Kreyol La Eastern Parkway “Labor Day Parade 2019” (Haitian Music Trucks & Crowds At Brooklyn's West Indian Parade)

Ayiti Biyografi, Sept. 2, 2019

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part III  of a three part pancocojams series about the word "Zoe" as an infomal referent for Haitians. 

Part III of this pancocojams post presents information about Brooklyn's annual West Indiand Day Parade. This post also showcases a YouTube video of the 2019 Brooklyn, New York's West Indian Labor Day parade that features a Haitian music truck and a huge crowd of paraders. Selected comments from several discussion threads of YouTube videos that focus on Haitian paraders during the Brooklyn West Indian Labor Day parade are also included in this post. Some of these comments include the word "Zoe" as a referent for Haitians.

The Addendum to Part III presents information about Haitian Rara processions, as Rara has greatly influenced the way that Haitians participate in the anual Brooklyn, New York West Indian Day Parade. 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/05/what-zoe-really-means-as-informal.html for Part I of this series. Part I presents excerpts from several online sources about the word "Zoe" as an informal referent for Haitians.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-haitian-anthem-imma-zoe-by-black.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. Part II showcases the official YouTube video of Black Dada's 2008 record "Imma Zoe". That pancocojams post also presents some biographical information about Black Dada and includes selected comments from that YouTube video's discussion thread. Many of those comments include the informal Haitian referent "Zoe".

The content of this post is presented for cultural, and entertainment purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are associated with Brooklyn's West Indian Day Parade. Thanks also to the La Kyreol band that is featured in this embedded video and thanks to the publisher of that video on YouTube. Thanks also to all who are quoted in this post.

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INFORMATION ABOUT BROOKLYN'S WEST INDIAN DAY PARADE

Excerpt #1 
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day_Carnival 
"The Labor Day Parade (or West Indian Carnival) is an annual celebration held on American Labor Day (the first Monday in September) in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York City.

The main event is the West Indian Day Parade, which attracts between one and three million participants.[2] The spectators and participators watch and follow the parade on its route along Eastern Parkway. Some of the Caribbean islands represented in the parade include Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Barbados, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and Grenada, along with some Afro-Panamanians. mainland Caribbean countries such as Guyana, Suriname, and Belize also participate as well."....

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Excerpt #2
From https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-09-29/wild-magical-caribbean-carnival-jouvert-coming-brooklyn The wild magic of Caribbean Carnival is alive in Brooklyn 
Afropop Worldwide, September 29, 2016 ·By Morgan Greenstreet and Saxon Baird
"Every Labor Day, more than two million people pack into Central Brooklyn for the West Indian American Day Parade with flags flying, food grilling and music blasting from massive speakers on 18-wheel trucks. "Mas bands" — groups of costumed revelers — follow the trucks down the Parkway on foot, with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dancers dressed in colorful bikinis, feathers, glitter and body paint."...
-snip-
The articles and discussion threads that I've read on this subject all agree that Haiti always has the largest crowds in these parades. Unlike other nations, the Haitians don't mas (wear pant or other masquerade costumes). They sing, dance, and wave Haiti's blue and red flag, showing their pride for their ancestry.

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COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREADS OF SEVERAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS THAT FOCUS ON HAITIAN MUSIC TRUCKS IN BROOKLYN'S WEST INDIAN PARADE

These discussion thread excerpts are given in chronological order with the oldest video given first. Numbers are given for referencing purposes only.

Discussion thread #1 
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbagd6nr-eI&ab_channel=TradingPhotoS%2CVideosofLiveEventS%2CANDMorE

Labor Day 2014, HAITIAN TRUCK

Trading PhotoS Sep 3, 2014

HAITIANS AT THE WEST INDIAN LABOR DAY 2014 in Brooklyn New York USA.  West Indian American Day Carnival.

Notice: Age-restricted video (requested by uploader)
-snip-
My guess is that this video's publisher added an age restricted notice is because that video includes a few short scenes of women wearing very skimpy bikini tops and bottoms. Those women weren't part of the Haitian contingent of the Brooklyn West Indian Day Parade because Haitian participants never mas (wear costumes). 

1. Fabio C Villaquiran Jr, 2014
"THIS is what I miss MOST about Labor day! The AWESOME parades & the parties after!"

**
2. Kage NoKyojin, 2014
"Lol nobody turns up like the Haitians on Eastern Parkway

Dayum that's a live crowd...

Looked fun as hell"

**
3. riri alexander, 2014
"What type of haitian music is this? Im trying to look for it on youtube, only getting zouk"

**
Reply
4. Wendy Beausejour, 2014
"search for "T-Vice kanaval" or "Djakout kanaval""
-snip-
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Vice#:~:text=T%2DVice%20band%20is%20based,US%2C%20Caribbean%20and%20even%20Europe
"T-Vice is a Haitian compas band currently based in Miami, Florida.[1][2][3][4] The group has performed throughout the world, most notably in cities of Miami, New York City, Chicago, Toronto, Paris and throughout the Caribbean through various concerts, carnivals, and festivals.[5]"

Djakout kanaval is (or was?) another Haitian music band. Videos of  this group can be found on YouTube.

**
Reply
5. Kendrick ross, 2015
" @riri alexander   its called it a "kanaval' played during carnival season"

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6. young jr, 2014
"Zoe"
-snip-
"Zoe" is an informal referent for Haitians. That referent was coined by Haitian Americans from the Haitian Creole word "zo" which means "bones".

