Junior Kings & Queens (Bdc 7/21)
Junior Queen of Carnival 2010, Denisha Jennings, A Splash of Blue, and Junior King of Carnival 2010, Matthew Barnes, A Sting in the Sandstorm
Kiddies Carnival BdC (6/21)
The youth are a large part of continuing the mas legacy. Thousands of children participate in carnival through private and government sponsored parades and competitions from at least 5 weekends before carnival. Carnival is also a part of the national school curriculum. Many of the young people participating in the Junior Calypso Monarch and Junior Soca Monarch competitions get help with writing and preparation from dedicated teachers. On the Friday before carnival most schools have a “jump up” complete with DJ, costumes, “ole mas” and “pretty mas”, calypso and queen/king competitions. Carnival is a multi-generational thing.
Ole Mas (BdC 5/21)
Ole mas is the term used for mas/ costumes created with used materials, most often things found around the house. More important than the environmentalism is that ole mas is about social and political commentary. The costumes generally come with a placard as well with the statement that the person portraying the mas wants to convey, and are most often seen at jouvert. The better ones leave you laughing heartily, and thinking. As often found in carnival, international events are caught up in the mix. For instance, for carnival 1999 there were quite a few blue dress-political scandal themed-portrayals among them, and in 2001 there were several anthrax invasion bands.
Pan and Fete in the Air (BdC 4/21)
Tenors, Nalo Safi Thomas and Dane Gulston, members of the Neal & Massy Trinidad All Stars, showing how it’s done at the Panorama finals, 2009
Tomorrow is the semi-final round of the National Panorama competition. Way too many bands will compete for the 8 to 10 slots into the finals. Let’s see how many surprises and side eyes there are at the end of the day.
Photo of the Week 5/52 (BdC 3/21): Blasts from the Past
Curtis Eustace, King of Carnival 2000 in his portrayal of De Rough Rider, from Barbarosa’s presentation, Xtassy
I’ve been shooting and archiving carnival photos for a long time and I decided to share a blast from the past with you. Curtis Eustace is a well known name in carnival winning circles. He has won the Trinidad & Tobago King of Carnival prize 9 times including 1997, 1998, 2000 (pictured above), 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, and his 9th title, surpassing veteran mas man, Peter Samuel’s record, in 2010. I shot this with a Nikon N65 35mm SLR camera using ISO 800 film and camera flash, edited (minor retouching and cropping) in Adobe Photoshop.
Enjoy
L
Tamboo Bamboo (BdC 2/21)
A tamboo bamboo band at Canboulay Riots Re-enactment
As with many African traditions, drumming was outlawed in the colonies of the West Indies*. However, Africans found ways to adapt, including inventing the steelpan and the tamboo bamboo – a percussive instrument fashioned by hollowing out different lengths of bamboo, which were then hit on the ground or with sticks. These were used for traditional and non-traditional beats, and are considered one of the precursors to steelpan. Makes me think of the bucket bands often seen in DC. Lesson for today folks: you know what they say about necessity right. 2. We are more similar than we sometimes like to think.
Enjoy
L
*I use West Indies to refer to the islands colonized by the British (and sometimes French, Spanish and Dutch) in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries to identify a group of countries that share language and many administrative and historical traditions. However, I prefer the term Caribbean myself.
Welcome to Blogging de Carnaval 2012 (1/21)
A young Pierrot Grenade on Carnival Saturday 2011 in the NCC Kiddies Carnival Parade
This image and others are available for purchase in various sizes including 8×10″, 11×14″ or 16×20″ prints, framed or unframed.
Iya Louise Brown Clarke talks to a child in her band, Faces of Orisa and Egungun.
Yuh say ah fuhget yuh eh. But nah, dat wouldn’t happen. Never. Not you, not my heritage, not my personal obligation to blog about an important aspect of my heritage. So today we will open the way, as is always expected in African culture, with my cyber libation (ah know yuh like it, go ahead, use it if yuh want 
) (I have the oldest elder’s permission, trust me).
