[MUSIC PLAYING] “You know how it start from a seed and it be a beautiful masterpiece? Like a rose from the concrete.” “Sunshine is powerful, huh?” “You can’t stop spirit. Spirit doesn’t have a name, and neither does feeling. What is true is. You can’t stop spirit. Spirit doesn’t have a name, and neither does feeling. What is true is. You can’t stop spirit. Spirit doesn’t have a name, and neither does feeling. What is real is.” “Welcome to New Orleans.” “You can’t stop spirit. Spirit doesn’t have a name.” “Oh, baby. What they don’t say.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “My name is Cinnamon Black. I’m a Treme million-dollar baby dolls. I’m also second queen with Fi Yi Yi. Because I am a Voodoo priest, they call me Voodoo baby-doll queen. I’d like to welcome you to our city.” “In the city of New Orleans we practice two things. We practice Mardi Gras and we practice Carnival. There’s spirituality, and there’s also sensuality in this excitement here. Both of these are combined. Because Carnival begins early in the morning. It’s practiced in several places in the world. But the bones and skulls are what come out first. They are Papa Legba, which is the first spirit to be called. They march to Congo Square at 4:00 am, and they play drums and drink. They have this huge, bloody bone. And they have these large signs that say no to drugs, listen to your parents, don’t join a gang or truly I will be back to get you. The second part is the baby dolls. We are not the bones and skeletons at the same moment, but we come out right after them. We are the birthplace of Mardi Gras and Carnival. We dress as babies. We wear satin dresses and bloomers. We have parasols and pacifiers. Also, probably a vodka bottle. But it represents Oshun, the goddess of love.“ “Once I step out, yes, I am a queen. On Mardi gras day and every day that I trust in this trust. Even when I don’t have the dress on —” [LAUGHING] “I had a head full of glitter, and it’s just leaving when it wants to leave.“ “Ain’t nothing wrong with beautiful sisters. That’s a queen, right here.” “He just wanted to take care of everything and wanted me to be this queen penthouse wife. And I’m like, no. I’m used to getting it on my own. So when I left him, that was my breakthrough.” “I said, ‘Shannon, are youGoing to make me a queen?’ And look what she said. ‘I’m the only queen.’” [LAUGHING] “All I could do is just fall out laughing. I was like, ‘I knew you was going to say that.’ But that [NO AUDIO] going to [INAUDIBLE]One of these days? Because someone [INAUDIBLE] tough. I’m going to be the [NO AUDIO] duchess or somebody.” “I don’t know if other people feel how I feel.” “You talk about the patience of Job.” “But it means something more personal and more — I don’t know, probably emotional, too. When it’s your people running up to you out of nowhere, people you don’t even know. Children especially. Like, ‘Oh, can I see that umbrella?’ Yeah, you can see. ‘I can hold it?’ Want to take a picture? ‘Yeah, let’s take it.’ The voice change. Let’s take pictures. And here comes the whole family.” “You’re like a diva in your community.” “The reason I mask and continue to mask is because — I don’t know if you guys feel it — it is an emotion. It’s a spirit that takes over you. Those drums. It was amazing to see all the pageantry and all these people. It is so sweet to see little girls come up to me and ask for pictures. Even though it is hard to believe, I find it very comforting for little girls with dark skin. Mama, her skin like my skin. Self-love is a must. And we ain’t pretty just because we are dark. Just say you’re pretty. It gives me energy. It gives me life.” “You can’t stop spirit. Spirit doesn’t have a name, and neither does feeling. What is true is. Voodoo has a lot in common with New Orleans and spirituality. There’s a lot to do with the second line and the first line. Because the funerals were the inspiration for the second line. That music is what brings you out of the house and to the church. Your ancestors will be a part if you listen to the music and allow it into your soul. New Orleans is a city that — they believe in sending you home when you pass away. They don’t just have some funeral. They send you home. Paying your respects, that’s how you give your offering to the [EXPLETIVE] city. When I feel inspired by spirit, I don’t put on my baby doll costume. I’m proclaiming my womanhood.” “I want my baby dolls to always be fearless in every way. Meaning you’re not afraid to get dressed and go out there and show your [EXPLETIVE]. But at the same time you’re not afraid to stand up for yourself. You’re not afraid