 **
7. Farah Joseph, 2015
"I love my ppls Haiti!!!!!!! 🔵🔴🔵🔴 When the Zoe's come through on the Pkwy everything shut dwn

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Reply
8. Farah Joseph, 2015
"Same here proud Haitian over here my ppls be lit🔵🔴🔵🔴"

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9. Jamellia Jack, 2015
"I was their . I love the Haitian float . even tho I was with the Trini band . I love their vybz"

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10. Intense Fitness, 2015
"I was have the time of my life in that crowd....................T-Vice always know how to bring the party to Estern Pkw."

**
11. Christian Martinez, 2017
"when you see free CAM shirts you know its gonna be lit 😂"
-snip-
CAM was the sponsor or one of the sponsors of the music truck in that video. Here's information about CAM:
From https://www.marketplace.org/2018/04/17/haitians-with-tps-help-fuel-haitis-economy/
"CAM, short for “Caribbean Air Mail,” is a popular wire service with agencies in Haitian beauty salons, bakeries, shopping plazas — and office buildings. " 

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12. HUEY BOODDOCKS, 2019
"kote tout zoe yo"
-snip-
Google translate from Haitian Creole to English
"where all my zoe"

**
13. Herlin Jordan, 2019
"We shut everything  down when we pull up"

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Reply
14. V. T., 2020
"You guys don't masquerade at all.  It would be better if you did"

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Discussion thread #2
[This is the discussion thread for the video that is embedding in this post. 

From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hqUe14LT3M&ab_channel=AyitiBiyografi

1. GET2DANEWS, 2019
"Haiti always go hard on the parkway"

**

2. Denise Mitchell, 2019
"Big up

Eastern Parkway.

I feel good

So good so good

This is how we carnival in NYC"

**
3. Yves Augustin, 2019
"Respect still due to T VICE !!but KREYOL LA  did their thing !!"
-snip-
Here's what appears to be outdated information about the musical group Keyol La
from https://www.aaemusic.com/artist/kreyol-la/ [No date is given for when this pge was written. I haven't found any other online informational page about Kreyol La" and I've found no informational page online about Djakout.]  
"Kreyol LaKreyol La is the third most popular band behind T-Vice and Djakout in Haiti's Kanaval. Each year the Band is in a competition with the rival Krezi Mizik, also known as Nou Krezi. In 2007, Kreyol La win their first victory over Krezi and had a better meringue Kanaval than Krezi that year.

In 2009 they won again over Krezi. In 2012, Kreyol La was declared the third champion band in Kanaval, and won twice from the group band Krezi. It was stated that Kreyol La and T-Vice will finally be rivals in Kanaval but T-Vice will always be rivals with Djakout #1."...

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Reply
Phe Dem, 2020
"T Vice has a long story of dominating the parkway but Kréyol La was special ...
-snip-
T Vice and Kréyol La are two bands that represent Haiti on music trucks in Brooklyn's West Indian Day Labor Day Parades. Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Vice for information about T Vice and click https://www.last.fm/music/Kreyol+La/+wiki for information about Kréyol La.

Another very highly regarded Haitian music truck that usually participates in Brooklyn's annual West Indian Day parade features "Sweet Micky"Michel Joseph Martelly. Click for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Martelly#:~:text=Michel%20Joseph%20Martelly%20(French%20pronunciation,May%202011%20until%20February%202016.&text=Martelly%20was%20one%20of%20Haiti's,the%20stage%20name%20Sweet%20Micky. and read some comments in Discussion #2.
immediately below.

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Yves Augustin, 2019
"Wow , Just amazing in such a bad weather to pull the biggest crow[d] ever in a rainy labor day thats a plus !!"

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Discussion Thread #3
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXJXpJnRJZw&ab_channel=EmmanuelV
Emmanuel V Sep 2, 2019
Labor Day Parade 2019 Eastern Parkway Kreyol La

1. Miss Panama, 2019
"I am from Panama, and my boyfriend is Haitian. YEEESSSS!!!!!...Haiti killed it again because they play live instrumental Kompa music while their artist sings live as well. This powerful combo makes the music reverberate to your inner core. Now if the Panama floats can get themselves together and show stronger representation and not always look underrepresented every year..Sheesh!!!!"
-snip-
This comment is written in bold in this video’s discussion thread

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2. DCz Carmelo, 2019
"Kreyol La used to play like 5 different songs👇🏾

- Team Madada - mpa gon goud (mean: ain't get no money)

- Lodji Baby - Diaspora

- Team Madada - manzè Matel (mean: she bounced it " creole version of Chambala - El Boom")

- Colmix - kote plezi a ye (mean: where the party at).

- Colmix - Duvalier..

- And some Kreyol improvisation

Thanks me later 👊🏾"

**
3. Haitian Nationalist, 2019
"Haitian crowd so big we need our own parade on 5th Avenue y’all"

 **
4. Lorie Paul, 2019
"It was Very Beautiful and a whole lot of Fun 💙❤😀! It's Haitian Carnival mixed with RaRa 👀💙❤😊☺️🥰😀..."

**
5. how to remember for teste Lagoava, 2019

"The base of our music which is "" RARA ""  the base 0f Our COMPAS  both originated in haiti, makes it very easy  to  play whatever  song  from whatever  language.

Mostly improvised translated  musical were played  in that event but arranged with the haitian compas to make enjoyable and easy to people to have fun.

This haitians are goodi at this when they want too.

The RARA WAS CREATED BY THE POUL, ML SLAVES IN THE 15TH century  AND THE COMPAS IN THE 19TH

** 
6. Joseph Dubois 1, 2019
"Nice Video, Emmanuel V!  Great Job!  The Band (Kreyol La) sounds "Excellent".  Two Thumbs Up!  Thank you for posting the video"

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7. Navan Cognac, 2019
"What genre of music is the band playing?"

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Reply
8.Joseph Dubois 1, 2019
"This is a Very Popular Band from Haiti.  Therefore, the Band (Kreyol La) is playing “their own” Haitian-Style Carnival Music."

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9. SHANKOJA, 2019
"What’s the song at @4:32? greetings from  🇯🇲 btw but if you know the song please tell me I love it so much"

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Reply
10. HaitianMassive, 2019
"The genre is call : Raboday : a mix of( voodoo drums ,rara,kompa,afrobeat and some church songs base)   Anyway The band is Kreyol-la A haitian Kompa band and

They were playing a mashup of those songs 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giYa_smgGKY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKCULhbTP1k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKdTo928CAo

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Reply
11. Joe 100%Haitian, 2019
"This is Raboday in Haiti, improvisation  most of the time!

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Reply
12. carlens plaisir, 2019
"The song name is "M pa gen yon goud" by colmix & Me deng"

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13. JH, 2019
"Damn Rain!!!! I travelled all the way to NYC, missed this as they recommended we stay in doors and seek cover due to a pending storm; but, I will be back next year, rain or shine!!!!"

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Reply
14. Haitian Nationalist, 2020
"How are your plans looking LOL"

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Reply
15. JH, 2020
"@Haitian Nationalist . LOL indeed. No one could have predicted this. Yes, COVID has brought us all to our knees! Not even sure if next year it will be safe."

**
16. Shirley Dutes Saint-Louis, 2019
"Haitians always put the parkaway parade on the map I love my nation we the best 🙌🏾🇭🇹🙌🏾🇭🇹"

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ADDENDUM- INFORMATION ABOUT HAITIAN RARA 
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rara [retrieved May 2, 2021]
"Rara is a form of festival music that originated in Haiti that is used for street processions, typically during Easter Week. The music centers on a set of cylindrical bamboo trumpets called vaccine, but also features drums, maracas, güiras or güiros (a percussion instrument), and metal bells, as well as alsos which are made from recycled metal, often coffee cans. The vaccine perform repeating patterns in hocket and often strike their instruments rhythmically with a stick while blowing into them. In the modern day, standard trumpets and saxophones may also be used. The genre though predominantly Afro-based has some Taino Amerindian elements to it such as the use of güiros and maracas.

The songs are always performed in Haitian Creole and typically celebrate the African ancestry of the Afro-Haitian masses. Vodou is often implemented through the procession.[1] 

[...]

During rara Haitians dance and march in the street while the band plays. Each band has their own rhythm that defines them even while marching in the dark. It is a celebration of the now but also a remembrance of the ancestors who made it so. Each person has their own unique way of dancing to the beat. 

Rara in Haiti is often used for political purposes, with candidates commissioning songs praising them and their campaigns. Rara lyrics also often address difficult issues, such as political oppression or poverty. Consequently, rara groups and other musicians have been banned from performing and even forced into exile—most notably, folk singer Manno Charlemagne who later returned to Haiti and was elected mayor of Port-au-Prince in the 1990s."...
-snip-
This excerpt is reformatted in this pancocojams post to enhance its readability. A 2018 excerpt of that Wikipedia page is included in this pancocojams post: 
 http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/08/information-about-haitian-rara.html

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This concludes Part III of this three part pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome. 

Information About Haitian Rara Processions & Haitian Vodou

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post provides information about and videos of Haitian Rara with particular attention to twirling batons or canes during Rara processions. 

This post also includes information about Haitian vodou, an excerpt from the Wikipedia page about Haitian rara, and an excerpt from a university paper by Howard Culbertson about a Haitian rara parade that he observed in 1988.

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those who are featured in these videos and all publishers of these videos on YouTube.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/04/kongo-and-other-african-influences-on.html for the pancocojams post entitled "Book & Article Excerpts Of African & Haitian Rara Sources Of Baton Twirling & Other Twirling Performances".

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S COMMENT [revised September 6, 2018]
My interest in this subject was recently whetted by reading several comments in discussion threads for historically (predominately) Black Greek letter organizations [BGLO} that stepping, the custom of carrying canes (or staffs) and cane tapping/cane twirling during step performances came from African cultures.

My position is that African cultures weren't the direct source for BGLO stepping with or without carrying canes. That is to say, I don't believe that stepping was created as a result of historically Black Greek letter fraternities and sororities learning about or being taught one or more forms of African dance such as South African gumboot dancing. Stepping is a performance art that has evolved over time and continues to change within different organizations and different chapters and regions of those organizations.

For instance, what is now called stepping has changed since I first pledged a historically Black Greek letter organization in 1967 (Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Gamma Zeta chapter). I don't recall ever using the term "stepping" or hearing that term used, but I do recall doing a dance routine in a vertical line and/or a horizontal line while singing adapted R&B songs that praised that organization.

That said, I believe that certain African dance forms -such as South African gumboot dancing- may have eventually influenced the performance BGLO stepping, but that performance style was probably influenced more by American military drills and Black drum major parade stances. It's obvious that some elements of certain African dance forms are quite similar to stepping, but I think that this can be attributed to the similar aesthetic preferences of Africans and of African Americans and other people in the African Diaspora.

More specifically, while it's true that a number of African ethnic groups have traditional dances that are performed with men and women holding sticks*, I believe that customs of tapping and/or twirling canes that are part of the stepping routines of certain historically Black Greek letter organizations [particularly Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.] can be more directly attributed to Haitian rara cane twirling customs, New Orleans (and other) African American parade traditions, and heavily African American influenced soft shoe and/or tap dancing with a cane performances.

