The Krewe of Eris parade marching through the Marigny

This was my second year marching with the Krewe of Eris, the unauthorized parade that marches from the Bywater through the Marigny and to the French Quarter. Last year it was lots of fun, as I hula hooped with my friends at the head of the parade. This year it started out with revelry and celebration, but in the end got broken up by the police and turned ugly. Six police officers were supposedly injured and twelve people marching got arrested, while many others were beaten, tasered, and pepper sprayed.

Two Krewe of Eris paraders before the parade started

The police reported that members of the parade were vandalizing vehicles and kicking over trash cans, among other things. I did not see anything  happening that warranted police brutality but the NOPD is known for violence. The paraders were labeled as “anarchists”, a favorite tactic used by the police state and media to justify police violence. I had many friends in the parade and I would not consider them to be anarchists, but even if they were they are peaceful people and don’t deserve to be beaten.

My friends Ethan and Tori share a sweet moment before the parade

I was walking with a couple of my friends when the helicopters flew over with their spotlights and the police cars came screaming down the street behind us. We ducked down a side street and avoided the mayhem that was soon to ensue. In the aftermath the NOPD has shut down the ARC building which houses the ‘anarchist’ Iron Rail Book Collective, as well as the non-profit bike repair shop Plan B. This is a blow to the community that lives in the Bywater and Marigny and has enjoyed these resources.

Ryan, Lenny, Ben & ? at Krewe of Eris Parade 2011 - costume is Concert in the Egg from Heironymus Bosch painting

Check out the slide show below to see more of my photos, and the video to see the some of the police misconduct caught on film.

Me, Jaimie Lynn and Aviva pose with hoops before Eris

Mardi Gras in New Orleans was a strange and wonderful time. Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday, but the celebrations leading up to the actual day last for about two weeks. Besides the celebrations around the Super Bowl, the peak of Mardi Gras for me was marching in the Krewe d’Eris Parade on Sunday the 14th of February.

Eris is an unauthorized parade, as described on NOLA.com

“As Sunday night slithered out and Lundi Gras scuttled in, The Vieux Carre was swarmed by the filthy vermin of the Krewe of Eris, a wild and phantasmagoric walking (and bicycling and wheelchairing and shopping-carting) krewe dedicated not to misrule but to no rule at all. Unorganized, unauthorized, un-permitted, and unconcerned, the Krewe of Eris is an open-membership tribe honoring Eris, the goddess of discord and strife. In the mythology of the Greeks it was Eris who threw the golden apple that sparked a feud between vain deities, revealing the pettiness and weaknesses of the powerful, and thus the Krewe of Eris gives the lie to the grandiose and flashy motorized superkrewes, mostly by being much, much more fun.”

I was part of the Hula Hooping corps, coordinating with our friends in the flag corps. We marched at the front of the parade along with a luminous dragon and a marching band. The theme of the parade was “light and pleasure” and along that vein my friend Aviva and I both got LED hula hoops, and our third hooper Jamie Lynn marched between us to catch some of our light. We all decided to dress in costumes of white and gold. I had a fun marching band hat with gold horns made by a talented woman named Jade. The rest of my costume I got from second hand shops.

Marching for about three hours with a hula hoop was both exhilarating and tiring. I had so much fun tossing it as high as I could and catching it, watching the swirls of light making pretty patterns in the sky. The crowd loved us, and was us. People seemed to wander in and out of the parade, adding to the chaos and beauty of it. We had rehearsed a routine but found it impossible to carry out. It was all just fun and celebration.

Since I was hooping I could not photograph the parade itself but I found some cool photos online on the Wandering Dreamers blog and also on l*ght//motion’s flickr page. The slideshow below is of the photos I took before the parade…