Zulu marks 100th year of incorporation
8th February 2016 · 0 Comments
In 1908, John L. Metoyer and members of a New Orleans Mutual aid society called “The Tramps”, attended a vaudevillian comedy show called, There Never Was and Never Will Be a King Like Me. The musical comedy performed by the “Smart Set” at the Pythian Temple Theater on the corner of Gravier and Saratoga streets in New Orleans, included a skit where the characters wore grass skirts and dressed in blackface Metoyer became inspired by the skit and reorganized his marching troupe from baggy-pant-wearing tramps to a new group called the “Zulus.” In 1909, Metoyer and the first Zulu king, William Story, wore a lard-can crown and carried a banana stalk as a scepter Six years later in 1915, the first decorated platform was constructed with dry goods boxes on a spring wagon. The King’s float was decorated with tree moss and palmetto leaves.
In 1916, the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club became incorporated where the organization’s bylaws were established as well as its social mission and dedication to benevolence and goodwill.
In 1933, the Lady Zulu Auxiliary was formed by the wives of Zulu members, and in 1948, Edwina Robertson became the first Queen of Zulu, making the club the first to feature a queen in a parade.
In the 1960s, membership dwindled as a result of social pressures from civil rights activists. The protesters advertised in the local Black community’s newspaper The Louisiana Weekly stating:
“We, the Negroes of New Orleans, are in the midst of a fight for our rights and for a recognition of our human dignity which underlies those rights. Therefore, we resent and repudiate the Zulu Parade, in which Negroes are paid by white merchants to wander through the city drinking to excess, dressed as uncivilized savages and throwing cocoanuts like monkeys. This caricature does not represent Us. Rather, it represents a warped picture against us. Therefore, we petition all citizens of New Orleans to boycott the Zulu Parade. If we want respect from others, we must first demand it from ourselves.”
The krewe, with support of the Mayor and Chief-of-Police, refused to fall from pressures and continued to parade, but gave up blackfacing, wearing grass skirts, and kept the identity of the king secret. Due to continued pressures, by 1965, there were only 15 Zulu members remaining. The membership of local civil rights leaders Ernest J. Wright and Morris F.X. Jeff, Sr. into Zulu, eventually lifted tensions and membership started to increase and the krewe resumed their old traditions including blackface.
In 1973, Roy E.”Glap” Glapion, Jr., Zulu president from 1973–1988, started recruiting professionals, educators, and prominent businessmen from all ethnic backgrounds to fill its membership – making Zulu the first parading organization to racially integrate.
Reigning in 2016 will be King Zulu-elect Jay H. Banks, a member of the local Democratic Committee and director of the Dryades YMCA’s School of Commerce.
Social activism and community service run deep in Jay Banks’ bloodlines. His father, J. Herbert Banks III, was a founding member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and a friend of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and his godfather was McDonogh 35 alum and SCLC founder the Rev. Abraham Lincoln “A.L.” Davis. Early in his career, Banks served as chief of staff for New Orleans City Council presidents Dorothy Mae Taylor —who paved the way for the desegregation of New Orleans Carnival krewes — and Jim Singleton.
Banks, 55, has been dating Queen Zulu-select Artelia Banks since he was 13 and she was 12 and is a graduate of McMain High School and Dillard University. The couple have two children and a grandchild.
Banks is the brother of WBOK radio talk-show host Graylin Banks.
In an article published in New Orleans Magazine last month, Banks talked about what he likes about Zulu and what first attracted him to the organization. “The interesting part about Zulu is that most people know about the fun stuff, but my whole life has been about trying to help people and trying to make this community better,” Banks said. “And the discovery that I made is that in Zulu, social aid is as real as pleasure. The stuff that Zulu does in the community was the major attraction for me. I think that what we do in the community is far more important than what we do on Mardi Gras Day. Now, we’re known worldwide for the Mardi Gras Day stuff. But the magic about Zulu is that what we do in the community isn’t done for the glory, it’s done for the good. So we have all the glory with the fun and parading, but the good that we do is done for the community – that’s the part that’s magic to me.
“[O]ne of the things foreigners don’t understand is, for New Orleanians Mardi Gras is a family celebration,” Banks added. “All of that drunken debauchery you see going on in the French Quarter, that ain’t nobody from New Orleans. I will guarantee you, you ain’t gonna find one New Orleanian who has taken their clothes off for a pair of beads.”
Banks also talked about some of the things he likes to do during Carnival season beyond Zulu. “I live right off of St. Charles, and one of the joys I have of Mardi Gras is sitting on my front porch watching parades go up and down my street,” Banks told New Orleans Magazine. “I love engaging with people as they go to and from the parades. We decorate my house with Mardi Gras beads, and oftentimes you’ll find me standing out at my gate, wearing something with Zulu, talking about Zulu, and if the right conversation happens, some lucky parade-goer or someone who’s leaving the parade will end up with a coconut.”
Zulu’s characters for 2016 are Big Shot – Keith Thomas; Ambassador – Herbert Dunbar; Mayor – Dorian R. Rawles Sr.; Province Prince – Anthony “Tony” Laurent Jr.; Governor — Christopher White; and Mr. Big Stuff – Todd Duvernay.
In the midst of the myriad of activities leading up to Fat Tuesday, including the decoration of coconuts and a flurry of krewe parties, Zulu paused to unveil 10 new floats designed this year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of its incorporation. The Super Floats, designed by Kern Studios, will carry Zulu characters the Big Shot, Witch Doctor, Province Prince, Mayor, Governor, Mr. Big Stuff, Ambassador, Sheriff, and Soulful Warriors.
One of the floats will also pay tribute to Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong with the theme of “It’s Good To Be The King.” Armstrong, a New Orleans native and jazz giant, reigned as King Zulu in 1949.
The sparkling, new, larger-than-life Zulu floats will only strengthen the organization’s status as Mardi Gras’ most popular parade.
As they mark the 100th anniversary of the organization’s incorporation, Zulu members spoke with pride about what the new floats —especially the character floats, which are fully owned by the organization — mean to Zulu.
“For many years, the Zulu organization was interested in having a parade that would fit its image and likeness,” President Naaman Stewart, a McDonogh 35 alum, said. “We believe that the entire city and the entire community, as far as Mardi Gras is concerned, is going to be very excited once these floats roll down the street.”
The new floats represent a major upgrade in appearance and performance for the Zulu parade, whose rented floats have often stalled and caused delays along the parade route.
Longtime Zulu member Bruce Thomas, who served as parade chairman the past three years, told The New Orleans Advocate that the logistical headaches of previous Zulu parades are now a thing of the past. That’s more than enough reason to celebrate in 2016, he said.
“These (new) floats are constructed with steel frames, not wooden frames,” Thomas said.
Thomas added that the new floats use “run-flat” tires that are far less likely to break down on the city’s pothole-riddled streets than air- or foam-filled tires.
“They’ll last forever,” an exuberant Thomas told The New Orleans Advocate. “I like the organization part (of the parade). I pride myself in making things happen the right way.”
With nearly 1,500 riders, there’s not a lot of room for error, he said, but now, “We can load up our floats much earlier.”
Zulu members said the floats are also prewired and can better accommodate the DJs who will keep the party going with music pumped from the floats to the throngs of revelers along the parade route.
But more than anything, the Zulu press conference signaled an organization filled with the pride of ownership.
“You own it now,” said Clarence Becknell, Zulu’s historian emeritus. “You’re looking at an organization that, 100 years ago, came from nothing. It’s like real estate. It shows progress.”
This article originally published in the February 8, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