I give honor, praise and thanks to the ancestors, the ones known and unknown, especially my own personal mas man, EGR, and very importantly, my own personal photographer/inspirer/dreamer/ namer ETF. I give honor, praise and thanks to those millions of Africans, enslaved and brought to the “Americas” who carried their stories in their blood, in their minds and hearts. I give thanks to the spirit of survival, the tenacity and audacity of all those who made it so I could know about my heritage and exist in this world today. I humbly invite you to join me as we open the way. Welcome to Blogging de Carnival 2012.
Here is video of a dance to Elegba. I’m including it because Elegba (or Legba, Elegua, Legwa) in the Yoruba pantheon of Ifa, is the orisha associated with opening the way. And these folks remind me of a band crossing the stage at Queens Park Savannah on Carnival Tuesday. Last year my friends and I met a notable Trinidadian television writer/ actor who said we carry the history of our ancestors in our bodies, in our movement, and it’s fascinating to see it passed on by people of all different ethnic groups, especially during carnival. A day after he said that, I saw an Indian woman giving a man a good wine by a rum shop on Carnival Tuesday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2icyoICx18
Enjoy (and subscribe, share and comment away)!
L
And remember:
“Se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenki.”
Literally translated it means “it is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot”.
Go Deep and Find Something Worthwhile (BdC 36/36)*
This post has many links for your edification and enjoyment.
Young masquerader in Native American costume, Trinidad Carnival.
This image and others are available for purchase in various sizes including 8×10″, 11×14″ or 16×20″ prints, framed or unframed.
Youth from the Kilimanjaro School of Arts & Culture as Moko Jumbies (on stilts) one of the last places you’ll find young adults in traditional mas.
Heritage comes full circle with the Sierra Leone hunting band participating in the DC Caribbean Carnival.
This post should be on a writing site such as this one but…
Last year I watched Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. It’s the story of how the US government removed the Sioux Nation from their sacred lands when they discovered gold there, after they had signed an agreement giving those lands to the native tribes. There are moments in the film when I felt so much sorry for how these people’s way of life was just wiped away. There are scenes where children are forced to convert and to take christian names or not be recognized. A few times in the film people state that in order for the Indian to survive he must assimilate.
In New Orleans and in Trinidad today Native mas is a way to stand in solidarity with a way of life that has been substantially decimated. When a dominant culture wipes away another it is devastating to many. We can get a hint of that from so many Native American stories. I’ve had conversations with black people who talked about English, German, Indian ancestory and I thought “what about your African ancestory, did that just disappear?” I cannot begin to imagine the loss caused by the systematic annihilation of African culture due to slavery in the Caribbean and Americas. Carnival is one of the few places it survives. As was telling some people I met at an exhibit this weekend, the festival is not just about feting, it carries in its DNA, the cultural artifacts of many ancestral traditions, and the message that despite insurmountable challenges, that message resisted and remained alive.
February is around the corner, and again we live out the Sankofa principle by Blogging de Carnaval. I welcome your questions and ideas on how to “return and get it.”
This completes the Blogging de Carnaval series from 2011. Tomorrow is a new day to
Enjoy
L
Revisiting the Piscataway of Acokeek, Maryland
Did you know that Maryland has it’s own First Nations tribe? The Piscataway of Maryland were featured this morning on WAMU’s Morning Edition. I was fortunate to attend one of their pow wow’s where I took some photos.
Enjoy
L
Photo of The Week (49/52): Eat Something Before Yuh Go
Dear blog family,
Sorry Ive been away for so long. Just had a few non-blogging things to do. Feast your eyes today on traditional Trini Christmas fare. We call them pastelles, they’re called arepas in Venezuela I believe. They are very similar to Latin American tamales, except the meat isn’t ground into the cornmeal, it is wrapped in a shell made of finely ground cornmeal, then wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed. Both taste yummy, and no Christmas in Trinidad and Tobago would be complete without these.
Oh, and of course you can always wash them down with a glass of sorrel.
Enjoy!
L
Fall: Early Hibernation
Hello folks,
Sorry I’ve been gone so long. I’ve been embroiled in too many things to recount here with photos. It’s autumn in the northern parts of the world, which means often, beautiful colours on the trees. I’ve been spying these flowers for the past two years, but they grow on the curb of a very busy intersection and I always see them when I’m in a car or bus, never walking. It took some effort but I finally was able to capture them this year. For your pleasure, I’ve added the lagniappe of a few fall leaves. Haven’t seen this particular colour growing anywhere else like this. Can you tell me what they are?
