers played their instruments under the oak trees of Congo Square, as is custom every Sunday ― only this time the chair she often occupied sat empty. Pollock, a weekend fixture at Congo Square for 33 years, was stabbed to death during a carjacking Tuesday morning outside her Seventh Ward home. She was 60.
"Yes, it knocked us off our feet almost," said Denise Graves, a longtime friend and spiritual counselor for the Congo Square Preservation Society. "But we don't give up."
Drumbeats filled the square, as friends and family echoed: "We pour libations for the drummer, Portia. We pour libations for the drummer, Portia." Chants gave way to drum circles before the crowd erupted in dance. The day's humidity did not tame the celebration.
"This is what love looks like," Graves said. "It's not about heat or cold. This is what love looks like."
"I think she'd be shocked to see so many people come out in support of her, but she deserves it," niece Fatima Muse said. "I feel so repetitive saying she's a good person, because that word isn't big enough, because she was so much more."
Pollock, a physical therapist on weekdays, first joined Congo Square's collective of Sunday drummers in 1988. The weekly performances commemorate the site where enslaved Africans would gather on Sundays.
"She was a sister for so many of us and at least 50 drummers out here," Congo Square Preservation Society founder and drummer Luther Gray said. "We love her so much."
"I learned from her that things that are important to me are also important to other people," Graves said. "I learned how to re-nutrient soil. I learned how a smile matters."
On Friday, police arrested Bryan Andry and charged him with second-degree murder for Pollock's death. Court records show an arrest record dating back to 1991, as well as convictions for drug possession, illegally carrying a weapon and aggravated burglary. If convicted for killing Pollock, the 47-year-old would spend the rest of his life in prison.
Pollock's family hopes their tragedy will ignite action in a city reeling with violent crime spikes of late.
"I'd rather have her here more than anything in the world, but if Portia has to be the spark for change, we'll take it," Muse said. "I'd like to see good come out of this. I want to see this city move forward and take a giant step in a positive direction."
Pollock's funeral will be Saturday, June 19, at 1 p.m. inside Rhodes Funeral Home on Washington Avenue. A drum circle will follow that night at 7 p.m. at Ashe Cultural Arts Center on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard.
(This story first appeared on WDSU. Click here for the original post.)
By Harrison Golden
WDSU 6 News
June 13, 2021
NEW ORLEANS — Portia Pollock could turn a washing machine into a drum. After Hurricane Katrina, she turned a house without floors and running water into a home. And on Sunday afternoon, the people she loved turned heartache into music.
Pollock's fellow drummers played their instruments under the oak trees of Congo Square, as is custom every Sunday ― only this time the chair she often occupied sat empty. Pollock, a weekend fixture at Congo Square for 33 years, was stabbed to death during a carjacking Tuesday morning outside her Seventh Ward home. She was 60.
"Yes, it knocked us off our feet almost," said Denise Graves, a longtime friend and spiritual counselor for the Congo Square Preservation Society. "But we don't give up."
Drumbeats filled the square, as friends and family echoed: "We pour libations for the drummer, Portia. We pour libations for the drummer, Portia." Chants gave way to drum circles before the crowd erupted in dance. The day's humidity did not tame the celebration.
"This is what love looks like," Graves said. "It's not about heat or cold. This is what love looks like."
"I think she'd be shocked to see so many people come out in support of her, but she deserves it," niece Fatima Muse said. "I feel so repetitive saying she's a good person, because that word isn't big enough, because she was so much more."
Pollock, a physical therapist on weekdays, first joined Congo Square's collective of Sunday drummers in 1988. The weekly performances commemorate the site where enslaved Africans would gather on Sundays.
"She was a sister for so many of us and at least 50 drummers out here," Congo Square Preservation Society founder and drummer Luther Gray said. "We love her so much."
"I learned from her that things that are important to me are also important to other people," Graves said. "I learned how to re-nutrient soil. I learned how a smile matters."
On Friday, police arrested Bryan Andry and charged him with second-degree murder for Pollock's death. Court records show an arrest record dating back to 1991, as well as convictions for drug possession, illegally carrying a weapon and aggravated burglary. If convicted for killing Pollock, the 47-year-old would spend the rest of his life in prison.
Pollock's family hopes their tragedy will ignite action in a city reeling with violent crime spikes of late.
"I'd rather have her here more than anything in the world, but if Portia has to be the spark for change, we'll take it," Muse said. "I'd like to see good come out of this. I want to see this city move forward and take a giant step in a positive direction."
Pollock's funeral will be Saturday, June 19, at 1 p.m. inside Rhodes Funeral Home on Washington Avenue. A drum circle will follow that night at 7 p.m. at Ashe Cultural Arts Center on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard.
(This story first appeared on WDSU. Click here for the original post.)