What is code-switching, and why has it become a daily ritual for so many people in Louisiana? In this episode of Ritual, Tank Ball explores the history of code switching in Louisiana and how people change their language, tone, accent, and behavior across work, church, family, and social settings. Discover how this learned practice is rooted in Louisiana’s unique culture, history, and identity—and why code switching is more than communication; it’s a tool for belonging, opportunity, and survival. #codeswitching #language
Ritual Season 2 | Code-Switching: Survival Ritual Hidden In Plain Sight | Episode 1
Watch more from Independent Lens: https://www.youtube.com/@independentlens/videos
Check out PBS Documentaries: https://www.youtube.com/@PBSDocumentaries/videos
Video Chapters:
00:00 — Pop Into Code Switching
00:11 — Tank Defines Code Switching
00:27 — A Switch Call
00:41 — Why We Switch
00:47 — This is Ritual
00:52 — Code Switching Stories
01:44 — Louisiana Lagniappe with Clif St. Laurent
02:01 — Indigenous Languages That Have Survived
02:38 — My Sister Be Saying That
03:08 — Code Switching’s Effect on Lingo
03:40 — Do You Feel it in the Body?
04:13 — All of Them
04:50 — Survival Ritual Hidden In Plain Sight with Maurice Carlos Ruffin
05:18 — Bet: Homer Plessy
05:54 — Intro on the Cost to Code Switch
06:30 — White Folks Be Code Switching, Huey P. Long
07:08 — The System Behind the Switch with Sophie Bjork Ph.D.
08:15 — Everybody Does It, All The Time
08:23 — A Survival Strategy’s Effects
09:14 — Tank’s Takeaway
09:26 — Pop Out of Code Switching
09:45 — The Real Ritual
10:03 — Credits
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RITUAL SEASON 2
Hosted by Tarriona “Tank” Ball, Ritual Season 2 moves through the streets, kitchens, bodies, and ancestral spaces of the American South, revealing how everyday practices carry deeper meaning. From New Orleans second lines to Sunday meals, from hair preparation to ancestral reconnection, each episode examines ritual as a living language—one that expresses love, resilience, memory, and survival.
Watch more episodes of Ritual: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1mtdjDVOoOo6LFblQhnu1Wc1NNGcya44
Co-produced by Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) and ITVS and presented by INDEPENDENT LENS, each episode explores how sacred rituals and everyday traditions across the American South shape identity, preserve history, and sustain communities.
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Host
Tarriona “Tank” Ball
For Louisiana Public Broadcasting
Director and Executive Producer
Donald “D.Ray!” Washington
Producer
My Sherie A’Mour Johnson
Sabrina Canfield
Associate Producer
Cara J. Long
Editor
Matt Hathcox
Animations
Ryan Golden
Director of Photography
Robert “Tweedy” Francis
Donald “D.Ray!” Washington
Writer
Sabrina Canfield
Camera Operators
Robert “Tweedy” Francis
Gaffer
Alvin Henry
Best Boy Electric
Bennie Robertson
Audio
Dan Greenup
1st AC
Sienna Pinderhughes
2nd AC/ Swing
Joseph Greenup
AC
Lisa Lengyel
Archivist
Leslie Bourgeois
Hair
Brenda Jones
Make-up
Kimberly Wilson
Featuring
Averi Matthews
Jeffery Darensbourg
Dajah Renee Saul
Linguistic Expert
Clif St. Laurent
Novelist & Associate Professor Louisiana State University
Maurice Carlos Ruffin
Assistant Professor of Anthropology Vanderbilt University
Sophie Bjork Ph.D.
Locations
StudioBE
Baldwin & Co.
Petite Clouet Café
Artwork
Brandan “BMike” Odums
Music
Universal Music Group
Archival Materials
The Historic New Orleans Collection
Library of Congress
UCLA Film & Television Archive
Subject Matter Expert
Mona Lisa Saloy, Ph.D.
For ITVS/Independent Lens
Executive Producers
Carrie Lozano
Lois Vossen
Royd Chung
Supervising Producer
Jun Stinson Yamagishi
Digital Channel Manager
Amanda Woolery
For PBS
Executive in Charge
Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming
Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming
John Campbell
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.
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