By: Emily Ao

The city of New Orleans wakes up on Mardi Gras to the sound of loud drums and bells summoning the ancestors. This has been happening annually for over 200 years, and it is a tradition for members of the Bone Gang and North Side Skull to parade the streets in skeleton costumes.

The tradition has a lot of significance behind it, the New York Times reports. The purpose for the morning march is the reminder that “we’ve got to live today because tomorrow we might die.”

American activist Imani Brown, who grew up in New Orleans, filmed the whole process this year and has dedicated an art show in Manhattan to her research on this spiritually significant practice, combined with her love for the roots of her hometown.

In her show, titled “Gulf,” Brown layers a video clip of the Bone Gang and North Side Skull over a scenic underwater video, which was filmed at a museum in New Orleans. With this piece, Brown hopes to show the world the harmful impact of oil and gas on South Louisiana.

According to the same article in the New York Times, the city’s land and waterways are slowly deteriorating due to constant oil extraction. In fact, there is even a region near the Mississippi River known as “cancer alley” where petrochemical plants are extremely prominent. Not only that, but past disasters like Hurricane Katrina also contribute to the decreasing health of the region, such as when structures are destroyed into bits of micro debris.

Brown and many other artists work together to deliver important messages about society destroying our planet. There is no doubt that we’ll look back at the chaos later on and see the damage we are doing to the world. So instead, why don’t we just plan against it?