The Battle of J'ouvert & The Heist at Columbus Heights

I was blessed with the opportunity to travel to the country of Jamaica this past April to photograph a wedding. While there I experienced tons of new things, tried new foods, and gained new friends. We did numerous activities that I NEVER thought I would do in my life and I am extremely blessed to have done. There is one activity that I did that clearly sticks out during my trip. I attended a party called J'ouvert (Pronounced Joo-Vay) and I had no idea what to expect.

When I received my "must have" list from the bride and groom, it stated that I needed an old outfit and shoes that I didn't want anymore, an old towel, and some baby oil. I HAD NO IDEA what to expect. If you haven't been to Jamaica, I strongly urge you to take a trip. When I tell you that these cats like to PARTY, TRUST ME that I'm telling you the truth. Have you ever been to a party that lasted 8 hours or more? Yeah... Jamaica does just that. J'ouvert was a party in a whole league of its own. Imagine walking onto an outdoor area the size of 3 football fields only to see women in bikini's covered in paint from head to toe running from OTHER women and men carrying paint? It was like one huge paint fight with a sexy twist! It was CRAZY to say the least! Oh yeah... There was an OPEN BAR the WHOLE ENTIRE TIME... Top shelf... yeah... dead serious... Wowsers...!!

**Here is some MENTAL NUTRITION**
The word J'ouvert (also spelled Jouve) is derived from the french phrase jour ouvert, or day open. (Morning) It is celebrated through ALL of the caribbean countries although it originated in the East Indies. The party includes many calypso and soca groups that perform while the crowd dances and cheers to the great beats. Some historians theorize J'vouvert evolved from the Canboulay festivals in the 1800's. Canboulay was a night time celebration that was an alternative for the slaves that were not permitted to participate in the carnivals in trinidad. Although Trinidad was not colonized by the French plantation owners, it still to this day have a huge french influence. The french plantation owners would imitate the negres jardins (garden slaves) and cover themselves with mud, paint, powder, chocolate, and anything else that would stick to the skin and clothing. Following the emancipation, the newly freed slaves took over canboulay and imitated their former slave masters. I guess that is where the powder came into play. Needless to say, J'ouvert in Trinidad marks the beginning of Carnival as we know it today.

There wasn't a clean body in the building shortly after we arrived. It was group of about 15 of us and we walked in clean, oiled up/greasy, and unsuspecting. Since I wasn't scared to get the party started among our group, I grabbed some paint and started leaving my hand prints everywhere that I could. (Get your mind out of the gutter... heehee) To say that I had fun would be an understatement. I ran around like a little kid at the park. I ran around like my dog Piper outside without a leash. I needed that release. For once in a LONG time I WAS NOT thinking about processing images, meeting deadlines, negotiating with promotors, getting sleep, or anything else involving Concepts Productions. The only thing I could think about was smearing paint on everyone and the stinging pain on my back. You see, my boy RoyLee (also known as the groom and my frat brother) decided that he was going to give me a "Thunder and Lighting" to my back with his hands covered in paint... Ouch... That hurt. Greeks know what I'm talking about. LOL... but I digress... The point is that I was having some of the best fun I had experienced in a very long time. It was CRAZY! So take THAT little kid Tomfoolery and add the live concert by Caribbean soca artist Machel Montano and you will receive sore legs, a paint covered body and face, and energy that you never knew that you had. This guy is like the Caribbean version of JAY-Z... Crazy huh? To say that he tore it down would be yet another understatement. He ripped it up and tore it down for over 3 hours straight. When was the last time YOUR FAVORITE ARTIST performed for 3 hours straight without a break? His background dancers were breath taking... I couldn't believe how OFF D CHAIN they were. "Oh my" multiplied by three.

So what did I learn from going to a paint throwing party? Read this and learn this. I learned more about UNITY. When I was in that field covered with paint with the other thousands of people I was not an American... I wasn't an Alpha, a dark skinned black man, a short man, or a photographer. I was just ME.... and THEY were just THEM. You see, I learned at J'ouvert that while you are covered in paint you are actually ONE. You are one body, one mind, and one spirit. In America, it seems like we always have conversations about light skin and dark skin but would we in fact have that convo if our skin was covered from head to toe with orange paint? Walking through the streets of Ochi, we looked at the locals and referred to them as Jamaicans and they looked at our group and recognized us as Americans. At J'ouvert we looked at EACH OTHER as people. For once we were all the same. We were ALL dancing to Soca, we were all covered with paint, we were ALL having the time of our lives. How amazing is that? It kinda makes you want to carry a bucket of paint to work tomorrow huh? I FEEL YOU... Experiencing this event definitely brought our group of people closer as well as give us a different perspective/opinion about the people of Ochi Jamaica.

PART 2 -THE HEIST AT COLUMBUS HEIGHTS will be COMING NEXT WEEK! Be sure to check for it.

As always, your comments are always welcome!!!

J. Wiggins