The Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club (founded 1916) is a Carnival

Carnival

Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...

 Krewe

Krewe

A krewe is an organization that puts on a parade and or a ball for the Carnival season. The term is best known for its association with New Orleans Mardi Gras, but is also used in other Carnival celebrations around the Gulf of Mexico, such as the Gasparilla Pirate Festival in Tampa, Florida, and...

 in New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

 which puts on the Zulu parade each Mardi Gras

New Orleans Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana, is a Carnival celebration well-known throughout the world.The New Orleans Carnival season, with roots in preparing for the start of the Christian season of Lent, starts after Twelfth Night, on Epiphany . It is a season of parades, balls , and king cake parties...

 Day. Zulu is New Orleans' largest predominantly African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 carnival organization known for its blackfaced krewe members

Krewe

A krewe is an organization that puts on a parade and or a ball for the Carnival season. The term is best known for its association with New Orleans Mardi Gras, but is also used in other Carnival celebrations around the Gulf of Mexico, such as the Gasparilla Pirate Festival in Tampa, Florida, and...

 wearing grass skirts and its unique throw of hand-painted coconuts.

History

In 1908, John L. Metoyer and members of a New Orleans Mutual aid society

Benefit society

A benefit society or mutual aid society is an organization or voluntary association formed to provide mutual aid, benefit or insurance for relief from sundry difficulties...

 called “The Tramps”, attended a vaudevillian

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 comedy show called, “There Never Was and Never Will Be a King Like Me”. The musical comedy performed by the “Smart Set” at the Pythian Temple Theater on the corner of Gravier and Saratoga in New Orleans, included a skit where the characters wore grass skirts and dressed in blackface

Blackface

Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...

. Metoyer became inspired by the skit and reorganized his marching troupe from baggy-pant-wearing tramp

Tramp

A tramp is a long term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking or hiking all year round. In British English meanwhile a tramp simply refers to a homeless person, usually not a travelling one....

s to a new group called the “Zulus”. In 1909, Metoyer and the first Zulu king, William Story, wore a lard-can

Lard

Lard is pig fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms. Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a cooking fat or shortening, or as a spread similar to butter. Its use in contemporary cuisine has diminished because of health concerns posed by its saturated-fat content and its often negative...

 crown and carried a banana stalk as a scepter. Six years later in 1915, the first decorated platform was constructed with dry goods boxes on a spring wagon

Sprung cart

A sprung cart was a light, one-horse , two-wheeled vehicle with road springs, for the carriage of passengers on informal occasions. Its name varied according to the body mounted on it....

. The King’s float was decorated with tree moss

Spanish Moss

Spanish moss is a flowering plant that grows upon larger trees, commonly the Southern Live Oak or Bald Cypress in the southeastern United States....

 and palmetto leaves.


In 1916, Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club became incorporated where the organization’s bylaws were established as well as its social mission and dedication to benevolence and goodwill.

In 1933, the Lady Zulu Auxiliary was formed by the wives of Zulu members, and in 1948, Edwina Robertson became the first Queen of Zulu making the club the first to feature a queen in a parade.

In the 1960s, membership dwindled as a result of social pressures from civil rights activists. The protesters advertised in the local black community's newspaper The Louisiana Weekly

The Louisiana Weekly

The Louisiana Weekly is a weekly newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It covers topics of interest to the African American community, especially in the New Orleans area and south Louisiana. It has a circulation of 5,854....

stating:

The krewe, with support of the Mayor and Chief-of-Police, refused to fall from pressures and continued to parade, but gave up blackfacing, wearing grass skirts, and kept the identity of the king secret. Due to continued pressures, by 1965, there were only 15 Zulu members remaining. The membership of local civil rights leaders Ernest J. Wright and Morris F.X. Jeff, Sr. into Zulu, eventually lifted tensions and membership started to increase and the krewe resumed their old traditions including blackface.

In 1973, Roy E."Glap” Glapion, Jr., Zulu president from 1973–1988, started recruiting professionals, educators, and prominent businessmen from all ethnic backgrounds to fill its membership - making Zulu the first parading organization to racially integrate.