Enjoy
L
Photo of the Week (39/52) – Fall is Here
Pumpkins at the pumpkin patch (edited to look “spookier” )
Fall is here. Time for spooky stories, and spooky pumpkins, spooky tours and spooky candy. All of a sudden the whole world should make sense (we’ll all be livin’ in scary).
Enjoy
(your weekend)
Celebration – Thanks for Supporting Studio Lafoncette Photography!
My dear friends we’ve done it. Yesterday this blog surpassed the 10,000 visit milestone. Give yourselves a round of applause. Here’s to good photography and reclaiming the message of Trinidad carnival, culture and heritage. Onward and upward. In celebration, share this blog with someone you know, so they too can discovery the story of rebellion, resistance, satire, creativity and beauty that is WE CULTURE.
In Joy
L
Photo of the Week (38/52) & WordPress Photo Challenge: Sunset
This capit0l at sunset. You wouldn’t know the changes this city has seen just by looking at this.
Enjoy your weekend
L
Photo of the Week (37/52)
So I owe you a photo of the week. I’ve been meaning to post this photo for quite some time. No story behind it, except it was taken at the New Orleans Jazz Fest 2011 and I like it.
Enjoy
L
Today is World Peace Day
I leave you with the beginning lyrics of a song we sang in primary school (super sentimental and idealistic, but you’ll get the idea), and some images from Jouvert: where, irony, madness and hypocrisy that doesn’t make sense in the real world things makes a lot of sense in the madness and humor of a pre-dawn urban fete.
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me
Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be
With Gd as our father brothers all are we
Let me walk with my brother in perfect harmony
Let peace begin with me, let this be the moment now
With every step I take let this by my solemn vow
To take each moment, and live each moment in peace eternally
Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.
Also, take a look at this sista’s piece below
http://zeespeech.blogspot.com/2011/09/i-am-troy-davis.html
True and lasting peace people
I’m out
L
Photo of the Week (37/52): Weekly Photo Challenge – Faces
Blue Devil Belles
They were really too cute to be scary. I had to ask them to make scary faces. Taken on Carnival Monday 2011 in Paramin, Trinidad, WI. Home of the Paramin Blue Devils.
Questioning the Fight
Questioning the fight. Asserting the Right to Question
These images are from Canboulay re-enactments in Trinidad during carnival. They depict an interpretation of the events that caused the masses to riot, caused a violent reaction from the British government, and ultimately led to African drumming, ceremonial and secular dancing, masking and stick fighting (what evolved into Trinidad carnival) being legally sanctioned during the two days before lent. Sometimes the only people who will fight, cause ruckus and disturb the peace are those downtrodden enough they have nothing to loose. However, sometimes once the fight is won there is an air of respectability, sanction, legality, brings a slew of other problems (like a new kind of exclusivity).
Canboulay suggests a time existed when the fighting stood for something beyond “senseless gang violence”, that people questioned/challenged authority and the status quo, spoke truth to power, demanded rights and freedom. It suggests that our party animal nature not all just mas, costume, revelry, that the will to stand up for something exists in us.
I hope.
Labor Day Kiddies: The Battle of the Beads and Feathers
The beads and feathers have infiltrated the children’s mas to the extent that I regularly found myself thinking in terms of color at today’s NY Kiddies Carnival parade (as opposed to costume themes). However, there are some really good mas men and women in the NY area. Amidst the plumes were some creative pieces, well constructed costumes, and above all, the children looked like they had a good time. Can’t deny, no matter the costume, they’re cute. More on the mas later.
Enjoy
L
Photo of the Week (35/52) Enjoy Yuhself
Carnival pilgrims head north this weekend for another journey to a sacred space, to remember their heritage, take pride in national origins, to fete and wine. Take a moment to inhale the air of revelry, the countless man hours, innovation and dedication that went into making another North-American carnival, take a moment to think about what Labor Day really is. And in the meantime
Enjoy yuhself
L
Oh, and here’s de langniappe
Images from Labor Day in Brooklyn
L