*Some examples of African ethnic groups who have dances holding sticks are South Africans' Xhosa, Zulu, and Mpondo.
-snip-
I hold this opinion in spite of comments from some members of some BGLO organizations that stepping and/or strolling came from African cultures, and that stepping and/or strolling came from Africans who became members of their organizations.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/08/was-south-african-gumboot-dancing.html a pancocojams post entitled Was South African Gumboot Dancing REALLY The Main Source Of The Movements For Historically Black Greek Letter Fraternity & Sorority Stepping?

Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/08/similarities-differences-between-south.html for the pancocojams post "Similarities & Differences Between South African Gumboot Dance Performances & Performances Of Black [African American] Fraternity & Sorority Step Teams"

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INFORMATION ABOUT HAITIAN VODOU
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Vodou
Haitian Vodou ... is a syncretic[11] religion practiced chiefly in Haiti and the Haitian diaspora. Practitioners are called "vodouists" (French: vodouisants [voduizɑ̃]) or "servants of the spirits" (Haitian Creole: sèvitè).[12]

Vodouists believe in a distant and unknowable Supreme Creator, Bondye (derived from the French term Bon Dieu, meaning "good God"). According to Vodouists, Bondye does not intercede in human affairs, and thus they direct their worship toward spirits subservient to Bondye, called loa.[13] Every loa is responsible for a particular aspect of life, with the dynamic and changing personalities of each loa reflecting the many possibilities inherent to the aspects of life over which they preside.[14] To navigate daily life, vodouists cultivate personal relationships with the loa through the presentation of offerings, the creation of personal altars and devotional objects, and participation in elaborate ceremonies of music, dance, and spirit possession.[15]

Vodou originated in Benin Republic and developed in the French colonial empire in the 18th century among West African peoples who were enslaved, when African religious practice was actively suppressed, and enslaved Africans were forced to convert to Christianity.[16][17] Religious practices of contemporary Vodou are descended from, and closely related to, West African Vodun as practiced by the Fon and Ewe. Vodou also incorporates elements and symbolism from other African peoples including the Yoruba and Kongo; as well as Taíno religious beliefs, Roman Catholicism, and European spirituality including mysticism and other influences.[18]

In Haiti, some Roman Catholics combine their faith with aspects of Vodou. This practice is denounced as diabolical by virtually all Haitian Protestants.[19]"...

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INFORMATION ABOUT HAITIAN RARA PARADES
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rara
"Rara is a form of festival music that originated in Haiti, that is used for street processions, typically during Easter Week. The music centers on a set of cylindrical bamboo trumpets called vaccine, but also features drums, maracas, güiras or güiros (a percussion instrument), and metal bells, as well as sometimes also cylindrical metal trumpets which are made from recycled metal, often coffee cans. The vaccine perform repeating patterns in hocket and often strike their instruments rhythmically with a stick while blowing into them. In the modern day, standard trumpets and saxophones may also be used. The genre though predominantly Afro-based has some Taino Amerindian elements to it such as the use of güiros and maracas.

The songs are always performed in Haitian Creole and typically celebrate the African ancestry of the Afro-Haitian masses.

[...]

Rara performances are often performed while marching and are often accompanied by twirlers employing metal batons. Performances generally begin on Ash Wednesday and culminate at Easter Weekend."...

****
From https://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/rara.htm Howard Culbertson, ..., Oklahoma City, OK [no publishing date given] ..." It was about 9 a.m. Sunday morning, March 6, 1988. I was on the edge of Haiti's National Highway No. 1 just south of the port city of Gonaives.
I was watching a rara band, an all-night dancing parade which slowly move through villages and towns in southern and central Haiti from Mardi Gras to Easter (that is, the entire Lenten season). Some elements of these parades resemble the giant Mardi Gras celebrations of New Orleans, Rio de Janeiro and Haiti's capital city of Port-au-Prince. It is, in fact, referred to as the Carnival (or the French phrase Mardi Gras which we use in English) parade of the rural Haitian peasant.

This particular rara which I was observing closeup had stopped to circle repeatedly in front of a cluster of houses in the Trou Sable suburb of Gonaives. Although participants in these parades will put on elaborate costumes (elaborate at least for a rural peasant living on a subsistence income), most of the 50-plus participants in this particular rara were dressed in normal clothing. The leader of the group appeared to be a man with a long whip. He also had a whistle of the type used by traffic policemen and sports referees. He occasionally tried to crack the whip (with limited success) and blew the whistle in short blasts in time with a rhythmic beat coming from the small "orchestra." I was later told that the whip was used to disperse unfriendly spirits, including those who might have been purposely left by other, rival rara groups.

Eight to ten members of the group were musicians carrying bamboo tubes, drums and homemade horns or trumpets. The bamboo tubes were two to three feet long, perhaps three inches in diameter and were used to produce a low-pitched, fog-horn type sound. The drums were homemade, hollowed-out logs with animal, skin covers held taut with pegs. The horns were made from sheet metal and resembled funnels with extended necks. These musicians were grouped together in front of the slowly moving group. They beat the drums and blew on their horns and bamboo tubes in a monotonous (to me at least) rhythmic beat. During the time that I observed the group there was no singing or chanting. Most of the group shuffled along with the beat while a few went into writhing dances as they circled and circled, kicking up dust. When they eventually went off down the road toward Gonaives, they marched along in the same manner and a speed of perhaps not more than one mile per hour.

