NEW ORLEANS
As a frigid dawn broke here on Fat Tuesday better known as Mardi Gras the streets of Treme were unusually hushed.
No skeletons tromped through the historically Black neighborhood pounding on drums and knocking on doors to wake up residents and warn them of their mortality, a ritual that its practitioners say dates to 1819.
As a trickle of locals and tourists approached the Backstreet Cultural Museum, a tiny treasure trove of Black culture that is an early gathering point for the Northside Skull and Bone Gang, they found the front door shut and the lights off.
“No events will be scheduled on Mardi Gras day here due to COVID restrictions,” said a note scrawled on the porch. “Sorry.”