Did you miss Guyana’s Mashramani? Weren’t able to take off work for Trinidad’s Carnival? Cyan’t wait for Barbados’ Crop Over?
Nah worry. We gotchu boo. Is carnival time here at RACA! Blog Carnival that is! That’s right, in conjunction with the Blogging While Brown conference, we are hosting our first ever blog carnival.
What’s a blog carnival? It begins with a blogger who hosts the carnival (that would be us). We will choose a topic for the carnival then put out a call for submissions (that would be this post) to other bloggers asking them to participate in the carnival.
Participating bloggers publish a post related to the blog carnival topic on their own blogs then send the link to that post to the blog carnival host. On the date of the blog carnival, the host publishes a post on his or her own blog that includes links to the participants’ submitted posts. Got it?
What if you don’t have a blog? It alright. Just submit your post, as per the submission instructions at the end of this post, and we will publish it as a guest post on our final blog carnival page.
What’s the theme of this years carnival? If you didn’t already know, here in the States June is National Caribbean American Heritage Month. In honor of this distinction, the theme for our blog carnival will be to celebrate, commiserate and poke fun at all that it means to be Caribbean-American. So whether you are Caribbean-born now living in the States or American-born of Caribbean ancestry (living in the States or another part of the world) or some next permutation of Caribbean-American, we want to hear from you!
What are the rules?
There will be 4 sections of the carnival that you can participate in. First up is:
For this section we are seeking posts that are about the pure fun, uninhibited good times and the sheer bacchanal that punctuates the Caribbean-American experience. Examples of Jouvert posts could include humor pieces, erotica, nostalgia posts, etc.
Next we have:
For this section we are seeking posts that explore the music, dance & fashion culture of the Caribbean-American community. Examples of posts in this section could include music playlists of the years top soca songs, a breakdown of the best fete fashions, or a dancehall step tutorial.
Our third section will be:
No beads and bikini mas here. I’m all for feathers and fun, but RACA’s mas will be a traditional one. Historically, carnival mas started when slaves, banned from attending the fancy masquerade balls of their owners, began mimicking and mocking them during their own celebrations instead. From this sprang several traditional mas characters, each of whom had a cultural, historical or political significance. For this section we are seeking posts that explore the cultural, historical and political issues that are relevant to the Caribbean-American community. Examples of such posts may include immigration, Caribbean cultural traditions or political movements in the community.
And last but not least we have:
Carnival is a family affair! So leh we not forget we chirren, right? For this section we are seeking posts for, by and about the Caribbean-American family as a unit or our children in particular. Examples of appropriate posts could be how you keep your kids connected to Caribbean culture, what it’s like to attend school in the Caribbean or kid friendly Caribbean-American meals.
How do you submit your post?
1. Write an original post, or submit a previously published post, that fits the theme/sections indicated above. You can submit traditional blog posts, vlogs, playlists, recipes, poems, photo essays, etc. We are accepting submissions from now through the end of June.
2. Be sure to include this copy at the end of your post: This post was written/published as part of Blogging While Brown & Rewind and Come Again’s 2014 June Blog Carnival celebrating National Caribbean-American Heritage Month. This text should link to the final blog carnival page (http://racadev.rewindandcomeagain.com/2014-caribbean-american-blog-carnival)
3. Share your post with us via Facebook, Twitter, (be sure to use the hashtag #CaribAmeriBWB) email at info@rewindandcomeagain.com, or in the comments below.
4. Visit our 2014 Caribbean-American Blog Carnival page daily to check out new submissions.
I can’t wait to see what you guys have in store for this carnival! I expect you all, in true Caribbean-American fashion, to show up and out for this e-mas. So follow the digital big truck as we march down de internet road!
