Since there aren’t any parades this year due to covid,New Orleanians have decided to put a spin on Mardi Gras and decorate their homes…hence the name,Yardi Gras.
I love how some house decorations represent the carnival krewes that would’ve rolled this year.
Take a look at how the city of “making lemonade out of lemons” has celebrated this carnival season. Hopefully next year we’ll be back on the streets of NOLA… throwing til it hurts.
HAPPY MARDI GRAS! Stay warm!!
Since today is the day the Krewe of Nyx would’ve rolled (thanks covid🙄),I’ve decided to use this day to finally tell why I left the krewe.
*Update…the blog released early,but I’m leaving it up because it’s time I told my story …for closure if nothing else.
As many of you now know ,the captain put out an all lives matter post under the krewe’s instagram page which created pa firestorm. She was asked to step down as Captain which she refused to do.
Honestly, knowing what I know about the “mechanics of carnival krewes” and how in most krewes, the by laws state the Captain is the captain until he/she decides to retire and pick their successor,I didn’t expect her to step down.
Anyone that wants to read up on what happened to the Krewe of Nyx can go to the link…here.
What tossed the krewe out of the window for me,was when she was asked if she would consider putting a black krewe member on the board and her reply was,
So you mean to tell me that black women only get 4 attempts to become board members…but 11 white women were on the board that didn’t work out and some were given second chances and put on the board AGAIN.
This is the problem that black women face when around some white women who claim female empowerment,sisterhood and feminism,
They exclude Black women or put a cap on how involved we can be.
The infamous glass ceiling.
She totally put one on the amount of times black women would be allowed to be a board member.
Last year at the Nyx Myx Ball,all of the African American Float Lieutenants took a picture(above) that I was going to blog and post in celebration of Black History Month. We love the ladies that were on our floats and we were proud to represent them.
Look at that picture again,
…every single woman in this picture has a degree. In this picture are attorney’s, social workers,educators,nurses,etc.
One of the attorney’s is now a criminal court judge.
and you mean to say none of us were worthy of board member consideration?!
I’ve seen white people become board members simply because they’re friends and family of other board members and nothing else.
But a Black woman has to once again prove herself beyond reproach to be considered.
Hell,I should’ve been considered based on loyalty alone.
The fact that alt right wing republican Miriam Owens is now a member just lends credence to what I’ve suspected for awhile now.
I had heard the whispers about the krewe becoming ” too black” for some people.I’ve even had some white friends tell me that other white women had come to them and said it.
So when the all lives fiasco happened and Julie was told to fix it because people were leaving en masse.Her reply of,”well…it’ll weed some people out” left me thinking that she was talking about us…Black Women.
I had no choice but to leave. We clearly weren’t valued and our concerns fell on deaf ears.
When you stop giving a damn about your riders and start packing them on the floats like sardines,I have a problem with that(one year,I had a float that held 60 max…but I had over 70 riders.)
When a tragedy happens and you don’t take a minute to address your riders who are distraught and confused,
When the goddess is left at the end of the route with no ride and has to take a taxi home,
you’re going to create enemies.
And in the age of social media,the news will spread like wildfire.
Julie created a lot of enemies.
Float Lieutenants did a shitload of work in the krewe. Sure,we got about $100 off of dues but,the krewe got that back because it was mandatory that lieutenants attend(and pay for) krewe functions.
For the life of me,I don’t see how she thought that the mass of people out there on the route were out there just for her.
It was the riders who made the krewe what it was. The riders were the ones who threw like crazy and engaged with the crowd.
The riders.
Mardi Gras krewes may be run as a dictatorship,but the riders are the ones who pay the dues and buy the throws that the crowd loves. And it’s their dues that keep the krewe afloat.
The KON captain lost sight of that
and the fact that all lives can’t matter until Black Lives do…
TO EVERYONE.
The Life and Times of Bayoucreole 