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it is true that Carnival is a very informal affair you are kindly urged to refrain from dancing inside of costume bands on Eastern Parkway. You may dance in front of them or behind because it is not right for bandleaders to spend
months of sleepless nights, a lot of money and to work under all poor type of conditions and then the public get inside of bands on Carnival Day; Thus not allowing the bands to display their pretty costumes.

    Jamaica Reports on the West Indian-American Day Parade:
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    â€œI got to watch the parade from the second-best platform of dignitaries. The first-best platform of dignitaries was reserved for politicians. West Indians are the only group of people I know who still have a great deal of respect for politicians, men of the cloth, and schoolteachers, and anyone who makes a career in any of the above fields automatically becomes dignified. I saw Shirley Chisholm. She sat with her legs crossed at the ankles. Howard Samuels was there. No one seemed to recognize him, and he looked like a man who had got himself invited to the wrong party. Soon after, the first float appeared. It carried the Carnival Queen and her lady-in-waiting. The Queen looked regal enough in her long white gown and silver crown, but, instead of waving to the crowd and smiling like a dummy (the way queens usually behave), she was snapping her fingers, wiggling her hips, and shuffling her feet, all at the same time. I liked her very much and personally think she’s going to start a new vogue in royal public behavior. Then came the bands. Now, here, when you say bands you don’t mean people playing musical instruments together in harmony
but people wearing costumes in harmony. That is, they pick a theme, and each member of the band wears a costume that supports it. The bands had names like Caribbean Fragrance, Fiesta South of the Border, Vision of Beauty, The Dream of Attila, Sailors Ashore in France, Splendor in Siena, and Dreaming Through the Ages. Quite a few of these fantasies took the shape of giant insects and birds, some were fishes, and some were dragons, and some I just couldn’t figure out. They were quite wild and extravagant. The colors most often used were red, orange, and yellow. Everything was trimmed with gold and silver braiding. Some costumes had such elaborate skirts that little wheels had to be attached for mobility. Soon after this wave of fabulously alarming creatures passed by, things at the dignitaries’ platforms got as boring as things at dignitaries’ platforms can get. The remaining bands were ten blocks away, jumping up’ for their own pleasure, and were in no great hurry to entertain dignitaries. Mrs. Chisholm kept waving; poor Mr. Samuels looked even more lost than before. I felt hungry and went to get something to eat. I bought a rice-and-peas-and-chicken-and-pork dish from a Panamanian woman, who said that she had made it herself. It was so good I had two portions. Then I had a patty—West Indian pastry stuffed with ground meat—which I bought from Tower Isle. I was told by the woman who sold it to me that you can find Tower Isle patties in the frozen-foods department of your local supermarket. Of course, I liked that idea very much, because you know an ethnic group has made it in this country when you find its food at your local grocer. As
Lord Kitchener said to me, ‘accessibility is the key to success.’ After that, I had a large hunk of Shabazz Bean Pie. I say, without reservation, this is the No. 1 Third World dessert. In fact, every time I have some of it I think kindly of Mr. Shabazz and everybody with an ‘X’ after his name.”
    â€” September 30 , 1974

Daytime Dancing, A Report
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    Every Friday, from noon to three o’clock, the young, upward-mobile, fun-loving, always-on-the-go set lunch and dance at La Martinique, a black discothèque at 57 West Fifty-seventh Street. Now, there are a few cultural traits that black people