The rara groups are definitely tied to voodoo. The parades are almost always organized by a voodoo priest/shaman. There is a definite structure to each group which will hold several parades during the Lenten season. In addition to the voodoo priest, there will be an orchestra leader, traffic control people, and even a treasurer. Getting into therara band orchestra requires an audition.

In the group that I observed there was no sign of spirit possessions or other phenomena associated with voodoo. In fact, I was told that possession experiences are discouraged during rara parades.

I was told that the rara groups often sing songs which have more to do with local gossip than with religious themes. Often the group will be asked by someone to make up a song ridiculing that person's enemy. In return, the person making the request is expected to give money to the rara group. An adulterous wife or husband will sometimes be the object of a song.

Christians do not participate in the rara bands. Nor do these bands normally stop in front of Christians' homes. In some areas they are even respectful of church congregations, keeping noise to a minimum as they pass in front of their buildings. In other areas they seem to delight in disturbing church services.

Although the parades may occur anytime, most are organized beginning Saturday evening and run to early Sunday morning. The particular group I observed was undoubtedly in its last few minutes of life. Each rara group is supposed to return to its departure point before disbanding."...

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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: Example #1: Rara de Leogane (extrait)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUbBv7afZlU
embedding disabled upon request

jfchalut, Published on Jan 5, 2011

Chaque année durant la Semaine sainte, Léogane devient le siège d'une compétition pour déterminer le meilleur rara de la région. Ce film relate le parcours mystique des différents raras depuis le Vendredi Saint jusqu'au Lundi de Pâques (Sainte Colette), Le houngan Louisant Ferdinand nous explique la place du Vodou dans le rara, le rôle des participants et l'esprit de compétition qui les anime.
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
"Every year during Holy Week, Leogane becomes the seat of a competition to determine the best rara of the region. This film tells the mystical journey of different raras from Good Friday to Easter Monday (Saint Colette), The houngan Louisant Ferdinand explains the place of the Vodou in the rara, the role of the participants and the spirit of competition that animates."
-snip-
"houngan" = vodou priest

This is an excerpt of 30 minute video Rara de Leogane [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnvvKWhZQ5Q]. Like the longer video, the beginning scene shows a major jonc twirling a baton.
-snip-
Like numerous African cultures, Haiti also has a martial arts tradition of stick fighting. Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bdU0-E_eOo for a video of Haitian stick fighting.

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Example #2: July 2, 2018 *



Group K-dja Ginen Alisma, Published on Jul 3, 2018
-snip-
* This is the video's title. My description of the video is "Haitian women dancing with long canes as part of voodoo ceremony."

If you know any information about this dance, please share it in the comment section below. Thanks.

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RELATED LINKS
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/04/stand-battles-changing-meaning-of.html for a pancocojams post on "Stand Battle & The Changing Meaning of "majorettes" Among African Americans.

Also, click For Part I of this series, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/11/cane-kane-performances-in-black.html for Part I of a three part series on Cane (Kane) Performances in Historically Black Greek Letter Organizations.

****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

Book & Article Excerpts Of African & Haitian Rara Sources Of Baton Twirling & Other Twirling Performances

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision: August 30, 2018

This pancocojams post provides six excerpts from book chapters or online articles about the influence of the Kongo (Central African) culture and/or West African cultures and Haitian Rara celebrations on baton twirling and other twirling performances.

The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, cultural, entertainment and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
This post was originally published in with the title "African Sources Of Baton Twirling & Other Twirling Performances".

This revised post included no videos.

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BOOK AND ARTICLE EXCERPTS
These excerpts are presented in no particular order. The excerpts are numbered for referencing purposes only.

Excerpt #1
From THE KONGO POSE AND BATON TWIRLING
From https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0253217490 Africanisms in American Culture edited by Dr. Joseph E. Halloway pp. 12-13
"Robert Farris Thompson's essay (chapter 10) contributes to our understanding of Africanisms found in African American aesthetics, revealing that the majority of African retentions in African American folk art are Bantu in origin. Thompson shows that the impact of the Kongo on African American culture contributed to the foundation of black American aesthetics and musical culture in the New World. The Kongo influence contributed to the rise of the national music of Brazil (the samba) and to one of the most sophisticated music forms in the United States (jazz).

Thompson demonstrates that Kongo influences are widespread.

...The African Haitian ritual dancing based on a dance form found in northern Kongo was adopted by the baton-twirling "major jonc" called rara. Its members twirl batons and strike a Kongo pose when confronting a rival group. it is hypothesized that in Mississippi. where many Kongo slaves resided, such groups had a major impact. Mississippi has become a world baton-twirling center".

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Excerpt #2
From http://www.asarimhotep.com/index.php/articles/18-posture-and-meaning-interpreting-egyptian-art-through-a-kongo-cultural-lens publisher Asar, 27 January 2012
"The book Africanisms in American Culture edited by Dr. Joseph E. Halloway documents some of the Africanisms that have survived in the Americas during and after the enslavement period. A good number of the surviving Africanisms that have survived are in the form of poses...

Telema
The most dramatic incursion of a Kongo gesture in Haiti is the reemergent biika mambu stance. This stance is frequently called telama lwimbanganga in Northern Kongo. This pose is identifiable as the left hand on the hip and the right hand forward. This became the drum majorette pose that gave way to baton twirling in the United States.

In Kongo, placing the left hand on the hip is believed to press down all evil, while the extended right hand acts to “vibrate” the future in a positive manner. Important women used this pose at dawn to “vibrate positively” the future of town warriors. Advocates used its power to block or end a lawsuit (Halloway 2005: 298). One will notice that this is the pose for the famous Supremes song, “Stop in the name of love.”

