J'ouvert

My meaningful tradition is J'ouvert. J'ouvert originated in 1783 in Trinidad and Tobago. At the time slavery was ongoing, so while the French were having their masquerade balls (that slaves were banned from), the enslaved staged their own mini-carnivals in their backward. J'ouvert took to the streets when emancipation occurred in 1838. This provided West Indians and Africans with the opportunity to participate in Carnival and embrace freedom. There's music playing, typically things like Soca, Reggae, Reggaeton, Kompa, Calypso, Dembow, and Bachata. There's a variety of food like everything Jerk from Jamacia, Fritay from Haiti, Roti from Trinidad, and Curry from Guyana. People dress up in costumes with bright colorful feathers, lots of glitters, and sometimes people even walk on 5-foot stilts. My parents Jean-Christophe, and Marie-Jose showed me Carnival. When they came from Haiti in the '80s, they had trouble as immigrants fitting into the American ways. But they made sure to never let go of their roots and passed it on to their children. They took me and my siblings every year to Crown Heights and we'd stay till the early morning hours.  J'ouvert is important to me because it expresses newfound freedom for the West Indies. Seeing people so happy to have their culture makes me proud. This is the reason why even as an eleven year old child I know so much more about my culture. This is my meaningful tradition.

– IP

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant