Reimagining 1819 Congo Square: Affect, Rhythm, and the Disruption of Racialized Power

This article examines Benjamin Latrobe's 1819 account of Congo Square in New Orleans to explore the intersections of sound, race, and power through the lens of affect theory. Latrobe's dismissal of the drumming, dancing, and singing as mere “noise” reflects the racialized epistemologies that framed Black cultural practices as chaotic and subhuman. Using theoretical frameworks from Donovan Schaefer, Yvonne Daniel, and Antonio Benítez-Rojo, the article interrogates how sound and embodied practices disrupt hegemonic sensory and social landscapes. Part 1 analyzes Latrobe's affective response, illustrating how his sensory discomfort exposed the limits of whiteness and its reliance on the dehumanization of Blackness. Part 2 situates Congo Square within the broader Afro-diasporic world, drawing on Daniel's concept of “embodied mathematics” and Benítez-Rojo's “repetition with difference” to highlight the epistemological and spiritual dimensions of these performances. These practices, far from chaotic, were acts of resistance and cultural sovereignty, asserting Black subjectivity in the face of systemic erasure. By reframing Congo Square as a site of “otherwise possibilities,” this article emphasizes the generative potential of Afro-diasporic traditions to imagine alternative modes of social organization and mobilization. It also positions New Orleans at the nexus of American religious and cultural history, inviting a reevaluation of migration, Afro-Caribbean religion, and Francophone culture as foundational to the American experience. Ultimately, Congo Square's rhythms reveal the enduring power of sound and movement to challenge domination and envision new futures.