For generations, Mardi Gras reflected New Orleans' longstanding anti-Blackness. Early social clubs, called krewes, were reserved for white elites and barred Black residents from parading. In the 1990s the city finally passed an ordinance requiring krewes to confirm they didn't discriminate to receive parade permits. That was enough to make some all-white krewes stop parading altogether. But we know our people, and they don’t wait around for acceptance.
The Black Baby Dolls called out the racism and sexism keeping them impoverished and excluded. Doing this during Mardi Gras was a risk to their freedom and their bodies. They dared to smoke cigars and dance suggestively, crashing Mardi Gras in the most taboo ways.
The Black Masking Indians grew out of racist laws that criminalized gatherings of Black people and kept their parades out of white neighborhoods. So our people created their own backstreet carnival featuring dancers in bold, bright, hand-sewn feathered suits that took a year of prep before carnival season.
For generations, Black Mardi Gras has been a refuge full of creativity and freedom for Black New Orleanians. Today, as the city becomes more gentrified, these groups are committed to preserving Black history, community, and tradition.
Our creativity is ancestral. We can use it to buck anti-Black systems and create safe spaces for ourselves anytime, anywhere.