The History Behind This Holiday Truly Celebrates Blackness

man wearing white green and orange costume
Alyssa Guzik
January 5, 2025

It's vibrant and colorful. It rivals the energy of Carnival but it's only celebrated in a few Black communities in the Caribbean. So, what exactly is Junkanoo, and why haven’t we heard about it before now?

The enslaved were guaranteed only three days off a year: Christmas Day, Boxing Day (December 26), and New Year's Day. During this period, many would use the time to celebrate their heritage and culture. But in the Caribbean nations, it took on a life of its own.

The festival, named for African Chief John Canoe, fuses African traditions with drumming, dancing, and vibrant costumes alongside colonial influences. Junkanoo is a uniting force of collective identity, held every Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

At its heart, however, Junkanoo is about community. It's about coming together to create something greater than ourselves. The effort starts weeks before the event. People rehearse dances and build costumes, all to celebrate the shared joy of life and to honor their history.

Junkanoo remains a living tribute to the power of community and the enduring strength of culture. How we celebrate the holidays and our culture across the diaspora is a beautiful and truly unique experience. But even though Blackness celebrates in many forms, the one thing we will all always celebrate is community.

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