The raging debate over where the money from Junkanoo should go and who should control bleachers and the sale of tickers will contribute to one thing: the destruction of a Street Festival which has been evolving nicely for 200 years.
Junkanoo is now a private parade. It used to be one of the few customs that can be traced back to Africa with any certainty. As the history books record, the celebration of Junkanoo began in the Bahamas around 1801 when under British law slaves were given three days’ holiday at Christmas. This time was used by slaves to reclaim their humanity and heritage, to celebrate the ceremonies and rituals of their former life.
There is no profit in the staging of Junkanoo and no one should barter away the rights of Junkanoo which is subsidized by the government of the Bahamas. In analyzing the controversy no one has asked how can the Minister with responsibility for culture give away public revenue? No government should be able to give away public revenue without legislation.
Today, the culture of greed which permeates North American societies has its grip on Junkanoo, with many Junkanoo leaders and entrepreneurs looking for a monetary cut in the Junkanoo deal. We now hear claims on who owns Junkanoo – with the clear suggestion that it is owned by those persons who paste costumes and rush in the parades. Well, it is not owned by them. The Festival is owned by the Bahamian people in general.
No Junkanoo leader has any right to demand payment for his/her participation in a parade. Such a request must be considered absurd since anyone’s involvement in Junkanoo is voluntary.
The government’s policy to privatize aspects of Junkanoo is not only divisive, but destructive. When the government decided that one private group should own the bleachers, produce and sell tickets, with only ten percent of the revenue going to the national treasury, it created a confusion which will resonate for many years to come. What it has done in effect is to commercialize an old African custom which guaranteed a certain degree of freedom to the rich, the poor and to the haves and the have nots. The government must ensure that the masses has access to a mass cultural festival.
For many years the Ministry responsible for Junkanoo got workers to collect bleachers from the Sports Centre and government parks and placed them in areas along the route for the Junkanoo parade without any controversy. While some of the bleachers required upgrading, they served the purpose. To now contract a private group to provide bleachers is not only unnecessary, but is counterproductive to the development of Junkanoo.
While Junkanoo leaders have no right to any funds collected from the sale of bleacher tickets, they are dead right to complain about a private contractor benefiting financially from their labour of love.
Any money collected from the sale of Junkanoo tickets should go to the Consolidated Fund to replace seed money given Junkanoo groups for their participation. Perhaps the Minister of Youth and Culture would now get the bleacher contractors to provide seed money to each Junkanoo group.
The Bahamian people in the main are not going to accept this travesty of greed on the part of some who wish to profit from this important cultural expression to go unchecked. They will not allow the government to ruin what is by far our most treasured cultural expression.
The government should not be allowed to sell the Festival to a private group. This is what has effectively been done.
Junkanoo was sufficiently commercialized for many years. Artists over the years have been paid for designing and pasting costumes; private individuals made money from welding cowbells and making drums and Junkanoo groups have sold T-shirts and CDs. All of this has nothing to do with the tens of thousands of dollars received from the corporate community. The various groups, with some vision, could improve their income with the production of miniature drums and costumes to be sold to tourists and members of the public as Junkanoo souvenirs. The Junkanoo Expo which was at Prince George Dock was a step in the right direction, but this was poorly handled and supported by government that it failed.
No government should remove itself from the development of the culture of a people. It must ensure that honour and integrity be imposed on those responsible for the management of the culture. It is more animal than human to compete to win with no regard for context. It is greedy and more animal to seek immediate gain or gratification with no regard to context.
Those who truly wish to improve and develop the annual Junkanoo parades must question and consider the context in which they want to benefit financially. As Chris Blackwell and Al Collie did years ago, they should ask what they can do to improve Junkanoo, not just what Junkanoo can do for them.
By Wendall Jones, The Bahama Journal
