Shreveport Mayor Apologizes To Sam Cooke For Racist Treatment

Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins recently decided to acknowledge a rather shameful part of the town’s history, as he publicly apologized to late singer Sam Cooke for being arrested on racially discriminatory grounds.

Cooke, who passed away in 1964, visited the town in 1962 to perform at the Municipal Auditorium. However, he was arrested upon visiting a Holiday Inn in town for “disturbing the peace.” He was later released and even performed the show at the scheduled time.

KSLA reported that Peter Guralnick, who wrote the singer’s biography, shared that it was this experience that moved Cooke to pen his wildly popular anthem, “A Change is Gonna Come.”

“I’m so honored that Mayor Perkins took the time to do the apology while I was performing at the festival,” said Carla Cooke, who was performing at the Let the Good Times Roll Festival, where the Mayor presented her with a key to the city in honor of her father.

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