Yvette Rennie — the Trinidadian-born president of the Brooklyn-based J’Ouvert City International, organizer of the annual J’Ouvert that precedes the massive West Indian American Day Carnival Parade on Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkaway — says the theme for this year’s celebration is “Rejuvenate! Breaking The Chain & Embracing The Movement.”
“At this time last year, we promised that J’Ouvert was going to come back bigger and better in 2022,” Rennie said. “I am pleased to announce, as officers and members of J’ouvert City International, we are poised to deliver on this promise come Labor Day morning, Sept. 5.
“Our J’Ouvert Parade 2022 is once again on the calendar, and the plans and activities surrounding the event are motivating,” she added. “We, as well as our many participants and patrons, are excited that, with the 38th edition of the pre-dawn masquerade parade, we are about to showcase our culture after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19,” Rennie continued. “When we took the painstaking decision to cancel the parade for the past two years, we did so with the utmost responsibility and concern for the health and well being of all and sundry.”
“But just, as we have been throughout the lifespan of J’Ouvert City International, we take the personal safety of spectators and revelers as a critical part of our mandate in staging a celebration of this magnitude,” she said.
Therefore, Rennie said her group is “pleased to have resumed our strategic planning sessions with all the stake holders, City of New York Administration, New York Police Department, Mayor Eric Adams, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and other elected officials in crafting purposeful plans to ensure a safe and incident free parade.”
As customary, the official parade route is Grand Army Plaza & Flatbush Ave. to Empire Boulevard, and ends at Nostrand Avenue and Midwood Road, from 6:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
“This will be our safe corridor during those hours, and we say this in a preemptive rejection of any attempt to attach anti-social behavior in other parts and times in the city to the J’Ouvert parade,” Rennie said. “However, as always, vigilance is the key.
“Therefore, we plan to be so more than ever, as we embrace our spectacular 2022 Theatre of the Streets celebration,” she added.
Rennie said J’Ouvert City International, Inc., along with its affiliated organizations, which consist of steelband orchestras, masquerade groups and rhythm bands, (is) “proud to announce that we are kicking off our celebration by honoring 25 individuals,” including elected officials and “concerned members of our community, who have worked tirelessly alongside us and behind the scenes to ensure that our culture is maintained, recognized and respected.”
Rennie said the 2022 Grand Marshal “Cultural Ambassador” will be honored at the J’Ouvert Labor Day morning celebration.
