How This Southern Woman Found Her African Roots
From PBS Voices.
Watch this video on YouTube ↗
A lot of us wonder where we come from. But what happens when you actually find out, and the answer is bigger than you imagined?
Ritual host Tarriona “Tank” Ball travels to Savannah, Georgia, to meet Queen Nqwamary, a Gullah Geechee woman whose search for her roots led her to a royal African lineage. Tank joins her for a powerful ceremony and learns how she continues to honor that connection today.
A note on language: This episode includes singing, chanting, prayer, and spoken passages in African languages. At the request of the featured culture bearer, some ceremonial passages have intentionally been left untranslated in order to respect their cultural and spiritual context.
Chapters
00:00 — History Doesn’t Sit Still
00:08 — Congo Square, New Orleans
00:18 — Trace Your African Roots
00:33 — This is Ritual
00:39 — The Gullah Geechee People
00:56 — Meet Queen Nqwamary
01:24 — Ancestral Royal Reconnection
01:31 — Unifying The Diaspora
01:46 — Becoming A Queen
02:49 — The Isis Moon Festival
03:43 — Honoring Orishas
04:25 — I Mean I Heard Something
04:46 — Oshun & Yemoo River Procession
05:33 — The Historic First African Baptist Church
06:07 — An Interesting Question
07:06 — When The Ebb Tide Flows
08:16 — Not I Just Got a Red Door
09:00 — Remembering Our Ancestors
09:19 — I Know Myself
09:47 — Leaving a Legacy
10:12 — Ancestral Trauma
10:34 — Carrying The Culture
10:53 — Credits
Credits
Host
Tarriona “Tank” Ball
Director
Donald “D.Ray!” Washington
Producer
My Sherie A’Mour Johnson
Sabrina Canfield
Executive Producers
Lois Vossen
Royd Chung
Donald “D.Ray!” Washington
Supervising Producer
Jun Stinson Yamagishi
Editor
Matt Hathcox
Animations
Ryan Golden
Director of Photography
Robert “Tweedy” Francis
Writer
Sabrina Canfield
Digital Channel Manager
Amanda Woolery
Associate Producer
Cara J. Long
Subject Matter Expert
Luisah Teish
Camera Operators
Robert “Tweedy” Francis
Donald “D.Ray!” Washington
Gaffer
Alvin Henry
Best Boy Electric
Bennie Robertson
Audio
Dan Greenup
1st AC
Lisa Lengyel
2nd AC/ Swing
Joseph Greenup
Archivist
Leslie Bourgeois
Hair
Brenda Jones
Make-up
Kimberly Wilson
Featuring
Queen Nqwamary Janiqwa Nganga
Dr. Amir Jamal Touré
Locations
The Beach Institute
Johnson Square - Savannah, Georgia
First African Baptist Church
Cosmic Corner
EmmaJames Apartments
Music
Universal Music Group
Egbe Ilu Atlanta
Archival Materials
The Historic New Orleans Collection
Library of Congress
National Park Services
Licensed Footage
Adobe Stock
Elephant Quilt Productions (DP: Connor Reever)
Additional Photography by
Jalen Parham
Darian Marbley
Licensed Footage Courtesy of
Queen Nqwamary Janiqwa Nganga
Dr. Amir Jamal Touré
For PBS
Executive in Charge
Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming
Gabrielle Ewing
Ritual Season 2 is a co-production of Louisiana Public Broadcasting and ITVS, with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), for Independent Lens and PBS Digital Studios.
Louisiana Public Broadcasting is solely responsible for the content of this program.
© 2026 Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting. All rights reserved.
PBS slate
Ritual host Tarriona “Tank” Ball travels to Savannah, Georgia, to meet Queen Nqwamary, a Gullah Geechee woman whose search for her roots led her to a royal African lineage. Tank joins her for a powerful ceremony and learns how she continues to honor that connection today.
A note on language: This episode includes singing, chanting, prayer, and spoken passages in African languages. At the request of the featured culture bearer, some ceremonial passages have intentionally been left untranslated in order to respect their cultural and spiritual context.
Chapters
00:00 — History Doesn’t Sit Still
00:08 — Congo Square, New Orleans
00:18 — Trace Your African Roots
00:33 — This is Ritual
00:39 — The Gullah Geechee People
00:56 — Meet Queen Nqwamary
01:24 — Ancestral Royal Reconnection
01:31 — Unifying The Diaspora
01:46 — Becoming A Queen
02:49 — The Isis Moon Festival
03:43 — Honoring Orishas
04:25 — I Mean I Heard Something
04:46 — Oshun & Yemoo River Procession
05:33 — The Historic First African Baptist Church
06:07 — An Interesting Question
07:06 — When The Ebb Tide Flows
08:16 — Not I Just Got a Red Door
09:00 — Remembering Our Ancestors
09:19 — I Know Myself
09:47 — Leaving a Legacy
10:12 — Ancestral Trauma
10:34 — Carrying The Culture
10:53 — Credits
Credits
Host
Tarriona “Tank” Ball
Director
Donald “D.Ray!” Washington
Producer
My Sherie A’Mour Johnson
Sabrina Canfield
Executive Producers
Lois Vossen
Royd Chung
Donald “D.Ray!” Washington
Supervising Producer
Jun Stinson Yamagishi
Editor
Matt Hathcox
Animations
Ryan Golden
Director of Photography
Robert “Tweedy” Francis
Writer
Sabrina Canfield
Digital Channel Manager
Amanda Woolery
Associate Producer
Cara J. Long
Subject Matter Expert
Luisah Teish
Camera Operators
Robert “Tweedy” Francis
Donald “D.Ray!” Washington
Gaffer
Alvin Henry
Best Boy Electric
Bennie Robertson
Audio
Dan Greenup
1st AC
Lisa Lengyel
2nd AC/ Swing
Joseph Greenup
Archivist
Leslie Bourgeois
Hair
Brenda Jones
Make-up
Kimberly Wilson
Featuring
Queen Nqwamary Janiqwa Nganga
Dr. Amir Jamal Touré
Locations
The Beach Institute
Johnson Square - Savannah, Georgia
First African Baptist Church
Cosmic Corner
EmmaJames Apartments
Music
Universal Music Group
Egbe Ilu Atlanta
Archival Materials
The Historic New Orleans Collection
Library of Congress
National Park Services
Licensed Footage
Adobe Stock
Elephant Quilt Productions (DP: Connor Reever)
Additional Photography by
Jalen Parham
Darian Marbley
Licensed Footage Courtesy of
Queen Nqwamary Janiqwa Nganga
Dr. Amir Jamal Touré
For PBS
Executive in Charge
Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming
Gabrielle Ewing
Ritual Season 2 is a co-production of Louisiana Public Broadcasting and ITVS, with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), for Independent Lens and PBS Digital Studios.
Louisiana Public Broadcasting is solely responsible for the content of this program.
© 2026 Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting. All rights reserved.
PBS slate
