So by now we all know that DC Carnival had some serious financial issues this year because of money owed to the Police Department for last year's parade. Eventually a compromise was reached where we could still have a parade BUT it would only be half the route and for a shorter space of time to cut back on DCPD costs. Good in theory, not so good in action.
Old Route: Total parade length included the red and green lines, the new route was just the green portion
Close up of the new route
The parade was supposed to start at 11am which at Caribbean People Time meant that the mud band didnt pull off until about 12:30pm. Then, to top things off, as soon as our band started to move the generator in the truck blew. Yep, NO MUSIC! Now on a regular parade day with time to kill, we would have been able I'm sure to pull aside and have someone fiddle with it for at least a 30 mins and get it working. But this year time was an issue so we just continued to head down GA Ave in silence, occasionally punctuated by shouts of "Oh gosh alyuh mash up d speaker boxx!!" and the like.
My friends and I decided that we would go a few sections up to the Indulgence Paint band and chip with them so our parade wouldn't be a total flop. Only to realize that the bands were moving so quickly that Indulgence had already 'crossed' and finished the parade, and it was only around 1:30pm! Pissed would be an understatement for how I felt by then. The bands between Indulgence and the Mud band were of the more ethnic types, Haitians, and Africans etc so we just killed time looking at them..since there was nothing else to do really.
Then, a grand total of 5 blocks from the ending point the mud band's generator suddenly decided to work and I'm not gonna lie, those 5 blocks of jammin rivaled my entire Tribe Red Ants experience lol. I could only imagine just how good my parade would have been if that truck had worked for the full route. The mud band crossed by around 2:30 and the parade was officially a wrap. (Bear in mind last year it finished after 4pm)
I honestly don't know what to say. I can't come down too hard on DC for this ish because it is what it is. My only issue is that this whole thing just smells fishy to me, I just feel as if some part of the story is missing. I just really hope that the DCCC made enough money to cover last year's and this year's debts and pave the way for a proper, full blown DC Parade next year.
I don't want to give much attention to the violence that was reported as ocurring during the festival. I was actually unaware that any of it happened until yesterday. I think that what everyone should understand is that like other urban areas D.C. has its share of crime, and Howard University has a reputation for being located in the 'hood'. The fight that has made the rounds via youtube and worldstar actually occurred AFTER the parade (around 6:30pm) by which time the actual participants in the parade were already off the streets. So please people don't let anyone tell you that it was Howard University violence or DC Caribbean Parade violence. It was just typical, ignorant DC local behavior. I' m a little confused about how it was possible for the fight to continue as long as it did with no police interference, especially since the DCPD are usually zooming up and down GA Ave on a regular basis. Its very, very strange.....that's all I have to say about that.
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