Ten years after police in Oakland killed his unarmed nephew Oscar Grant, Cephus “Bobby” Johnson put on a coarse cloth shirt and a red replica headpiece, clutched a machete and marched with 400 other re-enactors through the old plantation land of southern Louisiana.
Over two days, men and women marched 26 miles, through winding levee walkways, suburban sprawl and the historic streets of New Orleans, dressed as participants from a little-known slave rebellion that occurred here in 1811. The re-enactment was a piece of performance art by the New York artist Dread Scott.
For many taking part, it was an experience grounded in the trauma and complications of the present day.
