PAH-TEE DUN!? Does The Earlier Ending West Indian Parade Change The Culture?

After some weeks away I'm back today on deh pahkweh and u can't believe it really shuts down at 4pm.

Judging by how many people were still lining the parade route after it was done, I'm not alone.

The ruling passed a few years back curtailing city parades to 4pm meant almost nothing for most parades but the West Indian Day Parade is the big exception.

Years gone by would see the parade last well into 7p recent decades brought the end time to 6.

The opinion of whether the earlier ending is good or bad is divided by culture and straddled by race. One thing seems clear based on the piles of still simmering food trays and still burning cook fires, food vendors are still coming loaded for hours of sales. I wonder how they made out

Pah-tee dun? Pah-tee dun!

and so went my summer of 08 on the parkway in brooklyn proudly two fisted flag waving next to a see of caribbean pride and serenaded by Wyclef and crew...
um..? i just got back and i'm sticky with goat gravy, barbecue and dance sweat, so later the fuller writing on the Carnival that is the West Indian Day Parade,for now, the tidbits:


today the sky was beautiful, a blue of metallic sheen reflecting a spectacular illusion of endlessness....(i am an illustrator after all)

but starting with last night,
I came back from the Michael Jackson vs Prince party, ran into family
got back to BK at 4am and wandered into the parkway which looked like this....




next morn, headed over to grannie in crown heights and wandered threw this....

and then after visiting feisty grannie, I wandered back with a sense of perfection except for my lack of flag waving experiences,

but then, to the rescue, came the unstoppable force-wave of Haitian Pride...
(there's Wyclef flag waving on the truck)


this truck had my favorite chant of the day, if you missed it, it went
"mighty..." "mighty..." "mighty..." "mighty..."
"mighty..." "mighty..." "mighty..." "mighty..."
"o-bah-mah" "o-bah-mah" "o-bah-mah" "o-bah-mah"
"o-bah-mah" "o-bah-mah" "o-bah-mah" "o-bah-mah"
(*2&4th verses gets the oomph)

Which in light of recent events, summer ending, labor day, school starting, politics, weather...make me think
pah-tee dun? pah-tee dun!
pah-tee dun? pah-tee dun!
(*both times oomph!)