The soulful songster finally received an apology for the racism he experienced decades ago.
What We Know:
- Lousiana Mayor, Adrian Perkins, apologized to Sam Cooke at the Let the Good Times Roll Festival on Saturday.
- Mayor Perkins apologized for the racism that inspired Cooke to write his song, ‘Change is Gonna Come.’
- In 1963, Cooke, his wife, Barbara, and his brother, Charles, came to Shreveport, LA for a performance. When they arrived at the Shreveport Holiday Inn, they were turned away for being black and later arrested for disturbing the peace.
- KTBS reported that Mayor Perkins said, “We need to come to terms with our past so we can move forward in a positive way, so this is the beginning.” He continued, “Specifically with this, it’s a beginning of a new relationship with the Cooke family.”
- “Change is Gonna Come” is known as an anthem of the civil rights movements. Cooke sang powerful lyrics, “It’s been a long, a long time coming. But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will”
This is a step in the right direction for Shreveport.
