KDTime: West Indian Day Parade History

 Episode 71

What is Labor Day? To some it’s a huge celebration with big trucks, big bands, loud music, good food, flags waving, people dancing, and lots of vibes. To others it’s a nice day off to grill up the good meat for a barbecue and to acknowledge the fact that the summer is almost over. And it's a day for the ones who literally just take the day to do nada because they work too much. In America labor day is a celebrated holiday on the first Monday of September every year. Some people work depending on what their job is and others galavant in the streets from dusk till dusk.

 

What’s interesting is that workers fought to create this day because they felt that there needed to be a day to celebrate and take off from all the hard work being done during the year. One day out of 365 to let the American people know that their work was and is appreciated. One day to recognize the contributions many workers made for America’s strength, prosperity and well-being. In the late 1800s around 85, 86 a movement developed to secure state legislation after municipal ordinances were passed. Guess which state was the first to introduce a bill, New york that’s right. NEW YORK! Where the biggest parade and celebration takes place to this very day. NY may have been the first to introduce a bill but Oregon was the first to pass a law recognizing Labor Day on February 21, 1887 and that same year New York along with Colorado, Mass, and Jersey all passed laws creating Labor day as a holiday. After that more states followed suit and by June 28 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in Sept of each year a legal holiday.

There is some debate on who is the founder whether it was Peter McGuire or Matthew Maguire with Matthew being the undisputed author after President Cleveland signed the law creating a national labor day. And the first labor day parade commenced on September 5 1882 in New York City which happened to be a Tuesday. SO about 12 years prior to Congress making Labor Day a legal holiday, New York was parading around for a day in September every year. 

Which is still held to this day. Now how did the Caribbeans of New York City practically take over the parade? At least in my humble opinion, for as long as I can remember when I thought about Labor Day I thought about the West Indian Day Parade. I’m talking Jamaicans, Guyanese, Basians, Trini & Tobago, Haiti, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Panamanians, Bahamian, Dominican, st. Vincent, Grenada, Belize and more. So many West Indian American people. 

  

So 90 years ago in Harlem a woman named Jessie Waddell who was Trinidadian or Trini and her West Indian friends decided to bring Carnival to Harlem with costume parties. They would have them in enclosed places like the Savoy, Renaissance, and Audubon Ballrooms because it was cold in February. A lot of history that I didn’t know, but yea. I think my mom talked about it when I was little. Anyway some more interesting tidbits are that while in Harlem they couldn’t stay inside for long because the news of the celebration was too big to be confined and the earliest known Carnival street parade was on Sept 1, 1947 still in Harlem and the route was along seventh avenue starting at 110th st. It was until just shy of 20 years later, 1964, that the permit for Harlem was revoked and they moved to Crown Heights 5 years laters because a committee headed by Carlos Lezama obtained approval for the parade to be established on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, where it has remained today. That committee soon became known as the West Indian-American Day Carnival Association.

It’s so lively and fun. The air smells of all kinds of foods like jerk chicken, curry goat, kebabs, fish cakes, oxtail, meat patties like beef and chicken, coconut bread and lots of other deliciousness.  

It’s such an amazing time, but from the early 2000s a lot of violence would occur either before the parade, after the party, during the parade and it’s been discouraging. It was always fun to see the costumes and watch large bands on big trucks come through with people jumping, dancing, and having a good time. A lot of singers/songwriters, rappers, would mention the spectacle that is the West Indian Day Parade. It is one of the biggest festivals in the world.

Some reasons to go this year. It’s September 4th typically from 9am to until about 2pm give or take.

1. It’s the largest parade of its kind in north America 
2. The party literally starts late August and goes on all the way to Labor Day (and then Tuesday morning eastern parkway looks like it was never touched lol)
3. J’ouvert is the party that starts Sunday evening all the way through to labor day. People will party from dusk till dusk like i said. J’ouvert means “day break” 
4. The costumes, the colors, floats/bands, masqueraders aka playing mas. 
5. THE MUSIC, steel bands. Oh my word the music is phenomenal. Jump up Whine Down
6. THE FOOOOOOOOOODDDDD. One of the best things about the parade is there is an endless variety of food and drink. Jerk chicken & rice, butterfly shrimp, curry chicken goat, oxtail, patties, coco bread, roti, doubles, Sugarcane juice, rum punch, ginger beer, sorrel, coco water, Jamaican rum. I drinking rum & red bull
7. BROOKLYN. New york city in general but Brooklyn is the place to be. Duh!

Will you go this year? I know it’s a ways away BUT listen, add it to the calendar and prepare yourself. There is nothing like it.