Zulu Coconut

Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club is well known to parade goers for throwing coconuts, called the 'Golden Nugget', to the crowd. In the early 1900s, other parading organizations threw fancy glass necklaces that were handmade and expensive. The working men of Zulu could not afford expensive treats, but still wanted to give a special prize to lucky parade goers. The men decided to purchase coconuts from the French Market

French Market

The French Market is a market and series of commercial buildings in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.It stretches just inland from the Mississippi River in the section of the French Quarter downriver from Jackson Square, with the famous Café du Monde at the upriver end, down to the...

 because they were unique and inexpensive. Painted and adorned coconuts became popular with the club starting in the late 1940s. In 1987, the organization was unable to renew its insurance coverage. Mounting lawsuits stemming from coconut related injuries, forced a halt to the longstanding tradition of throwing coconuts. In 1988, Governor Edwin W. Edwards

Edwin Edwards

Edwin Washington Edwards served as the Governor of Louisiana for four terms , twice as many terms as any other Louisiana chief executive has served. Edwards was also Louisiana's first Roman Catholic governor in the 20th century...

 signed Louisiana State Bill #SB188, the “Coconut Bill”, into law removing liability from injuries resulting from a coconut - enabling the tradition to resume.

King of Zulu

List of Past Kings of Zulu

1909 – William Story 1910 – William J. Crawford 1911 – Alex Washington 1912 – Peter Williams 1913 – James Bolton 1914 – Henry Harris 1915 – John White 1916 – John White 1917 – James Robertson 1918-1919 – WAR 1920 – Freddie Brown 1921 – James Robertson 1922 – Herbert Permillion 1923 – Joseph Kahoe 1924 – Adrian Hippolite 1925 – Baley Robertson 1926 – Joseph L. Smith 1927 – Arnold L. Moss 1928 – Henry Hicks 1929 – Wurry Watson 1930 – Paul Johnson 1931 – Allen Leon 1932 – Alonzo Butler 1933 – Allen Leon 1934 – Leopold LeBlanc 1935 – Baptiste Giles 1936 – Edward Hewlett 1937 – Arthur Royal 1938 – Leopold LeBlanc 1939 – Allen James 1940 – Emmanuel Bernard 1941 – Alonzo Butler 1942-1945 – WAR 1946 – Clen Vandage 1947 – Joseph Warrington 1948 – James Smith 1949 – Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.... 1950 – William Poole 1951 – Roland Brown 1959 – Melvin Green 1960 – Baptiste Giles 1961 – Henry Johnson 1962 – Melvin Green 1963 – William Poole 1964 – Edward Johnson 1965 – Milton Bienamee

1966 – Alfred “Al” Barnes 1967 – Milton Bienamee 1968 – William “Honey” Boykins 1969 – Elizah J. Peters 1970 – Milton Bienamee 1971 – Henry “Bo” Berry 1972 – Arthur “Sonny Boy” Carter 1973 – Steve “Bulldog Buddy” Johnson 1975 – Harold Doley 1976 – Dr. Lawler P. Daniels Jr. 1977 – A.J. “Chuck” Mercadel 1978 – Willie L. Papin 1979 – Joseph O. Misshore, Jr. 1980 – Elliot Boisdore 1981 – John Elliot Adams 1982 – Charles L. Givens 1983 – Jesse J. Balancier 1984 – Alfred H. Gordon 1985 – Eddie R. Carter 1986 – Louis Augustin 1987 – Fred Thomas 1988 – Arthur Vigne 1989 – Owens “OJ” Haynes 1990 – Keith E. Weatherspoon 1991 – Charles E. Hamilton, Jr. 1992 – James “Jim” Russell 1993 – Oscar Piper 1994 – David Belfield 1995 – Straughter Prophet 1996 – Louis R. Rainey, Jr. 1998 – Wallace Broussard 1999 – Dr. Myron Moorehead 2000 – Roy E. Glapion, Jr. 2001 – Melvin A. Armour 2002 – Louis “Tony” Williams 2003 – Gary A. Thornton 2004 – Gerard M. Johnson 2005 – Isaac “Ike” Wheeler 2006 – No Elections Due to Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall... 2007 – Larry A. Hammond 2008 – Frank Boutte’ 2009 – Tyrone Anthony Mathieu, Sr. 2010 – Jimmie L. Felder 2011 – Anthony "Tony" Barker, Sr.

External links

• Zulu Official Page