Jamaican Jonkanoo Research Project

The irreplaceable legacy of Jamaican Jonkanoo has been slowly disappearing. Will you join me to help restore the tradition? I'd like future generations to not only enjoy it, but understand how enslaved Africans used ingenuity and creativity to fight oppression. I'm raising money to travel to Jamaica to research and document Jonkanoo practitioners during Christmas and New Year holidays when they traditionally appear. The project is partially funded through International Eye LA, with grants from Alliance for California Traditional Arts LA County Department of Arts and Culture and City of West Hollywood but we need to raise matching funds to cover all of our research expenses. Any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me and our community. The majority of funds will be needed between December 15th, 2021 and January 15, 2022.

More information about International Eye LA

International Eye LA is a 501(c)(3) corporation healing communities through culture and the arts. It programs public spaces with creative activities that encourage people to engage, share, learn and heal.

The organization serves artists, youth, immigrants and international creative practitioners whose visions and voices are not equitably represented in the communities where they live and work. We activate public spaces with multicultural, multidisciplinary arts projects, educational programs and events that provide a healing balm for our shared humanity. IELA approaches its activities with an equity-based, international perspective that seeks to heal socio-economic disparities.

How Funds will be used:

Funds will be used to provide ground transportation (car, gas, insurance), accommodations and to compensate Jonkanoo performers (dancers and musicians) and support consultants. We will travel into the rural areas of Jamaica to conduct workshops that we will videotape and bring back to Los Angeles for training and education. We will need to pay for accommodations in different areas of Jamaica as well as research materials - books, photocopies etc., which will be used to continue developing the ongoing project , including an accompanying book, Jamaican Jonkanoo: Resistance Behind the Masquerade