It's midnight on the Sunday before Carnival, and we're somewhere deep in Flatbush, Brooklyn, on our way to meet a man named Skinny. He is the production manager of Freaks Mas, a Trinidadian masquerade band that participates in Carnival parades around the US, Canada, and the Caribbean. When we finally make it to the shop that the band operates out of, Skinny is giving orders from the door. We maneuver through a maze of men hauling speakers and extension cords onto a partially-constructed float parked outside. A loud screech emerges from the float as Soca music blares through the air. We find ourselves in the middle of its intoxicating rhythm—people rush around us to dance.
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Skinny takes us down to the basement where the air is hot with frenzied energy. We meet Elliot, who is busy adding the final stitching to a bikini. Too busy to chat, he directs us to his wife, Baby, who's in the middle of hot-gluing hundreds of opal-colored stones to a feathered headpiece. They are both award-winning seamstresses who have created Carnival costumes for over 15 years. We watch Baby's hands move as she tells us that there are over 600 masqueraders participating in their camp for this year's West Indian Day parade.
At 7:30 AM on Carnival day, we're barely awake and back at the Freaks Mas camp. Baby, Elliot, and Skinny had not slept at all, which is not unusual for them this time of year. Inside the shop, several women line up against the wall, wearing their costumes for the first time. Most of the masqueraders that "play mas" with Freaks Mas are first-timers. Several women talk to us about their eagerness and expectations for the day.
Claire-Ann, originally from Trinidad, is a first-time masquerader, though she has always wanted to participate in Carnival. She used to watch her sisters dance when she was a child, even though none of them were entirely sure of the festival's originating history. Rasheeda, also from Trinidad, is no stranger to Carnival. This is her fifth parade and she looks forward to celebrating her heritage on Eastern Parkway in a few short hours.Read more: Photos of the Drama of Womanhood
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After chatting with several more women, we come to an unexpected conclusion—very few people we talk to know the historical narrative of Carnival itself.Being of Caribbean and South American descent ourselves, our own understanding of the history of Carnival begins to feel murky when we try to recall the folklore shared with us by our parents. We remember certain elements, a couple of words: jumbees (ghosts), religion, and costumes. It's Skinny who finally breaks it down for us: Carnival originated from religious practices that took place after Lent in Africa and transcended into the Caribbean and South America through colonization.Today, Carnival—the "celebration of flesh"—takes on new meaning. As communities change and grow, the historical significance of such events matters less to those directly involved. Rather, it's the enduring elements of the practices and rituals that seem to be what matters most—a celebration of life, community, and culture.
