{"id":13290,"date":"2019-09-04T23:03:41","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T03:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=13290"},"modified":"2023-08-26T23:15:56","modified_gmt":"2023-08-27T03:15:56","slug":"cambridge-carnival-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2019\/09\/04\/cambridge-carnival-2\/","title":{"rendered":"At Protest Over Canceled Cambridge Carnival, Organizers Call For Scaled-Back Festival In Late September"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cPreserve our culture!\u201d shouted Cambridge Carnival supporters as they marched down Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge\u2019s Central Square this evening. \u201cKeep our carnival!\u201d<\/p>\n

The protest was in response to the Aug. 29 announcement that the spectacular annual Caribbean parade and festival planned for Sept. 8 was being canceled due to fears of violence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\""We<\/a>
“We will not go quietly.” “Preserve our culture.” Signs at the \u201cMarch for Peace\u201d down Cambridge’s Massachusetts Avenue in response to the cancellation of the 2019 Carnival. Sept. 4, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThere have been increasing safety concerns associated with this year\u2019s event due in part to the gun violence that occurred last weekend in the immediate vicinity of Boston\u2019s Caribbean Carnival Parade,\u201d Cambridge Carnival International, which organizes the celebration, wrote on the event Facebook page on Aug. 29.<\/p>\n

A joint statement from city government leaders and the organization, headed by Nicola A. Williams, who is currently running for Cambridge City Council, said: \u201cBased on the recommendation of Cambridge Police Commissioner Branville G. Bard, Jr., and the Cambridge Carnival Committee, the City Manager Louis A. DePasquale have agreed to cancel this year\u2019s Cambridge Carnival.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tonight, the Cambridge Carnival Committee gathered supporters for a \u201cUnity Rally\u201d on the steps of Cambridge City Hall, followed by \u201cMarch for Peace\u201d down Massachusetts Avenue to Main Street and Union Baptist Church, for a community forum.<\/p>\n

By the time marchers arrived at Union Baptist Church on Main Street, they\u2019d been drenched by a downpour. To a soggy audience of about 80 people\u2014including Bard and Cambridge City Councilor Quinton Zondervan\u2014Williams announced what the Carnival Committee wants from the city.<\/p>\n

She called for a scaled-back Carnival to be held in a place like University Park on Sept. 28 or 29. \u201cProvide assurances that the city will employ the necessary resources and do everything in its power to ensure that the Carnival is going to be safe this year, and in the future,\u201d she said. The city, she said, should reimburse the Carnival funds lost due to cancellations. The city should commit to holding the Cambridge Carnival parade and festival in 2020. And she called on the city to seek out lessons from Boston\u2019s July 4th celebrations and other Caribbean Carnivals in Boston, New York, Trinidad and London.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarnival is an expression of our freedom,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIt\u2019s about our history. It\u2019s about our culture. It\u2019s about where we came from. It\u2019s also about where we\u2019re going. \u2026 We belong here and we\u2019re not going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cambridge<\/a>
Cambridge Carnival President Nicola A. Williams speaks at the \u201cUnity Rally\u201d on the steps of Cambridge City Hall in response to the cancellation of the 2019 Carnival. Sept. 4, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The evening\u2019s events began with a rally on the front steps of Cambridge City Hall. \u201cI know this was really disappointing to this community,\u201d Cambridge Mayor Marc McGovern said. \u201cI\u2019m sorry for that. \u2026 We\u2019re going to figure out a resolution not just for this year, but moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cambridge City Manager Louis A. DePasquale appeared for a time at the top of the City Hall stairs, behind the speakers, but did not speak publicly at the rally.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s never been a carnival cancelled anywhere,\u201d Ken Reeves, a former mayor of Cambridge and currently president of the Cambridge branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, told the crowd. \u201c…We scratch our heads.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore this carnival there wasn\u2019t any event in Cambridge that celebrated black people, none,\u201d Reeves said.<\/p>\n

Cambridge City Councilor Quinton Zondervan said he was committed to working with Cambridge police and city officials to make sure \u201cthat it\u2019s never cancelled again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an opportunity to address an issue that\u2019s affecting not only Cambridge but the whole United States: gun violence,\u201d Ulric Johnson of Tempo International Rhythm Section, a Dorchester steel band that planned to perform at the carnival, said at the start of the community forum at Union Baptist Church. \u201cIf there\u2019s a threat to an event, you do what you can to protect the lives at the event. You don\u2019t cancel the event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previously:<\/strong>
\nAug. 30: Cambridge Carnival Canceled Over Fears Of Gun Violence, Organizers Say<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\"\u201cMarch<\/a>
\u201cMarch for Peace\u201d down Cambridge’s Massachusetts Avenue in response to the cancellation of the 2019 Carnival. Sept. 4, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\u201cMarch<\/a>
\u201cMarch for Peace\u201d down Cambridge’s Massachusetts Avenue in response to the cancellation of the 2019 Carnival. Sept. 4, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\u201cMarch<\/a>
\u201cMarch for Peace\u201d down Cambridge’s Massachusetts Avenue in response to the cancellation of the 2019 Carnival. Sept. 4, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A community forum at Cambridge’s Union Baptist Church responds to the cancellation of the 2019 Carnival. Sept. 4, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cambridge<\/a>
Cambridge Carnival President Nicola A. Williams speaks at a community forum at Cambridge’s Union Baptist Church responds to the cancellation of the 2019 Carnival. Sept. 4, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cPreserve our culture!\u201d shouted Cambridge Carnival supporters as they marched down Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge\u2019s Central Square this evening. \u201cKeep our carnival!\u201d The protest was in response to the Aug. 29 announcement that the spectacular annual Caribbean parade and festival planned for Sept. 8 was being canceled due to fears of violence. \u201cThere have been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13285,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[106,111,108,102,119],"tags":[42,600,1069],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13290"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13290"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23615,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13290\/revisions\/23615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}