.... The telema stance has to do with power and mediating force (power grasped and evil contained).

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Excerpt #3
From https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1598842439 Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia of History and Innovation, Volume 2 , edited by Thomas A. Green, Joseph R. Svinth, pp 45-46
"On Haiti the Rara parade is a pre-Lenten (Carnival) event. It features competing groups of singers and musicians playing homemade instruments. The content is typical of Carnival in general and the Caribbean varieties in particular. Each Rara band is led by a major jonc, also major jonk, majo jonk. The major jonc carries a baton known as a jonc. The jonc is 100 to 137 centimeters (39 to 54 inches) in length and is brandished and twirled much as a drum major twirls his baton in a military or collegiate marching band.

Like the musical instruments carried by the bandsmen, the jonc is supernaturally strengthened. In Haiti, the practice of supernaturally strengthening fighting sticks (mayombo), thereby giving the owners both protection and ability to defeat opponents has been documented as early as the eighteenth century (Debien 1972). The major jonc’s skill at twirling is believed to be related to his magical and fighting skills. Thus he is that figure that folklorist Roger Abrahams (1983, xvi), labeled “the man of action, the physical adept one”. Major jonc are in fact accomplished stick- fighters. Practical use of this talent may be tested, too, because when one of the bands encounters another, the conversation can move from verbal or musical duels to actual fighting.

According to Haitian folk history, the baton work that is acquired by Africans from the indigenous Tainos who used the stick as both a weapon and a dance prop. Nonetheless, the most convincing contemporary analysis of baton twirling both by major joncs and baton –twirlers in North American athletic events traces it to northern Kongo sources. (Thompson 2005, 298-299)

In some parts of Haiti, village competitions of wrestling (pinge’) were also held in connection with Rara. (Courlander 1985, 108)

The Haitian expression of African spirituality is Vodun(also Vodu and Vodou), whence comes the English word voodoo . The word comes from the Fon vodu (“spirit”). Vodun incorporates religious traditions from West and Central Africa...

Like Lucumi, Vodun has a warrior deity derived from the Yoruba orisha Ogun, who in Haiti is known as Ogou. As elsewhere, Ogou fights with a machete or sword. The devotee who is “ridden” (possessed by) Ogou the lwa during a Vodun rite takes up the machete dedicated to Ogou and performs an aggressive dance filled with chopping and stabbing movements, as in Lucumi, and also punches, kicks, grunts, and growls. (Daniel, 2005, 163). "

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Excerpt #4
From http://www.bookmanlit.com/rara.html
"In Haiti, rara is a kind of marching band festivity open to the public and observed mostly during the Christian Easter season. It is connected to Nago Egougoun society practices and to Kongo military tradition. Among the Nago people, the word rara means eulogy. An essential part of rara involves a walk to the cemetery, mazi, or lakou to pay respect and to eulogize former members of the rara. After paying respect to the Ancestors, the rara is viewed as having been fortified (chaje).

Nago tradition runs deep in rara and can be seen in the manner that the rara members dress. They often cover their entire bodies just as it has traditionally been done in Egougoun celebrations. Men can wear dresses and skirts because in Nago Egougoun celebrations, women were not allowed to participate but they could be represented by men. ...the clothing and hip movements of the baton twirlers is reminiscent of female role play in Egougoun, called Gougoun in Haiti. Today in Pestel Haiti, there is a kind of rara in which its male members always dress in female clothing.

In raras, like in Egougoun celebrations, one member carries a whip to ceremonially maintain order in the rara. In Haiti the whip used is the fwèt kach, a slave whip. It is cracked repeatedly in the air where it is said to be whipping zombies, a reminder of the suffering of our fore-parents who were once enslaved on the island."...

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Excerpt #5
From http://rara.wesleyan.edu/rara/carnival/analysis.php "Rara as a Form Of Carnival"; Analysis - image of Rara in New York
"Rara season overlaps with Carnival season, and so Rara activity begins on January 6th, known on the Christian calendar as Epiphany. Rara bands usually parade as small carnival bands, and then continue to parade after Carnival, during Lent, until Easter. The "tone," or "ambiance," of Rara parading is loud and carnivalesque, and if you don't know about the hidden, religious core of Rara, you'll think that Rara is simply a matter of young people exhibiting their talent at singing and dancing in a boisterous, rebellious atmosphere. As in Carnival, Rara is about moving through the streets, and about men establishing (masculine) reputation through public performance. Rara bands stop to perform for noteworthy people, to collect money. In return, the kings and queens dance and sing, and the baton majors juggle batons-and even machetes! Rara costumes are known for their delicate sequin work, which flash and sparkle as the batons twirl. There is a lesser-known costume, too, of colorful streaming cloth hung over knickers and hanging from hats.

The competitive music and dancing, the sequins, and the cloth strips are all echoes of festival arts in other parts of the Caribbean. In its orality, performative competition, and masculinity, Rara shares similar characteristics with other Black Atlantic performance traditions like Carnival, Junkanoo, Capoeria, Calypso, Blues, Jazz, New Orleans' second-line parades and Black Indians' parades, Reggae, Dance Hall, Hip-Hop and numerous other forms. Unlike many Afro-Creole masculinist forms, however, Rara is explicitly religious.

(Excerpted from chapter one of Elizabeth McAlister, Rara! Vodou, Power, and Performance. University of California Press, 2002.)
-snip-
I reformatted this excerpt to enhance its readability. I also added italics to highlight those words.

