Photos by Freddie Herpin
Photographer
I was glad to see my long time friend, Rebecca Henry, at Tuesday night’s Opelousas City Council meeting. She was on the agenda so I didn’ get a chance to speak to her much to my dismay. I’ve been knowing Rebecca for many years ever since she was associated with South Street Elementary.
Rebecca is a long time resident of Opelousas and St. Landry Parish with ties to the Leonville area where she grew up in the Creole culture. There is not one thing pertaining to the Creole culture that she doesn’t know about and she is passing on her knowledge of this to the younger generation and hopefully to generations to come.
Rebecca is the driving force behind the Creole Heritage Folklife Center offering educational programs and events that focus on Creole heritage. During the summer months she hosts a summer enrichment program for school age children instructing them in the ways of their ancestors. She brings in guest that teach Creole cuisine and other and other Creole cullture. One of her most popular guest speakers is Goldman Thibodeaux who plays Creole and LaLa music.
Rebecca was one of the first to celebrate Juneteenth Day by holding a day long schedule of events at the Farmers Market that pay homage to the event celebrating the day slaves in Texas got word that they were now free. For at least the last 20 years she also puts together the Martin Luther King Day celebration in Opelousas. The day starts with a parade through downtown Opelousas and concludes with a program that includes musical numbers, dancers and a guest speaker.
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