Financial assistance available for Black masking groups through Jazz & Heritage grant

By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation is currently accepting applications from Black masking groups for its Jazz & Heritage Music Relief Fund.

Mardi Gras Indians, Babydolls, and members of the Original Northside Skull and Bones Gang are specifically named in this round of funding. According to the rules, “…eligible applicants are adult members of Black masking groups – specifically – Mardi Gras Indian tribes, the Babydolls, and members of the Northside Skull & Bones Gang – that create original ceremonial attire, including suits with beaded images/designs and leather art.”

The goal is to aid members of these groups who have not found supplemental employment and continue to experience financial hardships due to the economic fallout of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation is committed to preserving cultural arts and traditions led by Black masking communities. The Music Relief Fund was created by the foundation to support Louisiana’s music community, whose livelihoods have been impacted by COVID-19 – which has to date benefited nearly 4,000 musicians, music industry workers, and Black masking Indians across the state,” said Don Marshall, executive director of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. “Louisiana would not be as vibrant as it is today without Black masking tradition bearers – who are the foundation of our cultural ecosystem.”

Kim Vaz-Deville, associate dean of Xavier University of Louisiana’s College of Arts and Sciences and author of the 2013 book “The Baby Dolls: Breaking the Race and Gender Barriers of New Orleans Mardi Gras Tradition,” praised the Jazz & Heritage Music Relief Fund’s decision.

“I am happy to see this initiative…targeting Black masking groups such as the Baby Dolls. The fund also has an ease of application that is noteworthy,” said Vaz-Deville. “Economic support for the Black masking community is long overdue. It has taken the pandemic for their importance to come into full view…I hope this type of support becomes annually available from both private and public sources of funding.”

Each adult member of the masking groups should apply individually. None of the groups will be able to apply on behalf of all of their members. Only Louisiana residents are eligible.

Members of local Black masking groups can apply at JazzAndHeritage.org until 11 p.m. on Tuesday, August 3. Members of cultural groups who applied for this fund in 2020 are still eligible for this round of funding, but anyone who received grant funds as a musician in 2021 is not eligible for this round of funding.

There is a limit of one application per person. If an applicant does not have access to a computer or the internet, they may call the Jazz & Heritage Relief Line at (504) 558-6108. There, the applicant will be prompted to leave a voice message with that applicant’s name and contact number, after which, the applicant will receive a phone call within 48 business hours to complete the application over the phone. Assistance is available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

The grant does not include social aid & pleasure clubs or Mardi Gras parade walking groups. Full-time, paid employees of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation are not eligible.

This article originally published in the July 26, 2021 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.