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Example #6
From https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19460807&id=qj4aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IyUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1446,3152804&hl=en [description of a competition of 200 drum majors and drum majorettes from six states, featuring Major C. W. Boothe from Chicago]; Milwaukee Journal August 7, 1946
“Boothe, a professional baton twirler and teacher for 55 years, has seen twirling grow from a minstrel show novelty to a natural enthusiasm shared by youth and adults...

Little Charlie Boothe was only 6 when he saw his first baton twirling. It was in Hannibal, Mo. A Negro performer in a minstrel show did the twirling and it so enchanted young Charlie that the boy followed him about town as long as the show stayed. When he left he began practicing the tricks in his back yard.

A year later he had mastered that performer’s comparatively simple routine and added many tricks of his own.

The lad practicing in his back yard didn’t know then-but his research has since taught him- that twirling began in Siam where spears where tossed and twirled in ceremonial dances. A recent news photograph showed natives of the Belgian Congo twirling small tree trunks. The familiar ball at the end of the baton was a bit of root. The baton familiar to American audiences was a British mace...”
-snip-
The sentence that in one year a seven year old White boy surpassed a Black adult performer in the art and skill of baton twirling strikes me as a conclusion that was heavily influenced by racism. I believe the statement that "twirling began in Siam" also owes a lot to the racist attitude that credit for any accomplishment should be assigned to any race before acknowledging Black people.

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Visitor comments are welcome.

African American & South African Batons, Flags, and Other Twirling Videos

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases videos of African American & South African baton, drum major maces, flags, and rifles, and hoops twirling (spinning).

Two brief excerpts about the Kongo roots of baton twirling and a brief excerpt about African American juggling as a source of American baton twirling are also included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

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THE KONGO POSE AND BATON TWIRLING
From https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0253217490 Africanisms in American Culture edited by Dr. Joseph E. Halloway pp. 12-13
"Robert Farris Thompson's essay (chapter 10) contributes to our understanding of Africanisms found in African American aesthestics, revealing that the majority of African retentions in African American folk art are Bantu in origin. Thompson shows that the impact of the Kongo on African American culture contributed to the foundation of black American aesthetics and musical culture in the New World. The Kongo influence contributed to the rise of the national music of Brazil (the samba) and to one of the most sophisticated music forms in the United States (jazz).

Thompson demonstrates that Kongo influences are widespread.

...The African Haitian ritual dancing based on a dance form found in northern Kongo was adopted by the baton-twirling "major jonc" called rara. Its members twirl batons and strike a Kongo pose when confronting a rival group. it is hypothesized that in Mississippi. where many Kongo slaves resided, such groups had a major impact. Mississippi has become a world baton-twirling center".

****
From http://www.asarimhotep.com/index.php/articles/18-posture-and-meaning-interpreting-egyptian-art-through-a-kongo-cultural-lens publisher Asar, 27 January 2012
"The book Africanisms in American Culture edited by Dr. Joseph E. Halloway documents some of the Africanisms that have survived in the Americas during and after the enslavement period. A good number of the surviving Africanisms that have survived are in the form of poses...

Telema
The most dramatic incursion of a Kongo gesture in Haiti is the reemergent biika mambu stance. This stance is frequently called telama lwimbanganga in Northern Kongo. This pose is identifiable as the left hand on the hip and the right hand forward. This became the drum majorette pose that gave way to baton twirling in the United States.

In Kongo, placing the left hand on the hip is believed to press down all evil, while the extended right hand acts to “vibrate” the future in a positive manner. Important women used this pose at dawn to “vibrate positively” the future of town warriors. Advocates used its power to block or end a lawsuit (Halloway 2005: 298). One will notice that this is the pose for the famous Supremes song, “Stop in the name of love.”

.... The telema stance has to do with power and mediating force (power grasped and evil contained).

****
THE PROBABLE INFLUENCE OF EARLY 20TH CENTURY JUGGLING BY BLACK PERFORMERS ON AMERICAN BATON TWIRLING
From http://www.juggling.org/jw/87/2/joetaylor.html
Juggler's World: Vol. 39, No. 2 "Joe Taylor And Other Early Black Jugglers"
"With the [Negro League baseball team the] Indianapolis Clowns, he [Joe Taylor] was the pitcher, tossing balls, clubs and dinner plates around the diamond and rolling a baseball around his body.

The tradition of the minstrel show, performed by people without the need of burnt cork makeup, digs deep into the roots of American family entertainment. Though black jugglers remain a rarity, it is important to remember the solid influence that blacks have played in the field.

The Harlem Globetrotters certainly represent the oldest continuous object manipulation troupe in the world. The statistics on their travels and audiences read like world census reports - their impact on the world's acceptance of tom-foolery juggling, to say nothing of blacks and serious basketball technique, is immeasurable.

He [Joe Taylor] toured for two years with the New York Broadway Clowns basketball club before being drafted and serving in postwar Germany. On his return, he played with the Harlem Magicians Basketball Show and later the Indianapolis Clowns Baseball Team. With the Indianapolis Clowns, he was the pitcher, tossing balls, clubs and dinner plates around the diamond and rolling a baseball around his body.

As he matured, he stayed in touch with other jugglers. He visited Montandon when he passed through Oklahoma and wrote a piece on comedy ball rolling for Montandon's "Juggler's Bulletin Annual." While in Germany, he met with Max Koch and sent back an interview with this human Mecca of the juggling world for readers of the "Newsletter."

And that's about all we know of Taylor, the IJA's first black member. The "Bulletin" and "Newsletter" can take a little pride in the fact that they publicized him. And Taylor can take pride in having left Wellington Street to take a run at having his skills, rather than his color, recognized by the world.

