For decades, Brooklyn bid farewell to summer with J’Ouvert, a pre-existing homage that has its roots in the liberation of the enslaved in the Caribbean, followed by the American West Indian Day Parade, where crowds Crowds of costumed marchers dance in the sunset.
These Labor Day traditions represent New York City nearly 600,000 non-Hispanic Caribbean residentsand often draws more than two million people to a day-long party that, in its origins, seeks to reaffirm the discordant relations of the West Indies.
While the Covid-19 pandemic forced celebrations to shrink over the past two years to a series of virtual events and smaller gatherings, J’Ouvert and the parade of the day are back in person. their original in 2022.
This year’s theme is “life,” said Anne-Rhea Smith, a board member of the American West Indian Day Carnival Association, which organized the parade. It deals with all that has been lost in the pandemic – lives, livelihoods and shared customs – as well as a celebration of the West Indian way of life.
“It has to do with our pride,” Ms. Smith said. “The way we see ourselves. How do we respect ourselves? As a people, how we shoulder and manage ourselves”.
Although this year’s J’Ouvert – a French word for “dawn” – officially begins at 6 a.m., as before, the floats have begun their journey from East Flatbush to Grand Army Plaza, the route the start of the festival, just after midnight. .
The journey is calmer than in years past: The steel pans were mostly silent as the floats passed multiple police checkpoints. But it turned into a frenzied celebration after sunrise, hours before the parade began.
While some attendees saw the increased police presence as an affront to the festival’s long tradition, others welcomed it.
“It’s a different scene, more of a police presence,” said David Eccleston, 49, of Jersey City, NJ. “But we need them.”
Some marchers commented that this year’s crowd size seemed smaller. But Jonathan Miranda, 31, of Central Islip, NY, is delighted. Shake hands with Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochulboth appear, is a bonus.
“I am Trinidadian, so I love coming here and listening to music, smelling the food, seeing the people,” Mr. Miranda said. “It’s a good thing to do on Labor Day.”