to speak up for yourself. You’re not afraid to do whatever it takes to get your respect.” “How are you going to embrace being a baby doll and what it takes to be a baby doll if you ain’t even embraced your womanhood yet?” “The baby dolls were actually whores when they first came out. They used to dress up. They were loved by white men. The white men used money to pin money on them when they first came out. They’d walk up the street full of money. They’d dress like baby dolls to upstage them white whores down there in the quarters, Decatur. Heads up, they were the ladies.” “They were maybe women of the night, or they were some women that did some questionable things. Or just in the culture that we are, some men say they think that the woman’s body is for them. So that was their way of protecting themselves.” “The art of baby doll is that it’s not one singular story, right? Story [INAUDIBLE] is one characterization of the development of the baby doll.” “We’re every other woman. We just open in that region. The fact that you know that I dance, you’re going to belittle my character. That doesn’t define me. I can talk you around here. But I’m already stamped. But you denied me at first. You know what? I love a misfit. But that’s how the society look at us. I can’t really identify with it. So I’m going to just own it. This character and that character are different people. How could you be?” “Once you put on these outfits, you’re a different person. Whereas if, when you’re being a baby doll, you are able to let your hair down. So I’m more childish, then I’ll be more toyish or more sexy.” “You can’t stop spirit. Spirit doesn’t have a name, and neither does feeling. What is real is.” “There are some things that men can do that we can’t do. And there are some things that we can do that they can’t do, either. Voodoo in Haiti is ruled by men. But in New Orleans, it’s ruled by women. Welcome to our world.“ “You can’t never go outside of your purpose or outside of yourself. I know that I went through a period where I tried to fit in with this mold. And that’s why I was like, ‘It’s not about other people but yourself.’” “You ain’t me, and I ain’t you.” “Watch yourself, and everything else going to come to you.” “All I can tell you, pay attention to yourself. Pay attention to your moods and how they change. Pay attention to why they change, or did anybody contribute to that?” “You can’t water yourself down.” “You ain’t me, and I ain’t you.“ “And that’s how it is.” “Whatever in your mind and your heart you feel, that’s what you do.” “You got to sit us in a bottle and point us to the sky. You have to be the best version of yourself. Guess what? [INAUDIBLE]Other [NO AUDIO] that’s going to be firecrackers with you.” “Everybody going to see it. You know what I’m saying? And on Mardi Gras day, that’s your stage. That’s your debut. That is your day.” “That’s it. That’s it. Because when you come out on Mardi Gras day, you’re about to come out, you’re about the top dog. You’re about to put your foot on that ground and shake it. You know what I’m saying? That’s it. [EXPLETIVE]It is very important to me. Put on that masquerade and put on that costume, and you transform into something that is liberating, that is free, that counters what people’s expectations are of you.” “All for the love of the beauty and the culture and hitting them streets on Mardi Gras morning.” “That [EXPLETIVE] is important to me.” “For that moment, for that day, for just the little time that I can walk ready with my umbrella, nothing else matters.” “That’s your stage. That’s your debut. That is your day.” “That’s it. Right there.” “It’s an emotion. It’s a spirit that takes over you.” “All for my people to see me looking fire.” “Once you put on these outfits, you’re a different person.” “That means something to your people. When I say ‘your people,’ I mean the people that look like me, that’s coming out to see me.” “We are the birth of Mardi Gras, the birth of Carnival.” “They represent St. Anne for the Catholics and then Oshun, the goddess of love, for the Africans.” “To see the money I spent, to see the work I put in.” “We have to go out and behave a particular way to feel or to be accepted. You know, I’ve seen that happen to my grandmother, to my mother, to my auntie. I didn’t really get to know their true identities because they were so protective of them, afraid of being chastised by someone outside. I feel free. You know what? And all those other identities, I just shake out. In the moment, I’m me.” “You can’t stop spirit. Spirit doesn’t have a name, and neither does feeling. What is real is.”
Source: NY Times