A Sampling of Early Black Jugglers

George Rowland: Probably the best known, most successful black juggler, and one of the earliest; he was one of the first "dressed up" tramp jugglers, playing the circuits in the early decades of this century.

Thatcher, Primrose, and West: included baton twirling in their act.

"The Great English:" Hoop roller, popular around 1910.

The Billy Kersard Colored Minstrels: employed a juggler of balls, hats, cigars, and plates.

Will Cook: toured with the Black Patti Colored Musical Comedy Co.

Albert Drew: juggler and wire walker with the A.G. Allen Colored Minstrels.

Arthur Prince: Club and hoop juggler with the Huntington Colored Minstrels.

Coy Herndon and Silas Greer: With the New Orleans Colored Musical Comedy troupe. Herndon was reported to be one of the best hoop rollers ever"...

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FEATURED VIDEOS - CONTEMPORARY BATON TWIRLING IN THE UNITED STATES AND SOUTH AFRICA
Example #1: Saint Dominics High School Drum Majorettes 2005 LARGE DRILL [South Africa]



Quepeedoo Uploaded on Aug 14, 2010

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Example #2: SOUTH SHORE DRILL TEAM - Bud Billiken Parade 2010 [United States]



South Shore Drill Team, Uploaded on Mar 2, 2011

South Shore Drill Team doing it at the Bud in 2010!
-snip-
The Bud Billiken Parade is an annual Chicago, Illinois parade commemorating the beginning of the school year for children and youth.

From my YouTube video searching it appears that this South Shore Drill Team [from Chicago, Illinois] and the other Chicago, Illinois drill team showcased in Example #4 are rare examples of African American drill teams that do rifle [and other types of] twirling routines. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/09/in-praise-of-south-shore-drill-team.html for a pancocojams post of the South Shore drill team that includes a video of that unit of that group doing flag and other types of twirls routines.

View Video #6 & Video #7 [added January 9, 2014] for videos of a predominately African American troupe of baton twirlers.

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Example #3: 2013 Mokete Wa Leru [South Africa]



Ngedwani Mgcina Published on Apr 23, 2013

Majeremane (Selemo se secha)

Mehlomakhulu 2013
-snip-
Hat tip to slam2011 who shared the information that "Selemo se secha" means "Happy New Year" in Lesotho, a South African language on this pancocojams post- http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/01/videos-of-south-african-gospel-brass.html

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Example #4: GOLDEN KNIGHTS DRILL TEAM 2013 [United States]



Ronnell Johnson, Published on Aug 11, 2013

2013 BUD BILLIKEN PARADE
-snip-
Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIi8BViWnZM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIi8BViWnZM for a brief video of toddler in this group's uniform practicing twirling a rifle.

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Example #5: NC A&T - Halftime (Post-Game) 9.7.2013 [United States]



Thomas L. Jones, Jr. Published on Sep 8, 2013

The Aggie band salutes legendary artists Madonna and Lady Gaga during the post-game festivities against Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. I'd also like to point out that all songs are in their original keys: "Edge of Glory" - A Major, "Borderline" - D Major, Express Yourself/Born This Way" - G Major, "Crazy for You" - E Major, "Poker Face" - Ab Minor...
-snip-
NC A&T = North Carolina Agricultural & Technical University, Greensboro, North Carolina.

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ADDED VIDEOS [January 10, 2014]
EDITOR'S COMMENT:
From searching YouTube, it appears that many (if not most) contemporary African American marching bands and African American drill teams have changed the definition of majorettes from "female baton twirlers" to "females who perform certain styles of dancing and/or marching/step movements to certain types of music", which rarely includes snare drums.

It's very difficult to find any video of a HBCU (historically Black college and university) or an African American high school unit (or predominately African American high school unit) that features baton twirling. Here are three such videos that I found:

Example #6: Intro the KSU Majorettes [United States]



ksumajorette. Uploaded on Sep 5, 2010

Kentucky State University added the auxiliary twirling group to the Marching Thorobreds in January 2009 thanks to the efforts of Sophia Marie Thompson [captain of that group].
-snip-
"KU" = Kentucky State University, a historically Black university. From the comment section, this unit was just started in January 2009. Other commenters indicated that these were basic baton twirling techniques.

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Example #7: Mcd 35 Majorettes 2008-2009 [United States]



msgee351 Published on Oct 23, 2012

An Old video from 35 vs a school in Alexandria I think. I cant remember. Missing our first co-captain this night Monique!!!
-snip-
"Mcd" = McDonogh. I think this is a high school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. But I'm not sure of that.
There is also a 2012 video of this group performing baton twirls.

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Example 8: McMain Majorettes 2012 [United States]



tayariane, Published on Nov 11, 2012

Homecoming 2012
-snip-
I think that this video is of a high school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. But I'm not sure of that.
-snip-
Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWlbtt3njyQ, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmx2JF1es8Y for two videos of African American troupes with the word "majorette" in the group's name who didn't perform any baton twirling in those videos. The first video, from 2011, is entitled "Lovely Lavish Ladies, Majorettes of MTSU *Game 1*" "MTSU" is Middle Tennessee State University. It is a non-historically Black university.

The summary of the second video, published in 2013, indicates that "Bellevue Middle School Majorettes take it back to the old school with a drumline, while all the other majorettes at the jamboree used CD's."

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RELATED LINK
Cane twirling is another form of twirling that is performed by certain historically Black Greek lettered organizations. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/11/cane-performances-in-black-fraternities.html for videos of cane twirling.

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Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos or who have been quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

Thank you for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.